Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction / Yami No Matsuei Fan Fiction ❯ The Suit of Swords ❯ Ace of Swords ( Chapter 1 )

The Suit of Swords

By Yanagi-sen

Weiss Kreuz/Yami no Matsuei crossover

Usual disclaimers apply. Characters aren't mine… if they were… Gluhen wouldn't look like that… Entertainment purposes only I make nothing off of this except for a few reviews.

Warnings: references to NCS and torture, language, angst, AU, OOCness

/character thoughts/

~telepathy~

Chapter 1: Ace of Swords

It was Hell… pure and simple. Weiss had gotten mixed up in something they never should have touched, and now it looked like HE was going to be the one to bear the brunt of it. Omi ducked into a small alcove and flattened himself against the wall.

"Abyssinian… Siberian… Balinese… can anyone hear me? Please respond…" He swore mentally and tore off the headset hoping to find the problem and fix it.

/Simple information retrieval, Manx said. No problem with the surveillance, Youji said. Yes, we'll accept the mission, Ran said. Omi can go in, Ken said. Gaaaaah! / Omi fiddled with the transceiver. /Of course I can do it, I said… when will I learn to say NO? / Giving the headset up for a loss, he tossed it to the side. By now the others would have made it out and be on their way home.

/Okay… step one… get out of here without being caught. Step two… make my way back across half of Japan without any money or contacts. Step three… throttle my teammates. /

He listened intently, but could hear no movement in the hallway. Slipping out of the alcove he inched his way along. As he approached a cross-corridor, Omi could hear shouts and pounding feet.

A small figure came careening around the corner and crashed into the blond. The two of them went down in a tangle of limbs. Scrambling to his feet, Omi grabbed the teen without really looking. He hauled the other along with him as he ran back down the hallway looking for a new place to hide. He didn't know who this was, but if those bastards that ran this place were after him, it was a good bet that he was in trouble as well.

He could hear shouts behind them as the ones after the boy turned the corner and saw them. Omi ducked into a side corridor and then down another, trying to loose them in the maze of their own making. Spying a small storage closet… he tried the door, some deity was smiling on him because it was unlocked. He yanked it open and hauled his compatriot into the closet with him, closing the door behind them.

Omi sagged against the wall of the narrow closet. The small figure all but fell to their knees beside him, gasping for breath but struggling to be silent. The blond was reassured as their pursuers passed by the closet without stopping. They weren't safe by a long shot… but at least for now, they were okay. He slid down the wall to sit across from the other fugitive. He guessed they were male, by the clothes, and young, maybe even younger than himself. The boy's head was bowed, all Omi could see was dark hair.

"Hey…" he whispered "Are you okay?"

The dark hair shook… then the face slowly rose. Midnight blue eyes stared at him in astonishment. The boy fell back and scrambled to put as much distance as he could between them in the narrow closet. "Weiss…" he whispered.

Omi blinked. It was that kid from Schwarz. The one that never seemed to really get involved with the fighting. Why was he here? And why were those men after him, weren't they on the same side after all? "Schwarz."

"What do you want?"

The blond cocked his head. The telekinetic sounded afraid of him. He let his eyes wander over the small figure. The boy's ever-neat gray uniform hung on his narrow frame, dirty, torn, nearly in rags in some places. There was a purpling bruise on the boy's left cheek and a small cut on his swollen lower lip. His hair was unkempt but seemed to have this endearing tendency to fall over the boy's face, forcing him to push it back again and again. Someone, or someones, had gone rounds with this kid… and with what Omi had seen of the boy's powers… that wasn't a good sign. "Are you okay?"

Midnight eyes blinked and the kid swallowed nervously. "Why do you care?"

Omi shrugged. "You look like you've been through the wringer. So what happened?" He noticed the boy's eyes were a little glassy, like he wasn't quite there. He shifted over, ignoring the kid when he jumped in surprise. "Hey… you sure you're okay? Your eyes are a little funny."

The boy looked away, rubbing the side of his head. "They threw me into a wall. I'll be fine."

The blond grabbed his narrow chin and stared at his eyes. "I think you have a concussion, how many fingers am I holding up?"

The brunette pulled away. "I said I'll be fine. Now what do you want, Weiss?"

Omi clamped a hand over his mouth. "Shh… listen…" Footsteps out in the hall again. The blond could feel the boy's body shaking next to him. He sank down beside him and wrapped an arm around those too-thin shoulders. "It'll be okay… we'll get out of here." He whispered in his ear.

"You don't know what they're doing… I won't let them catch me again…"

"Shhhh…"

It was tense, waiting. They could hear movement and conversation up and down the hallway. Those involved didn't seem inclined to move away anytime soon. It was so long that by the time they finally left, the Schwarz boy was slumped against him, exhausted simply from the stress.

"By the way… my name is Omi. Tsukiyono Omi."

"Naoe Nagi."

"Nice to meet you. Shall we call a truce, at least till we're out of here?"

"Agreed."

"Alright. You gonna be okay, or do you need help."

"I'll be fine." Naoe struggled to stand and immediately fell. Only the blonde's quick reflexes kept the boy's head from connecting painfully with the wall.

"Sure you will. Come on, you're not getting out of here on your own. Let's go." The boy grumbled but allowed Omi to wrap an arm around his waist to steady him. They eased out into the corridor and darted for the more shadowed service hallways. The brunette's condition continued to worry Omi. Not just Naoe's obvious fear, but the pallor of his skin, the way he flinched sometimes when touched, the shallowness of his breaths. The blond suspected there were more injuries then he knew about. He pulled the smaller boy into a deserted storeroom as they got close to the maintenance entrance Omi was hoping to escape through.

"What?"

"Let's take a short rest. I want to make sure no one is following us too." The boy narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but he gratefully sank to the floor, wrapping his arms around his torso. Omi nodded, ribs, just as he had thought. He listened at the door for a few moments before sitting next to the brunette. "Once we're out… I can bind up your ribs if you want."

Naoe pulled away slightly. "They're fine."

Omi shook his head. "You don't trust anyone do you? They are obviously hurting, they might just be bruised or they could be broken. You don't want to do more damage."

The brunette slumped. "I don't know if they are broken or not. They just hurt."

"What happened?"

"Got kicked, several times."

Omi winced. "Itai."

"Yeah."

Voices floated down the hallway they had just left. Omi jumped to his feet, readying his darts. The telekinetic rose more slowly, hunched over, one arm supporting his aching ribs.

"I think they went this way."

The blond looked to the brunette and waved him back. Naoe shook his head and faced the door. Omi frowned, he suspected for some reason the boy couldn't use his powers, if that was true he would just be in the way.

"I don't see them."

"They are nearby."

"You check the rooms on that side."

They could hear doors starting to open and shut. Whoever it was, they were definitely looking for them, and knew they were here, somewhere. Omi looked around frantically. The storeroom was essentially bare, there was nowhere to hide.

"Don't let them get me." Midnight eyes bore into him.

"What?"

"Kill me. If you are serious about this truce, then kill me before they can catch me again. Please, Weiss."

Omi couldn't believe he was being asked this. Was what they were doing here so terrible that a member of Schwarz would beg to be killed instead of captured? He opened his mouth, still not sure what he was going to say, when the door started to open.

**

It was just sick, what Muraki was doing this time. The doctor himself wasn't actually doing the experiments, but he had hired out the work. There really were no solid connections, but the whole operation had Muraki's fingerprints all over it.

"Hisoka?"

"There's no saving this one either."

"Another one? I'm glad we don't actually have to deal with them. Tatsumi is sending out a cleanup crew. The kindest thing will probably be to put them all down."

"Put them down? Tsuzuki… these are kids, not animals."

"They were kids, Hisoka. They aren't now, not really. Their souls are already gone, all that is left is a shell. They aren't really alive. You know that."

The blond shinigami turned away. "I know. But…" He tried not to flinch as an arm came around his shoulders.

"I know. I feel the same way. Just be glad we were able to shut this operation down."

"Hai." He caught the briefest surge of emotion and gasped.

"What?"

"There is someone… those guards we avoided earlier, they are after someone. Whoever they are chasing is terrified."

"Then let's go help them."

They followed the lingering trail of fear and pain that led them first to a small closet, that was now empty, then down into the service hallways. Tsuzuki looked around. "You know, whoever they are, they're pretty smart. This is probably the safest way out."

"There's two of them. One is calmer than the other. It's the other one that's hurt and afraid." It didn't make a lot of sense… but Hisoka just shrugged. The answers to their questions would have to wait till they found the pair. He started to suspect their quarry had escaped, they were getting very close to one of the exits, but then the emotions he was following spiked. They had to be close. "I think they went this way." He looked down the hallway but no one was in sight. Tsuzuki caught up to him and also peered around.

"I don't see them."

He could feel them, one very close to panic. "They are nearby."

The older shinigami nodded, accepting him at his word. "You check the doors on that side."

Hisoka was worried what the pair would do when they actually did find them. People had a tendency to react violently when cornered. He wasn't afraid for himself, but if one of them had been those scientists' guinea pig, they might end up struggling before they found out he wasn't going to hurt them. He touched the door knob. This one had to be it… he started to ease it open, a little uncertain as to the reception he was going to receive. He pushed the door, but stayed out in the corridor, trying not to 'crowd' the two inside. He saw a blond boy, hand cocked as if to throw something, standing in front of another kid. All Hisoka could see of the second was a pale face and dark eyes.

"Stay back." The boy in front had intense blue eyes. Hisoka found himself astounded by what he could see. They were the eyes of someone who knew what it was to kill. They were eyes that had seen a lot of pain and suffering, some of it his own. He was astounded by how young the boy looked, too young for eyes like those.

"I'm not here to hurt you."

It was the other one who responded. Stepping out into the light a bit. "I'm not going back… you'll have to kill me… I'M NOT GOING BACK THERE!!!!" An invisible force knocked the other boy to the ground before slamming into Hisoka, tossing him out and across the hall to collide painfully with the wall.

"HISOKA?!" Tsuzuki appeared, readying a fuda.

"NO! Tsuzuki… don't hurt him. He's scared." There was nothing more from the room as the older shinigami gave Hisoka a hand up.

"What happened?"

"He has some type of power. I don't think he even consciously tried to use it. I think his fear just took over."

"Ah." They looked into the room. The blond boy was picking himself up off the floor, shaking his head, the other one had collapsed. "Oi… you okay?" The boy looked up at them.

"I think so. He can really pack a punch, ne?" He stepped over to the other kid. "Schwarz? Naoe? You okay?" He knelt, concerned. "Naoe?"

The two shinigami entered and also knelt beside the prone boy. They took in his battered appearance. "He was one of the captives?" Tsuzuki asked.

"Hai. He escaped and we kinda ran into each other. But I know he's hurt worse than he told me."

Hisoka looked at Tsuzuki, who shrugged. "Can we take him home? Both of you for that matter?"

The blond shook his head. "I don't know where he lives. And he wouldn't be… welcome, at my place. We aren't exactly friends."

"Tsuzuki?"

"We have no choice. Tatsumi will just have to deal with it." The boy was watching them with all the curiosity of a cat. "Okay… I guess a short explanation before we go anywhere. I'm Tsuzuki Asato, this is Kurosaki Hisoka. How much do you know about what happens when you die?" Hisoka rolled his eyes.

"Um… apparently not as much as you are implying. I'm Tsukiyono Omi by the way."

"Okay. Basically if there are special circumstances, when you die you might be given the option of serving as a shinigami. We are both shinigami. Because of that, we can pass back and forth between the living world and Meifu. That is where we are thinking of taking you. If we do that, we can get him some medical attention and then return the two of you to your homes."

"Oookay, what's the catch?"

"You took that well. The catch is your silence."

"Trust me, after Schwarz and Esset I'll believe nearly anything." The blond blinked a couple times. They could almost hear the gears turning. "Deal."

"Okay. Hisoka will take you. It is disorienting the first couple times, but it's safe. I'll take him. What is his name?"

"Naoe Nagi."

The dark haired shinigami nodded and then picked up the battered boy as gently as he could. Hisoka took Omi's arm… and they all disappeared.

**

TBC…