Nagi Naoe was on his way home from his cram school cursing all the way, it was typical, he was a powerful telekinetic, in one of the two most highly prized mercenary assassin groups in the world, independently wealthy and he still had cram school. He had been all over the world, in the employ of some of the world's most powerful men and yet someone still decided that he needed to know about the foreign policy of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. He was cursing when the man stepped out in front of him.
He was tall with silvery blonde hair and he wore a long white trench coat. "Do you believe in god?" the man asked him.
Nagi thought of some of Schuldig's most favourite phrases, this was all he needed, a god botherer at this time of night, where was Farfarello when you needed him? "I'm in a hurry."
"I'm glad that I could finally meet you." The man said, in his hand he was holding a CD jewel box, "Seems like the number of the victims is increasing! Deep in your heart, you have a power from God, locked in that tiny body like Pandora's box... You are special... because you are the chosen one. The reason I'm giving this to you is... You host a power equal to it... Once the brightest star in heaven, equal to God... give yourself to Rociel."
"Look, I'm flattered really," Nagi said as the man grabbed his arm, "just let me go."
"Is there a problem here?" A voice said, Nagi almost gave out a sigh of relief, he was rescued, then he realised that the person that had rescued him was Fujimiya Aya, one of his worst enemies, and standing next to him was Kudoh Yohji. It really wasn't his night, he had been attacked by some bible freak and now he was being rescued by Weiss of all people. He began to wish that the ground would open and swallow him before he died of embarrassment.
"Yes," Nagi answered, he had had enough of this rotten day, of his rotten exams and rotten foreigners trying to convert him. "Aya-san, this man won't leave me be."
"Hn." Aya replied, although Yohji was reasonably sure that Aya was not carrying his sword, but that didn't mean he wasn't carrying something else.
"The boy's with us." Yohji said as Aya gave the foreigner a factor three Shi-ne glare. "And is definitely not old enough, so unless you want us to call the cops, beat it."
The man raised an eyebrow as if to suggest that the two of them were no match for him. He pressed the jewel box into Nagi's hand. Then looked at Aya again, "Well Michael, shall we deny that we saw each other here?"
"What?" Aya asked. The man turned and walked away without an explanation.
"Well, kiddo," Yohji told him leaning down, "you sure pick 'em, what did he give you, porn?"
Nagi turned the box in his hand. "It's called Angel Sanctuary, Yohji-san."
He answered, "never heard of it." Aya blinked, he had. He just wasn't sure where.
A car pulled up along side them and the window rolled down "What the hell is going on here?" Crawford said from the driver's seat, "I had a vision of Nagi being attacked and I find him standing with half of Weiss."
"They rescued me." Nagi said, opening the car door, "there was a weird foreigner and they scared him off. Thank you." He gave them a small bow, "and Aya-san, who's Michael?"
"Weirdo just had him confused with someone else." Yohji answered with a mock salute to Crawford.
"I don't think the boy should be out on his own in this part of town this late." Aya answered. "Next time he might not be so lucky."
"I have just enrolled him in a new school." Crawford said, "and besides, Nagi can take care of himself." Aya raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
"Come on," Yohji said, "Ora will be starting soon and I don't want to miss the show." He tugged on Aya's arm. Aya had stopped in front of a news broadcast; the reporter was talking quietly "Up till now, there have been five students, nation wide, who died while using a computer. The computers themselves didn't register any errors. Details are still being investigated!"
"Oh Kami-sama." Yohji swore, "Omi."
"Don't be so melodramatic." Aya said, "I just thought that it would be our next mission."
Back at home Nagi looked at the CD that the strange foreigner had given him and tried to ignore the scratching at his door. "Angel Sanctuary," it said it large typeface, then in smaller writing "digital angels."
"Leave him alone," Crawford called out, "he's studying."
"But," Farfarello whined, "I smell angels."
"Not again," Schuldig said, "first you break into Weiss' headquarters so you can sniff the Tsukiyono kid and now you want to smell Nagi, you paedophile, into your room and stay there." There was a slamming and then a huffing noise as Schuldig flopped into their sofa.
"He did what?" Crawford asked.
Nagi decided to ignore them as he put the CD in running it through a scan so he could find out what it was. He'd done enough havoc with Schwartz than to simply trust something, just because it looked like a game and smelt like a game and played like a game didn't mean that it wasn't coded with subliminal god-love messages or something. Becoming religious was not something he intended to do with Farfarello in the house, even if he was being a little strange lately. The CD seemed clean, but he decided to think about it later, he had a paper to write on expansionist renaissance politics. He lifted the book from the shelf with his power and flopped it on his desk, sometimes, he thought, it sucks to be fifteen.
Yohji walked back from the teahouse with his hand surreptitiously in Aya's. It was nice being able to show affection for Aya, and for Aya to actually talk to him and let him show affection. They never could in the Kitty in the House in case word got back to Kritiker unless the other two were absent, but this was nice. Sometimes Aya could actually be quite talkative.
"Hey, Aya," he said looking at his beautiful lover in the light, "why did you stand up for that Schwartz kid, Crawford's right you know, he can take care of himself, I'm surprised that odd foreigner wasn't wrapped around a lamppost."
"He's younger than Omi," Aya said, "and just because he can deal with it physically doesn't mean he can think that through. I imagine if it had have been the other way around that Crawford would have stepped in."
"To kidnap Omi." Yohji added, "and sell him in the black market, or brainwash him." Aya's frown gave him his answer. "All right, it was the right thing to do. Why did he call you Michael? I know you have this secret mysterious past you never talk about..."
Aya put his hand to his mouth, "the man was insane, and I have no idea why he called me Michael."
Omi looked up from his assignment when the teacher called out to the class, "We have a new transfer student today, everyone this is Nagi Naoe, Nagi-san, you can sit in the empty seat next to Tsukiyono-san, he will fill you in on what you've missed." Omi didn't know whether to stutter, faint, or attack, when the boy sat next to him.
"Don't say anything." Nagi growled pulling out his chair and sitting down with a heavy thump. "I was in a mixed school, there was this girl, and Crawford transferred me, that's all you need to know." He said firmly.
"I wasn't going to say anything." Omi answered. "I'm here because Aya doesn't want Yohji fielding awkward questions."
Nagi nodded as if he understood completely. "She wasn't my girlfriend." Nagi added, "in case you misunderstood."
"No, not at all." Omi added. "I always thought that you and Todt..." He left it open.
"It passed when I spent five minutes with her." He added. "She was..." It was Nagi's turn to leave a gap in the conversation.
"I understand completely." He looked at Nagi's Sailor Saturn Pencil tin and then his own Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne one. "School finishes at three today, want to hit the arcades?"
Before Nagi could answer Matsuo stood up and the teacher looked up before he frowned. "I have to go." Matsuo said, "Angel is calling me."
Nagi stifled a giggle as the boy left the school. "What do you know, whatever it is that Farfarello's got it's catchy." He watched as Omi joined him in a secret snicker. "All he has to do now is smell young boys."
Omi got back to the shop around dinnertime. Aya was sat reading a book of English poetry and it looked that Yohji was teasing him. Omi had no idea what was so funny about the poetry of Lord Rochester and why Yohji would find it at all interesting. "You guys will never guess what happened in school today?" He said helping himself to some of the takeout on the table. "We have a new student in class, and I have been assigned to make sure that he fits in, and it's Nagi." He paused, "Schwartz Nagi." He added.
"Maybe we should have let that foreigner kidnap him." Yohji said taking a drink of his coffee.
"He mentioned that." Omi continued, "and Matsuo freaked out in class, said that he had to go that angel was calling him. And I went to the arcade with Nagi-kun, he's all right, really, he's really smart and..."
The phone ringing interrupted him. Aya reached over and picked up the handset. "Kitty in the House?" He said clearly. "Crawford?" He asked in shock. There was a brief pause. "No, we'll be right there." He hung up the phone.
"Is Schwartz making a move? They are targeting the mint, right?" Yohji asked.
"No," Aya said, shocked, "he wants to talk to us two about Nagi's new school. He's a bit worried about bad influences." Aya was shocked into speaking.
"He thinks out little Omittchi is a bad influence?" Yohji asked, aghast.
"No," Aya said quietly, "he's heard about a bad influence in the school, but..."
"Kira." Yohji growled. "That boy is the devil incarnate."
"I was so shocked I said we'd meet him."
"How did he get this number?" Yohji pressed.
"The yellow pages." Omi replied, shaking his head, sometimes he wondered if he was the only member of Weiss with any common sense.
"Kritiker listed Weiss in the yellow pages?" Aya asked.
"No," Omi answered, "they listed the Kitty in the House in the yellow pages."
Crawford had picked a small local restaurant which they both had declared neutral ground on the previous two times that they had met to discuss matters. They never talked about work, but once Crawford had needed a very specialised bouquet and he knew a group of florists that would keep it quiet, and once Yohji had this German girl following him, who didn't speak a word of Japanese. This was the most adult conversation that they had ever had.
He wore a black Armani suit and reflective glasses. He was drinking coffee and had ordered coffee for Yohji and tea for Aya. "You knew we would come." Yohji said, Crawford didn't dignify that with an answer.
"It's a good school." Aya told him sitting down. He may have agreed to meet Crawford but he still didn't trust him enough to drink the tea.
"It's the best in this area, and it is an all boys school." Crawford replied. "However it has some subversive elements."
Aya handed over the folder. "I think this is what you're looking for." He answered, opening the folder, "The prime ringleaders. Sakuya Kira, he's an upper class man, I have nothing to link him to Yakuza dealings yet." He showed him another photo, "Kato Yue, just your general trouble maker, fighting, takes and sells drugs, the usual." He showed him several more photos with a brief description of the person. "And this last one is a project of sorts." He said. The boy was pretty with mixed features and sandy brown hair, "Mudou Setsuna, he is Kira's shadow, and if one is the devil incarnate then this one is definitely his right hand man. He is in Omi's class, so is in Nagi's as well. I can't prove anything to either of them yet."
"Can I keep these?" Crawford asked, gesturing to the photos.
"We have copies." Yohji said.
"And this Matsuo boy that Nagi mentioned?" Yohji raised an eyebrow.
"I think he might just be having a breakdown, he's basically harmless. There is nothing to make us suspect otherwise at this time." Aya told him, he was in full Abyssinian mode. "What information do you have?"
Crawford put a second manila folder on the table. "This is Nagi's schedule." He said, "You may notice I have highlighted in red the classes he shares with Tsukiyono." Yohji looked at it the only class not highlighted was German. It made sense that Nagi would be learning that. "You may also notice that I have withdrawn Nagi from computer classes, it raised questions." He said adjusting his glasses, "hence Schuldig does his German homework, and also the boy does not do physical education." Aya nodded, neither did Omi. "They may end up friends with this schedule, this is something that we must discuss."
"It might be good for them." Yohji told him fussing with his cigarette, it was a non-smoking restaurant and it was driving him nuts.
"I agree," Crawford said bluntly, "but at the same time it causes certain other problems." He took off his glasses and started to rub them on the tablecloth to clean them. "Need I remind you that we are enemies."
"Certainly not." Aya answered. "Shall we make a deal, Omi will not be allowed to have dinner at your safe house and vice versa? Also no sleep-overs."
Crawford nodded, putting his glasses back on. "The sooner the boy graduates the easier it will be." He said with a sigh. "Thank you for the information, and thank you for saving Nagi from that strange foreigner before he wrapped him around a lamp post."
Yohji gave Aya a meaningful look. "I told you that he could." He hissed. Aya ignored him.
"Schuldig also told me about the little altercation with Bombay." He added, "and I wanted to apologise."
Aya looked at Yohji who just shrugged it off. "Keep your lunatic on a tighter leash if he's into smelling teenagers."
"What happened?" Aya growled. Crawford got the impression no one had told him.
"Farfarello broke in when we were closing, sniffed Omi, said he smelt angels, Schuldig apologised and dragged him off, it was nothing." Yohji said with a shrug, "if it had been anything we would have said."
"Nevertheless Farfarello was out of order, and I am sorry, if it is any consolation, he's been sniffing at Nagi's door as well." He stood up, "now if you gentlemen will excuse me I do have other things to be doing."
"Schuldig." Yohji coughed into his hand. Crawford turned at the exact moment that a short sharp slap struck the back of Yohji's head courtesy of his team-mate. Crawford nodded and left. "Oh, come on," Yohji said, "You know they are."
"Even if they are that doesn't mean that we have to behave like children." Aya said with a hint of mischief. "We do have a serious problem with Nagi attending the same school as Omi." He said. "And."
"The Kira boy." Yohji said, "every time I see that boy." He left it open, it was obvious someone was waiting on Kritiker to approve it, "I swear I don't know what it is about him."
"I know." Aya said, "that day that he came back to help Omi with his English, I swear I had to check all the appliances were there when he left."
"The devil incarnate." Yohji finished,
"Maybe we could get Manx to get him expelled." Aya said musing as he stood up. "That would solve our problems nicely."
Yohji conceded that. "He hasn't' really done anything," Yohji found himself saying. "Yet."
They went straight home, Omi was sat at the dining room table doing his homework and Ken was reading a sports magazine that seemed incredibly fascinating to him. He didn't even object when Aya flicked on the news. "A sixth student was found today dead at his computer, the police are investigating but have no new leads. The computers themselves reveal nothing." Aya frowned before changing the channel.
Nagi and Omi were walking home together when they heard the fighting. "Mudou Setsuna," the bully called out both of them looked down into the gully where the fight was happening.
"Should we intervene?" Nagi asked, "He's in our class."
"Kira's there." Omi replied, "He won't let it get out of hand." The bully had lifted a stick, as Setsuna turned and broke the stick, hitting the bully at the same time, splitting his lip. Setsuna reacted to the blood, fainting.
"Kill him," the bully said, Nagi was all for jumping down the hill. Omi and he were trained assassins- they could deal with this.
Kira stood up, closing his book, "Isn't that enough?" He asked. The bully kicked at Setsuna, trying to provoke him, "isn't that enough?" Kira repeated. In a single movement Kira had kneed the bully in the stomach, hard enough to double him over. He and his cronies started to run off.
"Told you." Omi said, "this happens all the time." He shrugged as Kira started to wake up Setsuna.
"Have sex with me." Setsuna said quite clearly.
Kira laughed putting his arm around Setsuna to hold him up. "You actually fainted in the end? Maybe a little pathetic? They were already very beaten up."
He was stopped as a ringing slap struck Setsuna clear across the face. Setsuna paused. "Sara."
"Does every one beat him up?" Nagi asked.
"That's his sister." Omi said, "Come on, I'm hungry, she'll just beat him up a little." He tugged on Nagi's arm. "It happens all the time."
"She's pretty." Nagi said looking at the blonde girl.
"What is about you and psychopaths?" Omi asked with a laugh, "you'll be wanting her to dye her hair blue next and asking you to play with Rabbi -chan."