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

Blood Summons

By Rapunzel

Chapter 11

"Oh, there you two are!" Omi said when he saw Ran and Ken. "I was wondering when you would get back."

"We were informed that your uncle has returned," Ran said, closing the door to the little sitting room they were in behind him. He moved to take a seat in a chair facing Omi, who was seated in a large chair near the window. Youji had lazily sprawled across the sill, one knee drawn up, the other leg dangling, as if he couldn't be bothered to sit in a proper fashion. Ken, looking around the room and finding no seats that wouldn't leave him excluded from the half circle formed by the other three, simply settled for leaning against the back of Ran's chair.

"He got back early this afternoon, not too long after lunch time," Omi said. "I would have told you immediately, but you were out, and it didn't seem worth the trouble to go find you."

"So this means we're leaving soon, right?" Ken asked.

Omi nodded. "As soon as you want to depart," he said, tipping his head at Ran. "I can be ready to leave by tomorrow morning if you like."

"We leave tomorrow then," Ran said, a little relieved at the prospect of finally getting underway. He hated idleness; it gave him way too much time to think.

Youji leaned over from his perch and nudged Omi's shoulder casually. "Tell him what you found out from your uncle."

Ran's ears pricked. "Your uncle told you something? About Takatori?"

Omi nodded. "I wasn't quite sure where to start, especially since I haven't had much time this week to do research, so I decided to ask him if he remembered anything about my father, since I remember so little." Omi paused in his narrative, frowning slightly.

"And?" Ran prompted, leaning forward a little.

"And he gave me a whole long speech about how I shouldn't worry about my father because I'm not a Takatori anymore, and how my father is a horrible man, et cetera, et cetera," Omi said. "He did, however, tell me one interesting thing. Apparently, Takatori is somehow mixed up with a group that's supposed to practice dark magic."

Ran just blinked at that. Ken, however, looked skeptical. "I thought there was no magic left in the world," he said.

Ran nodded. "According to history, all magic left the world after the great sorcerer hunt two hundred years ago. It was said that even sorcerers that survived the hunt lost their magic, no matter what purpose they used it for. Some people said it was the gods' way of punishing humans for being so foolish as to start the hunt in the first place. All magic was taken out of the world, even the white magic used for healing."

"I remember that story too," Omi said. "However, I wonder if the historical accounts are really accurate in the regard. It could have simply been that after the sorcerer hunt, anyone who had and used magic denied it for fear of being killed. That could lead most people to think that all the magic had left the world, when what really happened was that its practitioners went underground, so to speak."

"But if there're still people who use magic, surely someone would know, wouldn't they?" Ken said, frowning. "I mean, two hundred years is a long time to keep something like that hidden."

"Well, it is just a rumor," Omi admitted. "Youji seemed to think I should mention it."

"I've run across a lot of rumors of magic in my work," Youji said. "None of them have ever really seemed to have any truth behind them, but when you start hearing things like that, it's usually a sign that the case is going to get nasty. I just thought you guys should be warned."

"Consider us warned then," Ran said. "You were right to tell me, but I doubt it's important. I'd prefer something a little more concrete to go on. And I don't care how nasty the case gets, as long as I find Aya."

"You may not care," Youji said, "but don't forget that the rest of us are along for the ride too. And I think I speak for everyone when I say we'd much rather come out of this alive."

He cast a meaningful glance at Ken and Omi, both of whom nodded in agreement.

"Then be careful," Ran said, rising to his feet. "And start packing. I want to leave as early as possible tomorrow."

/-/-/-/

Ken jerked awake very suddenly, his hands still reaching out to grasp something. He was breathing rather heavily and sweating, and for a moment he lay still catching his breath, feeling confused and disoriented. What had woken him? Something to do with his dream, surely. His dream...

Abruptly, images from that dream began to come back to him. Ran. Ran without clothing. Ran, sweat glistening on his skin, rising above him, violet eyes fixed intently on him...

Ken sat up and shook his head violently, trying to clear the images from his mind. He felt a hot blush spreading over his face. His whole body was tingling, and he didn't have to check under the sheets to know that he was horribly aroused.

As if to add to his embarrassment, there came a knock at the door. "Don't come in!" he yelled without thinking.

"...Ken?" Ran's voice drifted through the door to him, sounding hesitant.

"What is it?" he called, trying to school his voice into some state that resembled composure.

"I thought I heard noises," Ran said. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Ken said, because aside from the fact that he was sure his face would catch fire if it got any hotter, it was true. After a moment, he thought to ask, "What did you hear?" Silently he hoped that Ran hadn't heard much. And if he had, perhaps whatever deity was delighting in picking on him would be kind enough to let him die of mortification and be done with it.

"I just thought I heard your voice," Ran said, "so I came to investigate."

"Oh," Ken said. Then, feeling that the situation required a little more explanation than that, he added, "I'm fine, I just had a... dream." He didn't add any more elaboration than that. Let Ran think it was a nightmare if he wanted to, but Ken wasn't going to say he'd had a bad dream, because he hadn't really. Although in retrospect it was damn embarrassing.

"All right," Ran said. "Goodnight then."

"Goodnight," Ken called in return. He listened to the sound of Ran's footsteps retreating down the hallway and the sound of the door next to his closing before he allowed himself to relax, slumping back onto the pillows. Well, that had been a close call. He didn't even want to imagine what would have happened if Ran had walked in to find out that Ken had been having one of those dreams about him.

On the one hand, Ken wasn't terribly surprised by the dream. He'd found Ran attractive since their first meeting, and prolonged exposure had only strengthened that feeling. However, this was the first dream of that sort he'd had that featured the redhead, and he was a little surprised that it should start happening now. The horseback ride, he decided. That must have been what had done it. Having Ran sitting behind him, chest to his back, thighs pressed against his...

Resigning himself to his fate, Ken settled himself down and pulled a pillow over his face to muffle any sounds he might make as he took care of himself.

/-/-/-/

"Are you feeling quite all right, Ken?" Omi asked, sounding concerned. "You look tired."

" 'm fine," Ken mumbled, lethargically taking another bite of his breakfast. "Just didn't sleep well."

"Well I hope your nightmare won't affect your ability to travel," Ran said.

"No," Ken answered, a little relieved that Ran had indeed assumed that the dream had been a nightmare. That meant he really hadn't heard much.

"You had a nightmare?" Omi asked, a tinge of worry in his voice.

"Not a nightmare, really," Ken said. "Just a strange dream."

Omi waited a moment to see if Ken would elaborate, but when he didn't, the boy went back to his own breakfast.

Youji let out an exaggerated yawn. "I feel for you, Ken. This lot," he gestured to Ran and Omi, "keep conspiring to get me up at unthinkable hours."

Omi just snorted. "If you ask me, not getting up until noon is the unthinkable part."

"If you're looking for sympathy, I suggest you look elsewhere," Ran said coldly. "Ken lost sleep to a dream, something he had no control over, whereas you probably simply stayed up too late again."

"I'll have you know that I have a professional excuse for staying up late," Youji said self-righteously. "I'm supposed to investigate nefarious deeds, am I not? Well, everyone knows that those happen at night."

Ran let out a derisive snort at that. "And all the barmaids you kept company with, were they professional contacts?" he asked.

Across the table from Ken, Omi suddenly went rather still. "Barmaids?" he asked, an odd note entering his voice.

"It might have been the chambermaids," Ran amended, still scowling at Youji.

"Ran, shut up," Youji said, and Ken was rather taken aback by the suddenly chilly tone of his voice.

Apparently Ran was too, for he sat back and regarded Youji with a frown for several minutes. Finally, he said, "I don't really care what your personal habits are, Kudou, so long as they do not interfere with your work."

"Then stop going on about things you don't understand," Youji said sharply.

Ken, sensing a potential argument brewing, looked to Omi to see if the boy was going to try to rein his friend in. Omi, however, was staring rather blankly at his plate and seemed to be taking no notice of his surroundings.

Fortunately, Omi's peacemaking abilities were not necessary, as both Ran and Youji seemed to have said everything they wanted to say to each other. The rest of breakfast, however, was a rather tense affair.

/-/-/-/

They set off just after breakfast, leaving behind Omi's home and the wooded hills that Ken and Ran had explored. As they plodded steadily northward, Ken couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive. Whatever had been in the air at breakfast had not properly cleared, and Youji seemed irritable, while Omi was simply glum and silent. Ken tried to keep a conversation going, but kept running into a wall where those two were concerned. It was a sad day indeed, Ken thought, when Ran was one of the more talkative members of the party.

Eventually he simply gave up on the other two and settled to riding ahead with Ran, who had taken the lead since he knew where they were going. The day passed fairly uneventfully and in a similar manner to the days that he had spent exploring with Ran. Ken talked, and Ran listened and occasionally commented. Sometimes Ken would glance back at Omi and Youji to see how they were fairing. Once or twice he saw them engaged in a low conversation, but most of the time they simply rode on without looking at or speaking to each other.

As the afternoon began to draw to a close, however, Ken got a rather nasty shock.

"We should start looking for a place to stay soon," Ran said. "I hope there's an inn with two rooms to spare."

Ken nodded, and then suddenly, realizing the implications of the words, asked, "Two rooms?"

"There are four of us now," Ran said. "Putting all four in one room would be a little crowded, and I think two to a room works better anyway. Besides, I'm looking forward to not having to room with Kudou again."

Ran might be looking forward to it, but Ken was silently kicking himself. Of course, now that they were not staying with Omi and had to pay for their rooms, Ran would be all in favor of combining them to lower the cost. But Ken wasn't sure what would happen now if he tried to room with someone else. What if he had another dream? A horrible thought occurred to Ken. Ran had as good as stated that he wasn't going to share a room with Youji. That meant he would share with either Ken or Omi. What if Ken had another dream with Ran in the room?

Ran was frowning at him, and Ken realized that he had rather abruptly fallen silent and slowed his mount almost to a halt. "Uh... who were you thinking of putting in each room?" Ken asked.

"Well," Ran said, "I thought that since Youji and Omi are already well acquainted, they should be able to share without too much trouble, and then you and I would-"

Ken cut him off, "Um, I'm not sure that's a good idea."

Ran gave him a slightly puzzled look and waited for him to explain why not.

"Um... Youji and Omi don't seem to be getting along well today," Ken said hastily. "Maybe we shouldn't stick them in the same room tonight."

Ran glanced back at their other two companions and scowled. "Whatever is wrong between them, I had hoped they would have fixed it by now."

"Let me talk to them," Ken said, and before Ran had a chance to answer, he had pulled his horse to a stop and was waiting for Youji and Omi to reach him. Ran cast one more puzzled glance his way, but decided to humor him and continued on his way.

When Youji and Omi finally caught up to him, Ken quickly came up alongside Youji and said, "Look, Youji, I need to ask a favor, and you can't ask me why, okay?"

Youji gave him a confused look, but said, "Fire away. What do you want?"

"When we stop tonight, I need you to let me share a room with you."

If anything, Youji seemed more confused. "Why with me?"

"Because," Ken said, "It's gonna be two to a room, and I can't room with Ran. Please don't ask why. And he won't room with you, so that means..." he trailed off, shooting Youji a pleading look.

Youji looked over to Omi, who was riding alongside watching the two of them. "That'd leave you stuck with Ran, Omitchi. What do you think?"

Omi shrugged listlessly. "Sure, why not. That way I wouldn't interfere with any of your activities."

Youji winced and opened his mouth to say something, then glanced at Ken and shut it again.

Ken wondered briefly at the exchange, but he was too caught up in his relief to pay it much attention. "Thanks, guys," he said. "I'll go let him know." And he quickened his horse's pace until he was alongside Ran again to inform him of the arrangements. It was a rather temporary fix, it was true, but hopefully he could keep the rooming arrangements this way until he managed to get himself under control or they reached Ran's estate, whichever happened first.

/-/-/-/

By midnight that night, Ken was beginning to wonder why Ran had been so adamant about not sharing a room with Youji. So far, rooming with the man didn't seem to be any different from rooming alone. Youji had vanished earlier in the evening and had yet to return. At first, Ken had waited up, figuring that there was no point in going to bed before he returned, as Youji would simply wake him up when he came in anyway. Now, however, he was tired of waiting and ready to call it a night.

Ken was digging around through his bags for something suitable to wear to bed when he heard the door open. Turning, he saw Youji come stumbling in, looking rather unsteady on his feet. The man staggered over to his bed and half sat half fell onto it.

"Youji," Ken said after watching this display, "are you drunk?"

"An' if I am?" Youji slurred, giving him a rather inebriated challenging look.

"You should probably go to bed, that's all," Ken said.

Youji made a snorting sound that might have been laughter. " 'M glad I roomed with you," he said. "Ran'd be all over my case by now. 'Specially tonight. He's in a pissy mood tonight," Youji said.

"Is he?" Ken asked.

"Mmhm," Youji nodded and then couldn't seem to get his head to stop its motion. Finally, he managed to get it under control and sat with his chin resting nearly on his chest. "I think it's 'cause he's gotta room with Omi." Here a faint frown crossed Youji's face. "He better be nice to Omi, th' bastard."

"Ran's not a bastard," Ken felt the need to defend the redhead. "At least not all the time," he amended.

"He is ta Omi," Youji said, still frowning. " 'Course, 'm not any better."

Ken blinked at him in surprise. "You?" he said.

"Yeah, me." The frown was gone, replaced by a melancholy look. "I can't get over her."

"Who?" Ken asked, wondering how a female had come into the explanation when he wasn't paying attention.

"Asuka," Youji said. His voice softened over the name, as if giving it a sorrowful verbal caress.

"Who is Asuka?" Ken was lost. He'd never heard of anyone by that name before.

"My girl. My partner," Youji said, his eyes glazing over slightly as he gazed at the wall just beyond Ken. "Least she was before Takatori killed 'er."

Ken's eyes went wide. "Takatori killed your partner?" he gasped, unable to believe what he was hearing.

Youji flopped back on the bed with a low, pain filled moan.

"Youji?" Ken moved over to sit on the bed next to him.

"Dun know it was him," Youji said. "Wait, 's not true. I know, but there's no proof. We were investigatin' something about him, and she didn't come back. Found her three days later. She was... she was..." Youji broke off, voice choking at the memory. He rolled onto his side and brought one hand up to cover his face, as if trying to shield his eyes from whatever image had come into his mind.

"It's okay," Ken hastened to reassure him. "You don't have to tell me."

"Bastard!" Youji choked vehemently. "Bastard!"

"What does this have to do with Omi though?" Ken asked, remembering how the conversation had started in the first place.

Youji lifted his hand a little, and slightly wet green eyes peered up at Ken. "Omi's so sweet," he murmured. "He said he'll be patient. He doesn't want to push after Asuka."

"Push?" Ken said, still confused. "Push you about what?"

"I didn't sleep with any barmaids," Youji said suddenly and very clearly. "Damn Ran for saying that."

Ken just sat and stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate and trying to remember if all the drunks he had ever talked to had been this difficult to understand.

"Now Omi thinks I did," Youji moaned, covering his eyes again. "He won't stop looking at me with those damn sad eyes."

"Did you tell him that you didn't?" Ken asked.

"Yeah," Youji said. "He doesn't believe me. I've done it before, see? I did it a lot after Asuka. But Omi said it was bad for me. An' I promised. I promised him no more of that if he'd wait for me to get over her."

"If he'd wait for you?" Ken felt like there was still something vital that he was missing.

"Can't replace her yet," Youji mumbled, rolling a little further so that his words were muffled slightly by the blankets. " 'S too soon."

Ken stared; he couldn't help it. Omi, replace Asuka in Youji's life? Was he simply referring to Omi becoming his partner in business? Something in the way Omi's eyes had looked that morning told Ken it was more than that. Those blue eyes had held more than disappointment, they had held a hint of betrayal.

Next to him, Youji made an indistinct noise and shifted slightly. Ken snapped out of his reverie and stared down at him. "Youji, I think you need to go to bed now," he said.

" 'M already in bed," came the muffled reply.

Ken sighed and got up to start pulling Youji's boots off. "I think you need to go to sleep."

"Can't sleep," Youji said, rolling over and inadvertently kicking one of his legs out of Ken's grasp. "He'll still be looking at me."

"You can make up with him in the morning," Ken said. "But Ran's going to make you get up early no matter what, so you'd better go to sleep now."

"Damn Ran," Youji muttered half-heartedly.

"Don't say that," Ken scolded.

"Hm..." Youji looked at him oddly for a moment, then sat up so he could remove his jacket. "Okay, okay. Sleep. Got it."

It took a few more minutes to get Youji settled in, and only after he was sprawled out under the covers snoring loudly did Ken climb into his own bed, only to find that he couldn't sleep. He lay staring at the wall and thinking about what Youji had said for quite some time.

/-/-/-/

Youji wasn't sure exactly what time it was when he woke up. It was still dark outside, and the lingering fuzzy sensation in his head told him that he was still feeling the effects of the alcohol he had consumed earlier. Other parts of his body were feeling the effects as well, including his bladder, which was what had rather rudely woken him up. Groaning, he stumbled out of bed and went to relieve himself.

He was stumbling back to bed feeling much better when he heard the noise. Pausing in the dark, Youji cocked his head to one side and listened. After a moment, he heard it again. A soft moan drifted to his ears from the direction of Ken's bed. Youji frowned. Was Ken sick? Had he shown signs of being sick earlier in the evening? Try as he might, Youji couldn't remember. His recollections of his return to the room were rather fuzzy.

Still, the longer Youji listened, the more he doubted that illness was causing the noises Ken was making. The brunet was dreaming; that much was obvious. And as Youji listened to his breathing patterns, he suddenly had a fair idea of what the theme of this particular dream might be. So, Ken was having one of those, was he? Well, it wasn't as if Youji had never had them before. He was just getting ready to climb back into bed and forget the whole thing when he heard it.

"Ran..."

Youji stared in the direction of Ken's bed, forgetting that in the dark room it was impossible to actually see anything. He hadn't just heard that, had he? Ken, having erotic dreams about Ran? Suddenly the memory of Ken asking him if they could room together came back to Youji. Ken's anxious request to avoid sleeping in the same room with Ran... it was all starting to make a little more sense now.

Youji settled himself back in his own bed with a slight smile quirking his lips. Even through the alcohol induced haze that filled his head, he sensed that he had just stumbled upon something interesting. Very interesting indeed...

Not that it was going to be easy for Ken even if he decided he wanted to pursue Ran, Youji reflected. Ran had been chasing the shadow of one girl for so long that Youji wasn't sure he even remembered sometimes that the rest of the world still existed. Still, his brief time knowing the brunet had taught him that Ken was nothing if not stubborn.

As interesting as this garnered tidbit of gossip might be, there was nothing to be done about it at the moment. Youji rolled over and pulled the covers up over his head to hopefully block out any other noises Ken might make while he tried to sleep. After all, Ken had been right when he'd said that Ran would get them up early the next morning. Right now the redhead had only one goal on his mind, and that was to find his sister.

Tbc...

Author's Note: Yes, there was Youji/Omi and angst. And there was much rejoicing in the land of the beta reader.

Sorry this chapter took so long, but the good news is that the next one should be much faster.