The Hunting – Chapter 6: Moaning Fish

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Aint that right??

Nothing: You don't own me.

So I don't even own nothing... sweatdrop

"You know, I can't stand this. I'm going home where I'll be safe from you and your stupid life and your stupid assassin children." Schuldich stood with a strong air of arrogance and pulled on his coat. Patience was not a strong suit of his, and sitting at a bar with Fujimiya, waiting for a vampire servant to kidnap the redhead was not his idea of fun.

"Wait. You can't just leave me here like this by myself with those maniacs on the street. I'll be killed!" Ran's hand was holding on to Schuldich's sleeve. He quickly withdrew his hand in what appeared to be sheer embarrassment.

Schuldich smirked. "Awww... Is de widdle kiwwer scarwed?" He laughed. "Idiot. What makes you think I care about you, let alone enough to stick around here? I'm bored, and, besides, you won't be killed. You're next, you see, on this vampire's to-do list. You're probably going to be kidnapped before you can manage to get yourself killed. Consider yourself lucky, Abyssinian. It will all be over soon." He put on his gloves and continued smiling. "Mother's going to fix it all soon." He began to walk away, but then turned back. "Oh, hey, why don't you buy? Since I've been holding your hand this whole time, and you would've already been gone, if it weren't for me. Anyways, unlike you, I'm going to need my money where I'm going." He turned away yet again, and stopped. "By the way, no matter what happens, if it is Crawford doing this, which it probably isn't, he has to leave on Friday with us. So it will all be over by then, or shortly after, anyways."

"What? Why? Where?" Ran's interrogative abilities kicked in as gears began turning in his head, Schuldich felt the immediate alertness rise in the redhead. Of course, those abilities were dulled by the past couple days' happenings. He wasn't exactly on the top of his form.

"With all do resp–." He scoffed. "Oh, screw respect. It doesn't concern you, Fuijimiya." And then, with a professional swish of his jacket, he was gone.

It was daylight outside, and the snow was very deep for the middle of summer. Though he walked away from the live bait, he realized that he was still interested in the fishing and the fisher as the bar disappeared behind him, slowly; the snow was rather thick. He shrugged and reached out for Omi's mind. Who are you working for? Let us see...

He saw a picture of the moon, and while he concluded that the child's master was the Night, he also reflected on how the boy couldn't use words to convey his thoughts. He was clearly reverting to something of a beast. He reached out for Ken, and then, he fell face first into the snow, grazing his head on a sharp piece of ice jutting forward.

He was hit with a wave of panic and nausea. There was anger, sadness, and confusion. So much, that it was making him sick. He sat in the snow, shivering and cussing, unable to free himself from Hidaka's mind –until it went utterly and suddenly blank. Schuldich held his mind firmly, keeping himself from passing out. He stood shakily and almost crawled to the place he called home.

"Where have you been?" He was greeted at the door by Nagi's stern glare and crossed arms. "Farfarello and I have been left unattended for hours at a time while you were gone, gallivanting around with the enemy. He and I did all the work. Well, more me than him because of his ineptitude at holding a pencil and not writing about his kills and how they served his cause against God. So, it's time for you to make your dues." He gestured to a pile of paper work on the table.

Schuldich laughed. "It's going to be over soon. Why work? Why bother?"

"Where have you been?" Nagi repeated, raising his voice. "Other than mingling with those out there who condemn us? Where have you been, exactly? Tell me now."

Schuldich felt a physical grip on his arm, and before he could fly to the wall, he said, "I was just seeing what Crawford was up to, and if Weiss is tied in with his actions."

"You think you're clever, don't you?"

"Actually, yes. That's the idea." That, unfortunately, no matter how Schuldich saw it, was the wrong answer. Schuldich was pressed into the wall in a wrenching force of pain. "Augggghhh!!!" His teeth were gritted and his shout came out as a slightly louder groan than usual. Why does Nagi have to be so damn strong?

"You're just lucky that Farfarello isn't free to be doing this. We aren't supposed to be neglected as such. Something... terrible could happen to one or the other of us. Or, maybe, Farfarello could go out and pick on God again, but do a sloppy job on accident, and then we would be found out. An adult is supposed to be here." He paused to let Schuldich regain some of his strength. "Crawford's gone. He's not coming back until it's time for us to leave."

"How do you know that?"

"He left the television on when I found he's gone. He used a tunnel to go, which I found collapsed by an ice wall. The news was on the channel he'd left. It was one I'd been watching in my room at the time."

"Yeah? So?"

"So it scared him, okay? Crawford doesn't scare easily, unless he knows he's in trouble, and has to act very, very quickly. The news was talking about those new deaths... The ones that were supposedly imitated by a vampire. They said they are able to catch whoever did it with forensic studies. I'm sure that's what frightened him, so I'm sure he's the one with those skeletons in his closet." He stepped back and turned away as Schuldich fell to the floor. "It is unlike Crawford to not make sure he left the crime scene clean. You need to make sure he isn't caught, you got that? Make the forensic scientists go mad, for all I care. Just as long as you can keep them away long enough for us to go. And see to Farfarello while you're at it. And when you're done, get to work at the mountain on the table, why don't you?"

You need an adult, my eye. Schuldich answered him with an affirmative groan as he tried to get up. "I'm so glad that I can be so privileged as to have friends like you. I'd hate to see what my enemies are like." He almost laughed, because he knew. Weiss were a bunch of wussies who didn't know what to do when the end of the world was staring them in the face.

"Just do it!" Nagi yelled, and shot Schuldich down the hall.

Ran cursed when he was left alone in a bar in the middle of the day, with no idea of how to get back while the snow and ice piled up outside. He cursed even more when the bar was empty, and the bartender walked over to him.

"Look, buddy," the bartender said, "I don't care where you go, but you can't stay here. I'm closing up. It's getting more than bad out there. I should've closed up last week, but I need to the money."

Ran cursed again, sighed, then stood. "Alright. But promise me one thing." He slapped the contents of his wallet into the man's hand. "Just get out of here. Get out of Japan. We're all about to die, if you haven't noticed. Me, especially. Money's of no interest here any longer." Before the bartender could say anything, he left, and cursed some more to himself. He finally stopped and sighed as he trudged through the snow, his legs already threatening to grow numb. I have to get somewhere warm, fast. He looked round, and saw no sanctuary. He didn't curse. He gave up on trying to string bad words together. He just wasn't good at it.

When he heard the crunch, crunch, crunch of snow and ice behind him, he froze, nearly literally. He didn't turn, but looked over his shoulder, very slowly. Omi was coming up behind him, not wearing more than a t-shirt and shorts. His eyes seemed to spiral with fire and anger.

Ran didn't yell, didn't shout. He just ran for it, as fast as he could heave himself through the snow. He wasn't sure where he was running, through the white canvas, but was forced to be sure when he hit a brick wall at the back of an alley.

He grunted, trying to get footing through the snow, to climb the wall. He slipped and fell back into the snow, his legs growing more unfeeling as each moment passed. It was all he could do to lift himself up and lean against the wall as he watched Omi get closer and closer and closer, and then stop. Ran saw that he had nowhere to go, and was sure that Omi had stopped so he could get a good look at the boy before he was dragged off.

The snow around Omi had melted, and was already beginning to freeze, until he stepped forward, and stopped again. His eyes were of fire, crazed, maniacal. He had blood dripping down from the corner of his lips.

"Omi, I wonder if you can underst –No! –AUU –!!!!" His scream was cut short by sudden blackness after Omi had leapt at him, trailing melted snow at his bare feet.

Crawford checked into a motel, and planned to leave the next night. Time was quickly running out. And it was precious to him. Seeing through Time, drifting through Time, he knew just how passable it was, and how slippery.

Farfarello had some trouble tracking down the forensic scientists. He hadn't realized just how many there were these days. There were a lot, he had decided. But he found the ones he was looking for. There were at least three of them on the case. He sighed heavily. Which one was in charge? He could take out that guy...

He panicked. He could take out that guy, but then someone else would show up and take up the case. He would have to distract them long enough until the evidence could be tampered with... Or he could convince the entire company to jump off a cliff. He decided against that, as fun as it would have been. He decided, in the end, to just have the one guy in charge of things lock away the evidence, and swallow the key, quickly followed by his death. That should buy us some time, he hoped. If not, he could always go back again and 'fix' things.

Ran woke up with a headache, pounding with forces of all the Hells. What was more, he was frozen to the bone, and soaked completely through. Already, he could feel the fever coming on. Even worse than all of that, it was nighttime, and he couldn't see a darned thing.

"So," a familiar voice sounded. "You decided to stop wailing and moaning in your dream like a fish caught in too little water?"

"Fish... moan?" were the first words out of his mouth, and he was astonished.

"Quietly, but they do."

"Why... are you... doing this?" His head was throbbing more than he could bear.

"Why is my telepath so bent on the idea that you have Ritalin, and I would want it?"

"Craw...ford?"

A foot jammed into Ran's side. "Answer me!"

The world was about to end, wasn't it? So, why not? Just tell him. "It's... not Ritalin... I have to... convince myself that it is... in case something like this ever happened... With my mind read, and all... Your... Schuldich... picked it up in my mind... He just found out that it wasn't what you want."

"I figured as much. What is it, then?"

"It's..." Before he could say anymore, he blacked out again, the pain getting to be too much.

To Be Continued