Disclaimer: Weiss Kreuz and its characters sadly do not belong to me.

Warnings: AU, eventual yaoi (it might take a while for me to get there), some violence

Pairings: Eventual Ran/Ken, Youji/Omi

Author's Note: This story is set in a world that is entirely of my own making because there will eventually be elements of fantasy in it.

Blood Summons

By Rapunzel

Chapter 8

For a few moments following Omi's confession, utter silence dominated the dinner table. It was broken abruptly by Ran, who leapt to his feet so quickly that his chair toppled over backwards. His face had gone even paler than its customary shade, and there was murder in his violet eyes. "You're a Takatori?" he demanded, his voice a low and threatening hiss.

Omi turned his gaze from Youji to Ran. He seemed slightly frightened by the sudden transformation in his guest, but he met Ran's eyes unwaveringly as he answered, "Yes, I'm a Takatori."

Ken rose to his feet as well, his eyes darting back and forth between Omi and Ran uncertainly. "Ran, I don't think-" he started, but was cut off abruptly as Ran lunged forward, seemingly intent on attacking his young host even across the table. Omi let out a startled cry and shot up from his seat, backing a few paces away from the table, a gesture that proved to be unnecessary as Ken flung himself on Ran, grabbing his arm and hauling him back away from the boy.

"Cut it out, Ran!" Ken hollered. "Just 'cause he says he's a Takatori doesn't mean he's the one you're looking for."

"He knew about my sister!" Ran yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Omi. "Of course he knew that she was missing, the villain, if he was one of the ones who took her!"

"No!" Omi cried, looking shocked. "I had heard that your sister was gone, but I swear, I had no idea who had taken her!"

Youji had also risen to his feet in the excitement and took a step forward, interposing himself slightly between Ran and Omi. "Ran, be reasonable," he said. "Aya was taken six years ago; Omi would have been far too young then to have had anything to do with it."

"Liar!" Ran shouted, and lunged again, nearly managing to pull himself out of Ken's grasp. Ken responded by moving behind him, grabbing Ran around the chest, digging his feet into the floor and holding on for dear life.

Omi's face was pale from shock at the violence of the anger directed against him. "No," he whispered. "I didn't. I knew nothing about it."

"Of course you didn't," Youji said. "Ran, listen, do you know why Omi lives with his uncle? Because his mother took him away from his father when he was about five or six, and they came to live here for their own safety. He's had no dealings with the man since then, so it doesn't matter who his father is! Do you hear me, it doesn't matter!" Youji turned to Omi. "Omi, tell him it doesn't matter."

Omi just looked back at him with sad eyes. "He seems to think it matters," he said softly.

"You're damn right it matters!" Ran snapped. "That family is evil!" He made to move forward again, but Ken held firm.

"Ran, get a grip!" Ken yelled. "You can't kill our host!"

Ran, apparently seeing some sense in what Ken was saying, subsided, but the fury in his eyes remained as potent as before. Ken cautiously released him, remaining tense and ready to grab him again if he showed any further signs of attacking Omi. However, Ran simply straightened his clothing, gave a rather malevolent glare to everyone in the room, and stalked off. Youji visibly relaxed, while Omi simply stared after his guest, eyes wide and nervous.

"Don't worry," Ken said, trying to smile encouragingly at Omi, "I'm sure he'll get over it." So saying, he too turned and ran after Ran.

Once they were gone, Omi took a few shaky steps forward and practically collapsed into his chair. He seemed to curl in on himself, his legs drawing up slightly and his head bowing down. Youji watched the display in silence, not sure of what to say.

"I'm sorry," Omi said softly.

"You didn't tell me," Youji said flatly. His tone was not especially accusatory, but Omi flinched anyway.

"I know. I'm sorry. I was afraid of how you'd take it. I know you don't like him."

"You're really his son," Youji said, a hint of wonder in the words as if even now, he couldn't quite believe it.

"Yes," Omi answered, "I am. But I didn't lie to you! Not really!" Omi protested, looking up and fixing pleading eyes on Youji. "You have to believe me, Youji; everything I told you about my father and how I came to live here was true. I just didn't tell you his name. I thought you'd hold it against me."

Youji sighed heavily, any anger he might have felt about the omission dying when faced with those sad blue eyes. "Who knows, I might have," he admitted. "But I'd like to think I'm better than that. Do you even know your father at all?"

Omi shook his head. "I barely remember him; I was very young when we left, and of course, I've been forbidden to have contact with him since then."

Youji moved forward to where Omi was sitting, slipping an arm around the boy's shoulders. Omi shook beneath his hand as the boy threw both arms around his waist and buried his face in Youji's shirt. "What I told Ran was true then," Youji said softly, moving his other hand down to rest on Omi's head. "It really doesn't matter."

Omi made no answer, simply squeezing Youji tighter.

"It's all right," Youji said softly. "I forgive you for not telling me. But for goodness sake, Omi, next time you can think of some important life history fact that might get you into trouble, tell me about it, okay?"

Omi nodded fervently. "I will," he said, his voice muffled by the cloth of Youji's shirt, "I promise."

/-/-/-/

"Ran!" Ken called, half jogging down the hall in an effort to catch up with the redhead. "Ran, wait up!"

Ran didn't even turn his head to acknowledge his pursuer, and his pace did not alter in the slightest. He continued down the hall with the same lengthy strides, ignoring the fact that Ken was trying to catch up to him.

"Damn it, Ran!" Ken yelled as he quickened his pace. He finally reached the other man and grabbed him by the shoulder to hold him in range. "I asked you to wait!"

Ran shook himself out of Ken's grasp with more violence than was necessary and continued on his way. "And I didn't wait," he said coldly. "That should tell you that I don't want to talk to you right now."

Ken, however, refused to be put off so easily. "Look, I know you're pissed about the whole Omi Takatori thing," he said, walking quickly to keep up. "But maybe you just need to calm down and think about the stuff Youji said. Omi's what, seventeen, eighteen at most? That means he would have been eleven or twelve when Aya disappeared. Kids that young don't get involved in kidnapping people!"

"So he didn't find out about it until later," Ran snapped. "That doesn't mean he's not involved."

"But Youji said he hasn't talked to his father since he was a little kid!" Ken shot back.

"And Youji can believe that if he wants to," Ran scoffed. "I certainly don't."

"You're just prejudiced against the name, admit it," Ken said, scowling at his companion. "Just because he happens to be a Takatori, you think that must mean he's an evil and bad person-"

"Yes, I think that!" Ran hissed, whirling around to confront his pursuer. "And I should think you would too, after what that man did to you!"

Ken swallowed hard, faced with both those angry violet eyes and the reminder of what had happened to him. He still refused to give up ground however, saying instead, "It wasn't Omi who did that to me. Mostly, it was Kase more than anyone. I'll bet Omi was here the whole time and had nothing to do with it."

"Why are you defending him!" Ran demanded furiously.

"Why are you so down on him?" Ken shot back. "Just shut up and think for a minute, Ran. If Omi really was in league with his father, do you think he'd have told you about it? Why not just let you keep thinking he has no connection to Takatori, offer to help, and then just keep leading you in the wrong direction? If he really is evil, he'd come along to screw up your plans, not try to back out of them."

Ran tried to find a flaw in Ken's logic, but when no immediate rebuttal presented itself, he growled in frustrated annoyance and whirled around, continuing on his way. Ken scowled, but started after him again.

"You know I'm right," Ken persisted. "You just need to calm down and-"

But he was cut off again as Ran stopped and whirled around to face him so quickly that Ken almost ran into him. "No!" Ran snapped. "What I need is for you to stop following me and trying to force your idiotic idea onto me! You know nothing about Takatori and what happened to Aya, nothing! So stop pretending you do! Why should I listen to you anyway? If you had any real sense, you would have figured out that Kase was deceiving you the entire time, so don't you dare come to me with solutions to my problems when you can't even figure out your own!"

For a moment, Ken went absolutely still. His eyes reflected something that looked a lot like pain, although in the dim lighting of the hallway, it was difficult to tell. Then his expression became one of hurt resentment, and he said, "When you do find your sister, I just hope she doesn't mind how much of a jerk you've become."

Ran snorted and continued stalking off down the hall. Part of him was pleased to note that Ken made no move to follow him this time. The rest of him, however, took it as an ominous sign. Not having the young man at his elbow nagging him to be reasonable made him feel almost as though he'd killed his own conscience. He quickly shook that idea off; that was ridiculous. After all, if he truly had killed his conscience, there should have been no way he could feel so ashamed of himself.

/-/-/-/

Ken waited until he could no longer see Ran before following, trailing silently down the hallway to his room. For the first time since Omi had made the arrangements, he was sorry that his room was right next to Ran's. He didn't especially want to run into the redhead just then.

Fortunately for him, Ran must have gone straight to his room and stayed there, for Ken saw no sign of him as he quietly slipped into his own room. For that at least, he was grateful. Ran's parting comment had stung more than he cared to admit. He'd been spending most of his time trying not to think about Kase and what had happened, but sometimes he still caught himself wallowing in guilt over the whole thing. And then Ran had to come along and point out that, yes, Ken had trusted Kase, even against his better judgment, as if Ken hadn't already agonized over that a hundred times. Damn the man and his penchant for stating the obvious!

'I already know I'm an idiot,' Ken thought sourly as he threw himself down on his bed. 'He doesn't have to remind me.'

Sighing heavily, he lay staring at the wall, lost in thought. Sleep was a very long time in coming.

/-/-/-/

Breakfast the next morning was a rather tense little gathering. Omi seemed rather out of sorts, avoiding even looking at Ran, let alone speaking to him. Youji tried to keep up a conversation with everyone, but his efforts seemed strained and cautious. Ken was sullen, rarely taking his eyes off his plate. He clearly was not speaking to Ran, and Ran wasn't speaking to anybody. Even the servants seemed to sense that something was not right and they served the food as quickly as possible, seeming only too happy to fade into the background once they were done.

It wasn't until the end of the meal that Ran, deigning to acknowledge that there were other people in the room with him at last, announced, in a stiffly formal voice, "I believe that we have imposed upon your hospitality too much. We shall be leaving tomorrow morning after breakfast."

Although the notification was addressed to Omi, it served as an announcement to the other two as well. Ken finally took his eyes off his plate to shoot Ran an unhappy look, and Youji stared at his employer in astonishment as he demanded, "What?"

"You heard me," Ran snapped.

"You didn't tell me about this," Youji said, glaring at Ran with irritation. "A little notice would be nice."

"I'm telling you now," Ran said angrily. "You have plenty of notice. Surely you can have all your things packed and be ready to leave by tomorrow. It's not as if you've had much time to unpack."

"But why leave so soon?" Youji demanded.

"Why stay?" Ran shot back. "Your friend turned down the offer I extended to him; we have no further reason to stay here."

"He turned you down because you threw a temper tantrum," Youji said scathingly.

Ran's eye twitched dangerously. "I did not have a temper tantrum," he growled.

"Oh? What would you call it then?"

Ran made a snarling noise in his throat, but didn't seem able to come up with a satisfactory answer to that. "That's not the point," he snapped. "He refused the offer before he told me his family name. Either way, he's not coming with us, so we should leave."

"Just like that, huh?" Youji said.

"Yes," Ran snapped impatiently. "So if you still want to work with me, I suggest you start packing. That goes for you too," he added sharply, casting a glance at Ken. The brunet simply sent him a look that made Ran suspect that if Ken didn't consider such things to be too immature, he'd have stuck his tongue out at the redhead.

Turning to his young host, Ran gave a very stiff bow. "Thank you for your hospitality," he said, sounding almost as though he were choking on the words. "It's a pity you're unable to help us." So saying, he turned on his heal and stalked out of the room. This time, no one made any move to follow him. Instead the other three simply watched him go with somber eyes.

Tbc...

Author's Notes: Well, the quarter starts day after tomorrow, so updates may begin to come slowly again. I'm really sorry for anyone who's waiting for quick updates.

And, of course, thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter!

NekoAnime: I'm glad you liked this chapter. Yes, Ken does get some special privileges when it comes to Ran. And as for what Omi's being patient about, all will be revealed later. I know I seem to be very bad about leaving cliffhangers. I'm not sure if this chapter's ending counts as one or not. Not really, I suppose. But no, Ran doesn't handle things well. In fact, my beta reader used the term "psychotic episode" to describe Ran's little temper tantrum. Thanks for commenting!

RosefaerietaleRed: Omi certainly knows how to handle himself in formal situations. Whether he's good with Ran or not is questionable, given the events of this chapter. Thanks for commenting!

M-chan­: Um... thanks! I try to update quickly, but my muse is unfortunately fickle and easily distracted. Thanks for commenting!

SilverRayne: I'm glad you like the story so far. Thanks for commenting!

HeatherR: Yes, I am evil, for I leave cliffhangers. I'm glad you liked the scene with Ran and Ken. I'm usually not very good at writing fluffy interaction scenes. I prefer to write people arguing, as sad as that sounds. I guess it's because I like writing dialogue. Thanks for commenting!