Disclaimer: it's getting into my head now... Weiss Kreuss and all of its characters belong to Takehito Koyasu/Tsuchiya Kyokou/Project Weiss ... I just wish I didn't misspell anyone ... Fallen Angel stolen from an old hard rock song from the 80's by a glam band Poison, though this fic has nothing to do with the lyrics...
No words can express my gratitude..... Thanx to all of you who had reviewed and still support me on this... Again, big thanks to Annonymouse for doing the beta!! ^__^
Re-uploaded because I just found that I forgot to put a certain line inside... it's only one line, but it's quite important....
Chapter 5 : Fallen Angel
He was not sure why Schuldig forced him to come. The orange haired broke into his office at lunch time and dragged him into his car. That German didn't explain anything. It's not that he needed an explanation; he could already see where the man took him. He thought it was just impolite not to give a clue on what the telepath was thinking.
The car stopped at a building. It was a schoolyard. "What's the point of this?" Crawford asked as Schuldig parked his car. He remembered the building very well even though he only came by once. It had been quite a long time since he took Nagi there for the first time. A year. No, two years ago.
"You'll see." Schuldig gave a nasty smirk. He pushed the alarm button. There were three beeping sound from the car. "Come now, Nagi is waiting."
Crawford hesitated, but he followed the German anyway. "Tell me what's your point taking me to this place?"
Schuldig stopped at the school's main entrance. "Tsk, tsk, tsk," he said in his teasing manner, "Don't tell me you don't know about the Parents Day, Brad. Nagi is expecting us." He pushed the double swing door open and entered. He kept one of them open with his left hand and gestured Crawford to enter. That man walked in, though he looked uncertain of his move.
"I do know about the Parents Day," Crawford shook his head. "But I do also know that Nagi understands about our circumstances. An assassin is not supposed to take care about this matter. He does not want us to come." He stopped. "He has done what I expect him to do. He has told his teacher that no one will come. He even rejected his teacher's wish to meet me. He knows what to do, and he has done it well."
Schuldig turned and faced the tall man before him. "You might have seen what he has done, Crawford," he continued, "But I'm the one who can hear his thoughts."
//I'm the one who hears his cries.//
"Stop this nonsense, Schuldig." He turned around, heading back to the empty schoolyard but Schuldig stopped him.
//I respect you, Brad, that's why I promise you, no one will know we're here. Not even Nagi. Come now, before I force you to.// A set of long fingers grabbed the oracle's arm and took him inside.
Crawford followed the lean figure before him up the stairs and down the alley. The alley was empty, but on the left side of them, behind the gypsum partition walls, people were gathering. The American could see a glanced of vista from small rectangular openings on the door. It's been such a long time since he last had parents visit at school. It was a very long time ago, 22 years ago, exactly a day before his life scattered into pieces. He smirked.
They stooped at one door. Above the doorway was a small sign read "III-C". There was a little girl with pony tail standing in front of the class; she was reading something from her hand.
//I hope Nagi has not yet read his. I wanna know what he wrote.// Schuldig's voice suddenly popped up in his thought.
"His turn will be after this girl…." Crawford murmured in reply. His eyes gazed to nothing and Schuldig quickly understood that his partner had just had a sight. The man snapped from his position, giving a sign that he was back on the ground.
"I'm out of here," he said, turning his heels.
Schuldig quickly caught the oracle's arm. "The show has not yet started. Don't leave now." His telepathic power began to search in and out of the leader's mind, wondering what made the man suddenly determined to leave. He caught several sights. It seemed that Crawford had let them loose for Schuldig. Nagi was standing in front of the class, reading. There was nothing extraordinary from that boy; he was standing with his serene posture. But something in his eyes, something in his eyes made him stop a while.
A woman voice from inside the class brought Schuldig back to reality. "That was wonderful, Soumi-san. Now, let's see… Naoe Nagi. Naoe-san, will you read your essay?" And he saw a small figure stood from the middle of the class and walk up to the front of the class. He looked uncertain for a while but as the figure looked up to face his audience, he seemed to collect himself again.
//He's a good little liar,// Crawford smirked, //I saw what he wrote yesterday. Sweet little liar. You'll love to see how he play with those parents.// He fixed the position of his glasses and continued, //You'll see how they react.//
//Brad, sometimes things are not the way they seem to be.//
Life is a matter of choice, he began. Whether you choose to live in hell or heaven, it's all up to you. And the same goes to me, whether I choose to have a family or not, it's all up to me. I'm saying this, because I have been offered with choices and I have chosen.
Crawford and Schuldig watched the small boy closely.
My parents died years ago and I can't even remember their faces. It does
not really matter. All I knew was that they would never come back. I was put
under social care for orphans.
There was a rule that I learned about that place; we were put under certain numbers and systems and if we left, we would be replaced by other children. So it did not matter when somebody ran away, got ill or even died.
We were supplied with food, clothing, and education, something I would rather call as a bribe from the government. A show to the public to gain more votes in the election. Sometimes the children were told to dress up and meet public figures or politicians, if they wanted to raise their popularity by giving charity. Other than that, no one ever cared about us. So we ended up having to take care of ourselves. Those who could defend themselves had everything. The smaller ones became the mediocre of the mediocre, as I would say.
//That's interesting.// Schuldig commented.
//He's a Schwarz. What do you expect from him?//
Schuldig looked up and saw the pool of brown eyes meters away from him. There was anger there. //You're pretty good at making him despise the whole world. Congratulations to you, Brad.// He reached his thought to Nagi and carefully hacked several thoughts from him. He carefully connected the three of them.
//If I had the same evil heart I have today, I would have smashed them to the closet.//
Crawford grinned a satisfied smile as he heard the thought echoing in his head. He remembered how he brainwashed the boy to hate the whole world. That vulnerable little child he found years ago had changed so much.
Many of us tried to leave. The lucky ones were taken and adopted. Others ran away. Some of them came back because at least there's food and shelter to sleep in. Some ended up in somewhere people would rather not know. I chose to stay because I thought I had no other choice until I got fed up and decided that there's got to be another way of life rather than depending on other's charity.
It was not an easy life outside "the shelter", especially when you were only 10. But sooner or later you'd learn how to live. He gazed up for some moments before he drew out a sigh and continued, Choose the way you'd like to earn. There are some easy sources of money out there. Things that seem surreal, but they exist. And I was one of them.
Schuldig nearly chuckled as he saw the faces before Nagi. Eyes and mouth wide open. Some even gasped.
"I wish I could listen to all of their thoughts without making Nagi knows that I'm connected to him," he whispered to Crawford. Even in this state he needed very hard to concentrate.
"He's good," Crawford nodded.
//Now you see this case does not only happen in newspaper. Ah, those funny faces….//
"He's a devil clad in white," Schuldig grinned.
Crawford merely nodded.
But as I have said before, life is a matter of choices. At some certain point, I decided to stop.
//Did you, Nagi? Wasn't it he who chose to stop you?//
I was lucky to meet my guardian.
//Lucky? He was searching for me all over the country. And it was merely a job!//
It was him who offered me these two choices; I could go with him and be someone or I could rot in the streets and became a ghost of the society. I chose to go with him. At least, I could become an entity.
//And he didn't give any choices. He took me away….//
Sometimes I think to myself, what would happen if I didn't meet him. He gave me everything I've ever needed to live. Food, shelter, and clothes, everything. And I don't have to dress up to get them.
//I only need to work for him. Clean and simple.//
"It seems that he's angry with you."
"Anger is much better than depression."
I don't know why. But when I asked him once, he said because I reminded him of his childhood.
Nagi's voice faltered there and a buzzing voice took place from the audience.
//I wish…. No… Don't wish…. Just don't….//
Schuldig tilted his head to the man next to him. He didn't show any signs of concern in his face. It seemed like Nagi's scraps of thought was never heard in his head. But the telepath could not penetrate further than merely connecting the three of them. A false move and Nagi would realize that they're just behind the door.
"You don't seem to be moved by his thought," he said slowly.
Crawford raised his hand to push his glasses back to place. "I do," his answer came cold between his gritted teeth, "I need to talk to him as soon as he gets home. Such thoughts should never cross his mind."
"And you'll make him your obedient doll." The orange haired sighed.
"And you're the one to blame for making such a crap."
"I'm the - ? Hey?!"
"Shut up!"
There was a light cough before Nagi continued.
Crawford was not the only one supporting me on this choice. There are two other persons. They are my guardian's business mates. The four of us live under the same roof and we solve our problem together...
//Solve our problem together? You mean like killing some targets or search for some illegal data? Or doing laundry for some certain politicians? How long am I going to keep this lie?//
Silence
//I'm tired….//
We support one another and stand back to back on anything. Perhaps it's because we are all alone in this world and we have no one else to lean on. We are like a band of brothers. I can always count on them just as they can always count on me.
There was another pause.
Funny, isn't it? You see, I lost my family long ago, out of a choice I did not have.
//I//
//need//
//them//
//to//
//…//
But since life is just a matter of choice, I have chosen them to be my family.
//love//
//me//
The small figure in front of the class looked shaking. His fingers crushed the paper in his hand. But he was not crying. He did not shed a tear. Only his thought was radiating a silent cry. The female teacher walked toward him and tried to give comfort.
"I'm out of here," Crawford spoke suddenly; making Schuldig snap his mind of the two other Schwarz members. The German was breathing hard. He was carried away.
"Don't listen to him," the baritone voice continued, "We have other things to do. Beside Nagi will walk out that door in seconds."
Schuldig shook his head to clear the echoes inside his brain. "Tja…" he murmured and quickly moved away from the class.
- (let's just say it ends here) -
Not satistsfied? Wait for fragments, sequels, or even more chapters in the future...!