Title: Metrepole
Rating: PG-13. (I'm too lazy to use the new ratings) Decided to remain.
Disclaimer: I don't own Weiß, but if you find any characters which doesn't belong in the anime, I suppose they're mine...So please, don't complain, don't sue, don't create a racket...
Pairings: Yoji X Ran, Schuldich X Ken( for a little someone), Mist + Kou (I don't really know if they're that together), a few more undecided yet...
Summary: Ran lost his mermory and is trying hard to find it while seeking revenge against Takatori. His secret terms with Schwarz is left unknown to his new assassin members. As he struggle to stay sane for some reason, he encounters situations he had never dared imagine.
Warning: Shounen-ai to the further chapters (that's a guarantee), maybe some OCC-ness somewhere
Note to readers: Read and review PLEASE... (puppy dog eyes) I know I would have errors here and there, so please ignore them! Most of the words are translated into German, just to tell you, so please don't come up and tell me they're German, because they are! Okay, please go on to the story. The more reviews I get, the faster I do to be exact. Thanks for coming anyway!
Ken- the betrayed
Everyone was excited. It wasn't the first time the team went out to a football game, but it had always been just before you enter the field. Everyone was talking to each other to calm themselves. Their coach gave occasional announcements, out of which most of them were 'ten minutes to the game' followed by 'nine minutes to the game'. Gee, he could be the battery-free clock.
Ken clasped his hands together in anxiety. Kase came into the locker room and started passing around bottles of water. Kase was considered the second best player of the team after Ken, but an unfortunate accident caused a major injury to his ankle until he had to use crutches. It has been weeks after it, but the doctors made it specific he could not play soccer for at least a month.
"Hey Ken, here", Kase said as he dropped a bottle into the brunette's hand. Ken thanked his best friend and gulped down half the bottle before releasing a long sigh.
"It's a pity you can't play, Kase."
"Nah. It would be better if I got better and be able to play again than to play now and get myself into bigger trouble causing me to be unable to play forever, don't you think?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
"I'll be sitting with the coach and watching you guys play. Heck, I'll even join the cheerleading squad!" Kase joked, making Ken laugh along.
"It's two minutes left! Everyone get ready!" The coach shouted louder this time. Everyone started to feel their hearts jumping wildly and Ken had the same feeling as well.
He got up from his place and Kase did the same.
"Good luck, Ken!" Kase gave a thumbs up.
Ken grinned and did the same before running off to get ready for the game.
For what was only ten minutes past in the game, but to Ken it seemed like hours instead. Being the goalkeeper wasn't easy. One mistake and the opponent could score easy. It takes a more precise aiming of catching the ball and throwing it to the best points in the fields.
Ken immediately got into position when he saw the opponent dribbling the ball around with his feet and racing towards the brunette.
It was a sudden feeling of nausea when Ken saw three images of the opponent instead of one. He shook his head and flinched when a strong wind brushed past the left cheek of his face. Coming back to his senses, he turned to find the soccer ball rolling around in the net behind him.
The crowd went wild when the goal was made, but what Ken could hear was nothing. His friends were calling out to him, but he couldn't hear their voices. He couldn't hear anything else, except for his heartbeat which was racing in his chest.
One of his members came up and gave him a pat on his shoulder, assuring him that it would be okay. Ken could only nod.
Second, third and finally the fourth goal. It had been the worst score the team had. The opponents made four consecutive goals and Ken wasn't able to do a thing. He kept seeing multiple visions, not to mention he kept going for the wrong places to catch the ball. The coach finally got the picture that Ken wasn't stable for the game and sent him in, switching with another player.
Ken hissed as he propped himself down onto the bench. This has never happened before. What the hell was wrong with him?
Kase placed a hand on Ken's shoulder and shook him a little.
"Hey, what's wrong with you? You feeling okay?"
Ken managed to shake his head.
"Something's wrong. I can't concentrate…"
From afar Ken heard someone running towards him and waving the bottle he had drank from before.
"Coach! This is bad!" The guy shouted. The coach gave a look of question before the man started whispering some words. The coach's face from question turned to fury and he shot Ken a glare.
"Ken Hidaka! I never knew, and to think you were my best player!" He roared.
Ken was about to protest on whatever the coach was about to say, but failed as the coach's loud voice drowned his.
"After all these years, I finally know the secret of your ability! You were actually taking drugs!"
"What? I did no such thing!"
"That's right! I know Ken! He'd never take drugs even if it cost his life!" Kase defended.
"Well, whatever the reason, I found a drug in this drink!"
"I didn't do anything to it!"
"You're out! Ken Hidaka!"
The brunette felt like crying, but he didn't want to either. The news spread faster than ever about him taking drugs.
It isn't true! He kept repeating in his mind.
He growled and punched the wall. He was so humiliated. Whoever did it to him… It must've been the opponent. He can be sure of it. All he has to do now is find the culprit to clarify himself. Everything would be fine then, wouldn't it?
Yes, he had to do it. He was about to step out of the locker room when Kase appeared.
"Kase?"
"Ken, follow me. I need to show you something."
That was odd. Kase rarely spoke in such serious tone. If that was the case, Ken had to follow. Maybe Kase had caught the culprit? Then he was saved!
His heart beating with excitement as he followed Kase some distance away from the football field to an old wreck of a small warehouse.
"Kase, what's up with you? "
"Ken, there's something I need to tell you."
"Urm… Sure. You can tell me anything."
"I was the one who placed the drug in your drink."
Ken felt his heart sink.
"What? You're kidding… I know you're just trying to joke, Kase, but it isn't funny, you know?" Ken forced a laugh and reached out to pat Kase when the other turned to slap his hand away.
"I'm serious, Hidaka", Kase growled.
Hidaka. That was one name Kase never called him before. He was definitely serious.
"No, it can't be…Why?'
"Because, it's always Ken this and Ken that. Everyone is crazy about you! What about his friend? His best friend? Left aside! All the members look up to you. Do they ever do that to me?"
"Look, I could talk to them you know?"
"Forget it Hidaka! It's too late! I won't forgive you and I don't plan to do that either!" Kase snapped his fingers and a group of men dressed in black clothing appeared. They went straight up to the brunette and caught him by his arms and dragged him into the old warehouse.
With the lack of experience in fighting, Ken was little fight to the bigger and much stronger men. They threw him into the warehouse roughly, not caring when Ken hit his head against the wall. It nearly threw him unconscious as he barely stayed awake.
He felt his shirt soaking up some cold liquid. The smell was awful yet familiar. His eyes immediately shot open when he realized it was kerosene. The men poured it all over him from head to toe. He coughed as some went into his mouth and the liquid blinded him.
"Sayonara, Hidaka Ken."
He heard a flick before his body went into flames starting from his legs. As much as he didn't want to, he saw Kase leaving with his group of men.
Ken shouted in pain as the heat started burning in his flesh. He was going to die. It was the end of him. Hidaka Ken was history.
"Löschen aus"
Time can determine fate, yet, fate isn't determined.
Chapter 8: The Beginning of the Hunt
"Ne, is Aya-san sick? Can we see him?"
All the girls started asked these two questions. Some even specially bought the flowers from their shop and asked the other three to pass Ran those flowers.
"He's fine, just a minor fever. He should be able to come to work in a few days' time", Yoji lied. It wasn't worth telling them that Ran had injured himself. Further more they were bound to get several questions which could not be answered.
The girls gave whines about the guys not letting them personally meet Ran.
"Okay, I'm going to pass Aya-kun his 'new flowers'", Omi said as he collected the numerous bouquets. Ken offered to help but Omi refused it since it was peak time for the shop and many people (mostly schoolgirls who enjoy taking up space in the shop) would be visiting the shop.
Careful as he could be, he collected the flowers and headed to the back of the shop. He knew the flowers sent by the schoolgirls won't exactly cheer him up a lot, but it was worth a try. That guy seemed to like flowers for some reason.
He went up the stairs and gently knocked onto the door calling out Ran's name at the same time. Receiving no answer, he wondered if the redhead was asleep or didn't bother to answer.
Slowly, he pushed open the door and entered into the dark room (the curtains were down). He searched around and to his horror Ran wasn't in the room.
Dumping the flowers on the bed he ran back down downstairs, searched before dashing to the shop. Panting hard, he shouted.
"Guys! The cat's gone!"
Yoji and Ken shot a shocked look at the blonde. Omi returned with a worried look on his face.
"Okay girls. We've got a really sneaky cat who enjoys going around the neighborhood by himself, so we have to find him. Care to come back tomorrow instead?" Yoji asked in his slightly seductive tone.
Some squealed while other girls gave a few more whining before following what the playboy had said and left the shop. Ken quickly put the shop to the 'out for lunch' sign and all three of them went to the back, not even bothering to take off their aprons.
"What do you mean he's gone? Are you sure he wasn't in the kitchen?"
"I can't find him anywhere. I tried looking everywhere."
"Let's go to his room. Maybe we can use Zauberei to find him", Yoji said and went upstairs with the other two assassins following behind.
Indeed, their so-called leader was missing without a trace. Yoji decided to use theSuche technique which required him to touch one of Ran's belongings so he could track the redhead down. Omi has offered to do it instead but the older assassin declined and said he was more experienced and could probably search a wider range that the smaller blonde could.
One hand rested on the pillow Ran had been sleeping on and Yoji began to chant. It took him quite some time to get used to the spell since he hadn't been practicing on his skills for some time, mostly killing the targets with a handy wire.
After several minutes of searching, what the blonde found weird was, he couldn't get a single trace on the redhead. He scanned quite some distance from the shop and the redhead couldn't have gone far with that open wound of his. To add along, it was unusual as a normal human shouldn't be able to deflect a spell, furthermore one which is done in secret like what Yoji was doing right now.
He continued as hard as he could, concentrating all on finding for the redhead. After five more agonizing minutes, the blonde stopped the spell, body drenched in sweat. Ken tried to attempt it with his own spell but Yoji stopped him.
"It's not going to work no matter how hard we try. It's either Aya who's able to repel the spell or someone has produced a barrier to prevent me from finding him, and my better bet is on the second one."
"But who does Aya know can?"
"I don't know, but we'd better start looking for him in case it's someone we don't want to know."
Ran pretty much tried acting normal, walking on the crowded streets and preventing the pain from stopping him from getting to the other side of town. He wasn't sure if he should go see his sister in this state. The hospital was some distance away and he usually drove but the wound had a little impact to his driving abilities at the moment. Besides his Porsche had a tracking device in which the rest would definitely use to find him (he didn't knew there was a spell called Suche).
It felt rather disgusting to be able to feel your flesh separate each other. He felt almost like a pig who barely managed to escape the slaughter house.
What came next was a little more than unfortunate. Some drunkard walking in broad daylight had to go nuts and jab him directly in his wound, asking him to join him. He cringed in pain as he lay back against a wall, holding his side as the pain took its time to ease away the hurting. As much as he didn't want to, he began panting a little as the pain instead of subsiding, became worse each second. The painkillers he took before leaving had the best timing to wear off. It added negatively to the fact he had not brought any of it along with him.
He had to get to somewhere to rest. The hospital and the shop were almost the same distance away as each other so he was about in the middle. It would take at least twenty minutes to reach either side due to the crowds.
He tilted his head against the wall with his eyes closed. He wasn't sure if he could hold up that long. Or maybe he could just stand here at the wall of the alleyway and wait as of a miracle would come…
/So people like you do believe in miracles/
Ran opened an eye to see Schuldich standing at the entrance of the alley and smirking back at the other redhead.
"Bradley asked me to get you. So, do you want to stay here or do you want to go over at our place to rest?"
Ran kept silent.
"I'll choose for you then. Here", Schuldich took out a small packet of two pills and from his other pocket a small bottle containing water. Ran was about to reach for it when he toppled over.
Schuldich caught him just in time before Ran reached the ground.
"Whoa, you're that weak?" Schuldich sneered.
"Shut up", Ran muttered.
Schuldich stayed quiet for a moment before speaking. "No wonder. You haven't eaten in days. You'd probably take like one meal per month like a snake or something."
Ran growled and pushed Schuldich away as he stabilized himself on his own two feet.
"Anyway, here're a few painkillers. Strong dose though, I must say. They're sometimes used for Farf", Schuldich said as he dropped two pills into Ran's hand. The redhead sniffed at the two medicines in his hand before throwing them into his mouth and drinking it down together with the water he got from the telepath.
"The painkillers take about five minutes to take affect, so you have enough time to get back to our place before you fall asleep."
Ran was about to decline but had no choice as Schuldich dragged him though the crowds easily without bumping into anyone.
They reached Oleander Towers in a short while and Ran began feeling a bit tired and drowsy. Luckily without the perverted guard they were able to get through the entrance quickly and into the lift where Ran had to lay on Schuldich to keep himself up.
Apparently Schuldich had to carry Ran out of the lift and place him on the couch as the redhead began snoozing in calm breaths.
"How long is he going to be out?" Nagi asked as he descended from the stairs.
"Farf takes at least a day to wake up. I think for him it'll take two days."
"Are you sure we should be doing this?"
"To prevent Ran from being in danger, yes."
"What about his other teammates?"
"They'll be in some trouble, but Crawford assured me that they won't die…yet."
Nagi nodded and watched as Ran shifted a little on the couch.
"Don't you want to put him in a bed instead?"
"I knew you were a smart kid."
"I don't go to a university(1) at this age for nuts."
"Yeah, right", Schuldich snorted. "You wanna bring him in?"
Nagi shrugged in which Schuldich took as a yes. The younger brunette stepped up the redhead on the couch and teleported both him and Ran to the upper floor where he placed him on the bed in his room.
"Hey, why is he in this room?" Schuldich, standing at the doorway with his arms crossed, glaring at Nagi.
"Because Crawford trusts me more than he does to you."
"Hey, what would I do?"
"I wouldn't even bother thinking."
"Oh really?" Schuldich snickered.
"Your old antics won't work on me anymore, Schu", Nagi replied flatly.
"Ch, maybe I should pick a new person to play with."
"By all means."
"Don't try anything funny, kid, or I'll personally come at night to you-know-what."
"Like I'd try. Get out of my room", Nagi snarled.
"Alright, alright. So much for Bradley using so many rooms for certain 'things'."
"I'm pretty fine with sleeping here thank you. Besides I'm sure Ran would first faint if he ever knew he was sleeping in your bed."
"You sure you're not getting horny?"
"Shut up and get out", Nagi used his telekinetic power to shut the door, slamming it into Schuldich's face.
"You're no fun!" Nagi heard from the other side of the door. He ignored it and headed to his personal computer and switched it on. Crawford said they were going to have a long mission tonight, so he'd better get his schoolwork done before then.
"Any luck?" Yoji asked as he near to his two other teammates. They both shook their heads and the blonde raked a hand through his messy hair. "Damn. We've searched all over town and we still can't find him?"
"Urm, guys, we have a mission. Manx contacted me just now and said we had to report back at the shop at twelve, with or without the cat."
"Damn her. I thought she'd be a nice woman but she had an absolute liking for bad timings", Yoji growled.
"We don't have a choice. Manx said that he could take care of himself and that she would send a search party if he doesn't return in three days", Omi said while fiddling with the hem of his shirt.
Yoji could tell the youngest was already starting to feel uneasy and decided not to do anything first. He gave a pat on Omi's head and gave a smile.
"Don't worry. Let's get back to the shop and see what Manx has to say."
When the three assassins reached the shop, they had not found Manx, but a brown, envelope package instead. They took it down to the mission room and Omi dug out a small silver chip with multiple small buttons and a lens on it. The envelope also came with a CD-rom which says 'CATS' on it. Knowing the function of the silver chip, Omi found the correct button to press and a hologram of Manx came alive in the middle of the mission room.
Before anything was done though, a soft heat rays scanned the room quickly to ensure that the people in were confirmed identities before Manx made her talk.
"Weiss, I shall make my speech a quick one as there is little time to waste. The search for the perfect Diamant for Takatori Reiji is increasing rapidly. Before we can face him hand to hand we have to some underlings which require extermination before reaching our goal.
The consequences if Takatori getting a Diamant, I'm sure you know clearly what would happen afterwards. With that, the CD-rom that came together in the brown envelope can be opened for you to receive the first mission for what we call 'TH' meaning The Hunt."
Manx finished her speech before a robotic voice went: 'This message will be deleted', followed by a loud clicking noise and the chip shattering into tiny pieces.
Chapter 9: Fortune teller
"Well, basically, we have to get rid of some people who would prove a bigger threat to us as we make our way up. These mostly contain the bigger companies who do illegal agreements behind the reporter's backs", Omi explained as he decode the information shown on the computer.
Kritiker has to make sure that any information given out had to be totally protected. They even made their own codes where only certain agents were taught the method of decoding the messages. In Weiss's case, it's the youngest.
The blonde continued.
"Each time we deal with one, Takatori is bound to increase his defenses, so we have got to be extra careful in our actions. Any wrong move and it's the end for us and Kritiker."
"So, what's the first one we have to deal with?" Yoji asked as he fished out a cigarette from his pocket.
"Well, from what they say, it takes place at Riot building and--"
The rest of the words were deaf to Yoji. The minute the name of the building where he lost Asuka immediately caused him to flare in anger. The other two sensed the sudden tension in the room and watched as Yoji crushed the cigarette in his hand.
"How about I take this mission, alone?" Yoji said through clenched teeth.
Omi was reluctant, but seeing that this Riot building has something to do with Yoji, he decided to let him do it under certain conditions.
The first was either Ken or Omi were to be contacted if Yoji ever failed in anything small. The second was to never take risks no matter the case, and Yoji agreed to these two easily.
It was reported in order to find the targets they would need to snag the timings of when they visited the Riot building. Yoji knew exactly what he needed to do. It was this which he failed on before. He wasn't planning on repeating the mistake twice. It was only one in the afternoon, so he decided to take a walk outside while Ken and Omi did the lighter job of rechecking the fake identity Yoji would be posing as in the Riot building.
Yoji strolled down the nearby park and walked around the reservoir. He stared into the vast blue skies and back down at the blue water.
He sighed as the unwanted memory of Asuka came in mind. It wasn't only Asuka he remembered, though…
He jumped when he felt a tap on his back. He turned to find an old man with thick bushy eyebrows and a grey beard. He also held onto a walking stick as if a third leg. Yoji was slightly freaked at the old man who was walking around with a red cloth wrapped around his eyes.
"By any chance, young lad, a way to Westliche Straße?" He asked in a shaky voice, but it was due to the old voice box he probably has. Thinking he might as well help, he smiled back at the old man despite the other's blindness.
"Sure. I know a quick and easy way", Yoji replied and led the old man away from the park. It has been a ten minute walk and Yoji was amazed at how fast the old man could keep up with him. On several cases the old man even said it was okay for him to move faster.
They had a soft chat on the way. The blonde managed to feel comfortable even though they were total strangers. They finally reached Westliche Straße and the man wandered to an alley.
Worried, Yoji followed and found the old man standing there just facing him.
"I thank you, and in return, I give you an old man's voicing", he said. Yoji was puzzled and was about to ask when the old man lifted his walking stick, pointing at Yoji.
"Your life is complicated, my son. Be aware of what meets beyond your eyes. The sorrow of tomorrow would soon come, that I must stress. I feel sorry. Yet, it has been decided."
"What has been decided?"
"The first died for you even though you didn't love. The second you love you saw being killed isn't dead. The third you started to love dies for you. The fourth you love dies without wanting your love…"
Yoji was more than shocked. He had no idea how to respond to that. Thinking it was some kind of trick, he growled back.
"And what's the fifth going to do?" He wanted to test him. Whatever this old man was talking about, it creep him out.
Letting a sigh, the old man continued, "I wish you'd never asked. The fifth would die right before your eyes yet save many lives."
Yoji snorted and turned away from the alley.
"Open your eyes, Yoji Kudou. Fate changes every second."
Yoji heard his name and froze. He never told that geezer his name. How in the world did he know his name? He turned over and was about to shout when he realised he was only facing the blank, red brick wall of the alley. The only was the old man could leave the alleyway was to get past him.
Yoji felt his heart beat hard in his chest. Whoever that was, he had obviously did a good job of scaring him to his wits. So what if he was an assassin? Assassins still would be afraid of something, and for Yoji, it's supernaturalism. He shuddered as he left the alley. He was definitely going to keep it to himself, and hopefully what he said wasn't true.
Urm.. sorry for the short chapter... I found out an easier, quicker means of doing the fic. Using my sister/father's laptop! But it takes trouble transferring them all over the place...
For the (FYI):
(1)Ah... did I mention Nagi was also one of my fav. characters? Anyway, in this story he's in Uni. Kinda makes him sound old aye? Too bad. He's prodigy. Need alot of brains now...
Translations:
Löschen aus-Extinguish
Suche-Search
Westliche Straße-West Road
Reviewers:
Mistseeper: Yeah, duh. You know how I feel about forgetting Mist was a Shapeshifter. -.- I didn't see you on weekend. Where did you go! -sob sob-
Rubymoon: Nice
Einsam: Ah... A review is never a touch too late on my list! Anyway what are you late about? Ah hah.. so you dislike the fact I take up a third of the story dealing with the guys' lives? I'm sorry... but If I don't mention it, you won't get to how the -ahem- pairings come and blah blah... I hate Schrient too, but unfortuantely, they're going to play a somewhat major part in the story. I hope you like this chapter too!