There comes a time when one is pushed too far. The seams of their existence begin to crack and tear and life as they know it ceases to be. It is unknown whether or not they can be repaired. It is more likely that the broken seams will cause the withering and wasting away of the being they meant to support.

M18: Contemplation

Aya knocked gently on the door to Ken's room. The lights were dimmed and the volume on the TV set was barely audible. Aya looked further into the room and saw that Ken was sleeping, as he had been during his first visit. He looked more comfortable now. Aya slipped quietly into the room and walked over to the bed. Ken stirred. His eyes made an attempt to open, and his forehead showed what a struggle it was for him. The nurse had told him that he would probably be out for the rest of the afternoon, but Aya insisted on being able to see him again.

It was never easy watching someone he cared for lying in a hospital bed no matter how comfortable they looked. Working for Weiß, it seemed the cycle would never end. He had seen his sister here, Sakura and each member of his team, as well. How much would change if he followed his sister's advice and stopped working as an assassin? How long would it take for him to repent for his crimes? How would he adjust to life beyond his sword?

Aya pulled a chair bedside and sat and waited for Ken to rouse. He thought over Yohji's plan for later that night, when they would return to the Koneko. That morning had been beneficial for them. They had been able to see and hear the girls working, and had many eye-witness accounts to their well-being. But something that the most important spy said had made Aya uneasy.

She had said that when Aya-chan had bowed to her, that something was off about her neck. Aya could see from the video that Aya-chan was wearing a turtleneck and had a bandage on her chin. When Aya-chan bowed, her neck was completely covered by cloth and shadow, but the spy was certain that it looked bruised. Because she was finished with her transaction, she didn't want to linger in the shop. The man behind her hadn't been paying Aya-chan as much attention as he paid to Sakura. That was the plan from the beginning, so Aya couldn't blame him for not seeing anything suspicious about Aya-chan.

Aya waited about two hours before Ken woke up. He looked at Aya and blinked heavily, then beamed.

"Hey, Aya," he said. "It's good to see you again." Aya gave him an encouraging smirk.

"I'm glad you're all right, Ken."

"Hey, I'm sorry about your car," he said. Aya shook his head.

"Don't worry about that right now," he said. Ken nodded and sank back against his pillow. "Tired?" Aya asked.

"Yeah, a little," Ken said. "Where's Yohji?"

"At home, watching the pets," Aya said.

"Hey, that's good."

"How are you feeling?"

"A lot better. I think the nurse doped me up a little before I went to sleep again, so I'm a little drowsy, but other than that, I'm feeling good."

"They say they want to keep you overnight," Aya said. "Do you think you need to stay that long?"

"Nah. Once my head clears up, I think I should be able to get out of here and go home." Ken sat up and propped himself against the pillows. "A lot of people know that I'm here," he said. "Both of my teams know."

"That's fine," Aya said.

"Oh, okay." They both looked up towards the TV. Ken looked anxious about something suddenly. He put his hand to his head and rubbed it.

"I'll be here with you," Aya said. "Just let me know if you need anything." Ken looked down, then over to Aya.

"What about…what we're going to do for Omi and the girls?" he asked.

"We'll talk about that when you're more awake."

"I'm all right," Ken said. "You and Yohji talked about it, right?"

"You look like you've got a headache. Don't push yourself."

"It's okay, Aya." Aya sighed, telling Ken that he didn't believe him. However, he knew Ken's determination stood for something.

"We set up surveillance earlier on the shop." Ken's dark blue eyes grew wide.

"You did? How?"

"We sat outside and sent in a number of decoys. Aya and Sakura were able to tell us some things through clues… We know that all four of them are still there and that they're all right. Later tonight…we're going to try and rescue them."

"It would be dangerous to go at it with just you two."

"It might be that that's what we have to do," Aya said.

"What about the agents?" Ken asked. "Can't we have them for back up when we go?"

"It remains to be seen whether or not you'll be joining us, Ken," Aya said. "And no, we're not going to be asking the agency for help."

"But—"

"I know that it would be beneficial, but it won't happen." Ken sat back.

"You're mad…because of Aya-chan, aren't you?" he asked. "It would be a lot less dangerous, though, Aya. We can't let ourselves down this way. I mean…if we want results tonight, we'll need all the help we can get." Aya's expression turned stony and he didn't respond. Ken hunched over and clasped his fingers together. "I'll be there tonight, Aya," he said. "And although it's not my decision, I'm going to leave you with the suggestion that we use their help."

"They don't know." Ken's eyes flicked as he looked over to Aya.

"You guys…didn't tell them yet?"

"No, and we won't."

"But—" Ken looked down. Aya leaned closer to him.

"Ken…" he began. "After this…I'm not positive that I'll continue to work for this organization." Ken unclasped his hands only to grip at his sheets. He looked away from Aya and didn't say anything. "I can't allow Aya-chan to work under them… I…I have to try and break away from them."

"And what about us, Aya?" Aya rubbed his face and sighed. "I thought we…decided that we were going to keep up with this."

"That was before they poisoned her," Aya said, his voice so low, Ken almost missed what he said.

"I'm sorry about that, but…Aya… Aya, we need you."

"You have a life outside of this more than all of us," Aya said. "Would it really be that hard for you to stop doing this?"

"I don't know that I want to stop," Ken said. "I don't know that it's much of a choice anymore. A commitment…is more than that. I can't just let myself be so wishy-washy with this."

"Are you so dependent on me?" Aya asked.

"I don't want to lose your leadership, Aya. Now that you know that Aya-chan has become involved, you can work towards keeping her separated from it all. It doesn't mean that you have to quit."

"Letting Aya work for them is as big a betrayal to me and to my honor as stabbing me in the back. Knowing what she's been through, knowing the pain she's felt. They took advantage of her and it's completely unforgivable." Ken gave a heavy sigh and hunched even more.

"We'll all have to talk again, I guess," he said.

Omi's Old Bedroom

"Omi-kun? I have something I want to show you…" Omi looked over to the door as Nagi crept into the room. He held up a cardboard box as he closed the door with his foot. Omi blinked heavily as Nagi flipped on the light. He had been sitting in the dark for the past two hours chained to the headboard of the bed with an electric shock collar on his neck. He could easily slip from the bed, but if he so much as approached the door, he would be shocked enough to be knocked unconscious. No matter how hard he tried, he could not remove the collar.

He just looked on as Nagi sat on the bed next to him with the box. Nagi opened the top and pulled out a small white doll with no clothes and no hair. Then he removed two at once, then another one. This one he presented to Omi with a smile.

"I have been thinking lately…that for the people who are the closest to me, I shouldn't have to have replicas. I want to give you this, so you can trust me." Omi reached up and took the doll. It was dressed in a mauve vest and green shorts. Its eyes were blue and it had a lock of honey brown hair clipped to its head.

Omi started shaking and he wanted to throw it away, but if he hurt it, he would wind up hurting himself. What kind of whack made voodoo dolls, for goodness' sake? How was he ever going to get out of this mess? Omi looked as Nagi sat the box down. He was still holding the plain doll.

"I didn't think I would need to make one of these for the girls…" Nagi said. "I thought that they were my friends and that they wouldn't do anything to hurt me, but it turns out that I was wrong. First, Aya-chan tries to take you away from me." Nagi sat a small, plastic box on his lap that he'd taken from the larger box. "Then, they both conspire against me today under the guise of running the shop. I knew I shouldn't have let them open today, but it would have looked weird if the shop was closed so suddenly. It would have drawn a lot of unwanted attention." He opened the box to reveal miniature clothes and a lock of Aya's dark blue hair. "I know better now, but it's too late. The damage has already been done. Apparently, the girls took it upon themselves to get help from the customers." Nagi began to dress the doll. "I really thought that I could trust them, Omi." He put a small, tan apron on the doll over her day clothes and then pinned the hair to her head. He looked over to Omi.

"You're so quiet, Omi," he said. "It saddens me."

"Aya never tried to take me from you. Aya doesn't even like me."

"Are you sticking up for her?"

"I hate to see someone get hurt because of me…and you hurt her badly today."

"She broke the rules."

"Don't involve them in this, Nagi. This is supposed to be me and you…and yet you aren't even paying me any attention. You keep focusing on the girls. If you and I got away, then it wouldn't matter what they do or what they say. They couldn't make you angry, or give us away." Nagi lowered the doll. Omi looked at him. "What is it that you like about me, Nagi?"

"What isn't there to like about you? You're sweet and compassionate and you love me. You accepted me…you didn't shun me." Nagi stroked his hair. "You're the sweetest, kindest person I ever met."

"Nagi…"

"What is it, Omi?"

"I'm just concerned."

"About what?"

"About you. About what you did to Aya today just on an assumption and about what you're going to do to her now."

"It wasn't just an assumption," Nagi said. "I know that Aya wants to take you from me. And this isn't based on an assumption, either." Nagi held up the doll. "I watched them today on the surveillance camera and I saw them trying to get help from customers. Aya especially."

"You tried to kill her. I'm telling you, Nagi, if we pack up and get away, you won't have to worry about them. Then, you can just focus on me."

"Where…would we go?" Nagi asked. "I arranged for us to stay here."

"It's tense here and we don't have much privacy. We should let the girls be and find someplace else to stay."

"Oh… That's not a bad idea," Nagi said. "I don't want you to be unhappy." Omi reached over and took the Aya doll.

"We should do it immediately," he said. "So that you don't have to use this against her. I think you hurt her enough for one day. I hate to see people get hurt."

"Okay," Nagi said. "I'll leave them with you while I go prepare the house. You sit tight, Omi. We'll be out of here by midnight."

"And can we bring Pomme, too?" Omi asked. "He gets so lonely and scared when he's left alone."

"We'll see, Omi," Nagi said. He turned out the light as he left the room. Omi gently laid the dolls down into the box with the others, then sat back on the bed and sighed. He let his eyes get settled on the darkness, wondering if he would really have to sit for another couple of hours alone this way.

Although Aya, Ken and Yohji were there, Pomme only seemed the most comfortable when he was with or around Omi. Omi didn't want to go another night without him. He could imagine him being walked and fed, but also very nervous and scared to be without Omi. Omi wanted to cry again, but he urged his tears back. Aya and the others wouldn't let anything bad happen to Pomme, of that he was sure. He was part of the family now. They would do what they could to protect him.

Omi was about to settle into singing to pass the time when he heard shuffling from the right side of the room. Omi stared, blinking as he noticed the silhouette approaching him.

"Omi?" Even though he had seen her silhouette, her voice startled him into jumping. "Omi?" Aya asked again, this time with concern in her voice.

"Aya?"

"Listen. The guys know that you're here. They're going to come here tonight at midnight."

"What?" Omi asked. "Aya, how did you get in here?"

"There are secret passages all around this place."

"So I can get out of here?" Omi asked. "Nagi's gone, right?"

"That's right." Omi quickly got up and started working on separating the bed frame from the headboard. Aya helped him pull the leg of the headboard from the hole of the frame it was settled in after Omi unscrewed the ring that kept it in place. Once it was completely out, Omi slipped the cuff from the leg and settled it back into the ring. He stood and started to follow Aya out, but then he paused.

"Aya, how narrow is the escape passage?"

"It's in the shape of a door," Aya said. Omi scooped up the box of dolls and followed Aya to the closet. Aya made an indiscernible movement and the wall in front of them opened up without a sound. They entered it and walked through a narrow passage and up a flight of steps, stopping when they reached another moveable wall. They wound up in the shop. Omi immediately started for the front door. Aya wasn't following him, so he stopped and turned to her.

"Aya?"

"What are you going to do when you leave?" she asked.

"I'm going to go home," Omi said. "You and Sakura should come with me."

"But what if…what if we get caught?"

"We won't. Nagi is gone, right?"

"How…how are we going to get anywhere?" Aya asked. Omi looked towards the door. Aya took a step towards him. "Omi…I'm scared…"

"I have an idea. I'm going to go back downstairs, but first, I'll need a computer."

"I have a laptop," Aya said. "I'll meet you back there, okay?" Aya went up to the apartments and Omi retraced his steps through the passage. He settled at the bed with the cuff back in place and the box on the floor. Aya had every right to be scared and her fear led to Omi's apprehension about leaving. Even if Nagi didn't know about the secret passage, he had to know there was a chance that Omi could find a way out other than the door to the bedroom. What other traps did he have laid to prevent him from escaping? And what about the girls? What was keeping them here during Nagi's absences?

Aya returned with the laptop about three minutes later. She handed it to him and stood watching as he turned it on. The logo that appeared on the screen was somewhat familiar, but Omi shrugged it off.

"I'll be busy with this for a while," he said. "You go upstairs and pretend we never talked."

"But what are we going to do?"

"We're going to wait for help. It should come sooner now, Aya."

"Right." Aya turned and left the room. It didn't take long for Omi to realize that this was no ordinary computer. It was very similar to the computer that Birman had given him when she gave the other members their weapons back. The only difference was that Omi's computer was personalized and better protected against outside threats than Aya's. How did she manage to get her hands on such an official looking computer? Thinking that made his head start to pound with pain. The laptop nearly slid from his knees to the floor as he gripped his head.

"Crap," he murmured. When the pain subsided, he couldn't remember what he had been thinking about. He disregarded that episode and logged onto Weiß' mainframe. From there, he paged each of them at once. Yohji's reply came back quickly, and then a few moments later, Aya's came through. He sat waiting for Ken's, but he didn't get anything from him. Then, a small icon popped up in the corner of the computer. He clicked it. A photograph of Yohji came on the screen as well as two boxes. The upper box was titled 'Balinese' in red characters. The text within the box was encoded. The bottom box gave Omi the choice to reply as Bombay or as Sussex. He questioned the name Sussex and the pain returned. He sat the laptop aside and gripped his head with both hands. Why the heck did that keep happening? He waited it out, then turned to the laptop. He chose Bombay and reentered his password. The encoded words in the upper box turned to kanji.

'Tell us what we need to do.' Yohji had written.

'I'll need all three of you. Ken didn't answer.' Was Omi's reply.

'Ken lost his pager, so he can't. He and Aya are together though. We're waiting for your orders.'

Omi typed: All right, this is what I. Suddenly, Omi got a response from Ken's pager and it startled him so much that he sent the incomplete message. Why did the lost pager go off? Not just anyone could activate the page; it was tailored just for Ken to use.

'I think Ken may have found his pager.'

'Not if he's where he should be.'

'I just got a response from it.' Yohji didn't respond for a while.

'I'm talking with Aya. Ken doesn't have it. Are you still at the shop? We can come get you right now, Omi.'

'We need to get the girls out too. Sakura and Aya are in danger. Nagi is out now.'

'We'll be there ASAP.'

'Wait!'

'What is it?'

'Is Pomme all right?'

'Pomme is doing just fine. We'll be right there.' Yohji disconnected. Omi was prompted as to whether or not he wanted to save the conversation and he chose yes. He sent it to his inbox and logged off of the computer. He slid it under the bed and sat to wait for his saviors.

An Undisclosed Location

"We know where our little Blue Eyes is now… However, he didn't answer the page, Crawford."

"Then we're just going to have to intercept them directly, wouldn't you agree?"

"I would." There was a pause. "Are you ready for that?" Crawford removed his glasses and rubbed at the lens with a piece of cloth.

"To stop that little maniac from ruining everything, I'm ready for anything," he said.

Thank you for reading and please review,

kaj