Mirage Of Blaze Fan Fiction / Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Chasing Twilight ❯ Prologue: Business Before Pleasure ( Prologue )

Well, this is my first Mirage of Blaze, my second Weiss Kreuz, and my first crossover fic, so be kind. Haha. It all came from the fact that they both have a "Naoe" believe it or not, but even so, I think the two series can compliment each other pretty well. This will probably be a pretty long fic, as I think of it, because with the plot I've sort of figured on, plus all the characters I intend to utilize, well, it would have to be.

I also apologize for any blatant misspellings of names, I'm not sure how you'd spell some of them, especially the MoB ones, and in some instances, I just sort of spelled phonetically. If I've spelled any names blatantly wrong, and you want to correct me, by all means go ahead. But since I've seen Schuldich/Shuldig spelt many different ways, I'll be using the prior spelling b/c that's the one I like better.

This fic contains yaoi, yuri, and hetero pairings. If that bothers you, read something else.

The pairings for this fic, as I see them at the moment will be: Takaya/Naoe, Yuzuru/Chiaki, Nagi/Aya(chan), Haruie/Crawford, Kousaka/Farfarello, Ran(Aya)/Saori, Yuiko/Sakura, Schuldich/Omi, Yohji/Ken

I don't think this will change, but I will let you know if it does.

Also, I will be referring to Aya as Ran in this fic, since I also intend to use his sister, so as to avoid confusion.

Chasing Twilight

by: Banshee Puppet

Prologue: Business before Pleasure

They say that everything which has an ending, has also a very distinct and immutable beginning. That which is in the past cannot change. If that is so, then I, Kosaka Danjoh, would say that it all began with a glass of wine.

To say that Kosaka was a man of loose morals, would be to imply that he had any at all. To his credit though, he was, at the very least, loyal to his lord, and that loyalty is what brought him here today. The place was Tokyo, on an evening with a sunset the color of pink velvet, and he entered the Hoshimi Building that entertained the elite of Japan as if he belonged there. He had not bothered to dress for the occasion, wearing his trademark choker and leather pants. He knew it was a party, one of those snootish upper-class things that you were supposed to pull out your best suit for, but he was here on business, and he did not wear suits.

"Excuse me, sir, you can't..." the security guard tried to stop him. He'd never seen Kosaka here before; he was sure the young man didn't belong.

Kosaka turned, looking the man over. "Yes?" he asked evenly.

"Ah...that is..." It was Kosaka's eyes, his cool expression that frightened the man a bit. He wondered if he should call the police. "I am here to see Mr. Isai Kintarou. He would be displeased, I'm sure, if you were to delay our business." Kosaka smirked and added, "hm...interesting. You look like a dweller spirit."

"Huh wah?" The man blinked. "Uhm, please stay there a moment, I have to verify this..." the guard grabbed for the phone, but by the time he turned around, the elevator doors were already closing on the strange young man. He sighed. "Dweller sprit? Geez, another weirdo," he said, hanging up the phone. "I swear, this job is gonna take years off of my life."

~**~

Kosaka exited the elevator and exchanged a few words with the young girl who'd been hired to welcome people to the party. The name badge she wore on her little black vest said "Saori", and he could swear he'd seen her somewhere before, but couldn't place it.

"Welcome to the party! You're early. Can I seat you or get you anything to drink or anything?" she asked cheerfully.

"No thank you. Is Mr. Kintarou present yet?"

"Ahm..." Saori tried to remember which one that is. "Oh! Uhm, well I saw him a few moments ago, but I think he went to his office to get something. He said he was meeting a business associate this evening and wanted to be prepared for him."

"Aa. I'll just wait for him over there then."

"Okay! I'll tell him you were looking for him if I see him!" she said cheerfully.

"Gyah!...eek, sorry!" a young boy with big blue eyes almost plowed into him. He was holding a vase of black roses.

"Geez Omi, watch where you're going," Yohji rolled his eyes as he placed a similar vase on one of the side tables. "I'm sorry about him, Mister. Omiitchi is a bit of a clutz. No harm done, right?"

"Yohji..." Omi said warningly. He hadn't even really bumped into the poor man, just...almost.

Kosaka brushed the bit of dirt that had fallen on him off of his sleeve. "None," he stated flatly. "Excuse me." He took the opportunity to look around. The caterers were placing the meals in their heated trays, arranging the salads. Three florists made their way around to all of the tables, the brunette blushing deeply when the one called "Yohji" leaned over him and whispered something in his ear. Kosaka smirked knowingly.

The elevator chimed and he turned, seeing feet and a large plant coming out, with a bit of careful planning. The feet became a young man with striking red hair, as he placed the plant down and wiped his brow slightly.

Ran didn't know how he always ended up with the troublesome arrangements when it came to carrying them inside. He glanced around. Where the heck did they want this thing anyway? He had an idea of where to put it, but...well, he figured he should ask.

"Excuse me?" he asked the greeter.

Saori looked up at the striking violet eyes and blushed slightly. What was with that reaction, she wondered. She liked Yuzuru. Still, the florist wasn't too bad to look at. "Y-yes?" she asked.

"Did anyone say anything about where they would like this to go?"

Saori grinned at knowing the answer and brought a finger to the air as she said, "they said 'we'll trust in the florists to put everything in the place they think is best suited for it!" Her voice was so cheerful that Ran had to keep a slight smirk from his lips. Such an energetic young woman.

"...Alright. Thank you," he stated, bending to lift it again after a moment's deliberation.

"Do you need help carrying it?" she asked. "I think it will be okay if I'm away from the elevator for a moment, since the party hasn't started yet," she offered, seeing how awkward it was to try carrying that huge thing by himself.

"Uh, thanks. I appreciate it," Ran replied blandly. He normally would have said no and then hollered for one of the others, but he just didn't have time to be bothered right now, and he wanted to get this finished up as soon as possible. They did have a mission tonight, after all.

So, the girl lifted one end and helped him carry it, "alright! Where to?" she asked.

"Over there," he said, "by the catering tables."

"Okey dokey! Off we go then!"

Yohji gave Ken a quick poke and directed his attention to where Ran was getting help from the greeter-girl. "Ain't it cute?" he teased. "We should get her number for him," he joked.

"You're impossible," Ken rolled his eyes, returning to what he was doing.

"But that's why you love me," Yohji teased.

"And here I thought it was just the great sex," Ken retorted dryly before calling out, when Ran had finished placing the "tree", "is that the last of it, Ran? We really should get a move on if we want to get the rest of the flowers over to that other party on time."

Understanding the code, Ran gave a curt nod. "Yes, let's get going." He offered the young woman a small, polite bow. He was trying to be less rude, in general, since his sister, Aya, always scolded him for being so rude these days. "Thank you for your help," he said.

Saori found herself blushing again, but waved it off. "No problem! I wouldn't have offered if I didn't want to help. Don't work too hard!" she grinned before moving back to her post.

A few glares were exchanged, Kosaka noted, as an American man got off the elevator as the florists got on. He wore a crisp white suit and pushed his glasses up his nose. He, also, exchanged a few words with the greeter before entering the room. Kosaka ignored him. He wasn't the person he was waiting for. Instead, he lifted one of the black roses to his nose and inhaled deeply of the scent. Divine.

Crawford's eyes turned to the leather-clad man across the room. He had an air about him that the American just didn't like. It itched at him in the same way that Schuldich's telepathic sarcasm did. It just rubbed him the wrong way and added a hint of tension to his shoulders. He approached.

"I hear you have business with Kintarou-san," he said in perfect Japanese.

"That's right," Kosaka returned simply, his arrogance almost untouchable. There was a test, a threat hanging in the air between them that neither was willing to break. 'This guy...' '...I don't like him.' They were both thinking the same thing.

It was the man who arrived next that broke the discomfort between them. Isai Kintarou was an old man, and one of Esset's leaders since the fiasco of the summoning ceremony that led to the deaths of the previous leaders.

"Ah!" the man smiled with false warmth. "Kosaka-san, glad to see you've made it. I wasn't expecting you for a bit yet. My apologies for not being here to greet you. I trust your employer is doing well?"

"My Lord is the same as he has always been," he stated evenly, glad to have the casualties out of the way.

The man decided to take this time for introductions. "I take it then that you've met Crawford," he gestured to the American.

"Not officially," Kosaka said, looking Brad over in a dismissive fashion.

"Brad Crawford is one of my elite...helpers," Kintarou said tactfully. "Crawford, this is Kosaka Danjou. He is employed with the Takeda, business partners of mine. You'll probably be seeing quite a bit of one another from now on."

'Oh, that's just lovely,' Crawford thought.

"Let's have a seat then," Kintarou offered. "Crawford, if you would be so kind as to pour myself and Kosaka-san a glass of wine."

Brad did so without question, but underneath, he was seething at having to pour wine for this arrogant, smirking punk kid.

"I've heard that the Hojou problem has been remedied?" Kintarou asked, delving right into business.

"Yes. Quite effectively so," Kosaka returned.

"However, that Chiaki fellow escaped. This was news that I was less-than-pleased to hear."

"You could not have expected anything else. Nagahide is not the type to remain in captivity for very long. A single tsutsuga isn't enough to hold someone who's known for taming beasts, after all. Shouldn't you be focusing your attentions elsewhere, anyway? The arrangement has nothing to do with Nagahide. Understand, the Takeda don't care what happens to the others, but you must remember your end of the deal. It should be a simple matter to capture Kagetora when he doesn't even have full use of his memories, right?" Kosaka taunted slightly.

"There is...something that gets in the way of that," Kintarou stated uncomfortably. "Every attempt we've made...that retainer of his..." Kintarou's anger over the retainer was obvious. Crawford didn't have to be a telepath to see that.

Kosaka took a schooled sip of the wine and smirked knowingly against the glass. "It's true. Nobutsuna Naoe is a troublesome man, but I'm sure you'll find some manner with which to get him out of the way."

Crawford tried not to be taken aback by that name. Naoe. Naoe. It was Nagi's last name as well. And it was also the name that haunted his visions. What was he supposed to learn from this.

Kintarou's eyes widened slightly. Crawford hadn't missed it. "You said his name was Naoe?" he asked steadily.

Kosaka nodded. He knew this would get the man thinking. "I see. That is interesting. I also, have one in my employ under that name."

"Perhaps they are related," Kosaka said.

"That may be true."

"Anyway, I trust you have the data that has been requested?" Kosaka asked.

Kintarou passed the envelope across the table silently as the young man stood.

"You should be a bit more discreet, Kosaka Danjoh. You do not understand what Esset is capable of. You, also, are a possessor, after all, should other methods prove...inopportune."

Kosaka lifted the folder and started away, turning a backward glance over his shoulder and smirking, "Perhaps," he said. "And perhaps, also, you should learn to treat your elders with a bit more respect, Kintarou-chan. I am merely a go-between. My lord Takeda would not be pleased with such a grave insult to one of his retainers."

Whether from anger, or fear, Crawford did not miss the way that Kintarou blanched as Kosaka departed. When the elevator doors closed, he leaned back with a heavy sigh. "Crawford, pour me some more wine."

~**~