Author's Notes: Well, so I haven't got one up every day, but I think I'm getting it up every other day, which is pretty good. Gomen. ^^; Thanks again so much to everyone for reviewing! Enjoy.

           

            Chapter Four: Identity, Icy Americans, and the Training of Aya

Morning dawned waking the ten unlikely teammates, no matter how much or little sleep they had gotten the night before. Ken had been up long before the sun and was showered and dressed before Julia even got out of bed. She waved to him on her way to the bathroom.

"Not sleep well, KenKen?" she asked.

"I doubt anyone did with this guy running about," the former soccer player said.

"You sure you're okay?"

He nodded. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?'

Something was bothering him, and Julia knew it. She shrugged. "No reason. I"ll be out in about fifteen minutes."

Twenty minutes later she walked out to see Adrain leaning against the wall. "The boy is more isane that Schuldig."

"I could have told you that."

"Then why did I have to room with him?"

"Because I'm more able to feel out our enemies without having to deal with his conflicting emotions."

"Ah.... You owe me. Big time."

"You'll get yours, don't worry."

Schuldig slipped out of the door a ways down and shut it quietly behind him. "Yo!" he greeted.

"Yo." Julia greeted. "How'd you sleep?"

"Considering someone tried to kill me, not well at all," he said with a slight frown.

"What?! I had my monitors up all night! What happened?" Julia demanded.

"Keep it down," Schuldig hissed. "Brad's still sleeping."

"What happened?" Julia demanded in a whisper.

"She.... she killed me," the German whispered, shivering slightly.

"Oh my..."Julia gasped.

Adrian shook his head. "Are you both all right now?"

"I think so."

"We have to do this quickly. Somebody's going to die and not come back." Adrian murmured.

Schuldig shivered again. "It was a child, if that helps any."

"A child?" Adrian asked incredulously.

Julia shook her head. "Chi. It doesn't surprise me. Children are the easiest to corrupt."

"She had an amazing power. I couldn't break it."

"Brad must have."

"I wouldn't know. I wasn't in a possition to be able to tell," the telepath muttered.

 "Seeing how you're standing here now, it's plausible." Adrian said.

"I guess." Schuldig grinned. "I wouldn's suggest you trying it though."

Adrian shot him a look.

Julia glanced down the hall. "I think he's up. I should talk to him."

Schuldig started to follow behind her.

Julia stopped him. "Let me speak to him alone first, ne?"

"Doshite?"

"Humor me."

Schuldig grumbled as he leaned against the wall. /And this... would leave me alone with Adrain...."/

/Go find Nagi and Omi, see if they found anything./ Julia suggested as she knocked on Brad and Schuldig's door.


"Come in." she heard him call.

She shut the door behind her and assessed the emotions coming of him.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing, which couldn't be good. "I heard about last night." She said cautiously. There we go, she thought, fear, loss, and then the rage she knew she'd find.

"Where's Schuldig?"

"In Nagi and Omi's room."

"He's all right, isn't he?"

"Other than being a little shaken, yeah. I suppose being dead would do that to a person." She said. "What happened, Bradley?" she asked.

Brad turned masked frightened blue eyes toward her, but did not answer.

"Come on, Brad. We're family, ne? Talk to me."

"I......" he stumbled over his words. "It was a child. A girl. She laughed when he went limp. He was so cold, Julia...."

"Hey, hey. It's okay now. You saved him. He's alive. A child? Did you see what she looked like?"

"No."

"Did you notice anything else about her?" Julia asked, placing a hand on his back.

"She seemed.... amused that he was dead," the precog said distantly.

"Why did she let him go?"

"I begged her... I'm not really sure."

"She has to have a weak point."

Brad stopped. "She said that she loved Daniel...."

Julia as the pieces fell into place. "All right. That's a start." She rubbed his arm. "Maybe if we corner Sushiko, we can draw her out without putting more people in danger."

Outside, Schuldig shifted from his place where he had slid down the wall while waiting. "How long is she going to take in there?" he growled.

Julia sighed and checked her watch. "Do you know, Schuldig is the most impatient person I've ever met? At any rate, time to see if Yohji and Aya are up. Time to train Aya's heart senses."

Schuldig looked up at her when she came out. "Why did he never know about his gift before, anyway? And why didn't we sense it?"

"Many people have dormant gifts that they are never aware of. Sometimes gifts are awakened by different events in people's life. The tragedy in Aya's awakened his, but he didn't know how to control. Since it wasn't a persistent gift, like telepathy or precognitive, he wasn't aware. As for why you didn't sense it, I don't know."

"Maybe you're starting to slip, Schuldig," Adrian said with a small smile

The telepath glared.

"Or maybe he had someone protecting him." Julia mused.

Schuldig shrugged. "Who knows. Can I go see Brad?"

"Hai. Make sure you both get ready, we'll leave as soon as possible."

Schuldig nodded, stood, and disappeared into the room.

Brad came out of the bathroom when he heard the door open and shut again. He was wearing his usual cream-colored dress pants, but his blue shirt was only partly buttoned.

"'Morning," he greeted.

Brad looked at him with cold, haunted eyes. "Morning." He murmured.

Schuldig sprawled out on the bed, yawning. "So where are we suppose to start?" he asked, ignoring the look on the elder man's face.

"We'll follow Julia's lead. I may have to give Aya a few pointers."

"Wonderful. We have to babysit the kittens."

"He needs to be trained. Not babysat."

/And he's back to his usual self.../ the German thought sourerly. /Didn't think it would last./

Brad finished buttoning his shirt and tied his tie. He grabbed his coat and headed for the door.

Schuldig grabbed his sunglasses off the nightstand and followed. "What's your rush?"

"The sooner we get back to Tokyo the better."

Schuldig grinned. "What? You miss the place?"

The American whirled on him, eyes flashing. "Business is business. We must finish this."

Schuldig stopped suddenly, almost stumbling. "I was just kidding, Braddy."

"Save your joking for the kids, would you?" Brad said, leaving the room.

Schuldig stood, wide-eyed. "Bastard...." he grumbled as he regained his composure and walked out.

Julia blinked as Brad stormed out of the hotel room and near blew the hall apart simply by walking. He was a powerful man when he was angry. "What got in his pants?" she muttered.

"He's just be himself," Schuldig said with a shrug.

"No...there's something..." Julia said. She smiled. "AYA!!! MOVE IT!!" she bellowed.

 Schuldig chuckled. /Aww... Is the little kitten too tired to wake up?/

"Bite me, hair boy." Aya growled, coming out of his room, followed by Yohji who grinned.

 "I'll sick Farf after you to do that."

Yohji smirked. "Can't do your own dirty work, ne?"

"Don't wanna stoop that low."

"Way too late for that." Yohji said.

Schuldig just smirked.

"All right you guys, let's move. We can grab breakfast and then take to the streets." Julia said.

Schuldig followed close behind Brad as they moved out. /What's up with you this morning?/

His thoughts were lightly bounced back at him so as not to give him a headache, but it was the only reply he got.

/Are you ignoring me?/

/If he answered, it would ruin his point, wouldn't it?/ Adrian called.

/And exactly WHAT is his point?/

Adrian secured their link. /He's distancing himself from you./

/Why the hell would he do that?!/ the German demanded.

/The reality of loosing you has come to him full force. That's something he hasn't faced in a long time. He doesn't want to be hurt./

 /And how do you know this, O Wise One?/

/Because I've done the same thing, only with someone else obviously. It isn't the best thing to do. I lost her for good.../

Schuldig nodded, not knowing quite what else he could do about it/

 /There isn't anything you can do about it, except hope that one of you doesn't die./

 /No kidding? How's that different from normal?/

/This would be more painful./

 /Yeah, I guess, but since when have you cared?/

/Of course I care. Why would I not?/

Schuldig shot him a look. /Oh I wouldn't know...../ he said sarcastically.

"Boys, hurry it up, ne?" Julia called back to them.

"We're coming, we're coming," the German grumbled.

They were all seated at cafe tables outdoors thirty minutes later. The remains of breakfast were on the table in front of them.

"Brad, you know this, don't you? Can you tell him what to do?" Julia asked, sipping her coffee.

 "Yes."

 "Well then..." Julia prompted.

Brad pushed his plate away and he and Aya faced each other. "This isn't terribly different from clairvoyancy. Clear your heart and your head from everything. Let nothing remain. Then slowly, open it back up. Search...and you will find your target."

Aya blinked. "That seems increadibly easier said than done."

"All right. Think of the focus you use when you practice the katana. Use that same focus, only direct it differently."

Aya nodded, and closed his eyes, reopening them only half way.

Everyone watched carefully as his breathing slowed and evened out.

Things were whirling around him so fast, Aya couldn't get his bearings at first. So many people with so many different things attached to them. He could see everything everyone around him loved, and at first it frightened him. He tried stretching out. He reached, and was knocked back into reality as he locked onto what he was looking for.

Violet eyes opened widely as he gasped for breath.

Yohji touched his arm.

Brad nodded. "You found him."

"Found him?" Aya repeated.

"You saw Sushiko, correct?"

"Hai…."

"That means you have him. Focus again and follow the heart call. You'll find his location."

Aya nodded slowly, closing his eyes again. There was so much termoil that he could barely lock on.
 He felt hands on his shoulders, grounding him. His eyes flew open with a spark and he pointed south. "The pyramids. They're hiding in the pyramids."

"And the kitten might come in handy afterall," Schuldig said with a grin.

Aya looked at him. "You'd be surprised what I can do."

The grin stayed. "Do some good and you'll get what you came for."

 "Stay out of my way and I'll say the same for you."

"So are we taking a trip to the pyrimids?" the German asked.

"Yes." Julia said, clicking a fresh round into her silver pistol. "We are."

It took a while to get down to the pyrimids, and by the time they did they were mostly hot, thirsty, and on their last nerves.

"Naturally they picked one a hundred miles from the nearest tourist shop." Julia grumbled, wiping her bangs off her forehead for the millionth time.

"It's that one there." Aya said finally, pointing to a close peak.

"You better be right, kitten, for as much trouble as it's been to come out here," the German telepath growled.

"Call me kitten again and I'll bury you with King Tut." Aya snarled.

/Kitten, kitten, kitten./

Aya had his katana unsheathed and against Schuldig's neck before any of them could blink. "I warned you..."

Schuldig just chuckled. /You're far too easy./

Brad put a hand on Aya's shoulder. "We have more important things to do." He said, walking into the anchient structure.

"Then keep your telepath under control," the swordsman growled.

"He isn't my telepath. Let's move on."

Schuldig watched Crawford move into the old pryimid and couldn't help but feel a small stab of hurt.

All of them watched the German stalk away, his whole demeanor changing.

Aya stared after them. "He's wrong." he murmured.

Yohji looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"It's what I see when I look at them." Aya replied.

"I see the two of them...in each other."

Yohji cocked an eyebrow. "Just like us, ne?"

 Aya paused for a moment before looking up at his green-eyed companion and smiled. "Yeah. Like us."