Ch. 6

The Winds of Change

Yoji had never stopped being suspicious. He'd made it his mission to get to the bottom of whatever mystery surrounded the two younger boys in Weiss. He had naively assumed that Omi had a new girlfriend and that Ken had somehow played a role in their meeting or something. He couldn't see how else Ken would be involved in the whole situation. But he'd wanted to find out and so he kept at it.

It had taken Yoji awhile to figure out exactly what was happening between the two young men. It had taken him an even longer time to actually get past the shock that had come with the realization. And now… He just felt a strange possessive and protective feeling for the both of them. He felt the need to bang both of their heads together and demand if any rational thought had been put into their decision at all! Didn't they realize what a stupid thing they were doing? What if one of them died on a mission? What if one of them went beserk because of it? What if…? The questions kept going round and round in his head making him grit his teeth in frustration.

Were they even really gay? Did that term even fit those two? Yoji had been so sure that they weren't. Of course Yuriko and Ouka had helped him in casting Ken and Omi as straight guys. He hadn't even thought… Maybe they were bi? Did it matter? No…Yes! Yes, it fucking mattered to him! Why, he didn't really understand yet. But Yoji was almost positive that this whole situation was going to turn bad and soon. Now that he knew where Ken and Omi's relationship had been going, he could see big glaring faults screaming at him to do something about it and fix it.

The dependency thing that Ken had going on with Omi was one of his top priorities. But he didn't even know who to approach or even more importantly… how? Was he just supposed to go up to one of them? Both of them? And then what? Just say hi! I know that both of you are together now and I'd like to know why and oh by the way Ken… you're depending on the kid too much. Its unhealthy, its giving me the creeps, stop it? Oh yeah… Yoji winced. He could see that going over really well. He sighed.

Yet when the opportunity came, Yoji snatched it, unable to keep quiet any longer. It was on a Saturday when Omi was at that Go thingy, leaving Ken free. Yoji put out his cigarette, his eyes unusually serious as he went up to talk to Ken. "Ken, you have a moment?" The brunette looked up from what he'd been doing, wiping his hands on his jeans. His smile was there as usual and he nodded.

"What is it?"

"I'd like to talk to you before the chibi gets home." God he hoped he was doing the right thing, talking to Ken about it rather than Omi. At the comment, Ken raised an eyebrow surprised.

"Oh? What about?" Yoji was about to answer him when Aya came back into the room, glaring at them.

"You're here to work. So work." He snapped coldly before going back to make an arrangement for a lady that had ordered it earlier in the week.

"Aya, about that." Yoji stalled him from actually leaving the room. "Ken and I need to take a break." He raised his hands in sign of peace. "Only for a few minutes! Anyway, this is Ken we're talking about. He'd drag my sorry ass back in here to get the work done no matter what." Aya continued to glare, a wordless question bringing tension into the room. "This is important." The redhead's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before resuming their usual glare.

"Make it quick." Ken's eyes had been widening to the point that if they opened any further, not only would they hurt but there was no way his eyes would stay in his head. The mental image the thought gave him made him go 'ew' and he shut his eyes immediately. This just had to be a dream in any case so… it was okay if he was making a fool of himself since none of it could actually be happening.

"Yo jock!" Yoji snapped a fifth and final time, getting Ken to snap his eyes back open. "We got permission to talk now come on. Idiot."

"Ass!" Ken snapped back without missing a beat. "What the hell is this about?" This was obviously not a dream since Yoji's grip on his arm hurt as he was being yanked upstairs. Ken chose to mutter some expletives instead of continuing to ask for answers which he knew he wouldn't be getting until Yoji found the right location. He hated these kinds of surprises. They reached the kitchen and Yoji let go of his arm, pointedly glaring him into a seat at the kitchen table. "What. The. Hell. Is. This. All. About?" Ken gritted the words out of his mouth. Yoji shrugged.

"I told you, I need to talk to you." The older man slid into a chair. "Calm down first. Its not gonna be a fun conversation for either of us I suspect." The sunglasses that usually resided on Yoji's nose were taken off and placed on the table. There was a loud sigh and then… "I know."

"Know what?!" Ken muttered, wondering vaguely if he should still feel the rage he'd felt seconds before or keep going with the whole panicky feeling that was suddenly taking over his insides in a very icy way.

"About you and Omi." A silence reigned in the room and during it, Ken thought of many things to say or do to get those words that Yoji had uttered to be pushed aside but he was so lost and so damned scared at being found out that he just sat there, feeling heat come to his face. Yoji took in all the changes in Ken's face, noticing each emotion as they passed through those wide eyes. Fear. Embarrassment. Panic. Anger. Hatred. He waited for Ken's very well known temper to break loose at him but it never came and Yoji could honestly not say if that made him feel relieved or more scared. "What the hell are you two thinking?" He hissed. Ken shook his head.

"It's none of your business." His voice was cold, almost dull.

"None of my business?!" Yoji snorted. "Like hell it isn't. I wonder if Kritiker would see it that way… or Aya…" He let the words flow in the air, still testing Ken, waiting for the moment when the kid was going to blow up. "You don't love him." The accusation was thrown in Ken's face and the brunet blinked, anger once more flushing his face.

"What the hell…" He started, his voice rising while his hands turned into fists, his whole body suddenly shaking as he continued to try to keep his temper in check.

"He doesn't love you." Yoji continued, leaning away from the table now and taking an almost lazy stance. But he was tense underneath it all, just ready for something to snap. "It shows, you know. Omi sucks at lying when it's about someone he cares about. You confuse him, you scare him and make him uncomfortable. And he does the same thing to you. He tenses when you're in the room, he tenses when you touch him. You know he's only allowing it to continue because he's scared to hurt you. The kid is messed up as it is Ken… don't…" He must have laid the last straw that broke the camel's back during that little tirade he had going because all of sudden, the table was swung to the side, toppling over with its dead weight. The sound of it crashing to the ground was deafening and Yoji almost had no time to stand and put his guard up before he was being tackled. A punch landed on his face, the heat and pain flaring in the place where he'd been hit. "Fuck it Ken…" He pushed the boy back and away from him with his legs, not caring at the grunt of pain he had caused. Yoji was about to punch the soccer player back when Aya ran into the room, looking more than pissed.

"Kudou! Hidaka!" Aya's voice was like a whip and the two froze at the sound of it. "What the hell is going on? Is this how you talk to a teammate?" There was a pause as Aya continued to survey the scene. "Pick up the damn table. I want explanations… And I want them now."

"Oh fuck yourself." Ken shouted. "I don't have to explain myself to you… Who the hell are you? God? I don't fucking think so." He tried to make his way out of the room, still not thinking clear with all the anger in his head. He only wanted to hit Yoji into a bloody pulp until the man took those words back and more… He didn't know why he was reacting this way but he was. Those accusations hurt. Hurt so much that he couldn't breathe anymore… not properly… not enough. Aya pushed him back, his body blocking the doorway.

"I don't think you heard me correctly, Hidaka." Yoji just stood there, leaning against the wall and suddenly he started to laugh.

"You fuck ups… you little fuck ups… oh gods…" The eldest of the Weiss shook his head. "And you really thought it was going to work? That you'd be able to kid yourselves into thinking this was right when both of you already know it isn't? Look at how you react when I accused the sincerity of your feelings. Ken…" The man shook his head again. "I had questions to ask you but you answered them with your behavior. You really don't love him. He's just keeping you sane for awhile, making you feel less guilt for all the blood we've all spilt but you don't love him. If you did you wouldn't show how insecure you are. You'd just tell me to fuck off and leave you two the hell alone but…" Aya stared at the man wondering if Ken's punch hadn't addled the small brains that Yoji still had left. "You don't love him."

Ken's shoulders suddenly slumped as Yoji repeated those words. Anger left him and he was empty, cold…alone. He was very alone for the first time in months; his protection had been ripped away by Yoji's words. He had nothing. Maybe he'd never had anything to begin with. Maybe he'd imagined everything. Maybe…maybe… probably… He felt a sob start to build in his throat.

All those weeks of tension between him and Omi, each time he had tried to breach the new gap that had suddenly come between them and never, never had he been able to because he hadn't wanted to. He hadn't wanted to. And neither had Omi. That was the key… the last piece of the puzzle and Yoji had figured it out.

"…maybe…" He found himself saying brokenly, suddenly reaching out for any kind of hope that would allow him to regain that warmth that had protected him before. "…maybe you're right. I don't love him. But I need him." Aya was completely lost. "I need him!" Ken snapped, his head coming back up to glare at Yoji with determination.

"Need isn't love Ken."

"I know that! But it's the closest thing we'll get to have in this world we live in. And you are not going to take that away from us." He brought his hand to wipe at his eyes, startled to find that he had been crying. "You won't take this from us." He repeated. "It's not yours to take…" He left the room, brushing past Aya who let him go this time. The violet eyes of his turned to look at Yoji who was still shaking his head.

"Kudou…" Aya started, wary. "…what is going on?" Yoji glanced up and gave him a smile that wasn't quite reassuring.

"We've got a broken table, two broken kids who are trying to play house to heal themselves and an old busy body who was just taught a lesson. Is that an okay summary?"

"No." Aya muttered softly as his mind put all the pieces of information he had been given together. "But it's enough for now." He walked over and together the two older assassins picked the table up, trying to see how much damage the old table had gotten. "A leg is broken on my side." He stated and Yoji nodded but said nothing else as they let the table go back down on its side. There was a heavy sigh that was given and Aya glanced at Yoji. "Why push him over the edge, Yoji?" He asked finally. "And why now? They've been together like this for…months…" The blond looked at him surprised.

"You knew about them?"

"It wasn't that hard."

"And…?"

"And what?"

"And you still need to ask why?"

"Yes."

The back door opened quietly, the noise never reaching Yoji or Aya's ears. Omi slipped into the shop and then into the apartments with a slight smile on his face. Today had been a good day and most of the worries that had tensed him up had melted away in Waya's company. The only downside to all of it was that Waya had been concerned about Shindo. The younger was behaving quite strangely. Missing games. Refusing to talk to anyone about it. The way Waya described it, it almost sounded like Shindo was grieving. And yet…no one in the Shindo family had died that they were aware of.

Omi had made a promise to the redhead to go talk to him but…The Shindo household had been empty. He needed to let Waya know and come up with a way to reassure him. Maybe they could meet again tomorrow and try and go there together.

The smile on Omi's face faded pretty quickly though when he heard a dull thump coming from Ken's room. Curious, Omi paused in his steps and made a quick decision to stop by the older man's room before going back to his and doing the homework he had allowed to start piling up near his desk.

"Ken-kun?" He knocked at the door softly, almost hesitantly and was surprised as the door was yanked away with sudden force.

"What?" The tone of his voice made Omi's heart beat skip and his stomach cramp up immediately.

"A-are you okay, Ken-kun?" The taller boy made a sound that was surprisingly like a snort.

"No. I'm not." The door was almost brought to a close in front of his face midway through the younger man's concerned question.

"Can I do…" Omi was shocked and the question merely trailed off. The door opened slightly again.

"Look. You're the last person I wanna see right now ok? I don't need your help!" This time the door wasn't just shut in his face it was slammed. The air it moved in the process went past him and blew the soft strand away from his cheeks. "God damn it! Nosy bastard…" The words were muffled but still quite clear to Omi's ears. "Fucking hate it!" And it hurt. "Hate him! Argh…" He blinked blindly at the door, not moving for the longest of times. The thudding noise had started up again. And Omi wondered why he'd knocked on Ken's door in the first place. The noise was fine. The noise was normal. It was just Ken kicking his soccer ball inside the house. He only did that when he was upset but still...

Why did he knock on the door? Because he was worried. But the other boy saw it as being nosy? Nosy? Omi took a step back. And then another. He turned away and made his way back down the stairs he'd just come up. Omi had thought...had thought he'd been helping. Had thought that, Omi shook his head as if to escape from the thoughts that were making his head spin and his heart feel heavier in his chest. Had he done something to make Ken angry with him? He tried to think of a reason. But nothing came to him.

Unless… unless Ken had heard from Manx? Had Manx finished the background research on Ken and Waya? Had she gone and talked to the brunet without telling him first? But she wouldn't. That would be going against protocol. Manx would never do that. He trusted her. Than what was it? What could it be? What he had done to make him be so angry? And god why did it have to hurt so much? He was used to Yoji calling him nosy at times… he was even sure that Aya thought it as well. But Ken? He'd never said or done anything that even indicated to the younger man that he was an annoyance. And Omi couldn't bear the thought that he had become one. He bit his lip.

The day would come he knew when they would all go their separate ways. Omi had always had some hope that they would all keep in touch—at the very least him and Ken would. And that hope had grown considerably the past few months. But now… It was strange how such few words, such few actions could just come and break that all to smithereens.

Omi pushed the back door open and gulped in the fresh air. He continued walking, not knowing where he would go. He only knew that he needed to get out of there. And he would not cry, damn it. He wouldn't.

The phone rang, startling the two eldest members of Weiss who were trying to prepare a dinner of sorts. It was Aya who reacted to the noise first and walked out of the kitchen to go and answer it when it was clear after the third ring that nobody else in the house would. The fact that no one answered the phone before had made him wonder where Omi was as he said hello in the mouth piece.

"Uh… hi. Is Omi there?" A young voice asked, mirroring his own unanswered question.

"Just a minute." Aya placed his hand over the mouth piece. "Yoji, have you seen Omi?" He raised his voice a little so that the other man in the kitchen could hear him. The man's head peered out from the kitchen area to the small hallway where Aya was standing.

"What did you say? I couldn't hear you over the oven noise." Aya repeated himself and waited for Yoji to think the question over. "Nah. After the thing with Ken, I've been with you repairing the damn table and then preparing dinner." The blond dug a finger in the middle of his forehead and closed his eyes. Probably mentally reviewing Omi's schedule in his head. "He should be home though." Aya nodded and sighed. He turned back to the phone.

"Excuse me. Could you hold on for a bit longer while I go check?"

"..y-yes." Aya placed the receiver down and made his way to Omi's room. He knocked on the door twice before opening. He found it empty, the computer shut down. He frowned and then went to Ken's room. The door opened after only one knock. Apparently somebody's temper was still on high.

"What?" Aya arched an eyebrow at the tone to show how unimpressed he was with it.

"Have you seen Omi?" Ken's frown deepened.

"Yes. He should be in his room." Aya refrained from sighing.

"He's not." There was a pause. "Did he tell you if he was going somewhere or…?" Ken shook his head.

"No. We didn't exactly talk today." Well didn't that sound wonderfully helpful? The redhead just nodded and started to make his way back to the phone. Ken followed him part of the way though. He left the older man by the phone and continued on, calling for the younger man.

"I'm sorry. Omi isn't here at the moment. I can take a message and ask him to call you back when he returns. Who is this by the way?" Aya searched the desk for a pen and paper to write down all the necessary information. "Waya, Yoshitaka…" He wrote the name down. "Omi already has your phone number? Right. I'll have him call you back then. Goodbye." He turned around in time to see Ken come running up the stairs with mixed emotions playing on the brunet's face.

"Aya. Omi isn't in the basement either. He has his cell phone turned off and…" Besides worry, another emotion was warring in Ken's eye and it was easy enough to pick out but hard to understand. It was guilt. Aya looked at the younger man for a moment. Why guilt? Yoji made his way into the room, wooden spoon in his hand. It was dripping hot water from its surface. Aya normally would have commented on it but at the moment was too preoccupied. It just wasn't like Omi to leave and not say anything to any of them. It was even more unlike Omi to have his cell phone off.

"What's wrong?" Yoji asked, slightly wary of Ken. "Where's Omi?"

"We don't know." Aya answered the older man. "Ken, you did see him today, right?"

Ken nodded instead of answering with words. Aya sighed. "Try his cell phone again. He should know better than to have it off." Again, Ken nodded wordlessly and obeyed. His eyebrows furrowed at what most probably was the sound of no one picking up. Ken shut off his own cell.

"Fuck." The brunet ran a hand through his hair. "Fuck." He whispered again.

"It's not that big of a deal, is it?" Yoji asked finally looking between the redhead and the brunet for an answer. "The kid probably needed fresh air. It's not like we've never done the same."

"He's never shut off his cell phone though." Aya muttered, tired.

"Maybe the battery died." Yoji shot back and it was logical what he was saying…reasonable even. If they'd been speaking about anyone other than Omi.

"I doubt it." Ken hissed. "It's my fault."

"How?" Aya stated calmly. "Explain yourself."

"I…fuck… I lost my temper when he got home and checked up on me." Ken closed his eyes. Ah… Aya thought. Well that would explain part of it. But something was still off.

"Even if he's upset with you, Omi wouldn't just keep his cell phone off."

"You're obsessed with the cell phone aspect, aren't you?" Yoji snorted. Before Aya could retort, the tall blond threw the spoon back into the kitchen. "Doesn't matter." What didn't matter, Aya wasn't quite sure. It could have been the spoon which sounded like it had broken or it could have been the fact that Aya was or wasn't obsessed with the cell phone. "Let's split up and look for him. Aya go to the school, Ken go to wherever you and he usually go when hanging out with each other. Or any fucking place you know that he goes to that we might not know about!" Yoji gritted out not letting Ken interrupt him. "I'll go to Ouka's grave."

….

Waya stared a bit dumbly at the phone that he'd just placed back onto its cradle. He sighed giving his computer a quick glance and seeing that no, Omi hadn't signed back onto instant messenger. The older boy had promised though that as soon as he'd be home…

He'd never known Omi to not follow up on his promises. It made his insides curl into a cold and heavy knot. He didn't like it. Intellectually, Waya knew he was overreacting just a bit. He knew there had to be some sort of rational explanation. But he'd waited for a couple of hours and still no Omi.

What was going on?

He needed the other one to lean on. His world was breaking down even more. Touya-meijin…had officially announced his retirement. Sai's last game against that great man still replayed constantly in his mind as well as Touya's shocked and devastated face. Shindo had looked crushed and scared even. Then, after a week of Shindo acting like he was being hunted down and just had to keep a low profile…the other boy just quit. Refused to speak to him, refused to play, the kid had even refused to come into work. And nothing made any sense anymore.

Omi had promised that he'd go and talk to Shindo. Maybe, maybe Omi had managed to get a hold of him. Or maybe not. Where was he? His fingers itched to try and call Omi's cell phone number again but was already too weary of hearing the automatic voice mail telling him to try again later. Oh what the heck! He got out of chair, shoving it away from him as he did. He couldn't just sit here anymore. Waya grabbed his keys from his desk and shoved his sneakers onto his feet.

Minutes later as he was running outside, laughing hard green eyes pushed soft suggestions into Waya's open and unsuspecting mind. It was just too easy to play with kittens sometimes. Too easy but always so much fun. Schuldig created the false memory of a bridge looking over into the ocean, of the three boys playing there and of Omi's gentle voice explaining how it was his favorite place.

The trap was laid out. The winds were blowing in the right direction. Now all that was needed was to find the perfect place to watch everything unravel.

Waya felt his lungs burn as he continued to run. He suddenly knew where he could find Omi. He felt like smacking himself on the forehead. Why hadn't he thought about it before? It wasn't too far away, he supposed, if you had a car or a motorbike to get you there. He should have grabbed his wallet before running out like that. Then he could have at least taken a taxi.

His mind was slightly chaotic but for once he didn't mind so much. It distracted him from feeling his body as he pushed it on. His legs felt like rubber and were trembling by the time he reached the bridge. He couldn't breathe properly, gasping at the air and taking gulps of it like he was drowning. But it didn't matter anymore. The urgency that had been filling him was starting to ebb away. He could see Omi, leaning against the railing. The young man was just looking out into the waves. Waya couldn't run anymore and couldn't yell the other one's name. He took a couple more steps forward. Omi was ok. He was safe. He'd just…broken his promise? No. There had to be an explanation. A couple more steps.

"Omi…"

"Waya—wait." Shindo's voice? It sounded as ragged as his own. "Saw…" The younger boy looked in pain. His cheeks were bright red and his hair was plastered to the sides of his face with sweat. "…you…" He puffed out. "…running." All of sudden, they were shoulder to shoulder. "What's wrong?" His friend's sudden weight was right there. Warm and comforting and he leaned back into it. Between the two of them, he was sure that they could make it to Omi's side. And then everything would truly be all right.

"Worried about," He pointed Omi's lonesome shape up ahead. "Him. You. Didn't know what was going on anymore." He took a trembling step forward. "I couldn't lose him too. And you…" Shindo ducked his head; his arm coming to weave around Waya's back providing more support.

"Sorry about that." There was a new strength in that young voice. "I was an ass. I didn't mean to hurt you…I was just lost but I finally found what I was looking for." He took in a deep breath. His lungs still ached. "I won't leave you like that again." Because it sucks to be the one left behind all the time. And now Shindo understood exactly what it was like to be left behind with no way of reaching the one who had left.

It kills part of you.

"Omi." They both gasped his name out. The blond turned in one quick motion, eyes wide.

It makes you doubt.

"Waya? Shindo? Wh--?"

That there'd been anything there in the first place.

"Omi!" Another voice called out from the street. Blue eyes looked up and spotted the new person. The face paled.

"Shit…" Omi found himself moving, placing himself in front of the younger boys to shield them.

"I was worried!" Ken hissed as he ran down the rest of the hill. He skidded to a halt just a few steps away. "Why the hell did you turn your cell phone off?" A hard hand was clutching Omi's shoulder. Hard. Ken frowned. Who the heck was behind him?

"I didn't turn it off…" Omi started weakly, his own hand coming up and catching that hand.

"Don't lie! I must have called over twenty times. It was off!" There was a weak voice whispering something he couldn't understand.

Further away, Shuldig started to laugh.

A/n- So this is where I'm pulling away from the manga story even more than I was before. Isumi is not the one that brings Shindo back into the go world and Weiss and HnG universe start to truly come together.  If the first section seemed a bit like…oh wow! These guys are overreacting just a tad…well, it's all thanks to Schu who just loves pushing people just a bit until their own minds push them over the edge. Sorry for the slow updates. I'm dealing with what could be tendonitis or the start of carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists, making typing very painful.

Anywho. Thank you for those of you who don't give up on me!!! It means a lot to me. :)