Notes from the Author: Hello! As promised, here is another swift update. I forgot to mention that the timeline is set after the first season. As for pairings, well just wait and see, but I wager you guys have an inkling about who it might be, haha. As for disclaimers which I forgot to mention previously (I'm such a noob. LMAO), I don't own anything, I'm really that poor. Anyway, thanks for the views and reviews! To RodiSquall, thanks for being patient with me even though my updates have been extremely sparse. Don't worry, I'm committing myself to finish these fics, as it would be a waste not to. Thanks to the readers, I'm very happy to have garnered views considering it has been a long time since I've written. So, without further ado, I give you the next installment! Enjoy!

Chapter Two

Nagi arrived late that night to find Crawford reading the paper. It was kind of ironic to see him doing that - Crawford, like any other man who get a kick out of reading the news instead of watching it on television, usually read it in the mornings. 'With coffee not alcohol', Nagi added the thought wryly, noting the glass of scotch on the side table. He cleared his throat softly and crossed the living room to occupy the armchair.

Crawford glanced to find the teen pick up a magazine and browse through it, both waiting for a cue.

After a while the game gets old. "Nagi, I'm not the telepath. You will have to speak what's on your mind."

Nagi paused and looked up, before averting his gaze. "I just want to know if there's anything coming up."

Crawford scrutinized his teammate before shrugging. "Of course there is. Although I don't know what you're looking for, so you have to be more specific."

Nagi frowned at that. Is that sarcasm in his voice? "I figure there's no point in hiding the fact that I've asked the help of a private investigator to help us find the others."

The older man deemed it only polite to put down the paper. Nagi, unlike Schuldig and Farfarello, usually talked with sense. "So you've told me."

"The private investigator I asked passed me onto a colleague of his." Nagi watched Crawford's nonchalant reaction before dropping the bomb. "You know who he is, don't you?"

"No, Nagi, honestly I can't know everything that's going on." Crawford frowned, reaching for his scotch. "We do have limitations."

"It's Balinese." Nagi said, trying to clamp down on his growing irritation at being dismissed as petty. He watched in disbelief as Crawford continued to regard him with undisguised apathy. "I was hoping you could tell me if this will bode well for us or not."

"It doesn't matter."

"What?"

"It doesn't." Crawford repeated, taking another swig of his drink, as if challenging Nagi to pop a nerve.

Nagi couldn't believe his eyes and ears. It looked to him as if Crawford was being possessed by Schuldig - at one point he hoped that it was true, and that Schuldig was trying to contact them through telepathy, but Crawford has impenetrable shields so that was impossible. Nagi scowled at what their leader have become. He sighed and prayed to the heavens to give him more patience. "Does that mean I can go ahead with this?"

Crawford shrugged, which for Nagi looked like, 'Yeah, what the hell.'

Nagi visibly slumped, giving up. "What is going on, Crawford?"

"Do you honestly expect me to answer that?" Crawford smiled bitterly. "I'm trying to keep my hold on things that help me keep sane." He reached for the paper again but put it on his lap instead. "Did you think I haven't tried looking for them? It's not that I don't care, Nagi. It's just..."

Nagi waited, hope slipping away as he couldn't believe he's seeing this from the older man. He was never visibly uncertain. He always knew what to do.

Crawford stared hard into his drink, shrugging. "It's like they don't want to be found."

Nagi watched the confidence deteriorate from Crawford by the second as the older man finished his drink. With a sigh, Nagi excused himself to his room, leaving the other to his own demons. He dumped himself on his bed, desperate and depressed. Schwarz was broken in more ways than one, and it appears that he might be the only one who actually wanted to fix it.

It's not like he didn't care.

It's not like he didn't know anything either.

Crawford routinely checked through whatever visions that came to him and found a few things in the immediate future that had something to do with them and Weiss, but he decided against telling Nagi that. Better to left the future untouched as much as possible so as not to let outside factors influence the favored outcome. As for anything that might help him find the other half of his team, he came up with nothing concrete, and he was beginning to suspect that they were muddling things for him on purpose.

When Nagi told him about seeking help from Balinese, he figured to give it a go, having nothing to lose from it. He figured the man was highly unlikely to go back to Weiss to regroup, what with having to return to his old business; if he did make up his mind about going back to Kritiker, at least they could have used his time to help them find their comrades.

What about confidential information regarding his teammates? Crawford sneered. If it had been Crawford and Nagi who were missing, the blond would have had better luck finding information which goes without saying that profiles about them were naturally sparse. It was bad enough that Nagi chose to find Schuldig first - among the four of them he had records close to nil. His lack of a proper name attests to that fact.

He finally stood from the sofa to get ready for his next job. Mentally he anguished at how long it had been since he had taken up an assignment with Schwarz as a whole. There were tough times, make no mistake about that, but they worked well as a team, to be able to faze some of the most dangerous yakuzas in the underworld.

For now, he probably would play along as there was nothing else to do. Crawford smiled as he trudged towards the shower. He might probably pay Balinese a visit just because.

Yohji gave up after a few tries, admiring his work or what he was able to make the most out of the bouquet he was working on. With Omi sneaking glances at him and Ken acting awkward around them, Yohji found it hard to concentrate; hell, he couldn't even take Nagi's case off his mind. He turned to Omi at the register. "Look, Omittchi-"

"Not here." Omi mouthed, as a few more customers/admirers filled the shop.

Yohji frowned, deeming it unfair that he was cut off and prohibited to talk about it when they were the ones who were making him feel uncomfortable. He glanced at his watch which told him he had precisely 30 minutes to wrap things up before leaving for his other job. He had to meet with some clients, among them Nagi.

Aya arrived a few moments later to relieve Yohji of his shift. Unlike the other two, Aya was never verbal about Yohji's decision. 'It's not like he didn't care,' Yohji told himself. The redhead was never really one to pry into anyone's personal issues. He scrutinized Yohji's latest creation with mild distaste.

"What?"

"I know it's been tough for you the first few days." Aya muttered bemused, saving the poor bouquet from further mutilation in the blond's hands, saying to himself, 'Although that doesn't give you an excuse to murder this arrangement'. "Go on ahead."

"Aya," Yohji whined weakly, a bit embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I was distracted. It's Omi's fault!" Yohji accused the younger man good-naturedly, initiating a mild banter between them.

"Yohjikun, I didn't do anything..." Omi denied half-heartedly to which Yohji narrowed his eyes at comically.

Omi only shook his head before entertaining another customer.

Yohji turned to Aya with a smile - which faded as he recognized hurt, however faint on Aya's face.

Aya smiled tightly. "See you tomorrow."

Yohji gave the redhead a lingering gaze, a sort of assurance. For what? "'Kay."

Omi looked up from the purchase to see Yohji wave reluctantly at them. When the blond was nowhere in sight, he visibly slumped, the energy suddenly drained away as he looked at the remaining members of Weiss.

"I don't think this is such a good idea."

Yohji looked around nonchalantly at the fast food restaurant where he told Nagi to meet him. It was almost dinner, and Yohji figured he might as well take care of two things at once - his job and his stomach. God that burger seemed to jump right out of the menu. "Do you want this one?"

Nagi's mouth twitched half in annoyance and half in bemusement. Here he was in one of the busiest joints where swarms of teens and families usually eat amidst the wild happy chatter, while he was about to disclose strictly confidential information to his old archenemy.

Did he mention they were in a fast food joint? Right.

"This is the noisiest in the district." Yohji grinned, wriggling his pinkie around his ear for much needed emphasis; it was hard to hear him as it is amidst the childish squeals.

"Do you like this place so much?"

"Food's all right." Yohji shrugged. "It's one of the few luxuries I can afford right now. I've been living off ramen for the past two weeks."

Nagi sighed. "I'll have whatever you're having."

"Are you sure? I haven't eaten since morning."

"Whatever." Nagi frowned, watching the older man smile happily before sliding off the booth to fall in line. When the blond returned, Nagi found that Yohji had not been kidding. The things he had on the tray attest to the fact that it literally tore Nagi's mind away from his worries. "What is that supposed to be?"

"Food!" Yohji said triumphantly, sliding into the seat across him.

At that, Nagi was fondly reminded of Schuldig. With a sigh, he reached for his portion and examined it. "It's not possible to eat this without getting dirty, is it?"

"I got you a fork and a knife if you want. I don't know about you but I don't really care." Yohji said hurriedly before taking his first most anticipated bite. For all it was worth, it made Nagi bite back a smile.

It was one of Yohji's goals. He knew it won't be easy for both of them given their past. Also the lax atmosphere and the noise can mask the true purpose of their meeting. Besides, one of his pursuits was seated a few tables away.

A young woman was suspecting that his husband could be cheating on her. It was an easy case, the husband was easy to find. Now Yohji shook his head wonderingly, glancing at the man discretely and at the woman and child he was with. Later he might have to follow them out; it seemed to him that his client could be right about her assumption, apparently. 'Speaking of clients', Yohji watched Nagi for a while, who have decided to utilize the fork and knife that he was given.

"When was the last time you talked to him?"

Nagi frowned. "I never heard from either of them since the last mission."

Yohji nodded. Nothing much he can do about that one. "His things are still with you though, right?"

Nagi shrugged. "Just as he had left it."

"Well there must be something from his stuff he would come back for." Yohji thought loudly. "Maybe you can go through some of it, see if you can find anything. Past addresses, contacts..."

"I can do that, but I highly doubt any of his contacts would know or tell me where he is. As for important documents, I can ask Oracle about it."

"Yeah, you do that. I mean, at this point anything, any clue can help. I'm sorry if I'm imposing, but I'm sure you don't trust me to go through his stuff."

Nagi smiled tightly.

"Now to business." Yohji finally picked up his burger and took another huge bite.

Nagi's smile broke into a laugh that already sounded comfortable in Yohji's ears.

'Mission accomplished.'