Chapter Fourteen

Nagi sat complacently on a rock and waited for the fight to finish. He was only supposed to observe, and Weiss seemed to be holding their own quite nicely, so he felt no need to interfere. The only reason that Nagi thought any of Schreient was still alive was because they had body armor.

Well, at least they weren't total idiots, then. Although they might not have thought of it themselves. It was clearly designed to please men.

When it seemed that Schreient might lose rather permanently, the headset that Hell was wearing crackled. Without a word, Schreient vanished into the woods.

Omi blinked, puzzled by this, then followed them down the narrow pathway. The others followed, including Nagi, although he kept a more sedate pace. He doubted that Weiss would catch up with Schreient, although they were obviously hoping that the group would lead them to the targets.

/These girls aren't very bright, are they,/ Schuldig commented. /Especially the one with the puffball hair./

/That depends,/ Nagi replied. /Are they or are they not leading everyone straight to the Takatori brothers?/

/What do you think?/

Nagi pushed a branch out of the path with his telekinesis before continuing. /I think that if they do, they're going to be fired./

/And snapped up by our superiors. Convenient, isn't it. Who designed those outfits? It's like hussy wear./

/Couldn't you find out if you really wanted?/ Nagi asked, slightly amused.

/I could, but . . . their minds are a bit off. Couple of them are really off./

/Said the pot to the kettle. Besides, I'm still mad at you, and I'm not speaking to you./ Nagi closed his mind off as best he could with a thud of finality.

/Ha ha, I still win./

Nagi wandered into a clearing to see Weiss again facing off with Schreient. This time, the Takatori brothers were on the other side of the clearing. Nagi swore underneath his breath. That was why Schreient had lead them here; their employers had guns, as they had been hunting.

The only person he didn't see was Omi. A quick glance revealed that he had climbed a tree and had just loosed a crossbow bolt at the Takatori brothers. The other members of Weiss scattered as gunfire broke out, running into the trees. The girls in Schreient smirked, obviously considering that they'd won.

/Some bodyguards they are,/ Nagi remarked.

/They're a bit mercenary./

/I don't suppose we know what Esstet wants them for?/ Nagi asked. /Because I wouldn't recommend them with a ten foot pole./

Omi's crossbow bolt had nearly found its mark; Masafumi had dodged and gotten hit in the arm rather than the chest. Nagi glanced over as Yohji's wire flashed out, effectively disarming Hirofumi.

/Hopefully only eye candy,/ Schuldig asked.

/Still, it's sort of fun to watch Weiss in action,/ Nagi remarked, absently shielding himself as some stray bullets came his way.

/For Talentless, they're not bad,/ Schuldig agreed.

/Ah . . . does Omi realize those are his big brothers over there?/ Nagi asked suddenly.

/No, clearly not,/ Schuldig replied.

/Huh,/ Nagi said.

Schoen aimed her whip at Omi. It twined around his ankle and yanked him out of the tree, and he landed with a crash on the clearing ground. Omi scrambled to his feet, despite the pain that his body was complaining about.

"Mamoru?" Hirofumi asked, blinking at him.

/Oh, great,/ Nagi said.

Omi blinked at them. For a few moments, all action in the clearing ceased. Hell started forward, but Masafumi imperiously held up his hand, and she stopped in her tracks.

"Mamoru, is that you?" Hirofumi asked, starting forward. He had put up his gun so it was no longer aimed at Omi.

"No -- yes -- no!" Omi said. He backed away from them, trying to put a stop to the memories that were washing over him. "How do you know me?" he demanded, glancing around for the rest of Weiss. They weren't moving, apparently unseen among the trees, waiting to see what would happen.

"We haven't seen you in years!" Hirofumi said. "Not since you were kidnapped."

"But . . ." Omi shook his head. "I . . ." His voice trailed off into unintelligible stammers.

"Don't you remember who you are?" Hirofumi asked, giving him a close look. "Don't you remember your own brothers?"

Omi shook his head again. More memories washed over him and he sank to his knees, holding his head in his hands. "Stop," he said.

Hoping that he wasn't about to be shot, Ken ventured into the clearing, kneeling besides Omi. "What's going on?" he asked, putting a hand on Omi's shoulder. "Are you okay? You're obviously not okay. What the hell?" Omi was still just shaking his head. "Okay, let's go," Ken decided, getting his arm around Omi's waist and hauling him to his feet. "I suggest a retreat," he murmured into his headset. "At least until we know what's going on."

"Ryoukai," Yohji said, also backing away. Aya echoed him.

/That was interesting,/ Nagi said. /Did we have a contingency plan for this? Weren't they supposed to die? I can't keep track of Crawford's plans./

/Crawford didn't say,/ Schuldig replied. /I suggest we just leave it for now./

/Okay./ Nagi backed away. /Think Omi is going to remember that he left that chick in the lodge?/

/I think he's too busy remembering other things. Wanna go get her?/

/Not particularly,/ Nagi replied.

/Okay then./

^^^^

Manx was waiting at the flower shop when they got back, which surprised them to no end. "Where do you get your information?" Yohji asked her, pulling up the shutters on the flower shop. "How did you know to already be here?"

"I have my sources," Manx said, following them inside. Omi was still looking shell-shocked. He looked at Manx with big puppy dog eyes. It hadn't yet occurred to him to wonder what had happened to either Ouka or, for that matter, Nagi.

"What's my real name?" he asked her.

She cleared her throat. "Maybe it's better if we don't do this in front of an audience," she said, giving the rest of Weiss a significant look.

Aya rolled his eyes at Manx. Ken just shrugged. "As long as I don't have laundry duty," he said. "Grass stains, yuck."

"Oh, shut up," Aya said. "I'll do the damned laundry."

"Thanks," Ken said, and wandered off to the rest of the house. Yohji laughed at the both of them, said he was going to go wrangle himself a date with a gorgeous redhead, and headed to his own apartment. Aya sighed and left the room.

"Why don't you sit down," Manx suggested.

"I don't want to sit down," Omi said. "I want to know what my real name is."

"Takatori Mamoru. Sit."

Omi thudded into a chair. He listened in silence while Manx explained the long, complicated story of how he had been kidnapped and Persia had rescued him. "Any questions?"

"I suppose I shouldn't ask who Persia is," Omi said. "Who's Persia?"

"He's a high-ranking member in Kritiker, and that's all you need to know," Manx replied. "Any real questions?"

"Any other secrets you're keeping from me?" Omi snapped.

"Hundreds. We are a large organization, you know."

"Any that pertain to me," Omi said. He thought that Kritiker probably had a lot fewer secrets than they thought they did, given his propensity for hacking into the system.

Manx appeared to think about it for a few seconds. "No," she said.

"Liar," Omi replied.

"Well, they wouldn't be secrets if I told you," she said dryly.

Omi was truly irritated now, and nearly burst out, 'I'll find out,' but then decided that it probably wasn't the right thing to say. "Why did you send us after them knowing that they're my brothers."

"Because you didn't know they're your brothers," Manx said. "And you weren't supposed to find out."

"Awfully big chance you're taking there," Omi said. "One that backfired, I might add. Horribly. I could have gotten my entire team killed!"

"But you didn't."

Omi was speechless with indignation.

"The assignment will be given to another team," Manx said. "That's pretty much the end of it."

He sputtered for a few seconds.

"Perhaps it's best that you remembered," Manx said with a shrug. "I don't make these decisions, Omi."

"No, Persia does," Omi said. "And you won't tell me anything about him."

"Persia doesn't determine all your assignments. We're all part of a larger whole, Omi, and you'd do well to remember that." Manx turned to go.

Omi let her.

^^^^

Yohji scooped the phone up and dialed the number for the apartment that Schuldig had given him. His curiosity was eating at his brain, and he only managed to wait ten minutes before he gave in and called.

There was a click. "Hello?" a voice said, unfamiliar.

Yohji blinked a few times. "Can I talk to Schuldig?"

"No," Brad said. "I killed him for giving out our phone number." He hung up. Just before he did, Yohji heard an indignant squawk in the background. He put down the phone and waited a few seconds, then dialed again.

Another click, then dead silence.

"Uhm, hello?" Yohji asked.

"Hi," a new voice said.

"Can I talk to Schuldig?" Yohji asked again, still mangling the pronounciation of the name.

"We don't have anyone by that name."

"Really," Yohji said, hearing more squawks in the background.

"No, you can't have the phone," the person said, presumably to Schuldig. "Don't make me hurt you."

"Look, can I please talk to Schu?" Yohji tried.

There was a long pause while Farferello thought about it. "If I do something nice for you now, will you do something nice for me later?" he finally asked.

"Like what?" Yohji asked suspiciously.

"I don't know," Farferello said, "but I promise you won't have to kill anyone. That's my job."

"Fine. Just put Schu on the phone, okay?"

"All right." There was a loud clunk.

"I'm surrounded by maniacs," Schuldig said, picking up the phone.

"Hello to you too," Yohji replied. "And yes, you are. I wasn't aware that Crawford was so strict about the phone number thing. Should I take it that to mean that if Omi asks for Nagi's number, I shouldn't give it to him?"

"Oh God no," Schuldig said. "He'd either kill me, or take away my favorite gun."

"And that would be a tragedy," Yohji said solemnly.

"It would," Schuldig protested. He settled comfortably onto the couch, where Brad was reading the paper. "So what can I do for your hotness?" he asked, and grinned at Brad as the older man raised an eyebrow at him.

"I was just wondering what Nagi was doing there today," Yohji said. "I mean, given that our mission paths don't tend to cross. Or when they do, it's in messy, horrific ways."

"It was only messy and horrific once," Schuldig said. "Nagi was doing . . . reconnaissance? Is that the right word?"

"You're pronouncing it badly, but yes, it's the right word," Yohji replied, amused. "What was he looking for?"

"Honestly, I wasn't given the details," Schuldig said. "And I'm sorry I'm pronouncing it badly. Your language is messed up. Damn vowels."

Yohji rolled his eyes. "Well, I thought I might want to check and see that he got back okay. I mean, we sort of had a crisis, and after that we didn't see him. I thought I'd be nice."

"He did get back okay," Schuldig said. "He even rescued that annoying bint from the cabin."

Yohji frowned. "Ouka, you mean?"

"Is that the girl, with the hair? From the flower shop?"

"That's Ouka, all right."

"Then yes. I meant her."

"Okay." These mysteries settled, Yohji sprawled more comfortably onto his bed. "What are you doing tomorrow? I think Omi's going to be moping, so maybe you should come over. Bring Nagi to keep him company."

"I don't know," Schuldig said. "Give me a minute." He looked over at Brad, putting his hand over the mouthpiece. "Oh, Fearless Leader."

Brad raised an eyebrow at him.

"What's on tomorrow's agenda?"

"The last time I checked, you were going to mortify Nagi into non-existence."

"Was he going to recover?" Schuldig asked brightly.

"Most likely. It depends on how you define it."

"Will he eventually date Omi and be happy?"

Brad coughed. "I'm not in the habit of prying into Nagi's future love and/or social life, Schuldig."

"Then how did you mean it?" Schuldig asked.

"Never mind," Brad said, going back to the paper. "If you want permission to go over to Weiss' and bring Nagi with you, you can have it. Just be sure to secure Farferello before you leave. I'll be out."

Farferello gave Brad the one-eyed hairy eyeball. "Hate the straightjacket. Boring."

"When I can trust you to not get into the kitchen knives or bang your head against the wall while I'm out, then you won't need the straightjacket," Brad said. "Just be glad that I've laid off the sedatives and stop complaining."

Farferello fumed, but didn't say anything else.

Schuldig went back to the phone. "Right. What time?"

"Did I hear the word 'straightjacket'?" Yohji asked.

"I suspect you might have," Schuldig said. "What time?"

"Omittchi and I both have morning shift, so any time after about two would be good," Yohji replied.

"Cool."

^^^^

Schuldig knocked on Nagi's door and poked his head inside. Brad had left for the day, Farferello was in his straightjacket; the only task left was convincing Nagi to go with him. It was proving surprisingly difficult. When Nagi chose to be stubborn, he was very stubborn. "You know you want to go with me," he said.

"Mm," Nagi said noncommitally, connecting some cables. He was, as usual, playing with his computer. "I'm busy."

"Omi's gonna be in a bad mood and he's going to need someone to cheer him up," Schuldig reminded him. "This'll all wait until you get back," he added, looking at the piles of wire and electrical parts.

"It needs to be done now," Nagi said. "Or the parts will get dusty and stop working."

"Put a sheet over it," Schuldig said. When Nagi's lips twitched in a smile, he realized that Nagi had been joking. "Come onnnnn," he wheedled. Nagi still played with the wires and didn't even look up at him. "You know you want to see him."

"I don't think I can really cheer him up," Nagi replied.

"Well, you probably won't be able to make him do cartwheels or something," Schuldig agreed. "He likes you. He thinks you're cute, he thinks you're nice, and if you show him you're worried, and I know you are, he'll like you even more and that will cheer him up."

"I don't want him to think I'm cute or nice. Go away."

Schuldig glared at him. They'd been having the argument all day, and he was beginning to realize that he just wasn't going to win. He slumped out of the room and into Farferello's. Desperate times called for desperate measures. /Farfie?/

Farferello just gave him a look.

/You wanna make a whole bunch of noise and act like a nut, right?/ Schuldig asked him.

There was a pause while Farferello thought about it, shifty-eyed. /Make Crawford leave me out of the straightjacket next time he goes out,/ he replied. He had picked up responding to Schuldig's telepathic communication very quickly.

/Only if you're not actually having an episode or going to,/ Schuldig replied.

Another pause. /All right,/ Farferello said. He proceeded to act like a loon. A violent loon. Satsified, Schuldig packed up his backpack in the living room, waiting for Nagi. It took about two minutes.

"What on earth is his problem today?" Nagi asked irritably.

"Full moon?" Schuldig guessed. He knew that Nagi hated to be alone in the apartment with Farferello when he was having a bad day, despite the fact that Nagi was probably the best suited to match Farferello out of any of them. "Do you know where Katzchen is? I'm bringing him with me."

"He's in your room." Nagi glared in the direction of Farferello's room. He was kicking the door and demanded to be let out. Nagi swore mildly underneath his breath. "Can he get out of there?" he asked nervously.

"He hasn't yet," Schuldig said brightly, retrieving the kitten.

Farferello kicked the door harder. It shuddered on its hinges.

/Do you know that we're talking about you?/ Schuldig asked him curiously.

/Of course,/ Farferello replied.

/Right./ Schuldig carefully deposited the kitten in the backpack, along with a couple cat toys. Katzchen stuck her head out of the top and started gnawing happily on Schuldig's hair. "Okay, I'll be back later," he said cheerfully to Nagi. "Crawford said he was gonna be late, so don't forget to make sure Farfie eats dinner."

Nagi let out a little squeak. "I don't wanna feed him!"

"Well, you can't let him starve."

"Yes, I can!"

Schuldig gave him a look. "And make him mad?"

Nagi narrowed his eyes. "You did this, didn't you," he said.

"Oh, yeah, like I can make him do anything," Schuldig said casually, heading for the door.

Nagi growled something unpleasant under his breath. He grabbed his shoes and his backpack and followed close behind Schuldig. "You're a prick," he said sharply, as they rode the elevator down to the car, tugging his shoes on.

"What?" Schuldig asked, feigning indignance. Up in the apartment, Farferello had fallen silent and was looking out the window.

"You did something," Nagi said. "I don't know what, but you definitely did it."

"You always think I'm guilty of something," Schuldig said.

Nagi just gave him a look.

Schuldig rolled his eyes back.

^^^^

Yohji thought the kitten was very cute, except for the fact that she seemed singularly intent on unravelling his shirt one thread at a time. After a few seconds, he managed to foist the kitten off onto Omi. "What's her name again?" he asked, propping his sunglasses up on the top of his head.

"Katzchen," Schuldig said proudly. "Not very original."

Nagi snorted quietly. He was sitting at the kitchen table with his hands folded in his lap, and had yet to speak a single word to any of the present company.

Omi dangled a piece of string in front of the kitten. It was, unbeknownst to Yohji, from the bottom of his shirt. After a few seconds, he picked up the kitten and offered her to Nagi, wondering why the smaller boy looked upset.

Nagi accepted the kitten wordlessly, scratching behind her ears in the hopes that she would calm down and stop gnawing on his sleeve. It was in vain. "You wanna go watch a movie or something?" Omi asked, thinking that anything to make him less depressed would be good.

Yohji grinned, reflecting that Omi always recovered from his own troubles when he had someone else to focus on. /I'm a genius,/ he said to Schuldig, although his mental communication was rather fumbling.

Schu smirked slightly. /Oh, it took some arranging on my part, too./

However, much to Omi's discomfiture, Nagi just shrugged a little, studying the grain of the table.

Omi brightened as he got an idea. "You've gotta see this new thing I got for my computer," he said.

Nagi looked up, interested in spite of himself. "What is it?"

"It's a hacking program," Omi said, smiling disarmingly at Nagi, and went off into computerspeak, leaving Yohji and Schuldig blinking at him. Nagi followed every word, however, looking more and more interested as Omi described the program.

"That does sound interesting," he admitted. "Where'd you get it?"

"I wrote it," Omi said proudly.

"Really?" Nagi asked, perking up slightly. He, too, went off into computerspeak, asking whether or not he'd had any problems with some sort of code that, as far as Yohji was concerned, should be contained only in the highest levels of government.

"Just come see," Omi said.

"Okay," Nagi said, handing the kitten to Schuldig and pushing his chair back. He looked at Schuldig, who was smirking. "But you're still a jerk," he said. Schuldig raised his hands in surrender, and grinned as Nagi followed Omi out of the room.

"I'll take a small victory," Schuldig said. "I don't need to win everything."

"So what should we do with the kitten?" Yohji asked. "I had plans, y'know."

"Well, unless you've got anything terribly fragile, she'll entertain herself," Schuldig said. "I brought her favorite toys. She's still a bit clumsy, though."

"It looks like she'll chew up every square inch of upholstery in the place," Yohji observed.

Schuldig looked at the kitten. "No chewing," he said firmly, and sent her some warm fuzzies. Katzchen purred, rubbing herself up against his hand.

"Still, just to be safe," Yohji said, "let's leave her in Aya's room."

^^^^

Aya came out of his room approximately two hours later, when he got off shift. He had Katzchen by the scruff of the neck. The kitten was trying valiantly to bite his fingers. Or at the very least, scratch them. He knocked on Omi's door.

"Come in," Omi called.

Aya walked in to see Omi and Nagi poring over what looked like enough computer manuals to float a battleship. They were also surrounded by computer parts from Omi's desktop computer. Nagi was happily applying a tool to one of these parts and saying, "See, if you adjust this -- " He blinked up as Aya came in. "Why do you have Katzchen?"

"Katzchen?" Aya asked. "Where did this little monster come from?"

Nagi looked shifty-eyed. "She's Schuldig's . . ."

"She destroyed one of my curtains."

"Yes, well, she does that," Nagi said nervously. "But I don't know what she'd be doing in your room. Schu's usually very good about keeping an eye on her, but I suppose, ah, given that he's with Yohji-san and there are certain things young kittens shouldn't witness . . ."

Aya's eyes narrowed. "Yohji," he said, with the air of someone saying an obscenity.

"Aya-kun, you can't kill Yohji-kun," Omi said, seeing that Nagi was shrinking away from Aya, as if he might suddenly go beserk, which, with Aya, was not entirely unreasonable. "Or maim him. Or douse him with cold water. Give me the kitten."

Aya handed over the kitten. "I'm going to get him," he said. "I'm going to." He turned and left the room.

"Katzchen hasn't been trained very well," Nagi said, taking the kitten after she tried to bite Omi's fingers. "It's mostly because Schuldig doesn't really seem to care. She knows not to bite me and Crawford, and how to use the litter box, but that's pretty much it. Oh, and to not chew Crawford's clothes or my computer."

"Well, she's cute," Omi said, "if extremely badly behaved." Katzchen had gotten hold of one of his socks and was rolling on her back, mauling it.

"She was for Schuldig's birthday," Nagi said.

"He didn't strike me as the kind of person who would like kittens," Omi said thoughtfully.

"Me neither, but . . ." Nagi shrugged. "Crawford's really good at picking gifts, and he's known Schuldig a lot longer than I have. And since Schuldig really likes the kitten, I just don't question these things."

"What'd he get you for your birthday?" Omi asked. He had decided that the best way to get to know Nagi was to ask questions that weren't technically about Nagi, but just sort of surrounded him.

"He got me a laptop. It was just after we got back to Japan."

"Where were you before that?" Omi asked curiously, hoping that Nagi didn't take the question as snooping. Omi had never been out of Japan, so he wanted to hear more about it.

"Germany," Nagi said. "Where Schuldig is from. The headquarters of our . . . uhm . . ."

"Superiors?" Omi suggested.

"Yeah. Them. That's in Germany."

"Been anywhere else?" Omi asked. "I've never been out of Japan. Actually, I've never really been out of Tokyo."

"No," Nagi said. "And I barely saw anything of Germany. I was in training and stuff."

"That sucks," Omi said.

Nagi smiled slightly. "Yeah. Crawford's from America, though. I think New York somewhere."

"I've heard all kinds of strange stuff about Americans," Omi said interestedly. "They have neat comics, though."

"Well, Crawford is pretty strange," Nagi agreed.

"So," Omi said, "how long did it take you to learn to use your power? I mean, if you don't mind me asking. How'd you figure out you had it? It's pretty cool."

Nagi smiled a little, although he had gone back to adjusting computer parts so he wouldn't have to look directly at Omi. "It's kind of hard to miss. I mean, all of them are. Schuldig hears voices, Crawford has visions, and as for me, well, things exploded when I got panicky."

"Oh," Omi said. "What about what's his name? The other guy on your team?"

"Farferello. He doesn't have a classifiable Talent."

"Is that what you call it? A Talent?"

"Yeah. It took me about six months to learn to use mine with at least some degree of proficients, and then I left the training facility and learned most of the rest of it by myself."

"Did they teach me all the computer stuff, too?" Omi asked, interested.

"Most of it. Especially the hardware stuff. The hacking I just have a knack for."

"It would have been nice if somebody had taught me," Omi reflected. "I had to pick up most of it on my own. Through boredom."

"Really?" Nagi asked, surprised. "You're really good for someone who wasn't taught." He blushed suddenly, realizing what he had said and added shyly, "I mean . . . in comparison to other hackers I've seen."

Omi laughed. "Thanks. But you're definitely better at the hardware. I think there's definitely something to be said for being taught."

"I always thought . . ." Nagi frowned at a stubborn bolt, twisting the wrench. When that didn't work, he put the wrench down and glared at it. It came loose a few seconds later and dropped into his hand. "I mean, I guess I thought people would be afraid of me if they knew about my powers. Schuldig was always worried about that, too. Crawford doesn't seem to care, but he doesn't seem to care about anything, so that makes sense."

"I think it's all a matter of perspective," Omi said, leaning against his bed. "People have a tendency to be afraid of things they can't understand. Most people would be afraid of me, if they knew what I did for a living. But some of us just spend way too much time being curious to be afraid."

Nagi laughed a little, reinstalling some part that Omi hadn't previously known his computer had. "Most of them manifest around puberty," he added, with his head mostly inside the computer. "But not always. If they don't, they're liable to be really strong . . . like mine and Schu's," he added shyly. "Crawford's, too."

"So you're stronger than most other telekinetics?" Omi asked, finding all this fascinating. He picked up a piece of software and started to examine it.

"Mm," Nagi agreed, emerging from the computer, slightly dusty. "Okay, that should do it," he said, putting the cover back on.

"You wanna try it?" Omi asked, recognizing Nagi's desire to change the subject. For someone so obviously comfortable with his talents, he seemed oddly reluctant to discuss them.

"Sure," Nagi said.

^^^^