(Stares with big watery eyes.) I'm so sorry!!!!!! I know I haven't updated in such a long time!!!!! I didn't mean to take so long, but I've been in a really weird mood for a really long time. I want to write but when I try I find I can't!! (Tears stream like waterfalls.)
Let's just hope I get out of it soon! Till then here's what I managed to get down. I meant to make the chapter longer but I was moving at a snails pace, so I decided to cut it short. I hope you enjoy it!!!!
I don't own Schwarz or Weib, which is actually probably a good thing considering I'd have nowhere to keep them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She stared absently down at the small, skinny kitten in her lap, watching its long tail swish back and forth slightly, its little ears twitching randomly. The chilled wind pushed her long hair across her face, obscuring her view and tickling her nose as it blew around her. Slowly she pushed the hair away and tucked it behind her ear.
"Why do people have to die?" She asked suddenly, looking up at the little boy sitting next to her. The slim boy stared at the cream colored lump in the girls lap, his dark brown eyes unfathomable.
"We die because it is a part of life. If no one died, we would not know to enjoy being alive." She stared at the little boy as he said this, watching as his head turned slightly to look at the darkly dressed group below them.
"But if it has to happen, why does it hurt so much?" She asked, her eyes turning downwards to watch her hands clutch the edge of the stone bench.
"Hurting is also necessary in life. We must hurt so we can find a way to be happy." The boys hand appeared in her line of vision as it moved to cover her own. Then she heard his calm voice continue.
"It may not seem fair, but we must suffer and struggle, it is the only way to see the entire picture that is life. There must be an opposite to every good thing, in order to make us see that good things value." As he spoke, the fuzzy kitten in her lap stretched, opening its mouth in a yawn, its small pink tongue uncurling into view. She raised her free hand and stroked the top of its tiny head, letting her fingers run between its ears and down its neck and back. The small creature purred contently and relaxed back against her legs to continue dozing.
Silence stretched out after that. She sat staring out at the dreary scenery. The hill on which they sat overlooked what seemed to be miles of treeless land. She could see the green grass rustling on the many smaller hills around them. The gray stones on those hills seemed to point to the dark, rain heavy clouds above. As if warning of the impending downpour.
The wind once again loosed the thick hair from behind her ear, pulling it across her eyes like a curtain of blue silk. She pushed it impatiently away, her fingers becoming damp as they cleared strands of wet, sticking hair off her cheeks.
"Do you think it all ends… when you die?" She asked shakily, staring at the ground again. She had to fight to keep her entire body from fallowing her voices example.
The feeling of the boys slim arm as it slid around her shoulder made her look up at his face. His large, dark brown eyes stared into hers kindly.
"No, I don't think death is the end." He then turned once again to the dark figures below as they filled by in a long, slow procession. She followed the boys gaze, her eyes resting on the two long boxes carried by six of the dark figures.
"I think death is only another step in life. I believe that though our bodies are gone, our energy goes on to spread out over the universe. In that way, we go on forever." The boy's eyes met hers again.
"And you know what?" He asked, smiling at her sadly.
"What?" She asked. Her vision was blurry with tears.
"There is another, slightly more concrete way, to make sure the people we care about go on forever." The boy told her, his eyes never leaving hers as he spoke.
"How?" She asked, a stream of tears trickling down her cheek.
The little boy squeezed her to him consolingly.
"By holding them in your heart. As long as you remember someone, they never really leave." He assured her gently.
"You really think so?" She asked, staring at him sadly.
The little boy wiped the tears away from her eyes with the hem of his sleeve, then hugged her close.
"Of course I do." He answered.
It felt as if they sat on that cold bench for hours after that, neither saying a word. The wind continuing to toss her hair gently back and forth. While the kitten lay undisturbed in her lap, unaware of the sober world around it.
"What are you doing up here?" A cold voice suddenly broke the weary stillness that lay over the world.
She looked up to see a tall, stern woman in a charcoal black dress. The woman stood staring at the two of them disapprovingly, her frowning mouth making her face very unpleasant looking.
She sniffed, trying to clear her voice and wipe the tears out of her eyes at the same time.
"Aunt I…" The woman didn't give her a chance to finish.
"The funeral is almost over. Its time for you to stop crying, go say goodbye, and start packing. I want to be out of this god-forsaken country as soon as possible.
The woman said this as she walked over and grabbed her hand, pulling her quickly off the bench. She scooped up the kitten in one arm as she was yanked into a standing position.
"Aunt, could I take the kitten with me? I found her in the cemetery." She lifted the little bundle of fur up higher for her aunt to see.
The woman curled her lip up in obvious revulsion.
"You may not. I am not going to haul some underfed, diseased little creature back to the US just for your amusement."
The woman gave her a tug towards the black fitted crowd below them.
"Now put that thing down and come along." The woman commanded as she dragged her across the grass.
Looking over her shoulder at the little boy, she slipped free of her aunt's grasp and hurried over to him.
"Will you take care of the kitten, please? Find it a good home, alright?" She asked, looking at the boy with beseeching grey eyes.
"Alright, I will." The little boy said, excepting the small fuzzy bundle from her.
"I'll see you before you leave right?" The boy asked her hopefully.
She glanced quickly back at the woman storming towards were they stood, then at the boys sad face.
"Yes, definitely." She said, just as the woman grabbed her by the arm and began pulling her away again.
Her eyes clouded up with uncontrollable tears as they moved farther and farther away. The little boy was growing smaller and smaller against the backdrop of grey sky as she stared over her shoulder. All the while she could hear her aunt raging about disobedient, ungrateful little girls. The woman sounded so distant in her ears, as if she was the one moving farther and farther away.
"I'm taking you in out of the goodness of my heart. God knows I'm not equipped deal with some bratty child. Why your parents couldn't find someplace for you to stay here, I have no idea. You'd think they did it on purpose in order to annoy me. Went and got themselves killed…"_________________________________________________________________________________
"…killed in his home nearly a month ago. Police still have no leads as to who the killers were or how they managed to bypass security."
The noise of the TV was the first thing that greeted Sam's ears as she floated slowly into the waking world.
Rolling slowly over on her back, the young woman wiped away the tears in the corners of her eyes and sighed.
(Will I ever be rid of that dream?) She wondered sadly. (Well at least its not the worst one I could have.) The girl thought in a depressed sort of optimism. She slowly pulled herself into a sitting position, her head resting on her knees. The young woman sat that way for a long moment, reflecting sadly on the dream. After a while she shook her head gently, dismissing the depressing memories.
Sam got up and dressed, then headed down the hall to the kitchen. Passing the living room, she noted Farfarello in one of the large easy chairs. He sat twirling a knife between two fingers calmly. Schuldig was also there, slung out sleepily across the couch, a remote in one hand and a strawberry poptart in the other.
If Schuldig had it his way, he'd never be up before 12 o'clock in the afternoon. Since it was six in the morning Sam figured someone had dragged the telepath out of bed against his will.
Leaving the two men to their morning TV, Sam entered the kitchen and made herself some coffee and toast. As she moved around the kitchen she could hear a reporter talking about the murder of the Chief Justice the month before. It was pretty old news by now, but the case was so baffling and the man was important, it was understandable that news reports would still be going on about him. What puzzled police was the lack of clues left behind, and that the security system at the Chief Justices home was never triggered. She remembered the police saying that the Chief Justice had an extensive, complicated security system and whoever had managed to get to the man, really knew what they were doing.
Sam was pretty sure that her teammates knew something about the Chief Justices death, but they never said a thing about it, so she hadn't bothered to question them. They probably wouldn't tell her even if she had asked, and if they did, she was sure she'd regret asking.
Sam finished preparing her breakfast and walked back out into the living room. Once there, she took a seat in the other chair.
As she sipped her coffee, Sam found herself staring at Schuldig. He had stuffed the entire poptart in his mouth and was looking sort of chipmunkish with his cheeks full of toaster pastry.
(Schuldig?) She called to him mentally. The red haired, mind reading, chipmunk man turned slightly in order to see her.
(Hmm?) He asked sleepily.
(What are you doing up so early?) She asked, trying not to laugh at his woodland animal appearance.
(That brat Nagi missed his bus and threatened to slam me into a wall if I didn't drive him to school. And of course once I got back here I couldn't get back to sleep.) He said in an annoyed mental tone.
(Ahh, I see. But I thought Nagi didn't really need to go to school. Why was he so intent on it today?) She asked, taking a bite of her toast.
(He said something about tests.) Schuldig answered simply, before turning back to the TV.
Sam turned her own attention to the television and continued to eat her breakfast. Some report on business was on next and Sam was starting to tune it out when the word struck a memory.
( Business! That reminds me, Brad has a business meeting with someone this morning. He should have been up by now!) Sam set her food down on the coffee table and headed for Brads room. Once there, she knocked on the door, but there was no answer.
(That idiot must have stayed up later then usual. You'd think the guy would realize he needs to sleep the night before a morning business meeting.) She thought this as she peered around the door quietly. The lights were off and she could see the clairvoyants still form in the bed. Sighing, Sam stepped into the room and turned on the lights. The man didn't stir at all.
Sam walked over and sat down on the side of his bed, she then gave the mans bare shoulder a little shake, then another. The young woman had never actually had to wake the elder assassin up before, so she wasn't really sure how he was going to react.
The clairvoyant gave a sleepy groan and squinted as the light invaded his sensitive eyes. He then, uncharacteristically enough, tried to role over and go back to sleep. Sam smiled slightly, an eyebrow raised. She then called out.
"Brad! Oh my always prepared for everything leader! IT'S ABOUT TIME YOU GOT UP!!" This time, she got his attention. The man rolled over sleepily and stared at her like she was insane.
"Why are you in my room? Yelling in my ear?" He asked her in a sleepy, moody tone.
Sam picked Brads glasses up off his bed stand and slid them up onto the bridge of the clairvoyant's nose.
"Because, you are supposed to be up getting ready for a business meeting right now." She said as she pushed the glasses into place.
Brads sleepy eyes went panicked.
"Are you sure?" He asked.
"Yah Brad, I'm sure. I am your secretary; I'm supposed to know these things." She said in slight exasperation.
The man sat up suddenly and shot out of bed, leaving Sam very little time to move out of the way.
The young woman was silently glad he was the type of guy that wore pants to bed, otherwise that moment would have been a great deal more awkward.
"This isn't like you Brad, normally your so organized and punctual. How did you manage to forget about this appointment and wake up late?" She asked, sitting on his bed, back facing him so he could get dressed.
"I worked later then usual. You can turn around now." He said shortly.
Sam turned back to face him.
"Oh, you mean later then two in the morning? You know they say not getting enough sleep takes years off your life. By now I'd say you're due to die at age 35." Sam commented in a sarcastic tone. The man smirked at her comment and continued buttoning up his shirt.
"I don't think sleep depredation is going to be what kills me, sweetheart." Brad said in a dark, humorous tone.
"Hmm, you never know." Sam said. She then got off the bed. "I'll make you some coffee." The young woman headed out of his room and back to the kitchen.
Sam reheated the cooling water and finished making the coffee a minute before Brad entered the kitchen. The man accepted the beverage from her and took a sip.
"Thank you Sam, what would I do without you?" He asked a second later. Sam crossed her arms lightly against her chest and answered.
"Probably what you did before I was here."
After Brad had left, Sam headed back to the living room.
There, she found that the rest of her breakfast had mysteriously disappeared.
The young woman glared death rays at the two male suspects in the room, both of which were staring at the TV as if nothing was amiss.
Making her decision, Sam grabbed a pillow off a chair, and whammed Schuldig up the side of the head with it. The accused man covered his head protectively with his arms and laughed.___________________________________________________________________________________
Sam lay on the floor of her room, a book open in front of her. She could hear the four young men hurrying around the house beyond her door. She could tell they were getting ready to leave for their late night "job."
The young woman grabbed a spoonful of mint ice cream from the pint sitting next to her, then turned the page of her book. She continued to read peacefully till the sound of her door opening made her look up.
Schuldig stood in the doorway wearing his trademark smirk.
"Don't you know how to knock?" Sam asked in slight annoyance.
"I do if the doors locked." He answered, leaning against the frame. Sam closed her book and stared at the redhead.
"And what if I'd been dressing when you walked in?" She asked.
As she expected, the telepaths grin widened.
"I'd consider myself a lucky man." He said simply. Sam rolled her eyes then glared at him mildly. Ignoring her glare, Schuldig walked into the room. Stepping over Sam, the redhead made his way over to the dresser and calmly began looking through the drawers.
Sam stared at the man in slight disbelief.
"What the hell are you doing?" The young woman asked as she forced herself up off her stomach and walked over to him.
"I'm finding you something to wear." He answered simply.
"For what?" Sam asked in confusion.
"For tonight's job, you're coming with us." He answered, not even looking up as he continued to look through one of the drawers. The young woman noted the drawer the telepath had paused on. She pushed it shut, very nearly catching the redheads fingers. "I don't think you need anything out of my underwear drawer." She said, giving the pouting assassin a disapproving look.
"Fine. So sue me for trying to help!" Schuldig said in mock offence. He then moved on to a lower drawer.
Sam shook her head slightly and retrieved her ice cream off the floor. She then moved over to sit on the edge of the bed, next to a pair of pants which Schuldig seemed to have approved. The young women sat eating ice cream and watching the redhead unfold shirts, look them over, then sloppily refold and put them back.
Finally, Schuldig found one which seemed to please him and added it to the pants. He then eyed the ice cream carton in Sam's hands.
"You know you really should stop eating all this junk food." The man grabbed the carton and spoon away from her.
"A fat assassin doesn't live that long." He added, then shoveled a large green mound into his mouth.
"Your one to talk, all you ate before I got here was junk food." Sam said, looking over the clothing on the bed. Schuldig just shrugged and turned back to the dresser. After a moment of consideration he plucked one last article of clothing out of the drawer and tossed it into the pile.
"There, now change and join us in the living room in five." The redhead ordered and began heading towards the door.
"Wait a second." Sam said.
Schuldig stopped and turned to her expectantly. The young woman walked up to the telepath and took the ice cream carton out of his hands.
"Now you can go." She said, heading back towards the bed. Schuldig smirked at the young woman's back and left the room.________________________________________________________________________________
Sam leaned heavily against the cool brick wall. The dread inside the young woman was threatening to overwhelm her. She closed her eyes, fighting away the panic which rose with all her unanswered questions. What were they doing here? Were they going to hurt someone? What were they going to ask her to do?
Opening her eyes slightly, she focused on Brad and Farfarello. They stood watching the heavy metal door set in the brick wall a few feet away. Their eyes were filled with impatience and interest.
Brad had divided the Schwarz members into two groups. Nagi and Schuldig had gone in the front of the building. While the rest were to wait around back to be let in.
Suddenly, the door surged slowly outward, letting out a low groan as it was forced open. A familiar redhead became visible just inside the entrance of the building.
Without a word, the two men calmly past Schuldig and were lost to the inky black space beyond him.
Schuldig turned his gaze on Sam, a feral smirk set on his face.
"Shall we, love?" He asked playfully, one hand extended towards her.
The young woman stared at the man, then looked past him into the darkness, then finally let her eyes rest on his hand. Trying to banish her unease, Sam took a slow step forward.
Impatiently, Schuldig leaned in and seized the young woman's wrist, then tugged her towards the open door. The man was obviously eager to catch up with Brad and Farfarello.
Before she had time to think, Sam found herself inside the dark building. The light from outside was rapidly receding as the door groaned back into place; soon there was nothing but impenetrable darkness all around her.
(Were are we?) Sam asked in confusion.
(A back hallway.) Came the nonchalant voice inside her head.
The redhead moved forward in the darkness somewhere next to the young woman. Tugging gently on her wrist, the man started off down the hallway. Sam allowed herself to be led along, lagging slightly behind, all the while, concentrating on pushing her reluctant body forward.
The young womans foot caught on the corner of what felt like a box, making her stumble.
(How do you know were your going?) She asked in annoyance. Schuldig had yet to trip, bump or collide with a single thing in the dark hall.
(I've been in this hall way longer than you, my eyes have adjusted.) He answered coolly.
Sam grabbed blindly with her free hand, managing to catch the back of the redhead's coat. The young woman then yanked her captured wrist free of Schuldigs grasp and grabbed hold of the arm of the mans coat instead. A seeing eye dog, that's what he was.
The two reached the end of the hall after what seemed like an hour but was probably only a minute. They passed through a second door and entered a hall illuminated by a single window on the far end of the passage.
By the dim blue light of the moon, Sam could read the words painted above a nearby bulletin board. TOKYO UNIVERSITY.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Brad stared briefly at one of the black boxes in the corner of the ceiling; the small red light was off. Nagi had turned off the security cameras. The clairvoyant and his younger teammate walked silently through the maze of hallways till they reached a stairwell. There, the two paused to wait for their missing companions. After a minute or so Brad could see Schuldig and Sam. As they neared, Brad's eyes fell automatically on Sam.
On the surface she seemed calm, but the clairvoyant could see the truth, Sam was sick with worry. Her eyes gave her away. Brad also noticed that one of her hands clutched absently at the arm of the telepaths coat, as if using him for a lifeline. This was almost humorous, considering how few people actually found comfort with schuldig near them. But there was nothing funny about the situation. They couldn't have the young woman freaking out in the middle of a job.
(Schuldig, can't you calm Sam down?) Brad asked in exasperation.
(Probably not.) The telepath answered with a large smirk. (I told you we should have left her with Nagi.) He continued.
Brad rubbed the bridge of his nose.
(No, we shouldn't have. She needs to get used to this, hiding her won't do her any good. Just because we don't need another trained killer doesn't mean Sam can completely avoid what we do.)
The group of four had begun to climb the stairs now.
(Well then, don't you think we should have started this hmm, I don't know… maybe a month ago?! At least then, her first experience with ratting out that old gizzer would have been fresh in her mind. She would have been more used to this sort of stuff. But no, you have to go and recruit her as your secretary for a month. Tell me Brad, does having a cute little 20 year old bouncing around your office fulfill some repressed fantasy?)
Brad glared at his redheaded teammate. Schuldig simply smirked back.
(You know as well as I that we couldn't have taken her with us on any of our previous jobs. It would have been too much for her. She's not ready to be thrown in the middle of a fight against Weib and she obviously can't handle seeing someone die. Now quite trying to piss me off and settle her down.)_______________________________
The group had left the stairs and was heading down another hallway when Sam heard Schuldig's mental voice again.
(You know you don't need to be worried, we're not in any danger.) He told her confidently.
(It's not us that I'm worried about.) Sam replied distantly, her attention focused on a door some ways down the hall. The door was like all the others in the corridor, the only difference between it and the rest was the flickering fire like light coming through its window.
The four moved towards the door, an air of purpose surrounding the three men as they stalked silently closer. Soon, the group had come to a stop beside the lit entrance. There they paused while Brad and Schuldig pulled guns from inside their jackets.
(They're just for scare.) Schuldig assured Sam after noting the look on her face. He then continued. (When we get in there just stand next to the door, don't move unless we call you over. Got it?) He asked mentally. Sam nodded mutely._________________________________________________________________________________
Emi watched the young man across the table. He sat quietly, staring intently at his hand. She didn't know the youth, not well anyway, he was in one of her classes. He had come to this school only recently. The moment David and her had seen the brown haired young man, they had known something was different about him. He was like them somehow. The day before Emi had left a note in the boys locker, asking him to meet them here.
Suddenly a small flame erupted slightly above his palm. Emi stared in astonishment as the flame grew, expanding to the diameter of his hand.
Next to her, David remained impassive, but she could feel his wonderment as clearly as she felt her own.
The boy held the fire for a few moments before letting it extinguish itself.
"Wow, that's really amazing! When did you realize you could do that?" Emi asked the boy in front of her.
The boy shrugged casually.
"I don't not know, I guess when I was seven or somewhere near there."
"What did you say your name was?" David asked calmly.
"It's Akio."
"Nice to meet you, Akio." This is David, he's an exchange student from the U.S, and I'm Emi. The girl introduced.
Emi opened her mouth to ask the boy another question, but shut it, distracted she suddenly realized that something felt wrong. There were too many emotions in the room. She could feel David's suppressed interest and Akio's hesitant friendliness, but she could feel something else, something malicious.
Her head snapped towards the door just as it flew open.
The woman rose, catching the two boy's attention. They rose as well, unsure of what was happening.
A man stood in shadows, just outside the doors frame. Emi felt herself grip the table's corner, an unexplainable terror running through her.
The man stepped into the moonlight room, the shadows falling away from his form. Long orange hair seemed to shine unnaturally in the blue light. A wide cold grin spread across the strangers face, matching his icy blue eyes well.
Behind him, two more men stepped through the door, one with black hair and an eerie calm to his face. The other had white hair and grinned in a way that was twice as unnerving as the redhead.
Emi backed up a step. The emotions in these men churned and boiled unpleasantly. The power of their feelings were warping themselves into one overpowering wave that toward over her friends and self ominously, ready to crash down at any moment.
Suddenly the man with the cold blue eyes addressed them.
"Good evening my dear lady, and fine gentlemen."