Notes: Well, that wasn't an awkward place to stop. =D And on top of that I didn't even write all week because it was finals week. Ah ha… you guys are gonna kill me. XD
Whisper Reilman – Thanks once again for an amusing review! But! What if Braddie-chan isn't the one to find them… heehee…
Enjoy the chapter and please review! Thanks!
Feelings, senses, and emotions washed over Yohji's mind. This was nice, he liked it, but he also realized just how dangerous his current situation was. Both their hands were roaming, and neither of them had broken the kiss since Yohji initiated it as payback. In a sense, Yohji quickly realized that he didn't want to break the contact, even though he had been expecting Schuldich to just shove him away with a disgusted look on his face. He had meant this to be a sort of teasing joke, not this.
"Schuldich." The name was said as a matter of fact, but Yohji and Schuldich both attempting to push the other away, making it seem as if the other had started it. Nagi stood in the doorway to the bathroom looking down at them. His face was blank as usual, and when Schuldich attempted to prod into his mind to figure out what he was thinking, he was thrown back away by Nagi's walls.
But he didn't need into Nagi's mind to know what he was thinking. He could tell. There was a slight shift in the way Nagi held himself. His jaw was clenched tightly closed and his eyes were staring at the far wall. His hands were wrapped in careful fists, not too tight, not too loose. Turning his attention to Schuldich briefly, Nagi turned and started to walk away.
Schuldich scrambled to his feet after the boy, grabbing him in the hallway and spinning him to look at him face to face. A panic had flooded through Schuldich and he was tempted to sever the telepathic bond he had made between all the members of Schwarz, lest Nagi get any ideas to tell Crawford.
"Nagi wait, it wasn't- wasn't-" Schuldich stumbled over his words. Was it what Nagi thought? No! He had no feelings for Yohji; he had only been messing with the other. Or had he? His mind was racing a million miles per hour as he attempted to figure out what was going on.
"It wasn't what I thought it was, I know." Nagi's voice stopped Schuldich's mind. "And don't tell Crawford, that I know as well. Now let go of me." But Schuldich couldn't put two and two together. How could he trust Nagi not to tell Crawford? What the hell was he saying? He trusted Nagi a lot more than he trusted anyone else, especially Yohji! Feeling a slight telekinetic push, Schuldich released Nagi and took a few steps back.
"You never saw this." Schuldich said after a moment, but Nagi shook his head.
"No Schuldich, I saw, but I will keep it to myself if you promise not to do it again." Nagi looked as he always did, spoke as he always did, but Schuldich realized the intensity in his words.
"I promise."
Nagi nodded and headed to check on Farfarello. Sighing heavily as he turned around, Schuldich had almost forgotten about Yohji. Well, almost. He was still in the bathroom, fixing his hair and moving a few strands this way or that way.
"You've been in there forever, just get your sorry ass outside and forget how you look." Schuldich could do this. He could forget Yohji. He just had to take steps to do it. The addicts guide, he could see it now; "12 Steps to Forgetting Yohji". A smirk managed to cross his face, and Yohji sneered back at him, obviously frustrated at his lack of control over the past few minutes. Or maybe he was frustrated at getting caught. Either way, all Schuldich knew was that his mind was still a jumble of thoughts. He followed Yohji out to the back yard anyway, where everyone was sitting around on the deck. Spotting the opportunity, Schuldich quickly threw himself lazily across the hammock, leaving Yohji to fend for himself.
Aya and Ken were sitting on the bench against the deck railing, muttering to each other every now and again. Omi was sitting at the table across from Crawford, who looked too bored for his own good. Yohji ruffled Omi's hair as he sat down next to him. "Oi, hey Chibi."
"Stop calling me that!" Omi fussed, but Yohji wasn't paying attention to him. He was looking around at the deck, which seemed in top condition. Schwarz had definitely found a good house.
"So who picked the house out?" Yohji asked after a minute.
"Schuldich did." Crawford looked around briefly as he said it. "Picked a nice one in my opinion."
"Yeah, I like it." Yohji agreed, leaning back in his chair.
"I wouldn't do that." Crawford warned him, watching Yohji lean back.
"Why no-" Yohji's foot slipped off where it had been holding him in place, and he and his chair went toppling over backwards. A faint smirk ghosted Aya's expression, but it disappeared quickly enough that no one really noticed. Ken and Omi were laughing, and Schuldich was grinning like the Cheshire Cat.
"That would be why not." Crawford responded simply as he watched Yohji mutter under his breath as he started to pick up his chair. About halfway up Yohji froze where he was, his face going extremely pale. A quick glance around noted that each of Weiß had stopped whatever they were doing, and another quick glance proved to Crawford why. Smiling ever so faintly, Crawford inclined his head towards Farfarello, who was standing beside Nagi, both watching Yohji. "Weiß, meet Farfarello."
"Maybe we should formally introduce ourselves." Schuldich commented from where he was lazily stretched out on the hammock. "It couldn't hurt too much."
"This is a good point. Please, settle yourselves." Crawford turned to Yohji, who just nodded and finished picking up his chair before he sat back down in it. "My name is Bradley Crawford, Schwarz refers to me as Crawford, and I expect the same from you."
"Well I didn't mean quite that formal, but whatever." Schuldich half way sat up on the hammock, managed a brief "I'm Schuldich" before flopping back down in it again.
"I think you all already know Farfarello, we often refer to him as Farf." Waving his hand in Farf's direction as if to emphasize his point Crawford quickly moved on. "And of course Naoe Nagi; of whom we refer to simply as Nagi."
"I call him Naggles sometimes." Schuldich pitched in, only to get a minute glare from the telekinetic. Caught off guard, Schuldich yelped in surprise as the hammock quickly flipped over, dumping its contents on the ground. "That was totally uncalled for!" Schuldich snapped as he climbed off the ground and back onto the hammock.
"As you can see, Nagi is our resident telekinetic. So if things float around the house, do not panic." Crawford calmly explained, although he was highly amused by Nagi's sudden desire for retribution against Schuldich.
"We will keep that in mind." Aya decided upon doing the introductions himself, since he was the leader of Weiß. Or was the leader. "My name is Fujimiya Aya. My team refers to me simply as Aya." Motioning with one hand, he went around the group. "Hidaka Ken, Tsukiyono Omi, and of course, Kudoh Yohji."
"I can't say it is a pleasure to meet you all, but it is interesting." Crawford attempted to find the most polite way of greeting them without lying.
"The same to you all." Aya muttered, his eyes never leaving Crawford.
"Well this is all fine and dandy, but shouldn't these four get their belongings and such situated in their rooms before night?" Not that Schuldich cared, but the conversation that had somewhat begun had fallen to a dead halt, and he was rather curious to figure out what all they had brought with them to help solve their major issue. Actually now that he thought about it, he seemed the only one who remembered that there ever was a big issue they were trying to solve. It occurred to him several minutes later that Crawford had said something and everyone had gone inside. Muttering to himself he climbed off the hammock and wandered inside.
It took longer than originally thought to get everyone settled in, and when everyone headed to bed, Nagi and Omi were still working on hooking up all their computer equipment. Yohji had gotten restless and finally demanded that everyone leave the living room so that he could go to bed on the couch, and everyone just headed off to bed.
Thusly, Schuldich was currently sprawled across his and Crawford's bed, waiting for the latter to get back. Crawford had said something about taking a shower at night, lest he not get any hot water in the morning. So Schuldich had just changed into the clothes he set aside for sleeping in. Of course the clothes he had set aside consisted of a pair of light cotton pants, and an oversized t-shirt. Granted Schuldich had decided against the t-shirt, judging by the weather channel's report of a nice heat wave moving through the area.
Which would also explain his sudden fascination with the fan blades that were spinning in circles from the fan on the ceiling directly above him. If he watched them enough, one appeared slower than the others.
Okay screw it, his mind was wandering and he knew it. Groaning in frustration at Crawford's lack of ability to take a short shower, Schuldich flopped on his own side of the bed and buried himself into the sheets and pillow, falling asleep mere minutes later.
"Schuldich, wake up." There was a light mental prod at Schuldich's mind as the words slowly drifted into his head. Schuldich snuggled closer to the warmth beside him, not caring what it was saying.
Crawford sighed heavily. He was not missing his morning coffee just because Schuldich had, as usual, managed to drag himself over to Crawford's side of the bed and proceed to use the precog as a body pillow. Thinking the situation through, Crawford quickly realized that his arm was asleep. Using the one that wasn't asleep and pinned under Schuldich, Crawford gently shook the other until he woke up.
"Oi Crawford, why'd you have to wake me up?" Schuldich fussed as he rubbed at his eyes sleepily.
"First off because I'm awake and I want coffee. But secondly because if you want a hot shower you better take one before everyone else wakes up." Crawford was currently searching through his closet for something to wear, his back to Schuldich.
"I'll meet you for coffee in ten." Schuldich quickly gathered up the clothes he was going to wear that day and trudged to the bathroom.
Schuldich was pissed. Maybe he had a guilty conscious, who really knew. All he knew was that he couldn't stop thinking about Yohji. Or what would happen if Brad found out. Constantly his mind kept going back to the question of what if Nagi told Crawford even though he said he wouldn't?
Quite simply, Crawford would be angry. Well, he'd be more than angry actually. He'd probably tell Schuldich to get lost or something. And then a horrible thought struck Schuldich. What if Crawford had a vision? What if he knew what had happened and was just waiting for Schuldich to come clean?
Schuldich slammed his fists against the counter. Crawford didn't know a damn thing. If he did, he would have said something. Finally almost convincing himself, Schuldich yanked open the bathroom door and stalked to the kitchen. Without acknowledging anything in the immediate area, Schuldich poured himself a cup of coffee and headed to the table. Stopping in his tracks, Schuldich quickly told himself not to break the cup he was gripping.
Crawford was sitting at the kitchen table, Yohji across from him, both drinking a mug of coffee. Slamming his mug of coffee so hard against the counter that some of the still steaming liquid sloshed out and scalded his hand, Schuldich turned and headed back towards his room. He just wasn't in the mood for this. He wanted to go home, and he wanted Weiß the hell away from him.
So far, this hadn't gone according to plan. So far, no one had bothered attempting to figure out who was after them, and Schuldich was pissed. There would be hell to pay for whoever had caused this.