Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Always ❯ The Passenger ( Chapter 7 )

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

Rating: R for violence and bad language
Disclaimers: I don't own Weiß or Schwarz, I just like to drool over them. I am not writing this for profit, but rather as a bit of fan appreciation. The only character here I do own in the chibi Farf ^^;
Warnings: Umm, there are probably some, this fiction takes place a while after the Dramatic Precious series and uses some information from the Schwarz dramas. Possible AU since the only copy I have of the DP series is some half-baked translations.
Pairing: Farfarello x Sally, Schuldig x Aya-chan, mentioning of Farfarello x Aya
italics = hand signals; thoughts
// taking // = telepathy

~*~*~*~*

seven

Aya never thought that her life would turned out this way.

Growing up as the cherished youngest child of a well-to-do family, she had dreamed of going to school and raising a family. She thought of having a caring husband, someone like her father, though maybe less stern. She had thought of being a successful working woman, helping others and coming home to her loving family. Then that dream was shattered.

She remembered laughing in the rain. Of her brother, laughing with her, the present he'd bought for her sixteenth birthday in her bag. She remembered going into their home and finding their parents dead. She remembered Ran pushing her outside, the sound of a car squealing to life, then nothing.

She had never been so scared in her life. Frozen, trapped inside herself, unable to make her body respond to her wishes, she screamed for endless hours inside the darkness of her mind. She clawed at her unresponding senses and limbs, tried to even feel air pushing through her lungs or the beating of her heart.

Nothing worked. She thought herself dead and this her hell when she was no longer alone. A stranger's voice, a tall form with green hair and smirking lips appeared in her personal darkness, shook his head, and drawled that she was being difficult.

Her. Difficult! As if she wanted to be stuck in her own skull the way she was!

She had struck out at that smiling face, only to have her hand go through his form. Then she realized that she could see herself and see other things as well, like gossamer strands of spider silk caught in time. The smirking man had sat down on a chair that wasn't there before and started talking.

About how this wasn't her fault. About how to gradually wake herself up and get back into the real world. About how everything she was seeing was nothing more than her subconscious mind making sense of something she was born with but never had to use until now. And since he was the only person that could sense her, he had the task to lead her back through teaching her control.

She hated him at first. That always superior grin. That annoying laugh. The way he knew what she was thinking before she even could form it into thoughts. Then she saw how he used his smile and his laugh to keep himself from showing his uncertainty. That under all the masks he was just a young man that was just as scared as she was, even though it wasn't exactly for the same reasons.

From hate to understanding. From understanding to liking. From liking to loving. She had grown during that time inside her head. Learning how to feel again and how to hear again. Being taught by that smirking young man, teasing and bickering with him, laughing and confessing with him, learning everything that she could about him and her brother. It was a shock when she was able to hear again, listening to her brother whisper to her his perceived sins, knowing that she was being taught by one of his most hated enemies.

When she finally won her freedom, she did not expect to see the German again. Yet she did, in her dreams, Schuldig confessing that he was lonely after all the time spent talking to her. They talked nearly every night, then one day she saw him in the waking world, red hair instead of green, blue eyes instead of gold. They shared a shake and he told her that they were leaving Japan for a while. He smiled that same smile of his before giving her a gentle kiss of farewell.

Her brother left soon after that. She wasn't suppose to know he was still alive, but he had contacted her through several channels, making sure she was safe and she was happy. She had put on a show of being happy, even though she missed Ran terribly and wanted nothing more than for him to be her brother again. She had bought him some presents and gave them to Birman to give to Ran, and that was the last she saw of the secretary and her brother.

She continued to work at the shop and go to school, sometimes wondering if they were alive or dead in unmarked graves. Then one day Schuldig appeared again for a long talk, looking more settled, less jumpy. They talked and he gave her another kiss before leaving again. For the past year he had been doing that, showing up unexpectantly, smiling and talking about what has been happening, then leaving again with a kiss. When he actually called her to meet him at the airport, she was both elated and worried. Her worry grew when Schuldig took her to a modest house outside of Juuban where she met for the first time the other members of Schwarz.

Crawford had gave her a look then sighed, dumping his briefcase and bag by the door and heading out again. Nagi smiled faintly, glanced at Schuldig, then disappeared up the stairs. And Farfarello brushed past her like she wasn't there, the little girl in his arms waving at her, chattering excitably in mangled English. Nagi had appeared again, telling her that there should be some food in the cupboards, leaving in a blur of motion. Schuldig then left her, saying that he had to get his working clothes on. She blinked after him, feeling useless and frail and wondering if she made the right decision to come with him to this place.

"Why are you here?"

She blinked at the soft voice echoing her thoughts, turning to look up into the golden eyes of the Irishman. She took a step back, feeling a sudden chill crawl down her spine. In her mind's eye, she saw him as a hulking brute, more muscles than brains, but the reality was far, far different. Dangerous and silent, with unreadable features and wolf-yellow eyes, he commanded more attention than her wildest dreams.

"Well?"

"Schuldig brought me. . ." she began to say, but he shook his head once, the cross around his neck catching the light. Her eyes narrowed at him, feeling the fear turn into anger. "He did bring me here!"

"If you didn't want to come, you would have told him to drop you off somewhere safe," Farfarello replied, leaning over her, yellow eyes narrowing. "You must have a reason for why you are here."

"I want. . ." she started to say then stopped, eyes drawn to the cross. Without thinking, she grabbed the necklace, jerking it fully from under his shirt and staring at the inscription on it. "Where did you get this?"

His cool fingers closed around her wrist, his grip tightening enough to grind her bones together. "Let go." Dead, that was his voice, dead of even a hint of anger or annoyance.

She hung on, looking up at him, ignoring the spreading numbness in her hand. "Not until you tell me where you got it."

He watched her face for a moment, then let go, the corners of his mouth twisting, the scar giving his smirk a malicious air. Her fingers opened, letting the cross swing free on its chain, the light catching the engraving that she knew like the back of her hand. She had it put there long time ago.

'To my loving nii-chan - - Always.'

"He gave it to me."

"He gave it to you?" She looked up him, trying to read his expressionless face. "How? Why?"

"Don't forget where and when, liebe," Schuldig said, coming down the stairs dressed in a yellow shirt and black pants.

"Ask your brother if you want to know. Ready, Schuldig?"

Aya looked from one man to the other, hating being talked around. She wanted to know! Her brother was her only family and she felt just as responsible for him as he felt for her. She opened her mouth to demand what was going on when Schuldig grabbed her around the waist and pulled her in for a kiss.

//Don't ask him, liebe,// he said into her mind. //Farfie and your brother are. . . complicated.//

//What? Schuldig, either you tell me or I'll, umm, do something that you will regret.//

He laughed in her mind, pulling back from the kiss and giving her that smirk of his. //You'll have to come up with a better threat than that, liebe. Just leave it for now, please? Farfarello may have become a family man but he still hasn't lost his edge. And I certainly don't want to be on the receiving end of it.//

She sighed and nodded once, pouting up at Schuldig. //Fine. I will right now but I demand to have it explained to me soon.//

"Okay, okay," Schuldig replied with a chuckle, glancing over at Farfarello. "I'm ready. You leaving your panda behind?"

"I think I can trust your girlfriend to keep an eye on her," Farfarello replied, looking at Aya, ancient gold eyes glittering with an unreadable emotion. "Can't I?"

She nodded, swallowing heavily as the Irishman turned on his heel and went out the door. Schuldig gave her a quick hug and followed him, leaving her alone in the bright, non-script kitchen, listening to the rain hit the window. Sighing to herself that she would never understand men, she went to find Dierdre.