Chapter 17

A grassy hill overlooking the ocean, the sun setting in a painter's dream of pink and orange. Wind moving the dandelions from one direction to the next. A girl, with her back turned to him; shoulders leaned in deep concentration. Next to her, broken off pieces of dandelions.

"Why are you still here? Your dad will be angry with you."

"Just a second, I'm almost finished making the crown." She beckoned him over, motioning for him to sit down next to her on the grass. Her hands was sticky with the sap that leaked from the dandelion stems, her nimble fingers weaving together green with green, the yellow face of the flower joining together.

As she folded the stem of one dandelion, she went to tie the stems together. Both stems separated off of the flower, the rest collapsing when she tried to fix the mistake. Sighing, she stood up, brushing the dandelion petals and pieces of stems from her skirt so her father would not know of where she had been.

"I wish I could finish one dandelion crown, I've never been able to. Something always goes wrong. You'll help me next time Nagi, won't you?"

Chapter 18

Shoving the bed cover from his body roughly, he leaned back against the headboard, his breathing coming out in short gasps. It was a dream, yet it felt as if he had lived through the scene. The wind, the flowers, the girl, all of it seemed so realistic; he could still feel the grass beneath the palms of his hands. And the girl greatly resembled Tot, in both nature and in looks. He didn't understand his mind. For years he had led his life in a heart that was void of any emotion, of any feelings. Why is it that after he had met Tot, that memories that are not his own are making its place within his dreams?

Is he so desperate for feelings of care and kindness in his direction that his mind is willing to conjure up illusions? The thought frightened him. If that is so, then there may come a time when his mind will convince his heart that what is false is what is true, and all common sense will be lost. And that will be the time when Schwarz would abandon him. They would not need someone who will be more of a bother than help. He would have no where to go, no family, no compassion to lean to.

He reached for the picture that was placed face down on his side table. He turned the photograph so that it faced him, a picture of a smiling blue-haired girl, frozen in time. She was smiling happily to the camera, a type of innocence that only childhood could bring, and only betrayal could break. Tot, although her exterior exuded light, there was a certain sense of sincerity in her laughter and her smile. Whatever had happened, she must have experienced a similar type of betrayal as him.

Living out on the dangers of the streets as a child had taught him of how merciless the world is, even to ones weaker than it. What he endured in the years back then, he had forced himself to forget, and he had with time, but on quiet nights, such as this, a few horrors managed to slip through the cracks of the wall he built to shield his heart.

His sense of survival was what probably kept him alive all those years. Brushing with death many times, he was surprised still why he hadn't received any lasting injuries. He wasn't even aware of his telekinesis until after Crawford had brought him to the organization, which he has stayed in since. But if he thought back carefully, there were times, such as when a man became mysteriously unconscious when he tried to attack him after luring him into a lone alleyway.

Truth be said, he wasn't sure if he considered his ability a gift or a curse. Even as a child he understood, after being deceived time and time again, that no one would come to miss him if he were to disappear. He wanted to be gone from such a sorrowful life, there must be something more than what life has given him. The day that he met Crawford, was the day that he had slit his wrists.

Waiting for the everlasting silence that would be his savior to come, he had looked up at the imperfect sky that was mixed with pollution from the city. He didn't know where he was, and for the first time, he felt truly at acceptance with himself. Never being one to believe in religion, on that day it was an exception. Under his breath he prayed.

"Now I lay me down to sleep..."

As his eyelids became too heavy to keep open, he closed them. He felt a warm pair of hands lifting him up, gently as if he were floating. This must be what it feels like to be in heaven, he had thought, the tears he had not let himself cry for so long came, each tear drop falling one by one. He couldn't lift his arms to wipe the tears away, too tired to apologize for his rudeness when he felt such joy. A pure smile that held everything he had wished for in life formed on his lips.

All the pain and suffering he had lived through, being held by such an angel, made up for all. He knew he had endured through the years for this moment. He had believed he was too tainted to be held with such care, yet here he was being held like a precious jewel. Oh, he thought, God must have sympathy even on the most pathetic of children, to save a soul like his that was so worthless.

When he awoke, he was in a room surrounded by white, the quiet beeping of the heart monitor the only sound to break the utter silence. Looking down at his wrists, he saw that they had been neatly wrapped with white bandages, although some of the blood was managing to seep through. His head felt numb, as if a force of gravity was trying to push him back onto the bed from his sitting position. Him awakening must have triggered a signal because only seconds after, a man dressed in an expensive black suit walked in.

That man had been Crawford. Several weeks after he had been released from the hospital, he joined Schwarz, undergoing a crucial training, which consisted of everything from how to kill a target with a single bullet, and how to handle a different number of weapons. Crawford used his hatred of the world to his advantage, even he was aware of that, but from a world that couldn't even grant him the gift of death, he felt neither sympathy nor a particular attachment to.

For years, living in the isolated heart of his that reached to no one, he had gone on living for the sake of living, and not for anyone. Why could just a few encounters with one person break the face he had thought was his own. Was there another being within himself that not even he knew about?

He grabbed his jacket that was hanging from his chair, using telekinesis to shut the door silently behind him. Walking out of the main door, the pace of his footsteps sped up, heading towards the direction of the nearby park. He wouldn't be able to fall asleep after the dream, he might as well try to sort out the memories, if he could. There was no one at the park, as he had thought. It was past two, the time when most would be asleep.

A shadow sitting on the top of a bench. As he neared, the flickering lights of an overhead street lamp, revealed the shadow to look to be a teenager near his age with light brown hair that bordered onto dark blonde. The person must have sensed his presence, because he looked up, his eyes widening in surprise. He wasn't sure who was more stunned to see the other, him or….Omi, the member of WeiB, an assassin group which had been a nuisance to the Schwarz from the very beginning.

He found it strange that Omi held a lit cigarette in his right hand. He didn't see himself as a good judge of character, but whenever he had gone against the young WeiB, there was a naiveness to him that he couldn't forget.

"Good, I was about to head over to your place. Saves me the time." Omi crushed the tip of his cigarette with the heel of his shoe, throwing the item away. "First time we've actually talked I'm guessing? Omi, at your service." He gave a little salute in his direction. "God, I hate this whole 'WeiB' deal, Takatori keeps on insisting it'll only be a little longer, but even that was two years ago. Acting happy-go-lucky and emotional beyond my means isn't my idea of a good time."

Omi saw out of the corner of his eye Nagi backing away from him. "What? You think I'm going to try to kill you? Sorry, no such luck. Even if I wanted to, I'm too close in range to cause any great damage with the darts."

"What are you trying to say."

"A kid like you, from the streets," Omi added the last half sarcastically. "I would have thought you'd notice sooner. But with the big 'show-down' in a couple of weeks, I'm not willing to take any chances. Half of what you've come to known as WeiB, work for the Takatori, like you. In juvenile wording, I'm 'on your side'."

"I don't believe you." What was he supposed to believe? He's gone against Omi many times, and he had shown no mercy, nor had any of the other members of the opposing team ever shown any signs of backing off because they worked for the same man, because of this, his team members suffered numerous injuries that ranged from mild to serious.

"Listen, if you don't believe me, just ask the others in Schwarz, they've known about this for quite a while. Probably didn't tell you because they weren't sure you were trustworthy enough, am I wrong?"

He involuntarily flinched. The group that he had given everything for, and had shed blood for, this was how they repaid him, by not informing him of such dire information. There had been times when he felt that Schwarz was keeping something from him, but never something like this.

"Seriously, you've almost killed me sometimes with that 'telekinesis' of yours. You could have at least noticed how my darts never even hit you and have gone easy on me. Yohji's lucky he didn't have to go against you in combat."

"Yohji..he's the other person? Then what about the others?"

Omi laughed. "You've got to be kidding me. Just look at them and you should be able to see why they wouldn't be fit to work in the Schwarz organization. Ken, he's too naïve to know that anything 'wrong' is happening. He's caught me in quite bad situations that might have gotten me revealed as an enemy, but he believes in 'righteous' and 'forgiveness' so he hasn't uttered a word to Manx. Not to mention he's the worst actor on the face of this Earth and not even a threat to his life could make him act as if nothing was out of the ordinary. As for Aya, it's a shame really. His skills would have been useful in the Schwarz, but didn't quite work out that way because it was Takatori himself who ran over his 'precious' sister who's now in a comatose state for the past, God knows how many, years."

"Why did you join Schwarz." With his light blue eyes and innocent demeanor, he could have easily led a normal life like any other teenager. That was a chance that he would never have, if he had, he would have taken the chance with both hands. Throwing away something that was so valuable and not even realizing it.

"Like you. A street kid, no where else to go. Might as well take the benefits of pretending to be Takatori's 'son'. I've got to say, I'll give Takatori the benefits of an imagination, that kidnapped past he made up, the rest of the WeiB ate it up, they didn't suspect a thing. How gullible." He looked down at his watch. "Oh look at the time, as the magic of the night runs off Cinderella must return back to the life that she isn't suited for."

He jumped off of the bench seat, leaning towards Nagi and whispering in his ear, "What you thought you knew is what you don't. Don't be as gullible as them." He stepped away, a happy-go-lucky smile pasted on his face to go back to his life as a WeiB. Waving goodbye, his back disappeared after he had crossed out of the light boundary of the street light.

What you thought you knew is what you don't.

He had originally come to the park to clear his mind, now, he found his mind only in a greater mess than it had been in to start with.

TBC…

Note: well it is a page longer than your usual update XD Introducting Omi into the cast of "Nettelu Toki" *clap clap* He's my favorite WeiB what can I say, my first WeiB Kreuz story just wouldn't be a story without him in it :) The first nine pages have basically focused on Nagi, now the ball's going to get rolling and new plots will be introduced. I hope you'll enjoy it! Thanks.