Chapter Thirteen

Everything was quiet for a few more weeks. Schuldig spent a fair amount of time at Yohji's, but not enough to get on Brad's nerves. Nagi avoided Omi, but almost everyone had expected that, and even Schuldig left him along about it after the argument they had.

Schuldig came home one afternoon from Yohji's in a fairly decent mood. Yohji had found out it was his birthday, and with no other better present to give him offhand, had screwed him absolutely silly. Brad was on the sofa, sipping coffee. He gave Schuldig a slight nod of acknowledgement as he came in, but nothing else.

After a pause, Schuldig decided not to pout. Brad had never really done anything for his birthday, other than take him out to dinner. He got himself a mug of coffee, then went to the living room, waiting to see if Brad had anything to say. After a few seconds, Brad looked up from his paperwork. "Did you need something?"

"Can we go out to dinner tonight?" Schuldig asked, then said, trying not to sound too petulant, "You know, since it's my birthday."

"If you want," Brad said, barely looking up.

"Cool. Thanks," Schuldig sauntered to his bedroom, still trying not to sulk. He noticed a small fluffball on his bed and his eyes widened. He went over and scooped it up, noting that it was in fact a small orange and white kitten with a somewhat squashed but still cute face. The kitten meowed and batted at his hand with claws extended. "Ow," Schuldig said. "Is that any way to behave?" It was very small, so he snuggled it under his chin. "And where did you come from?"

He finally noticed a small piece of paper on the bed and picked it up with his free hand. There was a long dissertation on the proper care and feeding of the kitten, ending with, "Watch out, the kitten is not declawed and came from a shelter for strays, so has no manners. You will train the kitten. Happy birthday."

Incredibly pleased, Schuldig strolled back out into the living room, cradling the kitten in both hands. He plopped on the sofa next to Brad, snuggling the cat, which tried to bite his fingers. Brad intently studied his paperwork. "I think his manners are fine," Schuldig told him.

Brad glanced at him, then actually put his paperwork aside. Schuldig fought the uncharitable urge to gasp. "As long as you train him to use the litter box," Brad replied.

"Okay, that I can do," Schuldig said.

"And not to claw the furniture," Brad added. "Or go near Farferello on a bad day."

Since Schuldig had his hands full of kitten and couldn't hug Brad, he leaned against him, smiling. "Okay. Thank you."

Brad gave him a rather surprised look. "You're welcome." Schuldig was still enthralled by the kitten, dangling some of his hair in front of its face and watching it bat at it. "I'm glad you like her."

Schuldig, grinning, now teasing the cat with his fingers, which were getting swiped at, asked, "What made you think of giving me a kitten?"

"You seemed like you needed one," Brad replied.

"I did?"

Brad shrugged. The kitten began gnawing on Schuldig's sleeve. Schuldig just watched it, letting it do just about whatever it wanted. "What should I name her?" he asked.

"Whatever you want?" Brad suggested.

"I'm no good at naming things," Schuldig protested. "Give me some ideas."

"I can't think of anything," Brad said, after a brief pause in which Schuldig didn't believe Brad was honestly trying very hard. "Ask me again later."

"Okay," Schuldig said. He was all right with that. He felt like he'd be all right with just about anything. The kitten was happy, and although he didn't have as much empathy as telepathy, he could definitely tell. This pleased him. "Any idea what sort of cat she is?"

"I asked at the shelter, but all they knew is that she's a tabby of some sort," Brad replied. He was looking at his paperwork, but not making any move to pick it up.

"Ah." Schuldig gave up on the conversation and slumped down further so he was laying across Brad's lap. It was very comfortable, even if (and slightly because) he knew he was preventing Brad from getting any work done. He settled the kitten on his chest, which worked for about point three seconds, before it got up and started roaming again.

"Where do you want to go for dinner?" Brad asked, not choosing to question this sudden display of affection.

"How about that Thai place we found last month?" Schuldig suggested. "That was good." He sputtered a little as the kitten crawled up onto his face, her nails needling at his cheeks.

"That's fine." Brad watched this in amusement.

Schuldig peeled the kitten off his face and looked her in the eye. "You can chew on my clothes, bat at my fingers, but please, not the face. 'Kay?"

The kitten swiped at his nose, claws extended.

"No," Schuldig said, and gave the kitten a gentle 'no' mentally as well. He wasn't quite sure if that would work, but the kitten stopped swiping and gave him a wide-eyed look, mewing again. Schuldig smiled at her. "I'm glad we understand each other," he said, and settled the kitten on his chest again. This time, she curled up and settled for being very confused.

Brad was watching all this with a smile on his face. It wasn't his usual smirk, or the faint twitch of the lips that he sometimes got when Schuldig was being particularly amusing. It was a real, honest-to-God smile, one that no one ever saw. Schuldig glanced up and managed to see it.

He pondered quickly whether he should smile back, or pretend not to notice so Brad wouldn't stop smiling. After a pause, he decided to try smiling. Brad did keep smiling for a few seconds, before he realized that they were smiling at each other, and he looked away.

But he didn't stop smiling, and for Schuldig, that was enough.

^^^^

Omi was displeased. To start off with, he was in a van. His hands and feet were tied. He was being trundled off to parts unknown to be hunted by sick weirdoes who got their kicks shooting people. And if all that wasn't bad enough, he was with Takatori Ouka whom despite all efforts on his part, up to blatantly announcing it, did not seem to realize that he was a) interested in men, and b) even if he had been interested in women, not interested in her.

Actually, the van wasn't moving. He suspected that he was supposed to be unconscious, but he knew from experience that when someone puts a rag over your face, it was best to hold your breath and go limp a few seconds later. Then they took the rag away and you could feel free to breathe easily without being knocked unconscious.

The back door of the van opened and he closed his eyes. He could hear a few more people being dumped inside. When he opened his eyes again, he saw a familiar face in the dim light of the back windows.

Apparently Nagi also knew to not breathe when someone put a rag over his face.

Omi gave him an odd little smile, which Nagi shyly returned. "So," Omi said, noting that everyone else was still unconscious and the van had started to move, "do you come here often?"

Nagi checked quickly with Schuldig to make sure that everyone in the van was truly unconscious and they could converse unheard. Other than being quite amused that he was stuck in a van with his crush, Schuldig was reassuring. "No . . ." Nagi told him, "I don't usually do missions on my own."

Omi blinked at him inquisitively and hoped that their missions didn't cross paths. Of course, if Nagi was defending anyone, he probably wouldn't be locked in the van. "What's your mission?"

"Just some recon. There are some people here I'm supposed to investigate." Nagi paused, then asked shyly, "What's yours?"

"We're after the people running this thing," Omi said. He didn't see any harm in telling him.

Nagi nodded, not seeming perturbed at this statement. "Both Takatori brothers? Or just Hirofumi?"

"Both if we can get them."

"We?" Nagi looked around expectantly, as if he thought Weiss would suddenly leap out of the corners of the van.

"The rest of the team will be following me," Omi told him. "It's too much ground to cover for just me, plus trying to keep all the people safe."

"So you're the inside man?" Nagi asked, nodding in understanding.

"I was elected by default. She -- " Omi tilted his chin at Ouka, "invited me to this party."

"Oh." Nagi shrugged. "I just snuck in."

"Easier, I suppose, but this way I was positive I wouldn't be caught."

It occurred to Nagi that dating the Takatori's sister probably wasn't the best way to be carted off to be shot, either, and he wondered at Ouka's presence in the van. No family loyalty there, apparently. He shrugged a little. "That works," he said, and fell nervously silent.

"So who are you watching?" Omi asked curiously.

"Takatori Masafumi's bodyguards," Nagi told him, trying to not sound as nervous as he was. He really needed to work on this whole socializing thing, and wondered idly if Brad had foreseen him getting tossed in a van alone with Omi.

"Why? I mean, if you can tell me."

Nagi just shrugged. "Crawford didn't tell me."

"We couldn't find much on them," Omi said, interested.

"We had files. Very interesting ones."

"Care to share?" Omi asked brightly.

"They're pretty much all crazy," Nagi said, and abruptly changed the subject before Omi could ask a question that he wasn't supposed to answer. "So . . ." He searched for something and realized he probably shouldn't know that a) the girl was Takatori Ouka, b) she was Omi's half-sister or cousin or something like that. "Who is she? Is she a friend of yours?"

"Not really," Omi said, feeling slightly sleazy. "She wanted to date me."

"Oh?" Nagi blushed. "She looks nice."

"Well, she's not scum of the earth like her siblings," Omi said dryly, "but in all honesty she can get kinda annoying at times."

"Oh." Nagi was still blushing.

"Would you have been jealous if I had been dating her?" Omi asked, his tone gently teasing. He wasn't sure exactly how much flirting he could get away with, but he wanted to at least toe the line. It wasn't just that Nagi was cute -- it was that he was the first person Omi had ever met that he thought might actually be able to accept and understand him.

"No," Nagi meeped. "Of course not."

"Oh. It would have been flattering if you had been," Omi said, his tone disappointed with just a hint of melodrama thrown in for effect.

Nagi's blush deepened. "Not really."

Omi gave him a disarming smile. "Yes, it would have been."

"Why?" Nagi asked suspiciously, at length.

"Because it would have meant you were interested in me," Omi said, as if this should be obvious.

"Not really," Nagi protested immediately. "It would have just meant that I don't like her."

"But you can dislike someone without being jealous of them," Omi pointed out, still smiling disarmingly in Nagi's direction. "You can't be jealous unless they have something you want. Which would have been me, and that would have been flattering."

"Not . . . really," Nagi mumbled.

"Not really?" Omi asked innocently.

Nagi decided to take a stand. "I wasn't jealous," he said firmly.

"I never said you were," Omi said, trying to not sound as amused as he really was. "I said it would have been flattering if you had been."

"Oh," Nagi said, after a pause. "Right."

Omi peered through the gloom. "Are you blushing?" he asked curiously.

"No," Nagi said hastily, trying to ignore Schuldig laughing his ass off inside Nagi's head. "I never blush. Okay, maybe a little."

Omi smiled at him. "You're so cute sometimes."

Nagi meeped quietly. "I'm really not . . . everyone just seems to think so."

"Maybe you shoud trust us then."

"Nah. Not when you're so blatantly wrong." Nagi smiled back hesitantly, hoping to show that he was joking. They had passed out of the city at this point, and it was nearly pitch black inside the van. Nagi reached into his pocket and withdrew a flashlight, aiming it at the ceiling so they could see each other in the dim light.

"I am not," Omi said, with great confidence. However, he decided to relent on the subject before Nagi passed out and changed back to the earlier subject, hoping that Nagi would answer the question this time. "Why are you interested in these bodyguard girls, anyway?"

"I'm not sure," Nagi told him, his blush fading. "I think our superiors are interested in them, but I don't know why."

Omi shrugged a little, as much as he could with his hands tied behind his back. He figured he'd stay like that to make his kidnappers feel better. "Weird. I mean, with a team like yours, why bother with one like that? They aren't anywhere near as good as your team. Or mine." That, at the very least, had come up in the mission file, even if the details on them were sketchy.

Nagi just shrugged, the beam of the flashlight aimlessly tracking over the ceiling. "We're not really trained to question our orders."

Omi made a face, clearly not approving. In his opinion, that was the worst way to run an organization, especially one with risks like Weiss. "That always seemed kinda dangerous to me."

"Well, questioning always seemed more dangerous," Nagi said with a wry smile.

"Not good," Omi stated. "No decent organization is built on fear."

Nagi thought back to his days at the Institute and shivered slightly. "Seems to have worked so far."

Omi noted the shiver, but decided it probably wouldn't be a good idea to mention it. "So far. But somewhere, someone is going to get scared and be smart enough to find a way out. Then it'll all come crashing down."

"Not if they're too scared," Nagi said, in a reasonable tone of voice that implied that he was treating it like it was a textbook example instead of his life.

"That only works while you have something to lose," Omi pointed out.

"Everyone always has something," Nagi pointed out. "Even if it's only their own life."

"Not always enough," Omi said. He was starting to wonder if that was way Kritiker hadn't complained about Yohji seeing Schuldig. Before that, they'd really had no way to keep him in line if he chose to act up. The same was true with Ken, but Ken had enough devotion to his teammates for that to matter. With Yohji, that was sort of touch-and-go. But a real, steady relationship . . . that was something else again.

Nagi just shrugged slightly, and Omi realized that he was uncomfortable with the subject. Whether that was because he was that afraid of his superiors, or because he didn't like discussing the important things in his life, Omi was unsure. He decided to change the subject. "Sorry," he said in a light, almost joking tone. "All of my group managment training coming to the forefront."

Nagi laughed. "That's okay. I'm just not used to talking about it."

Omi was relieved that he wasn't upset about it, and decided he could probably get away with a few more questions. "Sometimes I think you just aren't used to talking." he mused aloud. "You never question Crawford's orders?"

"Not usually," Nagi said. "Sometimes Schuldig does. But . . ." Since Brad could see the future, there was really never any need to question any of his orders. Nagi searched for something better than that to say. "But he's never really been wrong, so . . ."

"Never the morals of it either?" Omi asked curiously. He wasn't really trying to pry, but was more honestly interested in the answer, as a way to get to know Nagi.

"I don't kill," Nagi said quietly, wondering if Omi would take that as an insult, since he killed regularly. "Crawford's never tried to make me."

"So you never have to question, because he respects you enough to understand your limits." Omi nodded, his respect for Crawford going up a notch.

"He usually just lets me work with computers, schematics, things like that. He's . . . he's a very good leader." Nagi declined to mention how Crawford had rescued him from the streets, gaining his undying loyalty.

"Well, I'm glad you like him," Omi said, and he was, at least glad that Nagi's petrifying fear of his superiors didn't seem to apply to those that were close to him. He jolted a little as the van hit a pot hole: "Jeeze, what a way to spend a Saturday night," he commented.

Nagi shrugged. "There are worse ways." And he had spent many a Saturday night involved in them.

Omi grinned. "Yeah, I could still be dancing with her."

Nagi laughed. "Or we could be dead."

"Also true," Omi agreed, wondering how many other teenagers talked so nonchalantly about death. "But still, there are better ways to spend the evening."

"Well, yes," Nagi admitted.

There was a long silence, a bit awkward, but not altogether uncomfortable. "You know, you'd think coversation would be easier," Omi said thoughtfully.

Nagi blinked at him. "We've been 'kidnapped', are on our way to a club where people hunt humans for sport, we're in a nearly pitch-black van in the middle of the night with only a flashlight to help that, with a girl that you don't really like who wants to date you, and a bunch of unconscious people to boot, and you think conversation is supposed to be easy? Sure, okay. How 'bout that local sports team?"

Omi couldn't help laughing, and he was very glad to see that Nagi really did have a sense of humor underneath the shy exterior. "I was never a big sports fan."

Nagi smiled a little. "Me neither."

"And we haven't really been kidnapped," Omi pointed out. "I mean, we both knew what we were getting into. I don't know about you, but I could be free in about six minutes if I put my mind to it."

Nagi gave their surroundings a quick glance and said, "Three minutes." Of course, he meant for all the other passengers as well, but there was really no way to explain that without getting into his Talent.

"Well, aren't you special," Omi said in a joking tone.

"So I've been told."

"You sound like you doubt it."

Nagi smiled slightly. "Maybe I just don't see it."

Omi made an exasperated noise at the back of his throat. "Amazing. Try looking in a mirror."

"I don't have one with me," Nagi said dryly.

"That's a shame," Omi said. Subtlety didn't seem to be working, so he decided to try flirtation with a two-by-four. "You look cute enough from where I'm sitting."

Nagi blushed a dark red and aimed the flashlight in a far corner for his defense. He searched for something to say that would help, and came up with, "Cute isn't the same thing as special."

"True, but you're both."

"Not much for subtlety, are you," Nagi said, hoping that Omi didn't notice how red he was. He really needed to work on this blush reflex.

"I've never really flirted before," Omi admitted, "and every time I try subtlety with you, you manage to miss it."

"You don't know that I'm missing it," Nagi said, reasonably enough. He was pathetically glad that for now, Schuldig was staying out of the discussion. "You just know I'm not responding to it."

"Do you want me to stop flirting?" Omi asked.

Nagi shrugged. "I don't care," he lied, feeling like he might die if Omi stopped showing interest in him. "I was just pointing out that if you get any more obvious about it, Ouka-san might try to behead you when she wakes up."

Omi slumped. "Maybe she would just get the idea."

"Women can be surprisingly tenacious when it comes to cute men," Nagi pointed out.

Omi beamed widely at the backhanded compliment. "I told her I was gay!" he said, obviously proud of himself.

Nagi laughed. "Well, good for you. See, though? That was an example of subtle flirting."

"Okay, okay," Omi laughed, giving up. "Well, look, in my defense, all I have to learn from is Yohji-kun. And he doesn't understand the word subtle."

"That's all right, then," Nagi said, smiling nonchalantly and hoping to hell that he looked casual. "It's not like I've had a lot of lessons either."

"Well, you're doing pretty good. Maybe we can see a movie when we're done being kidnapped." Omi held his breath, hoping that Nagi wouldn't run away screaming. Metaphorically, since they were tied up in a van.

Nagi blushed deeply again. "Uhm . . . well . . . maybe as friends . . ."

"As friends," Omi said, taking what he could get.

"Okay then . . . I guess, sure."

"Well, that's good." Omi's smile faded slightly as he looked over at Ouka. "Any idea on how to get all of these people out alive?"

Nagi frowned slightly, thinking about it. He didn't have any specific orders in that vein. "Not really." He spoke slightly more quietly, although he was assuming that Schuldig would have let him know if any of his vanmates had woken up. "Only to take down as many of the hunters as quickly as we can."

Omi sighed. "That'll be hard since we have her with us."

"I know. We'll have to find somewhere safe to leave her."

"That'll take a bit of luck," Omi commented.

"Yes, it will."

^^^^

Omi looked around the woods, then down at Ouka. She was rubbing her temples. He couldn't help but sigh; everything would have been so much easier with her unconscious. Nagi was also glancing around, obviously assessing their surroundings.

"It's going to be a while before the guys get here," he said quietly to Nagi. Then, in a louder voice, he said, "We should find the others that were taken. See if we can round them up and find someplace safe."

"Where are we?" Ouka asked, looking like she might start to panic any second now.

"Somewhere in the woods," Omi told her, silently adding, 'about to be hunted down and shot by clients of your older brothers'.

"I can see that," she retorted.

Nagi was still looking around. "Hang on while I get my bearings," he said to Omi, then asked, /Schu? I'm here./

/Yo,/ Schuldig replied. /How's it look?/

/About like we thought it would be. We've gotten separated from the others. Can you help us find our way to them? Or better yet, to the targets?/

/Rescue people, target. Rescue people, target. Hm./

Nagi waited impatiently for Schuldig to finish joking around.

/Right, target. This way./ Schuldig gave his mind a gentle nudge.

"This way," Nagi said, and headed purposefully into the forest.

Omi blinked, then shrugged, helped Ouka to her feet, and followed. He didn't know where precisely Nagi was going, but it had to be better than standing there. Ouka was limping on a twisted ankle, and Omi fought to not be annoyed about it.

"We're heading for the hunting lodge," Nagi said, ducking underneath a low branch. "Where the people who run this wait and watch what's happening. They have cameras and everything."

"What?" Ouka asked, her voice cracking.

"We're going someplace safe," Omi assured her. He turned back to Nagi. "How did you know that? I have to know."

"I memorized the map of the area," Nagi lied easily, and kept walking. Although Brad had given Schuldig permission to share his powers with Yohji, he hadn't said anything specific to Nagi about what he should and should not say. He figured it was safer to err on the side of caution.

/You're straying to the left,/ Schuldig said. /And people are going to start shooting if you're not careful./

/I had to stray. There was a ditch. And if someone's going to start shooting, I trust that you'll warn me in time./

/I did just warn you!/ Schuldig said indignantly.

/You said they'd start shooting if I wasn't careful, that's different./

/You strayed to the left, and therefore you weren't careful./

/What, did you want me to leap into the ditch? It's made to trap people, you know./

/Float your ass over it!/

/And then what about Omi and Ouka?/

/Float his ass, too. I don't care what you do about her./

Nagi stifled a snort. He didn't reply.

/And you don't care about her either./

/Yes, Schuldig, dear./ Nagi looked around, wondering how far they had to go. Ouka was definitely limping and Omi looked quite put out with this. /We're getting too close to the hunters. Even I can hear them, which means that Omi can too. Is there any way around them?/

/Unfortunately, no. But if you backtrack a little, there's a smaller group. If you get through them, you have a clear path./

/Will I have to go around the ditch again?/ Nagi asked, clearly amused.

/You could just go over it./

Nagi stopped. "There are people up ahead," he reported unnecessarily. Omi nodded. "I think if we backtrack, we'll have a clear path to the lodge."

Omi gave him a suspicious look, then nodded and followed Nagi back the way they had come. Ouka was sniffling, but otherwise holding up quite well under the circumstances. Omi watched Nagi's every move, determined to figure out what was going on, and if it had anything to do with however Nagi had caught him in the warehouse.

/Your little boyfriend is getting suspicious,/ Schuldig said to Nagi.

/He's not my boyfriend!/ Nagi protested.

/That's only because you didn't say yes when he asked earlier. You should have said yes. You want him to date the little ditz instead?/

/He didn't ask earlier. He just implied. And anyway, regardless of whether or not he's dating me, he's not going to be dating her. So I don't care. Leave me alone unless you have something useful to say./

/Of course I do. Date him, he's cute./

/Something useful to the mission, I mean. You knew what I meant./

/Heads up. From the left./

Nagi turned, but he didn't have time to warn the others before the sound of gunshots. Omi threw himself to the ground, taking Ouka with him. She let out a muffled shriek. Nagi swore underneath his breath and lifted his hand, stopping the bullets in midair.

Omi blinked up at this.

Nagi glanced down at him. "You two okay?"

Omi nodded. Ouka sniffled. "They're shooting at us!" she exclaimed. Omi rolled his eyes.

Nagi shrugged. The bullets started moving again, in the opposite direction. "Now we're shooting back," he remarked calmly.

"I have got to figure you people out," Omi stated. "On a total aside, that was damn cool."

Nagi blushed.

/They're running,/ Schu reported. /West. You scared them off. Good job./

/Don't be sarcastic, you ass,/ Nagi said. "They're gone. We have a clear shot to the lodge now."

"And how do you know that?" Omi asked.

"Schuldig told me." Nagi turned and began to walk again.

Omi helped Ouka up and followed him. He hadn't seen Nagi wearing a microphone. He reflected that if they had smaller equipment than Weiss did, he'd have to get his hands on some of it.

/How much further to the lodge? And how many people will we have to deal with once we're there?/ Nagi asked Schuldig.

/Not much further. About five hundred meters. And luckily, it's empty./

/Any idea where Schreient is?/

/Out with Masafumi, hunting. But they'll be coming back towards the lodge soon. Along with everyone else./

/Good./ Nagi emerged from the trees and saw the lodge. "And here we are," he said, then added with a small smile, "it's been a pleasure being your guide this afternoon. I hope you enjoyed the tour."

"The pleasure was all mine." He hustled Ouka inside and helped her sit down.

"The Ta -- " Nagi stopped and looked at Ouka for a second. "The people you were looking for will be back here soon enough. I'm not sure what you want to do about that."

"Get them before they get here." Omi looked at Ouka. "Stay here."

Nagi nodded. "When will the rest of your team be here?"

"Not too much longer."

"All right. I'll come with you."

Omi nodded. He promised Ouka that he would be back soon, to stop her incessant whimpering, and left. Nagi trailed along behind him. "Are Schrient with Masafumi?" he asked.

Nagi nodded complacently. "And since I'm supposed to see them in action, this works out nicely."

Omi gave him a startled look. "You're surprisingly mercenary at times," he said.

Nagi just shrugged. Personally, he planned on making sure none of Weiss got hurt, but he wasn't going to say that out loud. It would just go into his report if he needed to save them.

/Nagi,/ Schuldig spoke up, /regardless of what anyone tells you, you're a good kid./

Nagi couldn't help but blush.

Omi raised an eyebrow at him. "What's the blush for?"

"Nothing," Nagi said quickly. "Let's go." He strode quickly into the forest, following Schuldig's direction to where the Takatori siblings were. Omi just shrugged and began to fish in his pockets. He had his headset, along with a set of darts.

"So," he said, "explain to me the whole shooting back thing. And you did catch me on that other mission, didn't you. I thought so, but then I thought maybe I had actually fallen and hit my head."

"I caught you," Nagi said. He hesitated, then added simply, "I'm telekinetic."

Omi blinked. "That must be damn useful," he said.

"Mm," Nagi agreed.

"Not very talkative, are you."

"It comes of living with Schuldig."

"He's talkative?" Omi asked. "I haven't really had much time to get to know him at all."

"He's telepathic," Nagi said. "He's talking even when he's not. It's really annoying."

/Next time I'll just let you get shot,/ Schuldig said. /That would be really annoying, now wouldn't it./

"And there he goes," Nagi said, smiling.

"What's he saying?" Omi asked curiously.

"That if I annoy him that much, next time he'll just let me get shot. But he won't. He's really nothing but a big softie."

/Don't make me tell Omi just how cute you think he is./

Nagi winced. /Okay, okay. I'll play nice./

/I win!/

"Anyone else on your team have interesting powers?" Omi asked.

"Crawford is a precog," Nagi said. "That's why he's our leader. He can always plan our missions so things go right. That's also how he knew about your team being in trouble that night we came to rescue you."

"Well, tell him I said thanks," Omi said.

Nagi shrugged. "He didn't really do it for you, no offense."

"Then what did he do it for?"

"Schuldig."

Omi considered this. "I take it that Schuldig would have been extremely upset if something happened to Yohji-kun?" he asked.

"Schuldig is in love with Yohji-san. Don't tell him I told."

/Hey!/

Nagi smiled slightly.

"Actually, I think Yohji-kun will figure it out pretty soon on his own," Omi said. He paused, carefully making his way over a large boulder. "He's head over heels."

/Hear that, Schu? Yohji-san's head over heels./

Schuldig sputtered unintelligibly for a few seconds. /Oh, I'm gonna get you./

/I'm shaking./ "We'd better wait here," Nagi said. "We're getting close, but you shouldn't go in until the rest of your team is here. Schreient might not be that impressive, but there are still four of them."

Omi stopped. "Yeah. It would be humiliating if they managed to kill me." Nagi just shrugged, settling on a nearby fallen tree. Omi sat next to him, fiddling with one of his darts.

/Ne, Omi./

Omi jumped a foot in the air. "Wah!" Nagi blinked at him, bewildered, as he peered around.

/Guess who thinks you're incredibly cute,/ Schuldig said, in a smug tone of voice.

Omi managed to calm down and sit back down again. "I -- eh -- " he said.

"Is Schuldig talking to you?" Nagi asked suspiciously.

"That's so weird," Omi said, tapping the side of his head and giving an embarrassed laugh.

"You get used to it," Nagi said. /Schu . . ./

Schuldig pulled Nagi into the telepathic loop so he could hear what he was saying to Omi. /Nagi thinks you have wonderful eyes and a really great smile,/ he said, and Nagi squeaked. /And this is what he gets for spreading my personal business all over the place./

/Schu!/ Nagi protested, mentally wailing.

/Ha ha, I win again./

"So do you think if I asked him out, he'd agree to date me?" Omi asked brightly, and Nagi went an interesting shade of bright red, making a strangled noise in the back of his throat.

/If you wheedle enough,/ Schuldig replied. /You'll have to take things really slowly. He's shy./

/I'm going to die of mortification now,/ Nagi moaned.

"Not before our first date!" Omi protested, then frowned. "Or after. No dying."

Nagi just wilted.

There was some noise in the forest, and both Nagi and Omi looked up as Ken emerged from the bushes. He blinked to see Nagi, then nearly fell over as Yohji pushed his way into the small clearing. Aya was behind him, glaring at everyone equally.

Yohji blinked at Nagi. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Nagi looked back shyly. "Helping, I think," he said, looking uncertainly at Omi.

Omi gave him a reassuring nod. "Where's the target?"

"This way." Nagi got up and started to walk again. The remaining members of Weiss gave Omi a bewildered look. Omi just lifted his hands in surrender and began to follow Nagi, indicating that he would explain later. Probably.

^^^^