Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction / Yami No Matsuei Fan Fiction ❯ Troubled Times ❯ Schwarz, meet Schmerz ( Chapter 17 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: I don't own Weiss Kreuz, if I did, then the designs in Gluhen would never have happened . . . I also don't own Yami no Matsuei. This fic is only done for fun and to relieve my boredom . . . Don't bother suing me, most that you would get is dryer lint.
Warning: This is a Yaoi fic. . . that means wonderful m/m action, if this offends anyone here, then get out of my site. I didn't force you to come here. If this offends the sensibilities of any parents, then you should be looking after your kids better and not using the computer as a babysitter.

On to the fanfiction. . .

Troubled Times.
Part seventeen.

**********

/So. . . you're the telepath of Schwarz?/ the intruder asks. . . still not opening the door to reveal himself. Something in his mental voice strikes an odd note in Schuldig's mind.

/I'm talking to you aren't I? What did you do to Nagi?/

/Nagi?/

/The boy... the telekinetic who answered the door... FUCK... you didn't kill him?!/

From the other side of the door, Schuldig can hear a nasally voice call out. . . "Oy, brat. . .you didn't kill the brat did you?"

"No... I don't think so... he hit the wall then fell down like a broken doll."

An amused chuckle can be heard through the wooden door, "and that little broken doll is one of the templates. . . . such a weak thing it's hard to believe. . . ."

Schu scowled. This wasn't good... this wasn't good at all. Nagi was obviously unconscious, possibly dying, Farf was locked up... Brad wasn't here... and something was wrong with Watari. How did this morning end up so shitty?

The door is thrown open and in walks another red-head. His cap titled downwards keeping his eyes hidden from view. "Don't worry about the kid." A smirk is visible from underneath the brim. ".... Damn . . . You know that you are fucking hot?"

"I was aware of that... Who the hell are you?"

Sauntering over to the unconscious form of Watari, the man tips the hat back and looks up at Schuldig as he kneels next to the shinigami. When green eyes meet teal, the intruder smirks. "You should know more than I do. . . "

It was like looking in a mirror. "Fuck!"

**********

In Brad's office, owlchat blinks on the now forgotten computer. . .
bb_green_eye: midnight?
bb_green_eye: are you there?
bb_green_eye: nagi?!?!

Prodigy walks into the office. . . a little curious about their templates lives. Large eyes look over the tomes sitting on the shelves in Schwarz's Oracle's bookcase. Let Mastermind play with Mastermind. . . Esset made certain that Schmerz was stronger than Schwarz. The outcome inevitable should those two fight over the immortal toy.

Sitting on the desk was a desktop computer... but in the center was also a laptop. It was open and obviously on. It could be that his template had been working previous to their arrival.

Another message blinks into place on the screen of the laptop. . .

bb_green_eye: DAMNIT NAGI!!!!! ARE YOU THERE?!?!?!

Nagi? Wasn't that what they called his template. He sat down at the desk.

Midnight: Nagi is here.
bb_green_eye: you had me worried kiddo. . . . -_-;;;;
bb_green_eye: don't do that again. . . . ^.~
Midnight: Worried? Why?
bb_green_eye: i think that the S from the dpet in germ arrive to you.
bb_green_eye: i need to talk w 004.
Midnight: Sorry... I must go now.
bb_green_eye: ttyl. C U in a little. ^_^;;

**bb_green_eye has logged out of owlchat**

**********

Pushing himself away from the computer, Nanjiro looks at the monitor. . . that was most certainly not the Nagi he knew. . . 'Nagi is here' the shinigami echoes in his mind. He knows for a fact that his friend would not have said something that droll, and that Nagi would also have contacted Watari for him, even if it was just to have an excuse to go bother Schuldig. Something's wrong over there. . . .

Opening the drawer to his desk, the shinigami pulls out his gun and shoulder holster. A fresh clip is inserted into the mechanical device, it's always better to be safe than sorry. With a sigh, the weapon is put into the holster and then concealed by his denim jacket. Shimmering out of sight, he re-appears in the hallway outside of Schwarz's apartment.

The door to the apartment was hanging open. In the entrance hallway, a small form lies in a heap, as if they had simply collapsed. It was too quiet.

Slipping out of sight, the shinigami rematerializes next to the small heap. Upon a closer inspection. . . "Nagi?" The young man reaches down to check if his friend is still breathing. Seeing that he is, he reaches into the boy's mind and tries to draw him back to consciousness. . .

A small whimper of pain... and a flash of panic. Confusion... what happened? Nagi remembered opening the door and seeing... Someone with red hair who said something in German. He warned Schu... then tried to block the way, but another one... that looked like him? Stronger than he was... Nagi remembered hitting the wall... then blackness...

**********

The smirk widens. /Now you get it. . . / Mastermind picks up Watari, not bothering to break eye contact with his template.

/Why... What are you going to do to him?/ He reaches out for the blond...

"Me? Not a thing. . . though he is really cute. We were just sent out to pick him up. . ." A gun is pulled from seemingly nowhere and aimed at Schuldig. "It would be a damn fucking shame to have to shoot you for interfering."

"You can't seriously mean to leave us unharmed... we've seen you."

"So? We work for the same group of assholes."

Trying not to think... Schuldig lunges for the gun...

Struggling to keep a hold on the weapon, Mastermind tries reeling backwards, the smirk falling from his face. . . revealing an inkling of his true age. Hitting the floor, the younger of the two scowls up at Schuldig.

"Stop playing games, boy. Go back to wherever you came from."

Schuldig is given no warning at all as Mastermind invades his consciousness. . . /Whose playing games old man?/

To them, it seems like an eternity as the two telepaths fight for dominance in the German's mind. Like a puppet whose strings have been cut, Schuldig hits the floor. His body useless for the time being, but still very much conscious and aware of his surroundings. /Our handlers are waiting. . . for your little doll./ Mastermind kneels down next to Schuldig and looks his straight in the eye. /I've heard rumors that you are an incredible kisser. . . mind if I try one?/

/like I have a choice... in fact no... go to hell.../

**********

After dropping Nagi off in the medical ward in Meifu, Nanjiro returns to the apartment to find out what the hell attacked him. Pushing the door of Brad's office open a little more, the shinigami takes a peek in the room.

Sitting at the desk and playing with Nagi's laptop... was someone who could have been the telekinetic's older brother. But Nagi had never mentioned having a brother...

"Who are you?" Nanjiro asks as he steps into the room, taking on a completely non-aggressive posture. . . from what he could make out from Nagi's memories, this was most likely the one that took him out. So there is no need to antagonize the guy.

The young man lifted his eyes. "I am Prodigy. Who are you?"

"Nanjiro. That's Nagi's computer. . . "

"Yes." He stood. "What do you want?"

"Nothing. . . I was just curious who you were." The shinigami says with a smile.

"You are not Schwarz."

"Ah, no. . . I'm not." Holding onto the doorframe, Nan-kun starts backing out of the room. . . "Well, it was nice meeting you Prodigy."

"Wait... your eyes... you're one of them!"

If I run, he'll probably attack. . . "One of who?" One good thing about people in Chijou using weird colored lenses. . . I can blame my eyes on that. "I lost one of my colored contacts. . . " he comments pointing to his lighter eye.

The young man looked confused. "Contacts?"

"I use tinted contact lenses to make my eyes darker. . . " the shinigami lied. "But I lost one earlier today."

"Contact lenses... why?"

"Because they looked neat. You're not Schwarz either. . . mind if I ask what are you doing here, out of curiosity of course."

"We have a job to do."

Now it's Nan-kun's turn to make himself look confused. "Job?"

"Yes. Myself and Mastermind."

Keeping the confused look, the shinigami smiles at Prodigy, "Mastermind?"

"Yes." He thinks of the red-haired telepath, but doesn't say anything else.

/Looks like you have a cute little boyfriend there. . ./ Mastermind comments after checking out Nanjiro through Prodigy's eyes.

/What should I do with him?/

/Forget him . . . let's go. . ./ Barely a moment passes before the blue haired boy clutches his head in pain. . . trying to remain standing, he grabs the doorframe. /Fuck. . . bring him too. . . I'm sure those old fucks would love a second shini-whatever-they're-called./

Bright eyes lift up to Prodigy's as the boy. . . the shinigami manages to block Mastermind.

**********

Kimiko walks out into the rose garden to see the nice man that Muraki-sensei lets care for the flowers. Already there, she can see Aya-chan sitting in the grass talking to Asato. "Aya-chan!! Asato-chan!!!" The small girl calls out with a smile.

Looking up, the violet eyed man smiles back at the small girl. "Kimiko-chan. . . how are you?"

"I'm good... I felt tired earlier, but Muraki-sensei gave me more medicine."

From an upper window, Muraki looks out at Tsuzuki's interaction with the patients. The man seems to have a way of lightening the spirits of anyone that he comes in contact with. . . even broken as he is, they seem to adore him.

It was interesting to watch. Much like observing the dynamics of a terrarium. He wondered what would happen if he changed those dynamics...

**********

Hazel eyes open as Watari wakes. For a moment, the shinigami wishes that he hadn't woken at all as bright fluorescent lights glare down at him. Sitting up, he realizes that he is on a small cot in the center of what he would assume to be an observation room. The walls around him reflect his image back at him a thousand times over in their mirrored surfaces. A weight is present around his neck, tentatively he reaches up to feel what is there. . . only to find a collar.

"Hello?"

-The collar prevents the subject from using any extraordinary powers. The subject should refrain from attempting to use such powers unless told to do so. Should the subject use said powers without permission, the collar will inflict a punishment. Repeated attempts will result in increasing the strength of said punishment. The subject is advised to comply with all requests.-

"Nice to be warned." Watari comments in a dry voice as he walks towards one of the mirrors that compose all four walls of the room. "Where is this place?"

Silence met his query.

"Ookay. . . Since no one wants to show their face to me, then how about we play a nice little game of hide and seek." Going back to the cot, the shinigami drapes the sheets over so that they brush against the floor hiding anything under the bedding from view, and promptly 'hides' under the bed. There was still no response... apparently they weren't particularly concerned with monitoring him at the moment.

Folding his arms under his head, Watari forms a make-shift pillow and drifts off into a short nap.

The shinigami doesn't know how much time has passed when he wakes. . . but doesn't bother looking out from under the sheets. Instead he starts going into his mental calculations to keep his mind busy. . . trying to ignore the fact that he is starting to get a bit hungry.

-The subject will come out now. The subject is to be observed.-

"Forget it."

-If the subject fails to cooperate voluntarily, force will be used.-

"Force being used will cause a discrepancy in the observation process by altering 'the subjects' natural behavior. . . therefore voiding the scientific method and tainting any information gathered from your experiment."

There was silence for a moment. -Nevertheless... observation is critical at this phase, if it is not given voluntarily, then the subject will be relocated to a more suitable viewing venue.-

"It could also be argued that you are already observing 'the subject'. . . Since 'the subject' is providing some data for you to process in the form of an oral dialogue." With a finger, Watari lifts the sheet slightly as he peeks out to see if they've at least turned off the one-way observation mirrors.

One of the 'walls' was indeed transparent. Revealing another room like the one he was in. On the bed was a figure... just barely visible was the occupant's blue hair.

Dropping the sheet back down, Watari sighs. . . why is Nanjiro here? "Another bit of data that you might want to add to your observations is that your 'subject' is highly apprehensive about having been forcibly removed from its 'natural habitat' and placed within this enclosed area."

-Irrelevant... observation is critical at this phase.-

"You want me out? Try an incentive other than force or relocation." Watari wonders if there is anyway that he could take out that speaker system. . .

-Rewards for good behavior are possible.-

Watari pushes the sheet that was pointed at Nanjiro's enclosure out of the way, but remains under the bed. There is only silence.

Mentally, he goes back to calculating the 10th place of pi while waiting for whom ever it is at the speaker to decide to tell him something else to do.

**********

"Nagi? Are you alright?" Wakaba asks the young telekinetic as he returns to consciousness.

Midnight eyes blinked a few times. "Wakaba?"

"Hai. . . you're in the medi center. . . I just walked in and found you here."

"How? Nan... is he here?"

Curls bounce as Wakaba shakes her head. "Sorry. . . I haven't seen him since the staff meeting earlier today."

"They came in..." He grabbed at her sleeve. "They came in the apartment... attacked me..."

Slipping onto the bed, the longhaired girl wraps her arms around the teen. Trying to comfort him. . . "It's okay. You're here and no one is going to hurt you."

He shook his head. "Schu... and Watari... in the bedroom... don't know what happened to them... and Nan..."

**********

"Speaker-san. . . what time is it?" Watari asks out loud, hoping for an answer. . . or at least the realization on their part that there are two shinigami's that have not eaten yet during this day.

-It is evening. Is the subject willing to cooperate in exchange for a meal?-

"Depends."

-Affirmative or negative.-

Crawling out from under the bed, Watari turns so that he is resting his arms on the mattress and cradles his head there. "You really need to work on acquiring better social relations. . ."

-If the subject will remain in view... a meal will be provided shortly.-

With a small sigh, Watari moves up so that he is sitting on the bed. More than slightly uncomfortable with the notion that he hasn't a clue to how many might be observing him at the moment. With one hand, he tries to straighten out his hair, but does nothing to re-accommodate it when the golden strands fall in his face, veiling his features slightly.

Another portion of wall clears, and a door opens inward. A young woman in a lab coat slides a tray through the small gap, two guards with drawn weapons behind her. The door is pulled closed and returns to its mirror state.

A few swift steps bring the shinigami to the tray. Crouching down, he causally picks up the tray. A mischievous smile graces his face. "Speaker-san, I'm positive that you and everyone else observing would be sorely tempted to throttle me should I decide to now go back under the cot, ne?"

Stony silence.

Watari takes a look at the food. . . while it may take into account proper nutritional values, it seems that the person that made it, forgot somewhat that taste is also a nice component of a meal. "Someone should fire your cook."

In the other room... Nanjiro seemed to be stirring... Watari waits till the boy is fully conscious. . . "Konbanwa Nan-kun."

"Konban wa, Watari-san. Where are we?"

The blonde shrugs. "I haven't a clue. . . but the person that does their cooking, incredible to believe as it is, is worse than Tsuzuki."

Nan made a face. "That does not sound good... hey... I've got a tray too." He carefully got up... and made his way over to his tray. "eeewww..."

"Hei, see what I mean. . . at least Tsuzuki's meals look nice before you drop from the nauseating taste."

"I suppose beggars can't be choosers..." He took it back to his bed. "Heard anything about Schu and Nagi?"

Tucking his legs underneath, Watari shakes his head. "Gomen. . . I've spent most of my time trying to annoy whom ever decided to observe us by being an uncooperative subject. Also, don't use your powers. . . that collar around your neck, it's supposed to administer a punishment."

"lovely... thanks for the warning. I found Nagi in the hallway..."

"You got him to safety, I assume."

"Of course... then I came back..."

-The subjects shall complete eating, then place the trays near the door and return to the bed.-

Watari gives the speakers general vicinity a sharp look, not entirely sure where it is since he doesn't have his glasses. "I was led to believe that you were interested in observation. . . Where as this is a natural interaction between both subjects."

-The meal will be completed and then interaction may continue until resting period.-

Counting backwards from ten, the blonde breathes deeply, rather annoyed at the situation. "The meal will be completed and then interaction may continue until resting period?" Calmly he stands, tray in hand and walks over to the wall that had opened. . . "After my stellar performance today as an uncooperative subject, I'm positive that whom ever is observing us would like something interesting to see, ne?"

Nan likewise deposits his tray, mostly untouched where he got it from. "Like?"

In one quick motion, the shinigami plants the tray and all of its contents against the mirror. "Observe that behavior."

The 'room' went completely dark. There was a warning buzz from the collar around his neck... then electricity surged through it... He wasn't even aware of crying out as the shock went through his body, just of the impact that he had against the floor and of the pain.

**********

Before he could even think, Nanjiro was on his feet and pounding on the reflective surface. "Watari!!!" Hitting his fists against the mirror, he is only answered by his own reflection. "WATARI!!!!"

-The subject shall refrain from pounding the walls.-

The blue haired shinigami turns and looks up at the area where the voice is coming from. "What are you doing to Watari you bastards!!"

-Punishment.-

"Leave him alone!" Nanjiro reaches up and plants his hands in his hair out of frustration. "You can't do what you've done to us and not expect us to act out. . . "

-Contact between the rooms is now severed until after the resting period.... lights will be lowered.-

**********

In the morning, Wakaba returns Nagi to Schwarz, apologizing by celphone prior to arriving for not having brought him back sooner. "Sorry, we are running a little short staffed at the moment. . . so we are a little behind in our schedules trying to ensure that nothing is over looked," Wakaba says while trying not to appear too overworked.

Crawford nodded. "Understandable. He is not hurt too badly?"

"No, he was more shaken up than anything else." The shinigami replies.

The American nodded. "Then he is better off than my other subordinate. Nagi, your computer is back in your room." The young man nodded and shuffled down the hallway. Only when he was out of earshot did the man continue. "Have you located your missing people... I saw that the blue-haired one was taken as well."

"We've been so short staffed that we haven't been able to do anything. . . Tatsumi is having a fit because it's looking more and more like we're going to have to call in help from other countries. . . "

"I see. If we come across anything I'll have Nagi inform you."

"Thanks, I really appreciate that." As the girl disappears, Brad gets a vision of her collapsing from exhaustion within a few hours due to overwork on her part. He shakes his head... and goes back to trying to figure out how to get them out of this mess... in as undamaged a state as possible.

**********

The blonde shinigami looks at the restraints that have been placed into the room, and raises an eyebrow before looking back at the area where the voice comes from. "Speaker-san. . . you are joking, correct?"

-If appropriate behavior conduct is not followed, then restraint will be deemed necessary.-

He doesn't make a move towards the restraints. "I still fail to see how my being restrained will help in what ever observations you are doing. . . " Watari says, sounding more than a little annoyed.

-It is not the subject's place to question. Will the subject please remove it's clothing.-

"I will not remove my clothing."

-Observations of the subjects physiology is required.-

"It's demeaning. I will not remove my clothing."

-The alternative is to knock you out again, remove your clothing and restrain you until observations are completed.-

A look of horror passes the shinigami's features at the thought of someone manipulating him while unconscious. The concept having truly unnerved him. "Why are you doing this?" Watari asks, trying to sound normal.

-Research.-

"It's inhumane. . . "

-The subject is not human. Remove clothing.-

"I'm human enough. . . this treatment is completely and utterly inhumane." Watari says, looking up at the speaker, scared that they will knock him out, and equally apprehensive about having to strip for these insensitive bastards.

-Last warning.-

The shinigami drops to the ground in frustration at his situation, neither option seems viable to him. "I have the same physiological make-up as a normal human. . . There are no differences that can be seen in physical form."

-Firsthand observations are essential.-

Doubling over, Watari cradles his head in his arms, obscuring his reactions to the situation. "There are no visual differences. . . "

-Disrobe.-

What does he have to lose. . . "The concept of disrobing or of being disrobed in front of strangers is completely and utterly terrifying to me," the shinigami finally admits out loud.

-final warning.-

"Knock me out. . . do me the favor of making sure that I don't wake up till it's over. I don't want to know what you are doing to me."

They granted his request.

**********

With a slight moan, the shinigami starts to regain consciousness...

"Watari... Watari? Are you okay?"

"Okay is a relative term. . ." he mutters, wondering how they are going to be able to get out of this. . .

"What happened... I couldn't see through until recently, or hear."

Watari opens his eyes and simply stares at the ceiling. "They wanted to observe 'the subject's' physiology."

"Yeah... they made me take off my shirt... and pants... stood in my boxers and did a little dance then got dressed again."

"I requested to be knocked out. . . so they granted my request."

"Ah. How do you feel?"

"Sore in ways that I really don't want to think about at the moment."

"Why... you said they knocked you out... what the fuck did they do to you?"

"They're scientists. . . they took advantage of the fact that they had direct access to a potentially dangerous test subject, rather than having to deal with acquiring their data through a barrier of glass," the blonde comments, not really caring that those same scientists are most likely listening. "Same reactions to if a zoologist were dealing with a tiger. . . there is only so much testing that can be done from outside the cage."

"But still..."

"They are trying to find out what differences there are between us and humans, or the similarities. At least I think that is what they are trying to do. . . I just wish that they would treat us with a little more respect." Watari says offering a wink to Nanjiro. "They really made you do a little dance?"

"Of course not... they asked me to turn around... I was bored..."

Turning over so that he is now lying on his stomach Watari glances at the place where he remembers the restraints having been, and to his dismay sees that they are still there. "Speaker-san. . . what time is it?"

-Is the question important?-

"I wanted a reference to know how long I was unconscious."

-Several hours.-

"Would it be possible to know a specific number? To appease my curiosity."

-4.-

"Thank you. . ." Absentmindedly he begins playing with the slightly frayed edge of the blanket.

Nan is also just sitting on his bed, looking bored. "I suppose it's probably too much to ask for a computer?"

The blonde glances up at the speaker, "Speaker-san. . . think there is any way that some non-harmful form of diversion could be found for us?" Though a computer wouldn't be a bad idea. . .

There was silence for a minute. -It will be considered.-

"Think of it this way. . . you would be able to acquire data on our intelligence levels." Watari says tugging on a thread, "other than watching us sit here doing nothing."

There was no response, leading the two shinigami to think their captors were discussing/arguing the matter.

Fighting a childish impulse, Watari looks over at Nan-kun. . . "Oy, Nan. . . "

"nani?" The blue-haired boy was laying on his bed, kicking a foot in the air, his head flopping over the edge.

"Look over here a moment. . . "

"What?" He rolled on his side... looking through the glass.

If the glass hadn't been there, the shot would have been perfect. . . Watari can only chuckle as the pillow bounces harmlessly off of the barrier. "Watari!" The younger shinigami giggles and then tosses his pillow as well. Fetching his pillow, Watari 'mock hits' the blue haired boy.

Nan laughs again and follows suit. They proceed to act like silly children for several minutes before sitting and leaning against their respective walls. Several hours later, after eating yet another unsavory hospital meal and playing various rounds of 'jan ken pon' the monotonous voice over the speaker informs the two shinigami that it is time for their rest period. The blue-haired boy sighed. "It's like being in prison..."

"Actually, they are trying to ensure that our most active cycles occur when there is someone present to observe us." Watari comments while sitting on the bed as the lights start dimming.

"It still feels like a prison..." Nan murmured...

-----------------------

Yay!!!! Finally, a longer chapter... Really hope that you weren't disappointed with the previous one.

Responses to Reviews (ff.net):

Kara Angitia: Uhm, yeah... I'd say that the *ahem* Angst is about to hit the proverbial fan now that Schmerz is here...

Muchacha: Esset is an organization... therefore it has people on all sorts of levels. Think of it as a really whacked McDoe's restaurant, where there are the simple peons that do the dirty work like Schwarz and Schmerz which would be equivalent to the employees... and then scientists would be like the cooks (mixing weird things that you never want to know that actually go into your food)... and so forth up the line. The creepy old guys would be the owners of the establishment... if that makes much sense *scratchscratch*

Also, I kind of have to censor... because there are certain individuals that have a chronic case of something crawling up their *bleep* and dying that seem to think that it is great fun to go out of their way to make others miserable. Therefore, I HAVE to censor... and essentially castrate this poor little fic, but I don't have to like the it anymore than anyone else here... which is why I draw so much attention to my style of censoring.

Responses to Reviews (mm.org):

Yue TKS: Oh wow... hey thanks for reviewing over on mm.org and for the kind words, Yannie and I really hope to hear from you again. As for the writing style, we believe that keeping the characters more or less within character is one of the most important things... anything that is written purely as a gag, generally gets edited out (ie, characters being completely blunt about something… or flat out being inappropriate for the story, but still makes us giggle to see it in writing.)

-----------------------

Schu: Kiki... I thought I told you couldn't post this chapter!!!

Kiki: Eeep!!! *hides under computer desk* I HAD to post it... can you imagine the readers waiting for this chapter?

Schu: Let them wait... there people that have been waiting for New Dawn for ages now...

Kiki: -_-;;;

Wat: *reading through unedited copy of chapter 18* Uhm... Kiki, what are you doing to me at the end of that chapter?

Yohji: Oi, Kiki-chan... it's our series, you know... the main reason it's called Weiss Kreuz... why haven't we shown up lately?