Chapter 3
An impact followed by freezing water. Fall to the darkness. Need to breathe in.
I opened my eyes and saw the rays of light in the water. A large stone fell not so far away from me, made its way through the water like some bizarre comet, leaving behind the track of lighter boisterous water. I could see several similar "comets" in the distance.
Lungs burning with a need for oxygen, I headed to the surface. I was there just for a few seconds, gasping and trying to orient myself, when a body fell near me. I couldn't see him clearly, but there was only one person with such hair.
My first impulse was to stay here just in case he needed to hold his head under the water a little longer, but then, when he sank further and didn't fight with his fall at all, I went down for him.
I didn't know why.
Grasping him by his hair I pulled him out to the surface. He was a slack weight but after what seemed like an eternity, I managed to hold him and began to swim to the shore. It was a long way.
When I finally reached it, I was trembling with exhaustion. I drag Schuldig away from the sea, not caring if I scrape his skin off on rough sand.
He made an uncomprehensible sound as I grabbed his hair again and began to cough. Good for him. If he needed rescue breathing I think I would just let him die.
/ Generous, aren't you/
I jerked his hair backward, arm wrapped around his neck. He chocked, bereft of oxygen again.
"I'm not generous, as you should know. I've saved your life only because of Aya-chan." It felt good to be the one in control, to be the stronger. I still breathed heavily, trying to stop trembling, but Schuldig looked much worse. Blood flowed down his face from a wound in his head and he was dazed, but I'd got worse injuries and survived. I released the grip a little so he could breathe without difficulties. "We'll go to the hospital and you'll wake her up. If not, you'll wish I let you become fish food."
He didn't reply me, not that I was waiting for it. I hauled him to his feet and maintained my grip on him. Even though at this moment, it was more to hold him up, than to prevent him from an escape.
Walking turned out to be more difficult than I anticipated. My feet were still trembling and Schuldig was a dead weight. The sun was shining piercingly, reflecting on the bright sand. In what direction we had the car? Did the others also make it to the shore? The sudden dizziness overtook me unexpectedly. I fought it down. This was a real chance to force the bastard in doing what I wanted. I had to be strong for Aya-chan.
I blamed the dizziness for not noticing them. Through the blurred vision I suddenly realized I was staring at Crawford. I let my knees buckled under me and crumpled down onto the sand, placing Schuldig in the process between me and them, gripping him tightly. Farfarello was standing behind Crawford, supporting Naoe with one hand. The telekinetic looked like a shit, barely standing on his feet. But Crawford didn't seem to have problems, his gun pointed at me. Damn.
"I suggest you to release him, now," said Crawford calmly.
"And I suggest you to leave now or I'll break his neck," I snapped back.
"Maybe you manage to kill him before you die – that's if I have a bad aim. But who is going to pay the hospital's bills for your sister?"
"I'll trust the rest of my team," I answered and hoped they would.
/ Ah, they're nice guys, of course they will. But how can you know they survived/
/ We did. /
/ I wouldn't have survived without your help. / The mental voice was a little less smug than usually. / And my team has powers yours doesn't have. /
"The only one I can see is Hidakata," interrupted Crawford our discussion. "And he needs your help badly."
I hesitated. Did he tell me the lie or the truth? But even if Hidakata was really in need, should I release Schuldig to help him? He was probably the only hope Aya-chan had.
/ So they're good to fight and die for you. But not good enough to live. / The well-known amusement was back. He didn't try to fight my hold on him, his head resting on my shoulder, but I could feel the growing tension inside his body. He had closed eyes, probably the light was too sharp for him right now. Some small part of me was urging me to let him go and find my team. The rest was fighting against it. I lived only for my sister, for the hope she'd wake up. And this man I hated so much was the key. To the hell with everything other. I didn't ask them to fight for me, they did it on their own will.
/ You're really bastard. /
"Shut up," I snarled.
"Funny, they trusted you," he spoke up, his voice hoarse. His eyes opened then and I noticed that they had almost the same shade as Yoji's. "What fools they were."
I looked at him but didn't see him. Instead of it I saw Yoji, looking at me reproachfully. Or were those the blue eyes of Omi? I realized that Schuldig was manipulating me to see the faces of my teammates instead of his.
The scene from the yesterday's evening appeared in my mind. I had been nervous, almost scared out of my head but I didn't let them saw it. Instead of it I became even colder and irritating, arguing with almost every stage of our mission – of Aya's rescue plan. Suddenly Omi touched my arm and looked at me with those blue, seemingly innocent eyes. "Don't worry Aya-kun," he said. "We'll save her."
The corner of my lips curled in an expression not so different from Schuldig's. He was right for once - I really was bastard.
I let him go and stood up. Ignoring the rest of Schwarz I focused only on Schuldig. He didn't try to stand up, looking at me intently. His eyes remained blue, just took a different shade than Omi's.
"This isn't the end," I told him. "I won't give it up."
"No, it isn't," he said quietly and then suddenly grinned. "It's a beginning."
I turned my back on them, half-expecting a gunshot. After a few steps I heard Schuldig called: "Abyssinian."
I turned around. He was standing on the place I'd leaved him. Having lost a bandanna, his hair was falling freely around his face, on some places darker from the blood. His white suit was torn and soaked in water, but something in his face had changed. There was a light I'd never seen before.
"You're going the wrong way," he said. "Hidakata's in the opposite direction."
With this he stopped paying any attention to me and turned to his team. Crawford had already placed the gun into the holster, calm as ever. Farfarello took the boy in his arms, carrying him without difficulties. They didn't hesitate in the direction they went.
I began to walk in the way Schuldig had indicated and after approximately five minutes I found Ken, laying on his back. I hurried to him, worried of the worst. He heard me running because he raised his head slightly.
"Aya," he said with pain, "I'm so glad to see you."
"Where are you hurt?"
"I've broke my leg, I think. It was really luck I've ended washed up here."
I sat down, next to him. Fortunately I managed to suppress the reaction 'That's all?!
"Ok, Manx'll find us soon. I'm going to check you for other injuries."
He nodded and closed his eyes again. There was some blood on his cheek but it was only a scratch, nothing dangerous. I checked his rips, arms and then his legs. Everything with the exception of the leg seemed more or less all right. At least I hoped.
I heard a faint noise and looked up, prepared for a fight. In the distance I could see two figures, one small and the other tall, that was waving. They were going towards us in a slow tired motion.
"It looks like Omi and Yoji," said Ken.
"Aa."
All of us survived. I looked back in the direction Schwarz had disappeared. So Ken needed my help badly, eh? Manipulative bastards. But right know, with the rest of my team alive, I wasn't as angry as I supposed I should be. The Elders were destroyed and my sister was safe. Even now, when I knew that Ken hadn't been in a real danger, I wasn't able to regret my decision completely, because it helped me to stay more the person I'd one been. It made a distinction between me and them.
But curiously, when I finally closed my eyes that day, the only thing I could see was the expression on Schuldig's face when he'd called my code name.
