Cold Kiss

Disclaimer: I don't own Weiß Kreuz. Anyway, this takes place during Episode 24 before Crawford and Sakura meet up with Aya. Enjoy.
Tomoe Sakura's first impression of Brad Crawford was that he was a cold man. He was very attractive, but it was that same handsomeness that made him seem so cold. His face was that of a man who was free of emotion, a man who was only focused on what had to be done.

In this case, it was meeting with Fujimiya Aya to discuss trading his sister for Sakura.

Sakura and Crawford were walking to where he had arranged to meet with Aya. The only he thing had said to her had been "Follow me, and try to keep up."

He was polite to her, but also very cold. He only spoke to her when he absolutely had to, and whenever he did, he sounded annoyed with her. He had said that she was still of use to him and the rest of Schwarz, but he probably wanted to get rid of her, just like everybody else wanted.

"Do you really think that Aya-san is going to bring his sister?" Sakura asked in a feeble attempt to break the silence. It was so much easier to talk to Schuldig, even if most of what he said consisted of twisted half-truths and lies. "I mean, why would he want to give up his sister for some stupid, clingy girl?" she continued on.

"I know he's not bringing her," Crawford admitted without glancing at Sakura. "But I'm sure he would like to thank you for what you did, even if he hasn't forgiven you for trying to shoot him."

Sakura looked down at her hands. "Why should he forgive me?" she wondered aloud. "I was dumb enough to believe Schuldig-san's lies, and I got what I deserved. Losing Aya-san's trust is just a punishment."

Crawford halted and turned to face Sakura. "You don't think much of yourself, do you?" he noticed.

"I don't have any reason to," Sakura explained, sadness in her voice. "What girl shoots the man she claims to love?"

"Love is just some pointless emotion that makes people weak," Crawford believed. "You're better off forgetting about him."

Sakura did not reply, even though a part of her did agree with Crawford. It was because of her love for Aya that she was in this mess. If only she had never fallen in love with him…

Crawford stepped in front of Sakura and tilted her chin upwards. "Why do you love Fujimiya?" he asked. "You do know the truth about him, don't you?"

"Yeah, I know that he kills people," Sakura answered, her eyes falling from Crawford's piercing gaze. She didn't like how he was gripping her chin, but she didn't have the courage to push his hand away. "And I know that's wrong. But I can't help but believe in him."

"You're not answering my question," Crawford pointed out, slightly annoyed.

"I don't want to," Sakura whispered, her voice hardly audible. She couldn't think of the reasons why she loved Aya. Sure, he had supported her through the loss of her kidney and had made her feel stronger. But he wasn't a very open person. He was always distant with her, and he had rejected her when she had confessed her love to him. He had said that he didn't deserve to be loved. Then she had seen him murder someone. After all that, how could she still be in love with him?

"Miss Sakura, how can you claim to love someone if you can't even name one thing you love about him?" Crawford challenged, laying his hand on Sakura's shoulder.

"I just can, okay!" Sakura yelled, becoming frustrated. "Love isn't something that you can control! You're never been in love, have you?"

Crawford's grip on Sakura's shoulder tightened. Without any warning, he bent over and pressed his lips against hers.

The thought of pushing Crawford away never crossed Sakura's mind. His kiss seemed so cold, void of any love. She felt no emotions from him; just his lips on hers.

After what felt like forever, Crawford took his lips off of Sakura's. His face was just a mere few inches from hers; he could kiss her again easily if he wanted to.

Sakura raised her hand to touch her lips. "W-Why did you kiss me?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"You didn't try to push me away," Crawford noticed. "Why was that? Are you so desperate that you'll accept love from anybody?"

"I'm not like that," Sakura corrected, shrugging Crawford's hand off of her shoulder. "You just surprised me, that's all. I thought you hated me."

"If I hated you," Crawford began, "I wouldn't have stopped Schuldig from beating you. I also would've killed you the second I found out what you did with the Fujimiya girl."

Sakura turned her face away. "You're lying," she believed. "If that were true, then your kiss wouldn't have felt so empty."

Crawford sighed. "Let me tell you something," he requested. "You might be too young to understand, though. Anyway, here's the truth about so-called 'romantic' relationships. They're all about sex. Two people meet, and then get together because they think they're in love. But eventually their relationship becomes focused solely on sex."

"I don't believe you. Love is real, and that's what I feel for Aya-san."

Crawford smirked and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I did say you were too young to understand. You think you love him, but once you get into a relationship with him, you'll just want sex. Or else you'll be so apathetic that you'll have sex with him whenever he wants it."

Sakura took a few steps backwards. "No, you're lying!" she forced out, breathing heavily. Crawford was wrong; she wasn't like that. She sincerely loved Aya, and she never once imagined herself having sex with him. But what about what he wanted? He was older, so maybe his desires were a bit more "adult"…

"I thought you might refuse to accept the truth," Crawford commented, seizing Sakura's wrist and pulling her closer. He then laid his other hand on the side of her waist. "Do I need to give you a more physical demonstration?"

"No, you don't!" Sakura protested, trying to pull back from Crawford. He tightened his grip on her wrist and wrapped his arm more around her waist. She laid her free hand on his shoulder so that she could push herself out of his grasp; however, before she could do so, he had gently eased his lips over hers.

Sakura did think of pushing Crawford away, but she decided against it. This kiss was different from the last one. It wasn't just his lips on hers. It was warm and carried some emotion. It was actually rather pleasant. She would never have thought that he could be so beautiful.

Finally, Crawford slowly pulled his lips away from Sakura's. "In every relationship, there is always at least one speck of love," he told her, almost whispering. "I just wanted you to know that."

Sakura's face gradually became red. "Why would you want something like that?" she dared to ask.

Crawford lightly touched the side of Sakura's face. "Did you ever think that I might actually care about you?" Despite the implications in the question, he sounded like his cold self again.

"Not really," Sakura confessed, her voice quiet. She lowered her eyes from Crawford's and clutched his shoulder tightly.

"But just so you know, my goals come before my personal feelings," Crawford continued, reaching into the breast pocket inside his business jacket. He pulled out a handgun and held it to Sakura's head. "If you get in my way again, I will kill you."

"I can't promise that I won't do that."

"Then I can't promise that I won't kill you."

Silence soon fell over the two of them. Neither of them said or did anything for a short while. Finally, Crawford put his gun away. "Miss Sakura, if I do kill you, it won't be because I hate you."

A small smile came upon Sakura's face. "I know. And I won't hate you if you do kill me."

"That's the first time I've seen you smile," Crawford remarked. "You look nice." He placed his hand on the back of Sakura's waist. "Fujimiya is probably waiting for us. Let's get this done and over with now."

Sakura nodded, and she and Crawford began walking to where they would meet up with Aya.