Title: Essence of Innocence

Chapter 12: Ending of Ice

Author: lilnekochan

email: lilneko_chan@hotmail.com

Pairings: Yohji x Aya, Crawford x Schuldich, Ken x Omi, Farfarello x Nagi

Author's Note: Finally I updated this fic! Sorry about taking so long but I had a very bad case

of writers block not to mention school. COllege sucks! I don't know who said it was easy but its

not! Grrrr! But either way the muses have come back to me. This chapter doesn't really have any

romance moments, which I have to apologize for but it does go into a bit more detail about the

missions. But don't worry since the next chapter will have Ken/Omi moments. KAwaii!! Also as a

warning Aya is really OOC in this chapter. I just got an image of a chibi Aya chasing

chibi Yohji around with his katana and a sweat dropping Ken watching it all happen that I had to

put in it the story. lol. But here's a new chapter even if its a bit short. The next one will go

into more detail about the mission that Manx gave them. And before I forget Manx isn't giving

Schwarz any orders, but since Weiss and Schwarz are working together then any info that Manx has

would be helpful. So I guess that's all I have to say for now so hope you like the new chapter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ending of Ice

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Brushing out the hood of his jacket, Ken discarded the leaves that had settled in the

cloth over the past two hours. Replacing the hood, he glanced down the road checking for

cars. Finding none, Ken quickly crossed the street and walked towards the Koneko no

Sumu Ie. Finally, Ken thought, safe and sound. Who knew that the supermarket would

have been so dangerous!

Since Yohji and Aya were managing the flower shop and Omi was catching up on

his much needed sleep since he had stayed up the entire night, Ken was the only one left

to go to the store and pick up the groceries. Ken agreed readily since he thought there was

little harm in getting the supplies. Oh how wrong I was, Ken thought. The second he

entered the supermarket he was surrounded with fan girls from the flower shop. And

without Aya and his icy glare he was helpless in their grasp. Ken winced as he recalled

the memory. At least he was back safely and relatively unharmed at the Koneko no Sumu

Ie.

As Ken pulled the door open he heard a crash and a couple of shouted curse words.

Ken closed the door behind him and walked calmly to the kitchen amidst all the crashes

and shouts. After putting the groceries down on the counter he turned towards the stairs

that would lead to the den.

Upon entering the den a blond and red blur passed before him. Blinking wildly Ken

shook his head and looked again. The blond and red blur slowly changed to a frighten

Yohji and a pissed off Aya. Yohji was currently running around the room trying to throw

anything in Aya's way to slow him down while Aya chased him with his unsheathed

katana. Spotting Omi in a secluded corner, safe from all the damage Ken walked towards

him.

"So I'm guessing that Yohji pissed off Aya again..."

"Hai." Omi replied.

Ken shook his head as he sat down next to the young blond, "What did he do this

time?"

Omi laughed as he lifted his coffee from the table and sipped at it, "The usual."

"Ah¡K" Ken said as he looked over at the raging redhead. "What was he teasing

Aya about this time?"

"I think it was something about relationships. That Aya doesn't go out with enough

girls or something like that. I'm not sure since by the time I got here Aya was already

mad."

Ken sighed as he and Omi glanced at their teammates. Yohji had just knocked over

a side table as he jumped over the couch. Aya ignored the fallen furniture and circled

around the sofa lunging at the blond.

"Shinne!"

"Matte Aya!" Yohji cried as he quickly moved out of the Japanese man's grasp.

"You should stop and try and control your temper."

"Omae o korosu..."

"Aya!"

Omi laughed as he listened to the conversation. Ken smiled and looked at the blond.

"My this place seems to be a bit disordered..."

At the voice Ken twirled around only to see Schwarz at the threshold. Not

bothering to move or shift position, Schuldich smirked, waggled the fingers of his right

hand. Crawford walked pass his teammate and slowly made his way across the room,

ignoring the chaotic den, and sat himself in a chair. Nagi and Farfarello followed their

leader, but instead of sitting next to him they opted to lean against the wall on the far side

of the room.

Omi coughed, his cheeks a bit red as Aya glared at Yohji in a silent message that

they would continue the conversation at a later time. Aya seated himself in a chair across

from the Schwarz leader as Yohji moved across the room, picking up random items and

putting them back in place. Omi stood up as Schuldich finally moved from the door and

sat on the armrest on the chair that Crawford was sitting on.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Omi asked politely.

"No." Crawford said as he opened the folders that he had under his arm.

"Nein." Schuldich replied. Nagi and Farfarello decided to not to respond.

Omi grabbed the folders on the table that he was seating at and moved towards the

empty couch between the chairs that Aya and Crawford sat in. Ken decided to take the

empty seat besides his blond teammate.

Once Omi sat down, Yohji finished cleaning up the room and leaned against the

wall, which was far away from his red headed teammate.

Omi cleared his throat and flipped to the first page of the document he was holding.

"Well, I guess we should get started then..."

"Was there any important information in your documents?" Crawford asked as

Schuldich blew some of his bangs away from his face.

"Nothing specific." Omi replied. "They only talked about some new chemical that

they created but didn't say what was it formed of or what it did. Most of the documents I

had didn't really say anything, they were like outlines of what they were trying to do."

"Hm..."

"Did your documents have any concrete information?" Aya asked after a few

moments of silence.

"Some." Crawford signaled to Nagi as the telekinetic boy handed him a folder.

"Like your documents the ones that Schwarz obtained didn't go into detail on what

procedures they were using to create their weapons, but they did go into detail about one

of the weapons, the Demon Ray."

"The Demon Ray..." Ken heard Yohji mutter. "Wait! Isn't that one of the weapons

they were working on?"

"Hai." Crawford looked at Yohji questioningly. "How did you know that?"

Yohji rolled his eyes, "We were on a mission a couple of days before the

Weiss/Schwarz alliance and I found a document that talked about the Demon Ray."

//So where is the document now, katzchen?// Schuldich drawled in their minds.

"We were attacked in the complex that the mission was held and the document was

lost in the chaos¡K" Yohji paused. "Then again I don't think we lost the information but

that the thief from the other night took it."

//Why would you think that?//

"A panther showed up in the middle of the attack."

//Ah¡K still don't you think that Weiss is getting a bit weak losing a document like

that to a mere kitten?//

"Schuldich..." Crawford warned as Schuldich just rolled his eyes.

//Just playing with the cats a bit, Bradley.// Schuldich sent to Crawford silently.

Yohji growled then attacked back, "Well, if Weiss is getting weak then Schwarz is

too since you also lost the documents to that panther and thief!"

Before Schwarz could reply, Omi intervened, "What did your papers say about the

Demon Ray, Crawford-san?"

Schuldich sighed before leaning his elbow on the back of the American's chair as

Farfarello stared at the back of Crawford's head. Nagi stepped closer before he said, "The

information that we gathered described the Demon Ray as the ultimate weapon that the

Handler (1) created."

"Handler?" Ken asked.

"The Handler is an organization much like Schwarz and Weiss." Crawford said,

folding his hands under his chin. "The heads of Handler are made by government

officials or military generals who use assassins to curve power, either political or

personal, in their favor. However, Handler are not part of the actual government system

instead they work in the dark..."

Like Weiss and Schwarz, Ken thought mentally. Ken turned to Omi and saw that

the little blond was biting his lower lip. Feeling someone's gaze at him, Omi turned

around and looked into chocolate brown eyes.

Ken flashed Omi a smile, which the blond returned before looking at Crawford as

the American continued.

"...Demon Ray was created in the Hisoma Lab. The scientists started to combine

different chemicals in hopes that one of the mixtures would succeed. Many of the lower

division weapons were their failed attempts."

"So what are they going to do with the Demon Ray exactly?" Ken asked.

"That is what we are trying to find out." Crawford stated.

Aya grabbed one of the folders on the coffee table and looked inside, "So what

kind of weapon is the Demon Ray? Biological, mechanical...?"

"Organic."

Aya looked up, "Organic? What do you mean?"

"The Demon Ray and the other weapons that Handler creates are sentient as in

humans, animals, and plants. They use chemicals and inject them into the specimens then

put them through a series of tests and training exercises."

"They use animals and humans as lab rats?!" Ken cried.

"Yes. The tests are often cruel and malicious. They would kidnap potential

candidates who they see as best suited for their uses then start the procedure at a young

age..."

"How young?" Yohji asked. Ken looked back and wondered when he lit the

cigarette.

"Usually they will start the injections when the candidates are still babes between

the ages of one to seven years old. If the child is older then seven they their body cannot

handle the injections and would shut down. After the age of four when the candidates'

body has developed then that is when they will begin the training sessions combined with

the inoculation. The training sessions are directed to develop and increase stamina,

strength, speed, and also their psychic abilities."

"The children are psychics?" Yohji asked as he blew smoke from his mouth. Aya

looked back and gave his teammate a glare, which the blond ignored.

Crawford lifted one eyebrow. "Psychics are the best candidates of choice. They

have abilities, which regular humans do not have therefore they have an edge. Handler

chooses their candidates based on their abilities then hone them. The chemical injections

are used to increase their abilities as well as the candidates' natural abilities. But the

negative side affects are that most of the candidates do not survive the training sessions

or the missions. Some even do not survive the injections, most will go insane and the

ones that do are terminated. Injections can increase the candidates' natural and psychic

abilities but most of them do not live past sixteen so Handler are always looking for more

people."

"Do the injections create new abilities or just increase the ones that the children

have?" Asked Aya.

"They only increase the psychic ability that the candidates have. I do not think it is

possible to even give a person a psychic ability if they do not have it naturally." Crawford

mused. "But I am not certain about that."



¡§Does this mean that this Demon Ray is a human being, which Handler injected with chemicals

so that they will have their ultimate assassin?¡¨

¡§Yes.¡¨ Crawford answered Yohji.

¡§Jeez, that¡¦s sick.¡¨ Was the only response.

Ken did not know what to say. He had met many corrupt people since he joined

Weiss, which some organization have targeted children before. But to use children as

assassins and subject them to such cruelty, Ken would not allow. What if they target

Taichi, Kenji, Sora, or the other kids on his soccer team? He couldn't imagine their

smiling faces locked behind glass walls only to be used as weapons and seen as inanimate

objects.

"Does any of the documents say anything about the Handler headquarters or

training centers?" Omi asked.

"No, but that does not matter since we will have to infiltrate another lab and get

more information before attempting to eradicate the heads of Handler. They will not be

killed easily."

"Then you are in luck Schwarz and Weiss."

Standing at the back of the room was Manx, holding one vanilla folder in her hand.

"Here are the locations of one of the Handler labs."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1.) Handler ¡V Dealers (German)