Search Party [10]
...
Schuldig practically ripped the front door open and hurried down the hall to Nagi's room. He stepped inside and a cold gust of wind swept over him. His eyes narrowed as he saw the broken window, the glass shards all over the room, the spots of blood on the ground, but no Nagi.
"Where is he?" Schuldig asked, sensing someone standing behind him.
"Don't know." Farfarello crossed his arms over his chest. "I woke up and they were both gone."
"Both?"
"Crawford's gone, too."
"What the hell happened?" Schuldig ran his hand through his hair and looked around for clues as to where they might be. After getting no visible response, he added, "Did they leave together?"
Farfarello, without showing any serious concern, walked into Nagi's room. "Blood on the windowsill," he said. "Nagi left this way. Crawford took the car."
"Crawford must be looking for him."
"Is that a bad thing?"
Schuldig looked up suddenly, taken aback by the ambiguity of the question. "I don't know." He paced around the room. "Where the hell is that kid?"
"Can't you contact him?"
"Don't you think I thought about that already? I know he's hurt, but I can't get any clear thoughts."
Farfarello shrugged. "Where would you go if you were in his place?"
Schuldig sat down on the couch and looked contemplative for a moment. He'd go to see Yohji, of course. Who else? He thought for a moment longer and suddenly yelled, "Oh, shit!" He shot up from his seat on the couch and rushed out the door.
Farfarello raised an eyebrow and watched him leave. "He says I'm a psychopath."
~
Nagi stopped running some time ago simply because there was no more breath in his lungs to allow him to continue, and the pain from his bleeding feet finally set in. He didn't know where he was. All that mattered was that he ran for so long, he must've gotten far. He stumbled along the ground, regretting being so impulsive that he didn't think to put on shoes.
He looked up from his feet and saw a bench a couple of feet away. He trudged over to it and collapsed onto it, exhausted.
~
"Yohji-kun, is that you?" Omi called from the kitchen.
"Yea, where are you?" Yohji stepped inside and closed the door after himself, locking it.
"Kitchen. I had a headache and couldn't sleep. Came down to get aspirin." Omi appeared in the hall where Yohji was perched up against the wall, pulling his shoes off.
"We've got the morning shift tomorrow, babe." Yohji hung his jacket on the hook beside the door. "Better get to sleep."
"Mhm," Omi agreed and rubbed his eyes. They both made their way up the stairs until they heard the lock on their backdoor click.
Yohji stopped in his tracks, and looked up at Omi. "Go to bed," he said and made his way back down the stairs, skipping the last step. He walked up to the backdoor and prepared himself to scare the living hell out of whoever it was that decided to break into their house. This has happened before; some pathetic street thief trying to break into the house of four trained assassins, and it never ceased to amuse him.
Much to Yohji's surprise, when the door swiftly slipped open, he wasn't exactly met with the face of a pathetic street thief.
"Tell me he's here," Schuldig said and let himself in.
"Do you have a death wish? What the hell are you doing here?" Yohji stepped outside, pulling him along.
"He's not," Schuldig said, more to himself than to Yohji. "What now?"
"You're not making sense. What's going on?"
"Nagi ran away. I figured he'd come here." Schuldig slumped against the wall, hitting the back of his head on it.
"Why the hell would he come here?"
Schuldig threw his arms up in the air. "I have no idea. Because I would?"
"Is that why you disappeared on me tonight?"
"Yea, I think he's hurt."
Omi suddenly appeared from behind he door. He had heard enough. "Let's go," he said decisively and grabbed his coat.
"You little eavesdropper. And how much did you hear?" Yohji asked, pulling him back by the collar of his jacket.
"Everything."
"Oh, Kami-sama." Yohji ran his hand through his hair.
"If the kid wants to help, I don't see any problem."
Yohji sighed and shrugged. This was quite the unlikely complication. He had expected to come home after a hard night's dancing and... other things, and sleep until Ran sadistically woke him up the next morning; instead, he was on a wild goose chase, if you pardon the cliché, to bring the Schwarz telekinetic safely back home. Who ever thought? Then again, Omi seemed determined, and he couldn't just let the kid go god-knows-where with Schuldig, out of all people.
"So where do we start?" Yohji asked, hopping over Seven's door and into his driver's seat.
"We split up," Schuldig decided.
"I'll search through the park. Yohji, you can drop me off there," Omi suggested.
Yohji started the engine. "Alright, hop in. I'll drive around town."
"I'll go down to the beach."
~
Ran sat up and angrily grumbled some incomprehensible cruses. He pulled himself out of bed and trudged out of his room, down the hall, and to the bathroom. He bent forward over the sink and splashed wave after wave of freezing water onto his face.
"Stop it," he said to himself as he leaned back against the wall and covered his face with his hands.
He finally decided that the best way to take care of "the situation" involving Ken, that he found himself in, was to just ignore it and live as closely to his norm as possible. He determinedly detached himself from the wall and walked out into the hallway, almost walking into "the situation" himself in the process.
"Aya," Ken said, looking bewildered. "What are you doing up?"
"Couldn't sleep," Ran replied and wasted no time walking back down the hall.
"Me neither. Weird dreams."
Ran stopped outside of his bedroom door and bit his lip. 'You have no idea,' he thought.
"I was just going downstairs to watch some TV 'til I pass out. Wanna join me?"
A million thoughts propelled themselves inside of Ran's head. He couldn't spend the night with Ken. He'd break his vow before he could even catch himself, and that would be dangerous. Then again, he just decided to act as much within his norm as possible, and normally, he wouldn't see any harm in going to watch TV with anyone at all. Then again, this isn't exactly a normal situation.
"You're over thinking it, Aya," Ken said, much to Ran's surprise, and turned to leave down the stairs. "Just asked you if you wanted to watch some TV. I'll be in the living room."
Ran watched him leave, in his state of somewhat indifferent shock. He allowed himself to hit his forehead against the wall and turned to walk down the stairs. He stepped into the living room and saw Ken stretched out on the couch. "Hey," he said, sitting down next to him.
"Hey."
~
Schuldig raced his car along the highway by the beach, keeping a keen eye out for Nagi. He chose to look for him here because he remembered the boy always being fascinated by it. He said it made him feel peaceful.
/Come on, kid. Where are you?/ Again, Schuldig got no clear response, but he felt that he wasn't even close. With an exasperated sigh, he made a sudden turn and headed back towards town.
~
Yohji carefully inspected each street, shining his headlights into every alley. He pulled out a cigarette and managed to light it with one hand while steering the car with the other. What the hell was he doing anyway? If you had told him, one week ago, that he'd soon be driving Seven around the city, in the darkest hours of the night, for the sole purpose of bringing a Schwarz member safely home, he would have brushed it off as insanity or alcoholism.
What was he getting himself into? It wasn't the normal mode of operation to help out the enemy. Then again, it wasn't the normal mode of operation to kiss the enemy, either. His lips curved up just a bit at the memory. He had always been somewhat of a rebel, always attracted to danger, but this was just a bit much. Whenever Schuldig touched him, it was like a wave of electricity passed through him. Talk about living life on the edge, he just spent the night dancing with his nemesis.
~
The park looked like hell in the middle of the night, Omi decided. More precisely, it looked like a graveyard in hell. He had to keep reminding himself that he was a trained assassin, otherwise he'd be scared out of his wits. The trees looked foreboding, the wind sounded ominous, and the place just generally seemed like it didn't want you there.
Omi shivered and rubbed his arms to get rid of the goose bumps. This looked bleak. He hoped the others were having more luck than he was.
He was currently taking a path that took him around the lake. There were trees on either side, and he had the distinct feeling that they would close in on him and never let him out. He took a deep breath and pulled the jacket closer around his arms as a gust of wind blew his hair into his face.
...
Schuldig practically ripped the front door open and hurried down the hall to Nagi's room. He stepped inside and a cold gust of wind swept over him. His eyes narrowed as he saw the broken window, the glass shards all over the room, the spots of blood on the ground, but no Nagi.
"Where is he?" Schuldig asked, sensing someone standing behind him.
"Don't know." Farfarello crossed his arms over his chest. "I woke up and they were both gone."
"Both?"
"Crawford's gone, too."
"What the hell happened?" Schuldig ran his hand through his hair and looked around for clues as to where they might be. After getting no visible response, he added, "Did they leave together?"
Farfarello, without showing any serious concern, walked into Nagi's room. "Blood on the windowsill," he said. "Nagi left this way. Crawford took the car."
"Crawford must be looking for him."
"Is that a bad thing?"
Schuldig looked up suddenly, taken aback by the ambiguity of the question. "I don't know." He paced around the room. "Where the hell is that kid?"
"Can't you contact him?"
"Don't you think I thought about that already? I know he's hurt, but I can't get any clear thoughts."
Farfarello shrugged. "Where would you go if you were in his place?"
Schuldig sat down on the couch and looked contemplative for a moment. He'd go to see Yohji, of course. Who else? He thought for a moment longer and suddenly yelled, "Oh, shit!" He shot up from his seat on the couch and rushed out the door.
Farfarello raised an eyebrow and watched him leave. "He says I'm a psychopath."
~
Nagi stopped running some time ago simply because there was no more breath in his lungs to allow him to continue, and the pain from his bleeding feet finally set in. He didn't know where he was. All that mattered was that he ran for so long, he must've gotten far. He stumbled along the ground, regretting being so impulsive that he didn't think to put on shoes.
He looked up from his feet and saw a bench a couple of feet away. He trudged over to it and collapsed onto it, exhausted.
~
"Yohji-kun, is that you?" Omi called from the kitchen.
"Yea, where are you?" Yohji stepped inside and closed the door after himself, locking it.
"Kitchen. I had a headache and couldn't sleep. Came down to get aspirin." Omi appeared in the hall where Yohji was perched up against the wall, pulling his shoes off.
"We've got the morning shift tomorrow, babe." Yohji hung his jacket on the hook beside the door. "Better get to sleep."
"Mhm," Omi agreed and rubbed his eyes. They both made their way up the stairs until they heard the lock on their backdoor click.
Yohji stopped in his tracks, and looked up at Omi. "Go to bed," he said and made his way back down the stairs, skipping the last step. He walked up to the backdoor and prepared himself to scare the living hell out of whoever it was that decided to break into their house. This has happened before; some pathetic street thief trying to break into the house of four trained assassins, and it never ceased to amuse him.
Much to Yohji's surprise, when the door swiftly slipped open, he wasn't exactly met with the face of a pathetic street thief.
"Tell me he's here," Schuldig said and let himself in.
"Do you have a death wish? What the hell are you doing here?" Yohji stepped outside, pulling him along.
"He's not," Schuldig said, more to himself than to Yohji. "What now?"
"You're not making sense. What's going on?"
"Nagi ran away. I figured he'd come here." Schuldig slumped against the wall, hitting the back of his head on it.
"Why the hell would he come here?"
Schuldig threw his arms up in the air. "I have no idea. Because I would?"
"Is that why you disappeared on me tonight?"
"Yea, I think he's hurt."
Omi suddenly appeared from behind he door. He had heard enough. "Let's go," he said decisively and grabbed his coat.
"You little eavesdropper. And how much did you hear?" Yohji asked, pulling him back by the collar of his jacket.
"Everything."
"Oh, Kami-sama." Yohji ran his hand through his hair.
"If the kid wants to help, I don't see any problem."
Yohji sighed and shrugged. This was quite the unlikely complication. He had expected to come home after a hard night's dancing and... other things, and sleep until Ran sadistically woke him up the next morning; instead, he was on a wild goose chase, if you pardon the cliché, to bring the Schwarz telekinetic safely back home. Who ever thought? Then again, Omi seemed determined, and he couldn't just let the kid go god-knows-where with Schuldig, out of all people.
"So where do we start?" Yohji asked, hopping over Seven's door and into his driver's seat.
"We split up," Schuldig decided.
"I'll search through the park. Yohji, you can drop me off there," Omi suggested.
Yohji started the engine. "Alright, hop in. I'll drive around town."
"I'll go down to the beach."
~
Ran sat up and angrily grumbled some incomprehensible cruses. He pulled himself out of bed and trudged out of his room, down the hall, and to the bathroom. He bent forward over the sink and splashed wave after wave of freezing water onto his face.
"Stop it," he said to himself as he leaned back against the wall and covered his face with his hands.
He finally decided that the best way to take care of "the situation" involving Ken, that he found himself in, was to just ignore it and live as closely to his norm as possible. He determinedly detached himself from the wall and walked out into the hallway, almost walking into "the situation" himself in the process.
"Aya," Ken said, looking bewildered. "What are you doing up?"
"Couldn't sleep," Ran replied and wasted no time walking back down the hall.
"Me neither. Weird dreams."
Ran stopped outside of his bedroom door and bit his lip. 'You have no idea,' he thought.
"I was just going downstairs to watch some TV 'til I pass out. Wanna join me?"
A million thoughts propelled themselves inside of Ran's head. He couldn't spend the night with Ken. He'd break his vow before he could even catch himself, and that would be dangerous. Then again, he just decided to act as much within his norm as possible, and normally, he wouldn't see any harm in going to watch TV with anyone at all. Then again, this isn't exactly a normal situation.
"You're over thinking it, Aya," Ken said, much to Ran's surprise, and turned to leave down the stairs. "Just asked you if you wanted to watch some TV. I'll be in the living room."
Ran watched him leave, in his state of somewhat indifferent shock. He allowed himself to hit his forehead against the wall and turned to walk down the stairs. He stepped into the living room and saw Ken stretched out on the couch. "Hey," he said, sitting down next to him.
"Hey."
~
Schuldig raced his car along the highway by the beach, keeping a keen eye out for Nagi. He chose to look for him here because he remembered the boy always being fascinated by it. He said it made him feel peaceful.
/Come on, kid. Where are you?/ Again, Schuldig got no clear response, but he felt that he wasn't even close. With an exasperated sigh, he made a sudden turn and headed back towards town.
~
Yohji carefully inspected each street, shining his headlights into every alley. He pulled out a cigarette and managed to light it with one hand while steering the car with the other. What the hell was he doing anyway? If you had told him, one week ago, that he'd soon be driving Seven around the city, in the darkest hours of the night, for the sole purpose of bringing a Schwarz member safely home, he would have brushed it off as insanity or alcoholism.
What was he getting himself into? It wasn't the normal mode of operation to help out the enemy. Then again, it wasn't the normal mode of operation to kiss the enemy, either. His lips curved up just a bit at the memory. He had always been somewhat of a rebel, always attracted to danger, but this was just a bit much. Whenever Schuldig touched him, it was like a wave of electricity passed through him. Talk about living life on the edge, he just spent the night dancing with his nemesis.
~
The park looked like hell in the middle of the night, Omi decided. More precisely, it looked like a graveyard in hell. He had to keep reminding himself that he was a trained assassin, otherwise he'd be scared out of his wits. The trees looked foreboding, the wind sounded ominous, and the place just generally seemed like it didn't want you there.
Omi shivered and rubbed his arms to get rid of the goose bumps. This looked bleak. He hoped the others were having more luck than he was.
He was currently taking a path that took him around the lake. There were trees on either side, and he had the distinct feeling that they would close in on him and never let him out. He took a deep breath and pulled the jacket closer around his arms as a gust of wind blew his hair into his face.