Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Borderline ❯ Fear & Comfort ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer: I wish I own them but I did not….

Special thanks to:

MiniMorr Thank you again ^__^ for all your personal review and beta *hug*

And if you find mistakes, it's my fault because sometimes I just missed although I've checked it *smack self*

Hele Again, thanks for your review and in case ff.net took down anything as per rumored you may read this fic at mediaminer.

Kato_chan Thank you ^^ Love you too *grin* Glad you like this fic

and hope you managed to read this chapter before your trip.

Miss J Arigatou^^ *hugs*

Rei Eien Yes… *dreamy eyes…* Brad-chan will take care of Ran-chan

*heart* and I do love your fic with Silaryn called Sea of Destiny.

Pandora *glomping you and Legato* Fuuma do gave me nice ideas… but

More toward hentai ideas anyway >_< I owe this one to Mini-san too.

Fuuma: *still leering at you after reading Resurrection*

Me: *smack*

Fuuma: ^.^ Pandora and lemon are very synonym^^

And to other readers, thank you and please do hit that Submit Review button, I just want to know what you think too… ^^

Chapter 6 - Fear and Comfort

That dream again…

Turning back to the time when he was escaping from what he had seen.

He was staggering, nearly falling down the stairs as he tripped but he managed to grab firmly onto the stair rail. His eyes were wide and wild, constantly glancing behind to see if they were after him. He heard hurried footsteps and leaped down the stairs towards the crowd. The bass of the music was deafening, almost as loud as his pounding heart.

His eyes searched frantically for his sister through the horde of humans, the sound of men laughing and women whining mixed with the unruly music and almost suffocated him.

He caught a glimpse of his sister, bouncing and moving her body in the rhythm, molding herself in the sea of faces he didn't recognize. The sour smell of beer and alcohol made him dizzy. He risked a glance back once again and what he saw stunned him and he sprang backwards.

The man that he had seen on top of the other in that room was now descending the stairs wearing a dark blue tuxedo, eyes searching for something. When their eyes met for a brief second, the man smiled and moved toward where he was standing.

He didn't wait any longer and shoved himself into the crowd to where his sister was dancing.

"Oniichan??" Aya was confused when she saw that her brother was standing there and trembling violently while grabbing her hand. "What's wrong?"

"Let… let's... go!"

"Now? I haven't wished my boss Happy Birthday!"

"Now… please, Aya."

Aya was confused. Her brother was always the one easily freaked out whenever there were a lot of people surrounding him. Then she saw her employer and began to pull himwith her. "Oh.. There's my boss… let me congratulate him first then we go, okay?"

"N..." Aya ignored his protest, instead pulling him to follow her and meet boss. She stopped and smiled at the man. Ran still had his back facing her employer watching the crowd.

"Fujimiya! You look beautiful tonight."

Aya blushed at the compliment. "Who's this with you?" The man asked.

"My brother, Ran." Aya pinched her brother's arm, an implied warning for him not to be rude. "Ran, this is my boss, T…" Ran turned around; his face paled and he detached himself from his sister and fled

"Ah.." Aya was blushing again in embarrassment of her brother's reaction. "Gomen.. He is just so… shy." She went after her brother.

"Ran…." The man watched as the sister bowed at him several times before she disappeared from his sight. "I didn't know that Fujimiya had created such a beautiful creature, truly a masterpiece."

Aya found her brother at the parking lot, trembling profusely as he tried to unlock the door to the car. He dropped the car keys and muttered as he picked them up with shaking hands only to drop them again.

He yelped when he felt someone grab his arm and turned around abruptly, almost punching his sister in the face.

"Ran? What's wrong with you?"

"Get in the car!" He commanded hoarsely.

"What…" She pursed her lips.

"NOW!" Ran started the engine after a few unsuccessful attempts. His hands were still trembling and he was holding onto the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles were chalk white.

He drove so fast, eager to leave that treacherous place, that he would have hit another car if Aya had not been yelling at him. His sister was babbling and scolding all the way home that he had to scream at her to shut up.

"Shut up?" Aya asked, her eyes glaring at her brother in anger. "You are asking me to shut up-when you are the one who ran off like you've seen a ghost and embarrassed me in front of my employer?" Aya bellowed. "I was having a good time this evening and YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!"

Ran kept his mouth shut, what he had seen was too much for him. Weeping voices. The man's eyes when he had been approaching him and how they were scrutinizing him. And - the things he remembered most - were the leers.

He began to mumble.

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Something woke him up from his sleep. Noise.

Crawford sat at the edge of his bed, his sleeping mind unable to register the source of the sound. He rubbed his eyes, groaning in annoyance that something had disrupted his sleep. Grabbing his glasses on the side table, he strained his ears to locate the noise. He heard an argument; faint and yet audible from other side of the wall but couldn't quite make out what is it all about. It was more like murmuring and babbling that formed incoherent words than actual sentences.

Who the hell were fighting? If it were Omi and Nagi, they should know better than to disturb him with their whining. Usually they would fight over who had the right to use the Internet first, but at this hour? Why were they not sleeping yet on a school night?

He'd had quite a strenuous day. After rescuing the boy from drowning he had taken his time to dry the boy off and had cleaned the bruises from the fall before tucking him in the bed. He had gone back into the room an hour before to check on the redhead who was still unconscious before collapsing on his bed. Yohji and Schuldig had left after helping him and patiently waited for the vet to complete his task in examining and bandaging the kitten.

He could still hear the argument followed by pleading then whimpers that ended in despaired cries, begging for help that never came. The American stood completely, took his robe on the chair and walked straight to the source of the sound. As he predicted, it came from the guest room.

He knocked on the door. No answer. He knocked again and called out; "Ran?" Nothing. Then he heard a rustling sound followed by a loud thump and a small cry. Crawford opened the door, stepped inside and frowned when the room was empty.

A second later, he heard something from underneath the bed. As he moved towards it, he heard a whimper and peered down. It was piteous to see the young man underneath it; sweating and hugging himself tightly like a pangolin. He was burrowing his head deep into his chest, looking fragile and vulnerable. Crawford extended his hand, trying to coax the whimpering young man out.

"Ran, come out from there. I'm not going to hurt you," Crawford tried to assure the shaking redhead. The young man didn't move, but instead recoiled even further. Crawford sat at the edge of the bed, letting the silence simmer between them. After a moment or two, he tried to talk softly and soothingly, assuring the young man that he meant no harm and that he knew how frightened he must be and how much he wanted to help. He could hear the young man crying underneath the bed.

Ran listened to what the man said. When he had opened his eyes earlier, he had been frightened. The room's decoration looked exactly like the room in his dream. Then the man came in. He recognized this man, somehow he felt relief that it was not the man in his dream, this one he knew who had saved him from drowning. But, could this man be trusted or was he baiting him with his sweet talk and would he tear him apart the moment he gave in?

He knew it was foolish of him to crawl underneath the bed when he heard the door opening, but that was the quickest choice he had, not to mention that his head had hit the edge of the side table hard as he dived in. He waited in silence, willing for the man to go away and when he did not leave, he shifted slowly to the other side, peering.

Crawford heard movements and, knowing well that the young man had appeared from the other side of the bed, he turned to face the boy and tried to give him his I'm-not-going-to-harm-you look and smile. He rarely smiled, what always formed at his mouth was a smirk. The young man was peering at him, letting him see only the violet eyes that were filled with bafflement and terror. Their gazes locked for a moment; the redhead's eyes flickered and he gasped before he retreated underneath the bed again.

Crawford rubbed his face with his hand and wished that Schuldig was here now - he would have known how to handle the situation. He was the expert on cases involving frightened and traumatized people. He sighed and heard a mewling sound from outside and rose. The little kitten had dragged itself out from the basket. Crawford scooped it up and let it lick his fingers as he brought it towards the bed. He grimaced, he was not an animal lover. He could tolerate them but not up to adopting them as pets. Keeping pets is tedious responsibility; they needed to be fed and cared for constantly. He was not that kind of man. But then, this tiny thing was hurt and he wasn't completely heartless to just let it die on the pavement. He had thought that when the kitten was healthy enough he would find someone who could really take care of it. But for now…

"This is your kitten, Ran."

Crawford got a small response from the young man. "It had a cut underneath the stomach, the vet has stitched it up and it will heal."

Silence.

"Does it have a name?" He asked. Crawford could hear a whispered `No' from underneath the bed.

"Why don't you name it?"

No reply.

Crawford thought for a second, frowning like naming a cat was more difficult than sitting a medical exam. After a while, he resolved to name it…

"Persia!" He said.

Somehow, in the back of his mind, he could hear Schuldig laughing if he heard the name and could easily imagine how the younger man would tease him. How creative could you be Brad? just because it was a Persian breed, you named it Persia. I could bet that if it were Abyssinian, you would have named it Abyssinia.

Crawford peered down again and caught the young man's gaze. "What do you think?" The young man gazed at him for a while before ducking his head again. Crawford let out a frustrated sigh. He wanted to leave the boy as he was and leave him alone. Obviously the young man was too afraid to communicate with him and he was wondering what had happened to him.

Based on his brief talk with Schuldig before he left, the young man was quite active during his school days. It was learnt that the young man had even taken kendo lesson as a part of his curriculum activities, which meant that he could defend himself. The question was what could possibly have happened that had made the boy regressed this much. Too many questions. No answer. Double Jeopardy was not as hard as this.

He yawned, took off his glasses and placed them on the floor beside him. His fingers unconsciously rubbed the kitten's fur that was coiling next to him. Persia purred under his ministrations. He closed his eyes.

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Crawford woke up with his legs numb. He was wondering when he had fallen asleep in a seating position. He tried to move but something was pressing against his leg. He opened his eyes and what he saw startled him.

The young man was sleeping soundly with his head in his lap and his fingers were holding the glasses.

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No one noticed the car parked at the curb of the alley.

He took out his binoculars and watched as they carried the redhead and placed him in the car. The man watched, his mouth mumbling in annoyance and anger. He looked at the license plate, remembering it until he found a piece of paper and scribbled the license number down.

Daddy was not going to be pleased.

"You useless piece of shit!" Daddy yelled at him. He didn't utter a word; merely stood there in silence, and let Daddy beat him. He deserved punishment. He had failed in his task. Daddy hated failures, the perfectionist he was. He wanted everything in order and this was a blow to him.

"Where did you see him?" He turned his face up to look at Daddy. Daddy's faced was dark with anger. His brother was standing near the door, trembling. He was scared.

"Someone…."

"Speak up, you shit!"

He cleared his throat, trying to muster all the courage that he had left to answer his Daddy. Inwardly, he swore that the redheaded doll would pay for every blow that Daddy had given him. Oh Yes… He will pay… He was going to make sure of it. "I saw someone take him in a car."

The old man grumbled. "Fucking mess! Don't tell me you didn't even catch the plate number… because if you do, I'm going to make a bloody pulp out of you with this bat!"

He was lucky, he had taken the plate number and written it down when he saw the gaijin with long orange hair carrying the redhead. There were two other men with that weird orange haired gaijin; one was taller, also a gaijin, a good looking one with dark hair and the other was blond and lanky.

He searched in his pocket and handed over the piece of paper to his Daddy. Daddy grabbed it and picked up the receiver, citing the plate license number to the other end.

The room stilled for a while. His brother and he did not dare to move until Daddy let them to. He merely stood there and watched Daddy and the only word that came out from Daddy's mouth was `Fuck'.

"What is it, Daddy?" Another voice spoke up.

"The car number is registered under the name of Bradley Crawford MD. He is that American that's so hard to compromise. I dealt with him once. Nothing will sway that gaijin bastard if he had made a decision, not even a bribe."

The owner of the voice walked toward the man, hugging him and a small smile appeared on his lips. "You will have him, Daddy. I promise!"

The man's mouth quirked. Out of all his children, this one was the most reliable.

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After they left Crawford house, Yohji had dropped by the Station to check his voicemail for any calls from his partner. Schuldig was waiting in his car; too tired to drive on his own and had left his car at Crawford's. There was no message for him, which meant that Asuka was still unsuccessful in finding the sister. He cleared the stack of files on the desk and was ready to leave when he heard a voice.

"Any progress on your case, Kudoh-san?"

Yohji turned and shrugged. "What kind of progress do you want?" He asked.

"What kind of progress do you have?"

"The autopsy is out, we are still investigating on the motive. We have ruled out robbery. I will interview the neighbors tomorrow. Asuka is still trying to find the daughter."

"Is that all?"

"What do you mean… `is that all'?"

"What about the son, any luck in finding him?"

Yohji stiffened at that question and tried to calm himself down. He took a deep breath and turned to his superior. "Not yet, Chief."

His superior smiled at him. "You're an efficient detective Kudoh. I'm sure you will find him."

Yohji nodded.

"Did you watch the news this morning?"

Yohji shook his head. "I was occupied with paper work."

"The public wants to know what happened. I need something to feed them. Something tangible. You wouldn't hide anything from me if you knew something, would you Kudoh?"

"Are you saying that I'm hiding something?"

"No.… Are you?" Yohji didn't answer, trying to keep a straight face.

"Is that psychologist friend of yours helping you with this case?"

Yohji tried to find any innuendo in his superior's voice and when he found nothing, he answered. "Yes, he did. In fact, I have asked him to help the department with this case."

"We checked the house's phone calls, the record shows that someone from the building called your friend's number during the crime. Did he tell you anything?"

"I'll ask when I meet him."

"Hmm… do that, I want to know what is the phone call is all about… Maybe it's a confession?"

Yohji merely nodded. He knew that his superior loved the media; playing the hero when it was someone else that had done the entire dirty job for him. "Is there anything else, Chief?" he asked.

His superior shook his head. Yohji nodded, wished him a good night and stalked off.

Schuldig watched at his lover inquiringly when he reached the car, opened the door and slammed it shut.

"What happened?"

"The big brass is asking about the case progress," he answered.

"What did you tell him?"

"Nothing!"

He drove in silence, when they were caught in a red light; he faced Schuldig. "Why did Crawford refuse to send the boy to the hospital?"

Schuldig sighed; he knew Yohji would turn to him for answers. "What did you see when we saved the boy?"

"A mess!"

"Yes… he is a mess." Schuldig let out a heavy sigh. "There is more to it, he was not only messed physically but also mentally. Did you see the way he was clawing at Crawford? He was deteriorating, Yohji. Something freaked him out badly. If we had sent him straight to the hospital, someone would know and then the media would know, and… you know what those hungry newshounds would do to him. Don't you?"

Yohji remained silent and Schuldig continued, "Crawford made a decision. He could see that if we had sent him to the hospital, he would have ran off again. How are you going to get answers from him if he run away and fall into the wrong hands and disappears? And furthermore, when Crawford makes a decision, no one would dare to challenge him. Not even me."

The blond turned his face away, "How do you propose we gain information from him?" He asked after a moment of silence.

"Let me and Crawford worry about that. As for now, you concentrate on finding his sister and don't tell anyone where he is. Let me work with him to find out what actually happened. He called me for help, although I bet he wouldn't remember a thing about it." He paused. "Still, I feel obligated, although not him at least to his sister after what have happened to their parents."

Yohji nodded and gasped when he suddenly felt a hand snaking into his pants. He was not sure when Schuldig had unzipped them. "Uh.. Schu?"

"Mm.. hmm?"

"Can you wait till we reach home?"

~TBC~

Me: Hope everyone like this chapter. This story going to be long, therefore, I hope none of you will be bored with it.

Fuuma: I think your readers will want action…

Me: What action??

Fuuma: *grin* bed action…