Sorry about how long this is taking… I will keep posting in twos and the next post should be soon. Special thanks to emu3 for submitting kaj's 100 hundredth review! :showers with cakes and candies: Arigatou Gozaimasu!

Ringing in her ears. White snow across her pupils. Brown hair strewn against red rose petals. Blue eyes lost in a sea of soft, white feathers. A shrill, petrified shriek across the distance. A quickened heartbeat. A drop of sweat. And then, morning.

M13: Implosion

Yohji drove around the neighborhood of the current listed hideout of Schwarz. It was in a well-to-do part of the city that Ken and Yohji rarely saw. Yohji had been there several times to complete odd jobs before he became a member of Weiß and some friends of Ken's lived over there, apparently. One of them threw the occasional party and when Ken wasn't busy with Weiß, he would attend them.

Yohji knew that people there usually called to report suspicious activity, so he had Ken remove his jacket and just wear the white t-shirt and blue jeans he had on. There was an empty pizza box sitting in his lap that Yohji improvised as a prop. They pulled up to the end of the block.

"Do I…really have to go alone?" Ken asked.

"You won't be completely alone," Yohji said. "I'm going to be waiting around back for you. Now do you remember what to do?" Ken nodded. He still looked wary. Ken's weak point was that he was not so great at sneaking into places. Since he couldn't be inconspicuous, their only option was to give him a reason to stand out. It was more dangerous, but Yohji's plan would ensure that they both were able to approach the house without suspicion. Yohji need to cheer on his partner in crime to give him courage, so he told him, "I'm counting on you, Ken." Ken smiled very briefly.

"Don't worry, Yohji. I won't let you down." Ken got out of the car with the pizza box in hand. He walked confidently to the address they had been given and headed up the steps. He stopped at the door and pretended to knock. Then he waited. He counted the moments in his head within which he envisioned Yohji on the move. He reached up and was going to fake knock again, and then an imaginary piece of paper caught his attention. He reached down and slipped a real sheet of paper from his front pocket as he did. He pretended to pick it up from the porch, and then he stood and read it.

The note Yohji had written sent him to the back door to deliver. Ken shrugged, still playing the part of delivery man, and walked down the steps. As he started along the side of the house, the front door opened unexpectedly. Ken's heart began to race as he pretended not to notice that it had opened. Yohji had planned to be at the back of the house by this point and Ken couldn't keep him waiting. He hurried along to the back of the house and spotted Yohji squatting at the first corner of the building in the back yard. Ken immediately knelt next to him.

"Someone came to the door," he said.

"Which one?" Yohji asked. Ken had tried hard not to peek and was sure that he hadn't, and yet, he was positive that it was Schuldig.

"Schuldig," he said. Yohji frowned.

"He shouldn't be able to answer the door," he said. He put a hand to his chin. "Were you seen, Ken?"

"No," Ken said, though he couldn't be sure. Yohji motioned for Ken to reposition himself on the other side of him. As he did, Yohji looked down the path. To his surprise, he felt someone pass by him quickly.

"Delivery boy…?" the man murmured in a singsong manner as he approached Ken. His accent led Yohji to believe it was Schuldig. "Didn't you see me at the door? Where are my goodies, delivery boy?" Confused, Yohji didn't know what to say. Schuldig reached out and grabbed Ken's collar. He yanked Ken closer and their noses bumped together. "If it's good and warm, I'll make sure to tip you real good." Was he serious? Yohji looked to Ken, who was just as stunned as he was.

"You don't sound like the guy who ordered," Ken said nervously. "Are you…sure I have the right house?"

"You don't get out much, do you, delivery boy?" Schuldig said. He chuckled and pounced on Ken, knocking him flat on his back. "There is no other guy and yes, you've got the right house." He still had Ken by the collar and was holding his head and shoulders up within the grasp. "Why don't we make this the last stop of the night for you, delivery boy? Open up and show me…just how good your…product…can be."

By then, it was obvious to Yohji that Schuldig was not completely in his right mind. What Omi had given him must not have been lethal, but had been strong enough to make Schuldig oblivious to his actions. Yohji didn't know whether or not Schuldig was telling the truth about being alone in the house, but if he was busy with Ken, Yohji could take Crawford on easy by himself. Schuldig was the stronger of the two and he was halfway gone; that was Yohji's motivation for their infiltration in the first place.

Yohji got up and entered the house quietly through the back door. He stood inside a kitchen. The light was on, and the room appeared to be empty. Yohji let his eyes wander around the room, noting very quickly that the place was pretty swank. Yohji knew the neighborhood was a wealthy one, but marble floors and countertops, and stained cherry wood cabinetry? Two commercial stoves, built in dishwasher, trash compactor, fridge, freezer and microwave, all stainless steel? Talk about your lap of luxury.

Yohji started forward, creeping over to the hall silently. As he reached it, he looked into each of the doors he passed. The first was a bathroom, which was empty. The second a closet, also empty. He next encountered a bedroom

The lights were on, but the room was dark because the walls, ceiling and floor were black. There were bottles of liquor and discarded clothes scattered around. Yohji noticed the green pants that Schuldig had been wearing. There was a small hole in the thigh with blood stains around it. The bed sheets were disheveled, pillows were on the floor. Across from the bed on the wall was a dart board with two darts protruding from the center point. There were also darts scattered about the floor. Yohji didn't see anyone, or anything symbolizing Schwarz's case work, so he left to explore elsewhere.

The next room was the living room. The furniture was expensive and well placed. There was art and potted plants around. Yohji was beginning to feel uneasy. How could Schwarz afford a place like this while Weiß had to live so modestly? Yohji took out a pint sized camera and started clicking away. As he worked, there was no sound or movement coming from the inside of the house. He opened drawers and searched through shelves without finding anything of real importance.

Yohji approached the stairs to the second floor and climbed them quietly. He searched everywhere quickly first and it was indeed empty. There was a game room, another bedroom, a closet, a bathroom and a laundry room. He returned to the bedroom. It reminded him of Aya's bedroom because everything matched and was neatly placed with little bits of character here and there. There was a novel on the bedspread near the pillows and glasses on the nightstand. Yohji had first seen this and figured that Crawford was still around. Why would he have left without his glasses? However, with the floor empty, he had no reason to believe he was hanging around. Yohji searched his room, snapping photos at the bookcases and within the drawers again. In the bottom drawer of an armoire was a thick manila folder. Without inspecting it, Yohji unzipped his suit and slipped it inside. After a few more pictures, he moved back into the hallway.

He tugged on the string hanging down from the ceiling and the stairs came down. He steadied them, then began to climb up into the attic. He could smell burning candles and see their eerie, shadowy dance as he ascended the stairs. He lifted himself up and turned to sit down with his legs on the steps when he saw something that nearly made him lose his balance and fall back down to the second floor.

There were photographs pinned and blood smeared all along the floor and walls of the loft. The photos were all of Omi, all taken recently. Some were of him in his room, seemingly alone. Some as he slept. Some as he bathed. Some even as he sat and talked with Yohji, Ken and Aya. The room was lit only by candles. Directly in front of Yohji was a well built shrine to Omi.

There was a large petal shaped piece of plywood painted a light purple. A rectangular blowup of a photograph of Omi walking Pomme was tacked and centered on the petal. The petal had wiry metal arms with hands that held objects that had once belonged to Omi or that Omi might have used: the same type of shampoo, his old hair brush, tattered clothing. Other arms held blue pillar candles, and they had recently been lit. Just below the photograph was a plate full of incense ashes. Two sticks were newly burning in a holder. And just beneath that was a bowl full of a blood red substance. He didn't want to believe it to be blood; there was just so much of it. However, as Yohji shifted to leave he saw that something was floating inside of it. It could easily fit in a hand and was round and purplish. His mouth hung open, fear rising, seeming to seep into his brain. He put a hand to his mouth and backed away from the shrine, further into the loft. Omi was in greater danger than any of them originally thought he was.

He shook his head slowly as he tried to process what exactly he was looking at. He got to his feet and turned around. There was something covered in black clothe behind him. He walked towards it and raised his hand to the fabric. He gripped it, and swallowed back his fear and nervousness of the situation.

He tugged the fabric and it fell loose. It had concealed Nagi's bedroom. The entire back wall was a fresco of Omi in a white tunic and soft, white wings. There was a pad on the floor with a sheet covering it neatly. Yohji was about to look away from it when he noticed a doll lying on the pillow. He leaned for a closer look and saw that it looked like Omi. Pinned to its head was a lock of honey blonde hair. Yohji put a hand over his mouth again and looked around the room.

They were everywhere, little voodoo dolls of Weiß and Schwarz. One was hanging over his writing desk in one corner of his room. Yohji stood and approached the desk. It was a doll of Farfarello and it was hanging by a noose around its neck. Yohji shook his head slowly. He wanted to leave. He wanted to get the hell out of there. He took out his camera and snapped random pictures in a hurry, then he took all the papers on Nagi's desk and stuffed them into a small satchel Nagi had left behind.

He leapt down and out of the loft. He hurried out back to find Ken. He and Schuldig were still wrestling about the grass, Ken only wearing his pants. He was desperately trying to free himself of Schuldig, who was somehow too strong for him.

"Yohji!" Yohji deployed his wire and clasped it around Schuldig's legs. He tugged and forced Schuldig away from Ken. Clumsily, Ken got to his feet and stumbled away. Yohji tightened the wire and heard it rip through Schuldig's clothes. He cut the wire from the watch, grabbed Ken by the arm and pulled him to the front of the house.

"We have to go get Omi, now!" Yohji said.

"Yohji…what the…"

"That Nagi is fucking crazy!" Yohji said as they reached the front of the house. "Schuldig won't last long with that wound I gave him… And I don't think that Crawford's our main problem, Ken." Yohji got into the driver's seat of Aya's car and Ken climbed into the passenger's seat.

"What…what?" Ken asked.

"That Nagi is a fucking psychotic maniac," Yohji said. "We have to go get Omi, now." Ken nodded, then tried to close the door. He stopped and looked at Yohji.

"What's that noise…?" he asked.

"What noise?"

Inside a Neighboring Home

From a second story window, the watcher of the scene below had had enough. If those criminals thought they were going to get away, they had another thing coming. She turned from the window and reached for her phone. She had only managed to get the receiver off of the base before an earth shattering explosion knocked it from her hands. Her windows blew in and the ground rocked beneath her. She shrieked and collapsed to her knees. Dogs were barking. Car alarms were blaring. The woman quickly reached for her phone again. What on earth was this world coming to?

Weiß House

Aya was sitting on the couch in the living room staring down at the slats of wood in the floor. He'd cleaned up the mess he'd made as he thought about what was next for them. He had heard Yohji take off in his car and figured that he and Ken would drive around to blow off some steam.

Lately, Aya had found himself at a complete loss. His world, though it had never been perfect, was crumbling. It was in ruins. He had already endured the absence of Omi once and had vowed to never have to go through it again. But Omi had left him. Deliberately? Aya didn't know which scenario made him feel worse: if Omi had truly left on his own or if he had been coerced into leaving.

Tearing up the living room hadn't helped. Yelling at Ken and Yohji made him feel like the devil. Not knowing what to do to save Omi was eating away at him. He wasn't eating right. He wasn't sleeping right. What if Omi would never be the same? What would he do if he never saw the real Omi again, was never able to look into his eyes again and be greeted by a true, naturally blinding smile. An intentional smile. A smile from the heart. Aya gripped at his knees.

Omi was at their old home now. Why? Why would he have gone there? How much of that place was in his memories that he would find himself there? Had Nagi taken him there? Had Nagi brought Omi to their old hideout, the place where Momoe, Sakura and Aya-chan worked? Was it Omi's idea to go there? Why? Why had he made Weiß so vulnerable? Could he really be thinking it a good idea?

Aya knew he needed to act fast. Soon. He couldn't let Omi and the women in his life remain in danger. Would Yohji and Ken return soon? It would be foolish of Aya to act alone. However, it didn't hurt to be ready. Aya stood and went into his room. He undressed and put on another pair of leather pants and a black, sleeveless shirt. He had just slipped on his gloves when the doorbell rang. Immediately suspicious, Aya stiffened and turned in the direction of the front door. Without putting on his jacket, he grabbed a new katana from the set Birman had given him and walked over to his door. He slipped out of it quietly and studied the silhouette outside the large window. The moonlight and streetlights made a small shadow across the living room. From those clues, he knew the visitor was short and tiny.

He left the small hallway and approached the door. The bell rang again. Aya gripped his sword tighter. He felt as if he should be aggressive, but he didn't want to lose control over his emotions. He urged himself to be calm, took a few deep breaths and wrenched open the door. A cloaked figure was standing on the welcome mat. Large blue eyes were staring at him from across the outer door. Though Aya couldn't make out any of her features he knew just from her eyes that it was his younger sister, Aya.

Ran felt heat settle into his legs and he wobbled. His sword slipped from his hand and hit the ground. Many questions and emotions swarmed through his mind and body, but he thought mostly of how small and vulnerable she looked outside in the chilly night air. It was too late for her to be out without protection! Ran started to unlock the door quickly. Suddenly, she came forward and gripped desperately at the door.

"Ran-chan." Her voice was strained.

"Aya…" He swung the door open and Aya flew into his arms.

"Ran-chan!" Ran closed both doors quickly and wrapped his arms around her. Tears stung the back of his eyes as Aya clung to him. Her hood had come down and he could see the top of her head and her long hair. Her face was to his chest and she was holding on for dear life. "Ran…" she cried.

"Aya…?" Ran had a million questions for her, a million things he wanted to say and do with his sister. Things he had wanted to do ever since she was taken from him. His little sister was finally in his grasp again, finally they both knew of their existence in each other's presence. Ran had longed for the day this would happen, but he also knew that he would have to be the one to instigate it. He was sure that she didn't know that he was alive and well, and that he would have to approach her in order for her to know. Had Sakura gone back on her promise not to tell her? Aya lifted her face to Ran's and sniffed, her cheeks wet with tears. Ran put his hands on her shoulders and shook his head slightly. "Aya…why…why are you here? How did you know…?" Aya shook her head too, and looked away from him.

"Ran…" she said. "I…I have some bad news for you. You have to hear it." Ran walked her into the living room and sat her down on the couch. He reached up and wiped her tears away.

"Aya…I've missed you so much," he said. "I can't believe you're here with me right now…" He took one of her hands and enveloped it within his own. "Aya…"

"Ran-chan…" Aya shook her head slightly. "I've…been through a lot since I've woken up and I…I need to speak with you about some things. I've…been watching you the same way that you've been watching me. I…know all about you and about the other members of Weiß. I also know about your enemies… The men that tried to kill you."

"Aya…" Ran's eyebrows were wrinkled in confusion. "How?"

"I'm…I'm working undercover for Kritiker, Ran." Ran felt as if he'd been punched in the gut. He put a hand to his mouth and shook his head.

"No…" he said. His visions of her innocent and untainted life were starting to crumble. He never wanted her to get involved with such an organization. He could she have wound up working for them? "Why, Aya?"

"It's because…of…what they did for me when I was asleep all that time. They took care of me, and I wanted to repay them."

"You shouldn't have gotten yourself involved," Ran said, pulling her closer. "This is…too dangerous for you, Aya."

"It is not," Aya said. "It's not, Ran. I've…thought this over very much before. I know why you joined Weiß and I know why you want to continue it. But I have to stop you, Ran. You can't go around killing people, it's just not right. I…I risked coming here tonight to tell you that…I think we should work together in bringing Schwarz to justice."

"No…no, Aya." Ran was shaking his head. "I can't put you through that. I can't."

"Well, I'm not going to back down now, Ran," Aya said. "I've come too far with this, I have to follow through."

"But, Aya."

"Omi… Omi…is…" Ran's eyes narrowed as he leaned down to see eye to eye with her.

"You saw him?" he asked. Aya nodded.

"Nagi Naoya brought him…"

"Omi didn't lead him there?" Ran asked.

"No. I don't think Omi remembers much about the shop."

"How does Nagi know about it? About you?"

"Nagi… I…befriended Nagi in order to find out secrets about Schwarz for the authorities to use against them."

"Aya…" Had Kritiker corrupted her so much? The words being uttered from her lips were making Ran feel sick. He clenched his fists and shook his head in denial.

"I knew that Nagi had feelings for Omi. He told me a lot about their relationship when I let him stay with me under the excuse that Crawford and Schuldig were impossible for him to deal with anymore."

"They were lies?" Ran asked. "Omi is in danger?"

"He doesn't deserve Nagi, Ran," Aya said. "I never thought that Nagi would go so far as to bring him to me, and I don't know what to do with him, Ran. Both of them…assassins. Both of them…so willing to take another human being's life."

"I'm the same, Aya," Ran said, his voice breaking. Aya lowered her head and nodded.

"I know," she said. "I know that you are like that, too, Ran."

"'I don't…deserve your acceptance, or your forgiveness, Aya." Ran ran his fingers through his hair. "I…just…don't deserve you."

"It's not true," Aya said. She clenched at the fabric of her cloak. "You and I…can do this together. You and I can work on this together, Ran. And once…Schwarz is taken care of, you and I…we can start over. And Omi and the others, they won't have to kill anymore, either."

"But…Aya…"

"And we can be together, Ran," Aya said. "I…I…I want my brother back…Ran…" Ran let her hug him again. He squeezed her and rested his chin in her hair. "I love you…Ran." Ran closed his eyes to keep back his tears. His sister was crying and pleading to him. He couldn't hurt her, or deny her anything. He owed her his life and would never hesitate to give it up for her. However, if she wanted Ran back, her innocent and smiling younger brother, then she was in for major disappointment. Ran was gone and there was nothing anyone could do to get him back.

Please review,

kaj