Disclaimer: I don't own Weiss Kreuz so no suing darn it! What did I just tell you eh? EH? Woops, got a little carried away there sorry hee hee J !

The ancient mind of one million dragons

Chapter 16

Admittedly, even though I do love nothing more than to flirt and dance and drink, as you can probably understand I wasn't really in the mood for those sort of recuperative activities right now. In my head I could see it, as the redhead assassin and I walked along the plaza; I could see the dimmed lights surging through the throng of eager dancers, the smoke pluming out into their midst like the breath of a dragon. The sway of the bodies as they rocked their hips to the beat, flung their arms around each other and tossed their hair.

The gravel crunched coldly beneath my feet, scattering like a million tiny insects before my footfalls. I tried to focus on them as the light shimmered over their wet, smooth surfaces. It had rained for a little while as we had walked, not daring to call a taxi or find transport under the circumstances, and there was a slight sheen over everything around us. The trees held that fresh just washed look, the ground was sleek and there was even a misty layer on my hair. However, I don't think it really ruined my image too much, not when I was walking beside a man who (although I would rather stick my nipples on a griddle pan before admitting it) far outstripped my fashion sense and ability to carry off certain clothes by far.

I was not in the best of moods.

However, it wasn't that I was angry, or even pissed off; those sort of feelings I would have been able to handle. Instead I was more caught in that limbo which comes about just after you get mad, that feeling that everything in the world couldn't possibly get worse and that, well, it's probably all your fault. That feeling where you slip from anger into depression. That feeling that calls up old memories instantly. Not especially bad ones either, just memories, memories designed to remind you that things weren't always this bad…and that your probably the reason that that changed in the first place.

The dancers in my mind swayed again, luring me with their peaceful chaos. I wanted to be as carefree as they were, these imaginary keepers of that unknown quality…I had been once.

"Oh come on now, you don't like to dance? Don't think I'm going to believe that one."

I'll give her one thing, the girl was perceptive, but I still wasn't in the mood for dancing tonight. I had finally worked up the energy and the money to be able to get out of my dingy flat and into an even dingier club and all I wanted was to sit and drink and relax. Yet of course, fate always likes to twist my arm behind my back and push me into the unknown when all I want is rest. It seems to be one of its favourite pastimes…

"So are we dancing now?" she asked, the multi-coloured lights flickering over her dark streaked hair.

She was pretty, I'll give her that too. Okay, well, not pretty, she was more…beautiful. Hell, what was I saying, I hadn't thought that about anyone for a long, long time. And now look at me, I hadn't been out in a couple of weeks and the first girl I meet is suddenly an angel! Well…I guess she did have nice eyes, dark but with sparkles of light so bright hidden right in near the centre…wow, they were nice…

"I guess we are," I said with a slight smile as I placed my drink down on the sticky counter and slid off my stool, deciding that tonight was not the night to start being cautious.

"Good, I'm glad you finally see sense," the girl smirked as she stood in front of me with her hands on her hips, "I wouldn't have wanted to use excessive force, but I might just have been ready to…"

"That irresistible am I?" I smirked back as I put out my cigarette in an overflowing ash tray and avoided some patrons as they bustled towards the bar.

"Hmm, don't flatter yourself," she sniffed as she grabbed my hand and dragged me off towards the surging crowd of dancers, "just yet…"

I smiled at that. It was hard to see in this dim light with only sporadic glances at her under the shifting lights, but she really was quite beautiful. Her dark hair was cut into a sort of straggly yet stylish bob which curled slightly as it reached her shoulders. Her tight black tank top glittered and sparkled under the flare of the disco lights as she glided gracefully towards the floor. Her figure was very impressive also I noticed, oddly enough, as a secondary to how pretty her eyes were. It really had been to long since I had been out…

She stopped suddenly as we reached the outer rim of the throng, gripping my hand more tightly as she smirked at me over her shoulder. Her eyes glittered uncertainly, making me dizzy as the people beyond her swayed drastically. I ignored the sensation, focusing on her harder as she just pulled on my arm and dragged me into the crowd.

The surging of bodies, oh how I had missed it all. The bumping of hip to hip, the clash of shoulder to chest, of hand to limb, of skin to skin; I think I missed the contact more than I could have ever guessed. It was as if the crowd moved as one, not in individuals, not as partners, but as one entity, a slave to the beat of the persistent music. I felt like turning around to my new found date and thanking her for dragging me up here because there was nothing I had actually wanted to do more than this; yet there was no need to do that. She pulled me around herself, rather violently tugging me from in between two gyrating scantily clad females, to rest against her seemingly slight form. I gasped slightly at the motion, a little surprised by her strength. I tried to focus harder on her as we began to pick up the rhythm and sway to the beat. Well one thing was for sure, she was no mean dancer. As we slid against each other, hip to hip, leg twining leg as we surged against the tempo and into the song I could feel myself falling. It was better than alcohol, better than drugs, just this contact. I needed that rush, I had needed it for a long time, yet I had never been so high as when I was dancing with her. I don't know quite how to describe it but as we danced she seemed to know my every move. She could meet and match my every sway, my lanky movements, the swivel of my feet…it was fascinating. She was as sharp as a diamond, and just as pretty too. It was as if the world was slowing down, just as if the rest of the people in the club couldn't see us all of a sudden. It was only us dancing, only her that interested me. I wanted to se her every move, I wanted to analyse her every curve, her feature.

She was perfect. How could she be so perfect? Better question, why would someone so perfect want to dance with me?

She seemed to notice my staring as she ground up against me and slid her arms around my back, smiling a secret sort of smile. I just smiled back, not really having much else I could do in the face of such perfection.

"Hey there bright eyes!" the hoarse cry ripped me from my admiring reverie violently and I turned to meet the eyes of a burly looking man about my height.

I felt her stiffen against me.

-Oh man,- I thought, -well I guess someone this perfect is bound to have hoards of admirers I guess. Aren't I just the lucky one..?-

"Why don't you take a hike Shuya!" she shot back coldly, all the warmth seeping from her tone while still keeping that authoritative edge.

"What? You're blowing me off!? For this prick!?" the burly man shouted in rage, his eyes blazing as they fastened onto my own slightly confused ones.

"What does it look like smart guy," she snorted and pulled me closer, "now get out of my face before I remove it myself."

"Why you..!" the one called Shuya flared.

I wasn't surprised in the least. I saw the punch coming from before he even tensed his muscles and leaned back, his right shoulder tightening and pulling in, his jaw clenched and set. What did surprise me however was that the punch wasn't aimed, as it usually was in this rather frequent situation, at me. It was aimed at her.

At her. At that perfect creature who could almost read my mind. At the one woman who seemed to have some sense of rhythm, of control, of beauty that had entranced me from the moment I'd met her.

I couldn't believe it, how could anyone even think of hitting her? It was an outrage to even think it in the first place! My blood boiled uncontrollably and surprisingly at the thought. I tried to step in front of her, put myself in the face of the blow and take the punch, waited for the crunch of the fist in my gut…

…and was even more surprised when I was shoved roughly out of the way by seemingly delicate hands. The man roared his anger, the people around us clearing a space as the ruckus became more violent. She stood before him then, seemingly small and frail in comparison to his bulk and fury. I cried out as I saw his fist swerve towards her face…and then was silenced as she easily dodged it. I watched in shock as the oaf over swung his punch and received a fist in the stomach for his stupidity. The girl just stared straight ahead as she let the man sag past her, the wind knocked from his lungs, and removed her fist to let him fall to the floor. There was a soft silence through the beat f the music. I just stared, as did most of the crowd. Then slow whistles started forming, then cries and claps and smiles, and I realised that I was joining in. The girl just smirked back, ignoring the bouncers as the carted the injured jerk off the dance floor and threw him out the back door.

"Well," I found myself saying as the crowd moved back in around us as the excitement calmed down and we were pushed back to close quarters, "I know not to get on your bad side."

"Hmm, you are wise," she smiled back, her eyes doing that impossible sparkle once more.

"I like to think so," I said back with a grin, "but then people usually just like to try and prove me wrong."

"Well, I won't be one of them," she said back with perfect seriousness.

"Thanks," I found myself saying stupidly, tagging on the end, "I'm Yoji by the way."

"Asuka," she smiled back, "I'm Asuka."

"Hey! Earth to Kudo!" the impatient yell snapped me out of the past and into the present.

Damn.

I looked up to notice we had stopped on a long stretch of dimly lit yet well maintained waterfront. There were little pots of flowers littering the spaces between wrought iron benches and carefully laid paving slabs. The place did have an eerie quality at night with the film of misty rain covering the ground, yet at least we seemed to be in a respectable area. I was pulled away from the scenery however by an impatient sigh.

"What the hell do you want?" I spat, pulling my long trench coat tighter around my exposed middle.

"Well, considering your codename, I would have thought you wouldn't like moping around in the rain thinking about boring, depressing memories," the redhead drawled, flipping a hand flippantly through the air, "but you seem to be doing a pretty good job of it."

"Well, considering your fucking codename, I would have thought that you could have at least got us some transport," I shot back, the anger at having my mind compromised leaking into my voice.

"Temper temper," he hissed back as we began to walk again.

As we walked along the slabs of multicoloured stone I couldn't stop my treacherous eyes from flicking left to look at the enemy at my side. I knew I was wary by nature but I had never felt so edgy in my life. I mean…he was Schwartz for fucks sakes! Us and them, we just don't mix. I mean how the hell was I supposed to trust him? What if this was all just some elaborate trap to finally get rid of Weiss when their own organisation was going down the tubes? There were so many dangerous factors and theories springing from this union that far outweighed the good factors.

I watched his eyes as we walked under the streetlamps, eyes a shade of deep, deep emerald. They were very focused eyes at that moment, although I had seen them twisted I pain, crinkling in malicious laughter, hard and cruel…it was too odd to see them looking suspiciously like my own. His light auburn hair was streaked with my own hair products to make it more manageable and sat obediently around his face, swaying slightly as we walked. His face was also determined, under his auburn bangs, reminding me disturbingly of a lion stalking its prey.

The rest of his body was also covered in my clothes, my white sheer jacket that cut off just above the hips, my shimmering black and blue veneer shirt that lay loosely over my black leather trousers which fitted rather too well all the way down to the only thing he was wearing that he actually owned. His boots. It really was a fucking crime how well he carried off my clothes.

"You know you can just look," he smirked at me suddenly as we turned into a little alleyway to get onto the main street, "I won't say anything."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure you'll have enough people at the club to give you your ego fix for the night," I retorted coldly, a little annoyed that he could be so blunt in this sort of situation, "so don't be offended if I pass up the offer."

"Suit yourself," he said casually, his face the picture of placidity which was a stark contrast to the rage I had seen plastered on it not half and hour earlier.

This man was an emotional anomaly unto himself. It made my head hurt just thinking about it.

As we reached the end of the alleyway the mist like rain let up and allowed us one minutes dryness before we stepped out into the almost dead street. We weren't near the town centre at all, an odd place for a club, and the houses and small shops were all dark and shut down for the night. People were in bed assuming safety, shopkeeper's home for the night thinking their livelihoods safe and sound. I felt myself smile sadly at the rather depressing thought. Hell, I was having a rough night of it already and I wasn't even at the club yet. That was until, of course, we rounded the next corner, stepping round a small Japanese maple the sound hit me like a reminiscent wave, dowsing me in the past and pulling my mind back to the nights before this had all started…when things had been so much less complicated.

The club was hardly ostentatious, with a single door small entrance flanked by two burly bodyguards. There were two small silver birch trees to the sides of the guards, their trunks seemingly luminescent in the flickering lights escaping through the open door. The large classy lit sign above the doorway read "The Ancient Spirit" in large stark bold black characters on a creamy parchment coloured background. Its air of unobtrusiveness fitted in well with its surroundings which, at the moment, seemed to be ignoring them rather well.

"So are we going in there or what?" I asked impatiently after we had stood for a couple of minutes looking at the entrance, "I'm not exactly thrilled enough to make this mission last any longer than it has to."

"Could you say that any louder?" Schuldich said with an incredulous stare before he began to walk towards the doorway, "I don't think the spies heard you."

I wasn't going to rise to the bait, I wasn't going to rise to the bait…god how was I ever going to get through this night without drawing the attention of the entire club to our presence by strangling him openly on the dance floor? Guess it wouldn't be too bad a way to go, but still, I had a little self control left. Unfortunately the majority of that luxury had been used up by another certain fiery redhead who was still M.I.A.

It took nothing but a nod of the head for Schuldich to get us past the mammoths flanking the doorway as if it were an ancient cave. They grunted and shifted a little uneasily as I walked between them but did nothing more. I just sighed my relief and stuck close, no matter how much I hated it, to my companion, his usually annoying trait seeming more useful by the minute. The club was surging, more real and deafening than any memory could recall to the senses. The dark swirling atmosphere was punctuated by stabbing lights which in turn were soothed by pluming smoke. The sound pumping from the over large speakers against the wall seemed to reverberate against my very essence, sending my whole body tingling, bringing back that jolt of pleasure that was loosing yourself in the mass. As I watched the dancers sway and the people shout and caress and flirt, I realised that this was not so much a club but a throng, a whole, a separate entity. A tap on the shoulder made me look round.

"The bar," the Schwartz mouthed as he gestured to the long drink laden block surrounded by stools and patrons.

I nodded silently, almost as if to shake the haze from my mind more than to show my compliance, and pushed my way through the crowds towards my target. As the people slid aside the bar was revealed to me in stages, the first being the large garish shelves that lined the back wall, each holding a variety of exotically coloured drinks. They towered above the bustling bar people, the uppermost ones entirely unreachable and obviously solely for decoration. As I reached the bar itself, nothing more than a solid plank made from some glittering dark wood, I noticed that there were many pipes and taps springing from its depths, each shooting its liquid into the glasses at high speed. I was so distracted by the hissing foam that, for at least two whole minutes I did not notice the most impressive and remarkable decoration the bar had to offer. As I followed a barperson to the left of the bar I noticed that they were being obscured by something and, looking up, I could do nothing but gasp. A humongous dark wood dragon was standing at the end of the bar like some ancient guardian, bearing its massive fangs at me. I looked over quickly to the other side only to find a second one, a twin, staring back. As I got over the initial shock I began to study them more closely, noticing at the same time that Schuldich seemed entirely unconcerned about these amazing creatures and was instead scanning the crowd avidly.

As I looked more closely I noticed that their huge wings were folded back against the wall behind them, splaying out over the top of the luminous shelves to meet at the tips. Their heads were bent down, hanging from their long twisting necks, to stare towards each other over the heads of the patrons. Deep ruby like stones were set in place of their eyes, glittering menacingly in the sporadic light. As I moved I saw that I was actually leaning on one of their huge extended paws, the giant claws gripping into the bar as if trying to crush the wood into splinters. Their hind legs were so huge that they almost blocked the entrance and exit to the bar for the staff. Actually, the more I observed them, impressive as they most definitely were, the more I noticed they were more of a hindrance than an asset. Their legs not only blocked the doorway considerably, but the staff had to duck their swooping tails just to serve some customers at the far ends of the bar. I turned to try and maybe shout into my companion's ear about them, wondering if he perhaps knew why they were there, but I stopped when I saw his eyes.

He had seen something.

I found it strange how I was able to read every inclination of his head, every eye movement, every stare with ease, where I still couldn't figure out what Omi's expression meant sometimes. Sure I had studied him during combat, I had made it my duty to find out what his movements meant during a fight scenario but…well, this was different. We hadn't really encountered Schwartz enough for me to have been able to pick up the slight change in facial expression that meant joy or sadness or eureka! I wondered absently if he was tapping into my mind, if I was perhaps getting some sort of feedback, emotional feedback from him as he kept tabs on me. The thought was only allowed to be a fleeting one however as, seconds after I had conjured it up, Schuldich was pushing away from the bar and heading towards the dance floor. I tried to grab his arm, to shout, but there were too many people between us and the club far too noisy for sound to travel far. The crowd seemed to close in behind him, his distinctive red hair disappearing into the mass as I tried desperately to carve a way through. What had he seen? Was it the contact? Was it an Esset spy? Was he getting out of here before they swooped down on us so that he would be saved and I left in their hands?

"Schuldich!" I shouted fruitlessly, all the fear and doubt and loathing about working with Schwartz rising in my mind from where I had locked it safely away, "Schuldich wait!"

I struggled against a particularly large man, the bile seeming to rise in my throat at the thoughts whizzing through my mind. At the back, somewhere in the dark, I could almost here my mind calling, trying to tell me how unreasonable I was being, but I wouldn't listen. The crowd was suddenly constricting, the atmosphere too thick, the music too deafening. I needed to breathe, I needed to hear, I needed a wide open space with my senses all in tact. Then, just as I felt my foot contact with something hard, I was falling. The dimly lit ground rushed up to meet me and jarred my hands as I held them out desperately. When I looked up a rather familiar pair of glistening black boots were filling my field of vision. I stood up very quickly, the club seeming to return to normal, the horrible twisting sensation in my stomach now resembling embarrassment more than panic.

"Kudo you really didn't tell me you were such a bad dancer!" a familiar nasal drawl shouted hot and breathy into my ear, "I think that you should go back to the bar, you're cramping my style!"

I looked up to see Schuldich in front of me, dancing rather too closely to a darkly clad young man. His shoulder length black hair bobbed around his shoulders merrily as he danced, his dark clothes fitting but not too tight and very expensive. His face was youthful and flushed from dancing, his grin no doubt reserved for yours truly. One look from Schuldich, or perhaps just some odd feeling that he was giving off, told me that this was our contact. A kid, barely twenty, who looked like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth never mind him being messed up in an Esset contract.

This mission was going to be more "fun" than I had first thought.

Fantastic.

An: WOW! I am sorry that this chapter took so long, and I hope that this might possibly satisfy anyone who's been waiting for the next chapter. I know it's not much, but it will do for now…right? Please, no, don't kill me AHHHH! Oh, you're not going to kill me? Okay that's alright then! Well, please R&R and tell me what you think! Sorry again for the severe tardiness and laziness of yours truly, and please don't let it put you off, I will write faster, promise !