Title: Blood-Stained Angel
Author/pseudonym: NemKess
Fandom: Weiss Kreuz
Pairing: Ran/Omi, Schuldig/Farfello
Rating: R
Status: WIP
E-mail address for feedback:: nemsmuses@msn.com
My LiveJournal ID: nemkess

Disclaimers: Weiss belong to me? I could only wish. Nope, not mine.


Notes: The fic 'A Name' is not a necessary read for this fic to make sense, but it does give background to some things. I'd recommend checking it out first. Regardless, this fic disregards anything canon that might have happened after the first 25 episodes. That's all I own and have seen, that's all that's being included as background info here.

Summary: When Weiss is disbanded, the vigilantes go back to living their normal lives. The problem is that one of them never had a normal life to begin with.
Warnings: definite shonen ai. violence. possible OOCness.

~*~*~

Darkness or Light,
Evil or Sin,
Hate or Love,
Which are you really
Angel of mine?

~*~*~

The sun shone off the honey blonde hair of the young man sitting at the cafe table, lending a halo effect that made him look even more angelic than Ran remembered.

Passersby kept getting in his line of vision and the redhead eased around one corner, pretending to window shop. The new position allowed him a less obstructed view and he took a moment to observe his former comrade-in-arms.

There were no drastic changes that Ran could see, but the subtle ones lent an effect that could not be denied.

Omi had grown up.

The baby fat that had clung so persistently to the boy's cheeks had melted just enough that while he still looked younger than his twenty four years, he no longer looked like a cherubic child as he had before. The sleeveless shirt he wore clung to a subtly muscled chest while showing off well-defined arms. He was broader at the shoulder and Ran couldn't be sure while the other man was sitting, but it looked like he had finally gotten his last growth spurt sometime after they'd parted ways. Not as tall as Youji, but perhaps close to Ran's own height. And despite the soft smile playing about Omi's face, there was a sense of severity and maturity that he didn't recall in 'Omittchi'. This young man radiated a quiet confidence that had been lacking before.

The overall picture of 'adult' Omi was attractive to him in a way that he'd never considered 'chibi' Omi to be.

With a forceful shake of his head, Ran reminded himself that he was not here to gawk at an attractive male, he was here for answers. Nothing more, nothing less.

Yeah, sure. I believe you, really. He ignored the sarcastic Youji-like voice in his head.

The information they'd swiped from Kritiker headquarters had been sketchy at best, but it had been enough to confirm that Bombay was still an active assassin for them and that he had been for years before Weiss had ever been formed. Finding Omi hadn't been too difficult once they'd managed to find his newest target. Once the computer checks were out of the way, he'd begun the reconnaissance part of his mission by putting himself outside the target's place of work and observing the routines there. The chibi might have grown up, but his work habits were still the same.

This marked the second day in a row that found Ran observing Omi as Omi observed his target. The day before he'd meandered through the crowd, keeping an eye out and making sure to keep a baseball cap pulled low to cover up his flame colored hair.

Today he planned on actually making contact with his own 'target'.

Ran winced at the thought of Omi as the enemy, but was resolute. If the boy he remembered with fondness had willingly taken up the name and former business practices of a Takatori, then he deserved only contempt. Not that they'd actually managed to prove Mamoru's identity one way or the other. If the files on Bombay had been sketchy, the ones on the new head of Kritiker were practically non-existent and the single picture they'd managed to find had been of the back of a mop of almost raven colored hair.

It was frustrating.

"Enough stalling," he muttered to himself. Ruffling his hair a bit, he used the window of the shop in front of him to make sure he was sporting a suitably pleasant, non-threatening expression.

He took a deep breath and moved in for first contact.

"O-Omi?" Good, he thought. His voice held just the right amount of surprised confusion, like he hadn't expected to run into the other man in a million years.

"Ran-kun?" Omi's own eyes widened with shock and his jaw dropped briefly before he stood up suddenly and hugged the redhead. The former Abyssinian noted idly that he'd been right about the height. The 'chibi' was now only an inch or so shorter. Pulling back, but not letting go, he beamed at his surprise visitor before his face wrinkled up into that adorably confused expression that Ran remembered so well. "Ran-kun! What on Earth are you doing in Tokyo? I thought you and Aya-chan bought a bookshop in Mitaka City(1)?"

Amethyst eyes narrowed for a second before Ran caught himself. The question was hardly a denial that Omi had been there. Besides, the whole plan he and Youji had worked out- despite the vocal disapproval from both Ken and Aya-chan- depended on the younger man not knowing that Ran was aware of his guardian angel tendencies.

"Hai," he responded with a small smile as he held up a list. "We did. I'm shopping."

"You? Shopping?" The blonde sat back down, gesturing from the seat across from him. Still grinning, he propped his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his clasp hands. The concentration of earlier had been redirected and Ran found himself pinned by sparkling cerulean eyes. It was almost enough to distract him from the subtle shifting of papers on the table that covered up whatever Omi had been working on. Almost. "I'm impressed! Aya-chan must be an extraordinary influence on you. You're both well?"

With a nod, Ran leaned back. "Hai. She's made a lot of improvement. You can hardly tell she missed two years now."

The gleam in Omi's eyes was satisfied. "I'm glad."

An awkward silence filled before Omi reached over to take the list from him. "What are you shopping for, anyways?" His hand hesitated just above the paper in Ran's. "If it's not intruding?"

Handing over the list and shrugging, Ran replied. "Not at all. Aya-chan decided we needed a new computer and some updated bookkeeping software for the shop and couldn't come herself."

His fingers tingled at the brief brush of their hands and he shifted uncomfortably. Maybe Aya-chan was right when she'd teased him about 'getting laid more often' if a simple touch on the hand was affecting him. He'd scolded her for being unladylike at the time, but now he thought he could see her point.

"This isn't exactly a detailed list. Where were you going to get it at?"

Shrug. "The first computer shop I see?"

The bulging of Omi's eyes was comical enough to make Ran chuckle in genuine amusement. "You can't do that! This isn't like a sweatshirt or television, you know! You have to know what you want, what you need. You'll get taken horrible advantage of if you just waltz into a shop and give this to a commission motivated employee!"

Ran looked doubtful. "I'm not the computer genius you are, Omi. As long as it works, what does it matter?"

His response was an aggravated sigh. "Potentially? A few thousand dollars and a lot of hassle." Omi pulled his pencil out from where he'd tucked behind his ear. Turning the paper over, he looked back up at his companion. "Okay, what exactly do you want to be able to do with?"

"Bookkeeping."

"And?"

"Inventory?" He wasn't sure, really. He and Aya-chan handled both on paper, although they'd considered getting a computer before. What he'd said to Omi was true, he wasn't a computer genius and his sister was even worse. In the end, they'd decided that figuring out what they needed and how to set it up wasn't worth the effort when regular books would work. Either way, it made a good cover.

Omi sighed and rubbed his eyes, another familiar gesture. The chibi had frequently gotten frustrated with all of them when they just couldn't keep up with his technical babble. It all came to him so naturally that he had a hard time remembering that not everyone was at his level. "Okay. Do you think you'll be storing a lot of information on it? How many gigs of memory space do you anticipate needing? Will you need email? Do you want to be able to set up an internet site to sell books online? Do you want to be able to play games? In other words, are you going to need a great graphics card or will a mediocre one do? And what about the bookkeeping? Some are easier than others, but some can do a lot more. And some of the cheaper programs are just as good as the more expensive ones, better even."

There was no need to feign his confusion. While he understood most of what he'd been asked, he didn't know the answers to any of those questions. Obviously he and Youji should have planned a few more details.

Luckily, Omi only interpreted the lost part of his expression. With a shake of his head, the younger man handed the list back. "You need to decide those things and then take someone with you who knows something about computers. Otherwise some lucky worker is going to have a field day loading you up with things you don't need and probably very little of what you do."

Perfect. "Can... Would you help me, Omi? I promised Aya-chan I'd get this done today. I've put it off too long as it is."

The question seemed to jolt the assassin back into remembering what he was supposed to be doing in the first place. He glanced over at the building he'd been watching and then back and Ran, biting his lower lip. The battle between his desire to help, to go with the friend he hadn't spent real time with in years and his sense of duty and need to follow his orders was clear in his eyes. To Ran at least.

"I..." Something flashed in those cerulean eyes before his expression smoothed back out. "Hai, Ran-kun. I'd love to help. Just let me.." He tucked the papers, notepad, and pencil he'd been working with into the backpack leaning against his chair. "Okay. For today, I'm all yours!"

Ran's lips quirked at the sudden flush that spread over the lightly tanned cheeks as his former teammate realized how the comment had sounded. Still, he didn't take it back, just smiled bashfully and the older of the pair was reminded of their one brief, one-sided kiss. Perhaps Omi still had a crush on him? That made things both better and worse. Better because it made the plan easier to implement. Worse because it tugged on Ran's conscience in a painful way.

His own smile faded.

For a moment, he considered just sitting Omi back down, explaining everything he knew or suspected, and asking all his questions straight out. It felt horribly wrong to take advantage of the other man's feelings for him. The discomfort had been bad enough when he'd thought he was only taking advantage of an old friendship. It had magnified tenfold at the idea that it was more than that. What kind of crush lasted over seven years?

The crushed expression on Omi's young face when Aya had so hatefully lumped him in with the other Takatori's flashed through his mind as well as the elated look when he'd declared that the chibi was Tsukiyono Omi and not Takatori Mamoru.

Ruthlessly, he pushed the images and doubts away. Until he'd determined beyond any doubt that Kritiker's new head was clean or not and whether or not Mamoru and Omi were one and the same, he was taking no chances.

Still, he hoped that things went in Omi's favor. He really did.

~*~*~
Author's Notes:
Hullo! Sorry this part took so long. ^_^ I got a live journal, joined a RPG, and have been sick. All in all, it's been hard working on much of anything, though I did do a short PSME piece.
For anyone wondering at the ease with which Omi calls Ran by his given name when Ken and Youji had such a hard time with it, well.. That's what Omi first knew him as in my WK universe. It was harder for him to get used to 'Aya-kun', actually. This piece wasn't actually all that hard to write once I got started.. It was just the first few sentences that had to be forced. Well, I hope this is okay and ya'll enjoy it. Ja! NemKess

Notes to Reviewers:
Kruo-Koneko- No, Ran is very much not happy with the idea that Omi might have taken up the name again. ^_^ But I suppose if Mamoru proves to be 'friendly' as it were, and not doing the same things as his father and brothers, then he might get over it. Still, he at least is really, really hoping that the new head is an imposter.
Kasra- Confused, ne? ^_^ No worries! It'll make sense in the end. I haven't seen Gluhen, yet so I didn't know they were all the same. There's a reason Schu and Farfie are working with Mamoru, but while it'll be talked about, that's actually a prequel I haven't finished yet.
Jacques- Thanks! I know a few bits from Gluhen, like where Persian actually got Omi's name, but not much.
fanny-chan2- all will be revealed in due time... ^_~ My goal is to wrap everything up in a way that you look back and say 'Oh, I get it!'
Everyone- Thanks for the support and reviews for the fic! I appreciate it. And I will try to keep most of the chapters this length or longer though most of Mamoru's will be short to keep from revealing too much about him too soon. Thanks for the eye color help. I went back and re-watched my dvd's again, so I've been inspired! ^_^

1)The area was named Mitaka in 1889 for the cluster of villages within three (Mi) districts that formerly were the hunting grounds with falcons (Taka) for shogunate. Mitaka has developed as a suburban "bedroom town" of Tokyo, and is known as being the first city in Japan to complete its own independent sewage waterworks and for having a pioneering community administration. During the rapid economic growth of the 1960s, Mitaka's population expanded from 90,000 in 1960 to 150,000 in 1970. Over the passed 30 years the population has reached over 170,000. (borrowed from Tourist Information Brochure about the Tokyo Metropolis) So, it's still in the city technically but was the closest thing to what I had in mind for Ran and Aya-Chan's home. For more info go here-