Mayhem21 brings up a good question and I feel it needs a public answer. When I create characters and have trouble finding a name for them, I select both their first and last names randomly from complied lists of names. It just so happens that Jun Yamada wound up with the same name as an existing character in Weiss Kreuz. Sorry for any confusion that may have caused; I should have caught that myself.
Please enjoy chapters 17 and 18 and I apologize for the delay.
It often isn't easy choosing where one should place their faith. A loved one. A guardian angel. A higher power. More often then not, it is the kindness and unexpected willingness of an unknown savoir that rescues even the most lost of causes.
M17: Surreptitious
Aya and Yohji were on the couch in the living room examining the stolen items from Nagi's room and the photographs that Yohji had developed on the way home. Aya was nervously chewing on his thumbnail as he looked over the pictures.
"There was one for each of us?" he asked, referring to the voodoo dolls.
"Oh, yeah," Yohji said, taking a deep swig of beer.
"And the one who's dead among us eight…" Aya muttered.
"Strung up," Yohji said. "Like it was Nagi's will or something."
"This mural…" Aya said. "The pictures he took of Omi…"
"The shrine," Yohji said. "Let's not forget the shrine."
"I can't think of anything more screwed up than this…" Aya said. "And I brought her back there."
"You didn't have a choice. This is a delicate case we've got going here. We can't let Nagi get riled up over anything."
"This goes beyond normal obsession," Aya said, his brows so furrowed, they nearly met in the center of his forehead. "Omi…is in danger."
"Yeah." Aya rifled through the pages of Nagi's journal.
"Entry after entry…" he said. "His animosity towards Schwarz is borderline manic. What…what could have caused him to become so twisted?"
"Well, if the mind games and beatings weren't enough, try tacking on isolation. Then, he gets Omi as a playmate and Omi promises him everything he's ever wanted."
"But Nagi had to have known that Omi was under Schuldig's influence, he had to know."
"It was too good to be true," Yohji said. "Waaay too good. I mean, this kid's been through it all. Abuse, torture, ridicule, maiming, isolation, starvation. And, let us not forget that he kills people for a living. Imagine the pit of darkness this kid is drowning in. Then, a beacon of light. Omi comes to him like an angel, or something or other, and tells him everything he needs to hear."
"Why does he need to have a doll of him, then?" Aya asked. "Making one is like a curse in itself, why does he have one?"
"It could be old," Yohji said. "I mean, it was on his pillow all nice and neat, not strewn around the room like the rest of us." Aya roughly rubbed down the lower half of his face.
"I just…" He exhaled heavily. "I just…can't stand the fact that those three are there with him, at his mercy."
"Aya said that Omi would be fine, right?" Yohji asked.
"Yes, but how much about Nagi does Aya really know? Just what he was willing to tell her? How could he admit to this stuff to her?" Aya pointed at the pictures. "If she knew about this… If she knew how serious this was, she never would have asked to help them. She would be safe right now, Yohji."
"Look," Yohji said, shifting forward. "Let's not backtrack into the what-could-have-beens, Aya. Right now, we need a plan. So let's put our heads together and figure out how we're going to save them."
"I just want to storm the place," Aya said.
"Oh, yeah, that's perfect," Yohji said, nodding. "Oh, it's not like Nagi's able to hold down two grown men while he's busy being beaten, oh no."
"Cut the damn sarcasm, Yohji." Aya pulled his hands through his hair and scratched his scalp. "It's already mid-morning, but I don't want to wait until tonight to act. But going there…in broad daylight…"
"Well, I suppose we could…try what Ken and I tried yesterday," Yohji said.
"Oh, and get blown up while we're at it?"
"We're not going to get blown up this time," Yohji said. "This time, we're going to use someone as a decoy to get in and tell us how things are going. If we know that Omi is safe, then we wait until tonight to ambush. However, if the decoy senses that things are wrong, then we'll have the decoy create a distraction and rush in."
"It's haphazard."
"But at least we'll see how Omi's holding up."
"We shouldn't act…until it gets dark."
"Even if he's in imminent danger?" Aya folded his arms and sat back.
"Yohji, I don't think that Nagi and Omi will be out and about in the shop. I wouldn't be surprised if the shop was closed today."
"Then the decoy wouldn't work…" Yohji said. "But…I don't see the harm in trying." Aya's eyes fell to the floor.
"Who are you planning to send in there?" Aya asked. Yohji sat his bottle on the coffee table.
"Let me work something out," he said. "You think of a good way to get inside if we have to."
"It's unfortunate that we don't have Ken's help…" Aya said. "I swear, if I'd have known that things were this bad…" Aya gave a heavy sigh. "We should set up surveillance when we use the decoy," he said. "On the way…let's stop by the hospital to see Ken."
"Sure," Yohji said. He got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen. Aya continued to look over the material Yohji had gathered.
At the Koneko
Sakura gave a faint smile to the next customer that came through the door. She was a stunning beauty dressed in fancy clothes. Her silky black hair was tied back into an expensive twist. She walked directly over to Sakura and took off her sunglasses. She had narrowed emerald green eyes. Sakura felt intimidated by her, but she tried to put on a happy face. She knew what would happen if she gave any indication that something was wrong.
"Irasshaimase," she said with a polite bow. "Can I help you with anything?"
"Oh, yes. Be a dear and fetch some roses. I'd like a bouquet consisting of as many different types of roses as you sell."
"Yes, ma'am." Sakura moved away from her towards where they kept the roses. The woman followed her at a distance, her eyes scanning the store.
"Slow day?" she asked.
"Mornings are generally our slowest time," Sakura said. She began to pick different roses for the woman's bouquet, thinking of the best arrangement for them while keeping an eye on her.
"Are you here by yourself?" Sakura didn't know how to answer that. If the woman was a thief, Sakura would leave herself open by admitting to be alone. However, she didn't want to give too much away about who was in the building with her.
"Oh, no," Sakura said. "There is always at least one other person here just in case we get a crowd."
"I see." The woman kept following her as Sakura continued to gather roses. "Well now, those are so pretty. Do you have some of those little white buds to put in it? I absolutely adore those."
"We do," Sakura said with a short nod. She looked up when she heard the front door's bell go off. Two other women strolled in, these two younger than the woman Sakura was currently helping. Sakura greeted them.
"If you'll just give me a moment to finish a bouquet, I'll be with you shortly."
"Isn't there anyone else here today?" one of the women asked with impatience. The woman near Sakura was watching her expectantly with her narrowed green eyes.
"Of course. Just a moment." Sakura went over to the cash register and picked up the phone. She pressed a series of buttons and spoke in the PA system through the receiver. "Aya, you're needed up front," she said nervously. She hadn't seen Aya since Nagi took her away from the kitchen that morning. He had told Omi that she would be all right, but Omi didn't believe him. And if Omi didn't believe Nagi, then neither did Sakura. Either way, Sakura was sure that she wouldn't be down to help. If she finished quickly, she could move on to help the girls on her own.
She hung up and walked back over to the green eyed woman. The other two women moved along, chattering and giggling amongst themselves. Aya took up the roses and brought them to the table. She retrieved a few sheets of wrapping big enough to accommodate the flowers in the bouquet. She did a mock set-up to show the woman what it would look like and then told her how much it would cost. As she agreed, the impatient woman from before approached them.
"What do I have to do to get some service around here?" she asked. The bells jingled again; this time it was a man. He idled along without asking any questions. Anxious, Sakura nodded to the impatient woman and hurried to the phone.
"Aya, you're needed up front. Please report to the shop," she said. She sat it down and looked at the mean woman. "She wasn't feeling well earlier, so please excuse her."
"Do you want my business or don't you?" the woman yelled.
"Excuse me miss," the man said. "Do you have any tulips?"
"I'm sorry, sir, they aren't in season…" Sakura said. "Ma'am…if you would just wait a little bit longer, I'll be able to help you." The woman scowled at her. Sakura was started to feel overwhelmed. She took a deep gulp, becoming startled when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was the woman with the green eyes.
"You can help her. I can wait." Feeling relieved, Sakura moved off to help the other woman.
"Finally," she groaned. "I need a bouquet, too. Do you think you can manage that?"
"Certainly." Sakura set to work making the woman's bouquet, but by the time she was finished, five more customers had entered and were asking for help. Her adrenaline pumping, Sakura hurried over to the phone and called Nagi's room. He was the last person she wanted to talk to, but she needed some type of help.
"Sakura-chan?"
"Um…hi Nagi. I…don't mean to bother you, but there are too many people in the shop right now for me to handle. I don't think we've ever been this busy this early in the morning and I still have to make some deliveries before noon."
"Well, what do you want me to do, Sakura?" Nagi sounded patient and relaxed.
"I don't know… I just need help."
"I see. You were gracious enough to help me earlier, so I will do something for you in return." He hung up. Sakura glanced around at the people in the store. The mean woman and her friend had purchased their flowers and left, but there were still seven people left. Sakura hurried over to the first woman that had entered and continued to wrap her roses.
As she moved over to the register, two men came into the store. The first man came to stand behind the green-eyed woman in line. Sakura rang them up calmly, then moved to greet the newcomer and help the edgiest looking person in the room. She was young, but probably not still in high school. She was frowning and so pregnant, Sakura thought she'd have a different kind of delivery in store for that morning. However, the woman was easy to appease. Once Sakura showed her to the lilies, she was content to look on her own.
Sakura went from customer to customer as quickly as she could, but it was not enough. A few were starting to get hostile and their attitudes were starting to make her stomach hurt. She tried hard to keep her tears of panic back and was about to call for Aya again to calm the customer's nerves when the door to the apartments opened. Sakura whipped towards it. Aya came out with a big smile and began to aid the customers with practiced ease. Sakura manned the register and soon the crowd dwindled to a manageable two.
Aya joined Sakura at the register as one of the customers approached with a potted plant.
"You girls had me worried there for a second," the woman said. She pulled out a credit card and handed it to Sakura. "I had heard that the service here was phenomenal, but I can understand how hard it is with an unexpected crowd." Aya stared at the woman as if she had said something strange. Sakura just smiled and started to enter the card's information. Her eyes fell to the card holder's name. Kudoh Yohji.
Startled, Sakura took a step back. She looked at the woman; the woman nodded knowingly.
"Is everything all right, dear? Oh, you must need identification." The woman pulled out her ID card. Aya and Sakura both froze as they saw a photo of Aya's older brother Ran on the card. Sakura started shaking. "Not enough?" the woman asked.
"It's fine," Aya said. She took the card and continued the transaction.
"I'm glad that everything seems to be in order," the woman said. "Though, is it really just you two working here now? I'd heard that there were at least four people that worked here… Males?"
"Oh, no it's just us," Sakura said. "Us and our boss, Momoe-san." Out of the corner of her eyes, Sakura thought she saw Aya shake her head no very slightly. The woman seemed to catch it too, and something flickered within her eyes.
"Sign this please," Aya said, handing her the receipt she needed to sign. The woman leaned over and scribbled something onto the paper. Aya checked it against the signature on the back of Yohji's card. The woman had written 'all four here.' Aya gave a quick nod and handed her back the card.
"I'm so glad it went through," the woman said. "I was so afraid that there wouldn't be enough from the limit left, but this is good. The payment I made must have gone through."
"I'm glad," Sakura said. The male customer moved closer to the female trio at the register.
"Yeah, it's a good thing," he said. "I had a problem like that before that really caused a backed up mess, but all I had to do was wait until midnight and everything was just fine." The man's eyes trailed from Aya to Sakura. They were creepy, so Sakura looked away. Aya smiled and nodded to the man.
"Yeah," she said. "That's good to hear. I don't know much about credit cards, but I do hear that they are good insurance of your money's safety, especially over debit." Aya's eyes met both of the customers and they all nodded between themselves.
"Much better safety," the woman said.
"All right, you're all set," Aya said, giving her the ID and receipt.
"Thanks, you're a doll." Aya smiled and bowed to her. The woman returned it, turned and left the room.
"I'm going to go back upstairs now," Aya said. "It looks like you can take it from here."
"Thanks, Aya." The man idled around the store for a few more minutes, and then stopped at the counter to flirt politely with Sakura. Sakura giggled and blushed through his actions and words. Maybe he wasn't so creepy after all. He brought her a pink carnation, which she pinned to her dress. She smiled and waved at him when he left, then she quickly put up the 'Back in 15 Minutes' sign and hurried about to make her deliveries.
Please review,
kaj