"Honey Flower"
Warnings: As before.
Disclaimer: Weiß Side B belong to Oomine Shouko and Koyasu Takehito, not me. I'm not making any money from this.
Notes: Hope this chapter clears up some of the questions from the first one. Please keep the suggestions coming, since they allow me to improve and makes things clearer. Just to clarify, Schwarz does not appear in the latest issues; I just introduced them because I like them and it makes sense for them to be there considering the ending for Nagi in Gluhen. Thank you to everyone who's commented so far.
Special thanks to Lyra Stormrider for betaing this thing and sorting out the comma abuse! Please see my 'Favourite Authors' list for her profile on this site, since this thing seems to want to strip out all code relating to URLs.
--
Honey Flower, part two.
"I realised that no matter what anyone does to you, you survive.
You've been shot, stabbed, drowned, left for dead. Yet you stood
before me today in no worse condition that when we first met."
Aya and Maria were already far down the corridor, away from the
headmaster's office, so they couldn't hear the shadowed boy's quiet
statements. Only his mother tied up in the corner was able, and as he
hadn't made any attempt to approach her again, she remained silent for
now.
Far louder was the sound of marching feet that came from below the
window. School was over, and the rhythmic sound of footsteps coming down in unison could be heard.
"Aya's strong, isn't he?" the boy asked her, then waited for her reply
as if the gag that covered her mouth didn't exist. In a smaller, more
scared voice he begged: "Please answer?"
His mother answered in as clear a voice as she was able, although the
reply was still an incoherent mumble. The boy frowned.
"Sometimes I don't understand any of this. I don't understand why.
But I know I'm glad to see you again." He made a movement towards her, and watched as she closed her eyes, blinking back tears. He withdrew, and fell back into the chair.
"Of course, it will help Neue Eszet establish itself in Britain too. Seeing Krypton Brand, their main obstacle, taken out by its own leader would be perfect... I suppose." He slumped over the desk and twisted a lock of curly brown hair around his finger. "Should I care about their objectives? As long as you're here and Aya is under our control..."
He walked towards her once more. She didn't even twitch, and he
wondered if the medication wouldn't be necessary that afternoon. Neue Eszet had a vast amount of drugs for everything, not to mention the
borrowed Epitaph technology which kept the students under control and teased their mind towards the eventual takeover of Britain. Such
obedient students like Maria were a godsend.
"I want to hurt him like he hurt us."
He curled up beside his mother, and closed his eyes. One of the senior members of the organisation would collect him soon.
--
"Aya should be here by now," Ken said, slumped against the railings
opposite a sushi restaurant in Soho.
The sky was dark now, but his surroundings were still illuminated by
the bright lights of Piccadilly Circus only a few streets away. On the
other side of the alley, light streamed out of the shops even though
it was early evening. The restaurant flipped the 'closed' sign to 'open', and the group started to pick themselves up from the various waiting poses they'd adopted for the past half hour.
"I don't think he's going to show up," ventured Yuki.
No. Ken didn't buy that. The whole team had each found time out in
their schedules to go out together. This had been a damn near
impossible task, and that was before Mihirogi had sat them all down
and got them to actually agree on where they'd go. In short, there was
no way Aya would skip this evening out, and if he did, he'd have to
answer to Hidaka Ken.
"I don't get it," said Michel, a tremor creeping into his voice. He looked intently down at his feet, averting his eyes from those watching. "Why would he do this?"
Before he'd even realised what he was doing, Ken had put a comforting arm around Michel and was patting his shoulder. He wasn't quite sure why, but it seemed to work. Poor kid was probably still recovering from the injury he'd received from Aya that morning.
Ken looked up to find Free staring at him. Their eyes met; Ken shifted
uneasily on the spot and gently pushed Michel away from his body to
free up his fists, in case they were needed.
"We'll wait inside the restaurant." Mihirogi cut through the others'
conversations, causing both Free and Ken to turn sharply at the sound
of her voice.
"I called them ahead of time and they said that the maximum stay time
was forty-five minutes. If we go in now, we might be kicked out before Aya even arrives," said Yuki.
"Ridiculous. Chloé, can you think of anything else to do in Soho,
besides eat?" Mihirogi smiled at him, her eyes unreadable behind her
glasses.
"Certainly, my lady," he said. He readjusted the red rose in the lapel
of his dinner jacket. "This way."
Ken lingered at the tail end of the small mob, and wondered if Free
and he had really been about to fight. It certainly seemed that way at
the time, even though he'd been the only one readying himself.
Beside him, he caught sight of Kurumi, who also trailed behind the
others. Only then did Ken realise that she hadn't said a word since
they left the underground station, but considering how she met the
Krypton Brand team, perhaps that was understandable. She smiled weakly back at him, letting her blond plaits drop so they obscured her
expression once more.
Yuki stopped abruptly, and it was only Ken's quick reflexes that
stopped him from crashing into him. In the space of street, the mood
had changed from restaurants selling world cuisine to unmarked shops
with no windows and ones with leather lingerie held together with
metal pins. Pink signs flickered in the night, advertising sex of all
kinds.
"I'm not waiting outside while everyone else goes inside!" Yuki's
voice cut through the night. "Do any of you realise," he explained,
red creeping across his cheeks, "that one is exposed to far more
indiscretions waiting around an area like this?"
"This area is delightful, Chloé, but perhaps our shopping expedition
could wait?" Mihirogi turned to the rest of the group, waiting for
them to either part so she could get through, or to walk in the same
direction.
"I didn't want this trip to be a complete waste of time," said Chloé.
"It was only a matter of time before that guy proved himself
unreliable. Thanks be to God it wasn't during a mission!"
Ken launched himself at the other man almost before Chloé had finished his sentence. He groped blindly for his throat, but in that
split-second he felt several hands gripping him tightly and pulling
him away.
Chloé was breathing audibly, but otherwise unharmed. "Such an unrefined fellow."
Ken was held firmly in place by every present member of Krypton Brand. Even Kurumi had grabbed his jacket by its collar. As he got his own breathing under control, he had to admit that this wasn't the best
company in which to attack a colleague.
Mihirogi let go of the grip she'd had on Ken's left arm. "I quite
agree. Skipping a dinner date is one thing, but it's as if Aya hasn't
been fully cooperating with us this past week."
"If I didn't know better, I'd say it wasn't just Ken who was jealous,"
remarked Chloé."
Ken laughed. "We could kill her and dump her body in the Thames."
"It is good you don't hide your feelings." Chloé strode past with a
twitch of a smirk.
"Let's go back to where we were waiting," Michel piped up. "Aya
might've shown up after all."
"Even if he has, the place will be full by now. We might as well go
home." Yuki adjusted his glasses, and followed Chloé.
"Do we have food for tonight?" Free turned to Ken as if he hadn't
restrained him from killing a team-mate moments earlier.
"Nope. There might be a twenty-four hour supermarket around here
though." It was at this point that Ken realised that those that hadn't
walked off to the underground station were all waiting on him to make
the decisions. He sighed mentally and chalked it up as another reason
to want the real Aya back as soon as possible.
--
"I'm hungry," stated Schuldig.
Crawford said nothing, and continued to unpack his suitcase. He took
out each shirt, refolded it if it had lost its shape during the flight, and put it in the chest of drawers opposite the hotel room's double bed.
"You seem pissed off. More so than usual."
For several long minutes, there was just the rustle of clothes being
folded or hung up in the wardrobe.
Finally, Crawford spoke. "I forgot my toothbrush."
Schuldig walked to the en suite bathroom and chucked him a toothbrush wrapped in clear plastic. Crawford made no attempt to catch it, and it bounced off his head.
"Honestly," Schuldig sighed. "You're the worst traveler I've ever known."
"I don't function without sleep. It's that simple."
"Take a shower. They always wake me up." Schuldig started to unbutton the purple shirt he'd been wearing the past day or so.
"I don't need to wake up."
"The best hotel room that mind control can get, and you want to sleep
in it?" Schuldig began to unbutton his jeans.
"Precisely." Crawford grimaced; it was true he wanted a shower, but
any sign of clothes removal would surely be picked up on by Schuldig
as a sign. Not that he could predict the telepath's movements right
now. He'd been quietly superior at the start of the flight, but as the
hours wore on and as he was subjected to inane Hollywood time-fillers, he'd become somewhat cranky.
"The trick is to never eat what they give you, never watch the tv they
show, sleep lots and mentally anaesthetise all under-eighteens in a
thirty metre radius."
"No wonder Nagi was always so quiet on long journeys." Crawford lay
back on the bed and closed his eyes. He soon felt the bed slope from
someone sitting beside him.
"Pathetic. Almost a year without a kill and you've gone soft."
Once Crawford had wanted to bring chaos to the world so that the
strongest would survive. At that point, however, the strongest had
included both himself and the rest of Schwarz. He wasn't so sure
anymore since his near-death at the hands of the trio of Eszet agents.
There was always someone stronger: it was how the universe worked. Now he didn't have the privileged position of leader and he and Schuldig were operating as equals, he found himself even doubting that he could take the other man in an ordinary fight. He could see the future, true, but the telepath could see into any mind, including his. His ego was bruised: perhaps permanently.
"Never consider me a target for your manipulations." Were he to look
around, he felt certain that Schuldig would be naked and looking at
him with false sweetness.
"Sometimes I think you hate me."
Schuldig's statement surprised him, although that was easy at this
point. He turned around, and was a little relieved to see that his
guess had been correct; not only was Schuldig naked, he was clutching a pastel pink bath towel with the hotel's initials on it. Crawford grunted non-committedly and pushed himself off the bed and towards the bathroom.
"That isn't an answer," Schuldig called after him.
"That wasn't a question," he replied.
Schuldig was beside him, hurriedly undoing Crawford's shirt buttons
before he changed his mind. "I don't hate you either."
Crawford pulled away and unwrapped the toothbrush from its packaging. He slowly applied the toothpaste and brushed his teeth with short, deliberate strokes. Having finished, he stated, "Now you can kiss me."
"If I feel like it." Schuldig looked Crawford up and down with a
certain amount of pity in his eyes. "Quit second-guessing yourself."
His hand snaked around the other man's waist, and his nimble fingers
made quick work of the belt. Crawford felt the cool breeze wash over
his legs, drawing his attention to his nakedness. He was the only one
still wearing anything, and yet it felt like he was the one on display, not the other way round like it should be. The other man's last statement was still lodged in his mind, and even if Schuldig had begun to get him in the mood, he was no longer interested. He didn't even feel like sleeping next to him if he thought him so inferior.
Without any further help from Schuldig, he rolled off the rest of his
clothes and kicked them aside. The frosted shower panel shut behind
Crawford with only a little more force than he'd intended. Soon, the
sound of rushing water filled his ears and he could feel each tense
muscle relax. Small flashes of information came to him, then darted
out of his reach. At least the precognition was returning to him
slowly; by morning he should be back in complete control. The hot
water made him feel more human and he let out a moan of contentment as he rubbed the citrus-scented shower-gel over his body.
"Well, I can see you don't need me here," commented Schuldig ruefully.
Crawford didn't even hear him.
Some time later, he stepped out of the shower to see Schuldig
stretched across the bed, reading a tourist brochure that the hotel
had provided.
"We're not sight-seeing."
"Then what are we doing?" Schuldig yawned, which Crawford took as a sign that he was interested in what he had to say, but had decide not
to show it. Schuldig added: "You're not the only sleepy one."
Crawford ignored him. "We're going to buy flowers tomorrow."
"They're still florists?"
Crawford felt a subtle probing at the back of his mind, and he
suppressed a shudder. "Out of my mind. Now."
Schuldig laughed, "So I don't even get a full briefing?"
Crawford crawled into bed and pulled the covers over his head to block out the main light.
"Are we going to just walk up and introduce ourselves to Krypton
Brand?" Schuldig threw the tourist guide over the other side of the
room and also got into the double bed.
Crawford bristled at the sound of that name. When had he mentioned the group previously? "If you're coming to bed, turn out the light," he
snapped.
"You phoned them." Schuldig stood by the light switch, his posture
challenging Crawford to look him over. When the other man didn't move, he snarled and flicked the switch.
Crawford felt a warm body join him in bed and Schuldig rolled over to
pull him in close. Even though he was a precog, even though it wasn't
the first time the other man had done so, it still surprised him. "I
telephoned them, yes. I thought it might be worth a shot, or at least
make the members of Krypton Brand more alert."
"Did it work?"
Schuldig had asked a question of him, and Crawford liked the fact that
he was now being consulted. He turned over to face his partner. "It's
worried them, but they're still focused on us being the problem,
rather than Aya. I believe Takatori also sent them a letter, not that
anyone read it."
"Aya must have intercepted it, as he did with your phonecall."
Crawford tensed once more, then let it go. "Hm. Probably."
His eyes began to close.
--
Aya stopped at the back entrance to the Kitten's House, pausing just
before he put the key in the lock. Something was wrong, but it was as
if there was a veil over parts of his mind. And yet...
The shop seemed quite normal to him, but there was something different about it that he felt he should be able to explain.
The lights were off. Surely, that didn't mean they'd all gone to bed
or were all out at the same time?
His companion giggled. "Forget it! It's not important, silly!"
Aya's thoughts numbed instantly on her command. Maria, the girl from the headmistress' office, brought her hand underneath his. At her
touch, he dropped the key into her palm, and she let them both in.
"I'm meant to be... elsewhere," Aya said softly.
"I told you, it doesn't matter! The rest of Krypton Brand doesn't matter!"
"The team doesn't matter," repeated Aya.
"Good boy!" she snickered again, twisting a slender finger around one
of her pigtails. "Now, I want you to do something pretty special for
me tomorrow morning, or else Mister Kisaragi will be really upset!"
Again, Aya's mind struggled to reach the surface. The name sounded
familiar. "Kisaragi Takeru..." he said, naming the teenage boy who'd
been in complete control of him for the past week. Somehow, he felt as if the name had been known to him before that, but the thought flew
from his mind when the girl spoke again.
"You tell them that you're in love with me and you're leaving, okay?
You'd rather spend the evening with me, and that's where you were
tonight... Oh yeah, and Mister Kisaragi told me this was totally the
most important thing! You've gotta make sure you're out of here by ten o'clock!"
"Whatever else I do, I'll leave the building before ten o'clock."
She grinned, "You behave now, yeah?"
Aya nodded in complete submission and didn't take his eyes off her as he placed the keys on the kitchen table and left the same way she
came in.