zelos
by myka
Arc I - Part 05
beta: naaha

---

I felt relieved. I couldn't help it. It was the first emotion that consumed me, even when I was unarmed, with no way to call for help and at the mercy of another assassin.

Schuldig smirked. "I trust you won't scream if I uncover your mouth, right?"

He could read my mind. He knew I wouldn't.

He released my mouth and grabbed my remaining free wrist with that hand. He pressed his body harder against mine, keeping my back to the wall to the limit.

"Could you get off me?" I asked.

His smirked widened. "Why?" he asked back, "don't you like this?" he added, softly moving his fingers up and down my hand.

I needed some leverage here. I did not want to be at his mercy.

"Did you just call me gorgeous?" I suddenly asked.

It worked. His body shifted at the comment and it gave me the chance to push him off me. He stumbled backwards into the dark and I quickly went for my watch, trying to visualize where it could have possibly fallen, wishing I had some night vision goggles. I stepped forward and something cracked under my feet. Shit… I reached downward to find the shattered pieces of my headset. Why me? Now I couldn't even ask for help if I needed it.

I heard movement beside me and Schuldig slammed against me. Making my body hit the floor with force, air leaving my lungs as I gasped.

"Let go of me!" I screamed, trying to fight him off. Maybe if I screamed loud enough someone would hear me.

Schuldig's hand tried to cover up my mouth again and I instantly bit at it. What the hell was he thinking?

"Shut up, Kudoh!" he yelled back. "I just want to talk."

I froze, letting my eyes get used to the dark until I could finally see his silhouette. "Then get off me." I said calmly. He complied, moving aside, and I finally sat up. "If you just wanted to talk you didn't have to be so…aggressive," I said trying to sound pissed.

He chuckled. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

I glared at him, even though I knew he couldn't see me well. "How can you see in this dark?" I asked, and I heard him chuckle again. "Who says I can," he replied.

This was getting us nowhere.

"Mind if we find some light then?" I asked back.

"Can't," he replied. "I'm being kept under surveillance."

I gave up. "Fine. What do you want to talk about then?"

"Not here," he answered. I felt his hand on mine as he slipped me a piece of paper. "I'll be there all night," he said. I passed the small piece of paper between my fingers, not knowing what to think. I heard him stand, then I heard him swipe the dirt off his clothes. "Later, Balinese," he said as he started walking away. He went past the crates and into the light; the bandage on his wrist was gone.

Wait…

I stood up in a flash, following after him, feeling no control whatsoever over what I was doing. I wasn't even thinking. I caught up to him while still under the light; and grabbed his left wrist, forcing him to turn around as I took a good look at where his wound was. A small scar, barely visible, decorated his wrist. He twisted his arm, getting free of my hold and punching the side of my face with his left fist. I fell back, flat on my ass, still trying to process what had just happened. He should've sensed that I was coming, heard what I was planning to do. So why did he react like that?

He hissed in my head. "Not in the light!"

I touched the side of my face where he had hit me and I already knew it was going to bruise.

"See you later."

And then he was gone, back into the dark. I scrambled to my feet and went back to find my watch as I placed the small piece of paper inside one of my pockets.

Psycho…

"I heard that"

Good.

---

"What happened to your headset, Yohji?" Omi asked after meeting up with him ten minutes later.

Why lie? "I stepped on it."

Omi blinked at me. "You what?"

"It was an accident," I replied.

"Yohji!" Omi exclaimed, "Do you know how much those things cost?"

"Tell me about it, chibi," I answered him. I was grateful that that was the only thing I was being asked about. Schuldig's punch wasn't visible yet.

I changed the subject. "Anybody had luck with the target?" I asked. Omi nodded. "Aya and Ken already took care of it. We are supposed to meet at the harbor entrance." I nodded back, hearing some noise coming from Omi's direction. He placed his hand on top on his ear "Can you repeat that, Siberian? I didn't catch it the first time." Some more noise came from the small device and Omi suddenly went pale.

"What is it, Omi?" I asked quickly.

He only said one word. "Schwarz."

Omi and I ran toward the harbor entrance where Ken and Aya were fighting with the other assassins. Memo to self number three…never, ever assume that if Schuldig is gone, Schwarz is gone. Omi and I finally got there after what seemed like forever, and what we found was not good. Aya held his katana, ready to slash out at anything that moved. But the object of his rage stood just a few feet away from him…Brad Crawford. the Oracle…who held Ken in his arms with a gun pressed against his temple.

Shit…

I gave a quick glance around to see how bad the situation really was. The rest of Schwarz stood a few feet behind Crawford; just like he stood just a few feet away from Aya. Beserker was tasting one of his knifes as usual, while Prodigy just plain stood there. Schuldig was the farthest away, resting his back against a wall, it looked liked he wasn't paying attention to any of it.

Omi yelled.

"Ken!"

Everyone except Aya turned to look at us. I went for my watch, ready. Crawford's eyes morphed when he saw me, widening, and slightly filling with some strong emotion directed only at me. Then he did something no one expected. He pointed his gun at me.

And fired.

"Move, Kudoh!"

My legs suddenly moved me to the right the second the words were spoken inside my head. I felt the sharp sting as the bullet grazed my left shoulder, making me loose my balance. That bullet had been heading straight for my heart; if I hadn't dodged it, I would be dead. The only problem was I wasn't the one that made me move.

I heard Omi screaming my name as I fell to the ground. He bowed down to help me as I kept looking forward, trying to keep my attention at my shooter. I saw Ken taking the opportunity to wriggle himself free of the Oracle's hold as Aya launched forward with his katana; but Aya froze midway and was suddenly sent flying back by Prodigy. Ken elbowed Crawford in the stomach and jumped out of his reach. The Schwarz leader shifted the direction of his gun from me to Ken again, but the weapon was sent flying out of his grasp before he could pull the trigger. Omi stood beside me with his dart gun pointed at his target. Crawford glared at Omi, and then he turned around and walked away.

Schwarz retreated. We let them go.

"Yohji got shot!" Omi suddenly yelled to the others. "We have to take him to a hospital!"

I grunted. "I'm fine, Omi," I told him. "The bullet just grazed me."

"Are you sure?" he asked with concern. I put on my best pain-free smile for him.

"I'm sure."

Omi didn't respond to my words, but I could feel the uneasiness leave his body as he proceeded to help me stand up. My right hand went straight to cover the wound once I was standing on my own two feet. Ken and Aya finally caught up to us.

I tried hard not to wince at the pain, and suddenly I felt very tired. "Can we go home now?" I asked in a tired voice. "I would like to bandage my shoulder at some point tonight," I added a little sarcastically. Aya glared, Omi smiled and Ken even let out a laugh. Finally, we were on our way home.

---

The wound wasn't bad. It just hurt like hell.

I took a shower, bandaged the wound, swallowed some painkillers and got dressed. At first I had thought about not going. Because what would be the point of going? All I had wanted to know was if he was all right after the incident, and he was. I should just leave it at that and cut off all ties. That's what I should do…

But that was before Crawford took a shot at me.

I put on a black jacket that successfully hid the bandage.

I was going out.