Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Building Our Tomorrow ❯ Revelations and Confrontations: Part II ( Chapter 6 )

AN: Along with this chapter, I've posted the 1st side story called `Moving Forward'. It's not necessary for the plot, but if you want to see how Omi and Nagi got together, that's where you'll find it. Oh, and I made a mistake last chapter. I've made Nagi 16 for this fic, not 15.

 

Warnings: Violence, Language, Small references to sexual abuse, the usual.

 

Disclaimer: Still not mine.

 

 

Internal Dialogue

Telepathy

 

Chapter 6

 

“I won't be able to get the information we need from here,” Omi stated from his seat at the computer, turning to face his team. “Their system is entirely independent, so there's no way in; we'll have to get it straight from the source.” The mission was becoming more of a pain in the ass than it had already been. A company called RIOT had been connected to the kidnappings of several women across the world, as well as some men. Not long after each person went missing, a body would turn up with signs of severe abuse, often sexual in nature. All of them had immediately taken the mission; for once Yohji had been the first to volunteer. Everyone assumed correctly that this company was somehow connected to his presence in Weiss, so they left it alone as they all had their reasons.

 

“I'll go.” The lanky blonde spoke up. “Just tell me what I'm looking for and how to get it.” Three heads turned to stare. Ken was the one to say what they were are all thinking.

 

“No!” The brunette was vehement. “There is no way you're going in alone.”

 

“I agree with Ken,” the archer interjected. “At least one of us should go with you. It would be careless, not to mention somewhat suicidal, to do otherwise.”

 

“It should be Omi,” Aya added his opinion. “He's the computer expert; having him there will make things go more quickly, leaving less of a chance at being caught. Ken and I can wait outside as your backup should something go wrong.” Yohji looked as though he would protest, but Ken held up a hand, cutting him off.

 

“Yohji,” he began. “You're obviously taking this mission personally, but it is not your personal mission. We all have a score to settle with someone…” he briefly glanced to Aya. “But we won't let you handle this alone. We won't ask questions, and we don't expect an explanation. What we won't do is stand by and watch as you get yourself killed.” There had been more to that speech than just Yohji; the ex-soccer player was not about to let anyone else he cared for die when he could do something to prevent it.

 

“Fine,” the oldest assassin replied, sighing in resignation. He had felt that this was something he needed to do alone so as to avenge Asuka. However, something Ken said made him think twice. I know what it's like to watch someone close die. I won't put them through that. “Thank you,” he added quietly, looking at Ken, receiving a small smile in return. The sound of a throat clearing brought everyone's attention to the resident hacker.

 

“Now that that's settled, let's start planning the infiltration.” Having caught the attention of the others, the young leader of Weiss pulled up a blueprint on the computer. “I managed to get a copy of the original building plans. Records indicate that nothing has been changed since then, but we need to be prepared for anything.” And so plans were made to break into RIOT's corporate headquarters later that night.

 

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Takatori has some nerve, Nagi thought from the passenger seat of Farfarello's car. They were headed to some corporation under the control of Masafumi, of all people. Of course, the man didn't realize that the blue-eyed teen could crush his heart with a simple thought, so he couldn't really be blamed for his ignorance. Stupidity, yes. Ignorance, no. That thought didn't help any; they were still being treated as little more than errand boys. Both knew that the dirty politician didn't think much of either of them. For all intents and purposes, Farfarello was insane and Nagi a child; this meant they didn't fit into his agenda, though it did mean that they were sent to do grunt work more often than not. Not that Crawford and Schuldig had it any better, what with having to escort the disgusting man everywhere.

 

“Why are you so pissed?” the one-eyed man asked. “You already know Omi will be there tonight, so at least this asinine assignment won't be a total waste for you. I, on the other hand, will have nothing better to do than bang my head against the wall.” Ah, yes, Omi; the only reason he hadn't thrown Takatori into the wall when he had learned of this worthless mission. The thought of his blonde boyfriend pushed aside his annoyance; he decided to give Farfarello his own reminder in thanks.

 

“I only recall Crawford forbidding us to kill the higher-ups…” he said in an innocent voice, waiting for the white haired man to realize what his was implying. A sadistic smile lit up said man's face almost immediately.

 

“They do have all sorts of clientele that spend the night in the lower levels, don't they.” Farfarello looked absolutely childlike in his glee at the prospect as the car pulled to stop.

 

“Just don't leave too much of a mess,” the brunette's smirk negating the warning. Exiting the car, they made their way into the building.

 

“I'll be in one of the private offices when you're finished,” Nagi informed his friend as they separated. A few minutes later found the telekinetic in the hall outside a door with restricted access. Unsurprised that the security was already disabled, he entered the already occupied room. A blonde head glanced up from the computer.

 

“I was wondering when you'd get here,” Omi said, smiling at him. He then returned his attention to his task. “I'll be finished in a minute then it's all yours.”

 

“No problem,” the brunette replied, crossing the rather large room to the desk to stand next to his boyfriend. Gazing at the monitor, he noticed the large amount of code the archer was inputting. “Are you going to leave anything for me to do?” he teased.

 

“Well, I thought you might like to crash the system yourself, so there's that.” Nagi smirked at that. “Once this is finished running, there won't be any sign that someone was here, even after you've had your fun.” Cerulean eyes alight with amusement looked up at laughing sapphire eyes. Both really enjoyed this part of the job. “Ok, I'm done,” the pyro stood from the chair. Nagi nodded and took the vacated seat. A sound at the door caused them to look away from the complex code racing down the screen.

 

“That didn't take long,” Nagi stated dryly upon seeing who had entered. A shrug was the immediate answer.

 

“I had my fun,” was the now blood-spattered Irishman's response. “Are you two having a good time with all the computer hits?” He asked as he licked a red substance from the knife while moving to stand in front of the desk.

 

“You know it's going to be hell for Weiss to get back in here now, right?” the blonde choose to ignore the previous question. “They'll tighten up all the security on this place once they discover your leftovers.” He wasn't upset in the least; he had no doubt that the people Farfarello had slain deserved what they got, but when the time came for the mission, it would be annoying breaking through newly implemented security measures. A golden-eye gleamed in amusement.

 

“Who said I left anything behind?” was the retort. Amused snorts were heard from the two youngest. Omi turned to lean his back against the desk and faced Nagi, settling in to watch his boyfriend work, while Farfarello continued to play with his knife.

 

Unknown to the trio in the office, Yohji was returning from his exploration of the building. He had decided to find anything that deviated from the original building plans so they would be better prepared when they returned. It hadn't taken very long, and he had finished his task early. Instead of going to where he was to meet Omi, he decided to pay the archer a visit. He hadn't run into any guards the whole time, making him suspicious of a trap and thus decided to check on his teammate. The door had been left open, which he found odd. The tall blonde cautiously crept into the room; the scene that greeted him stopped him in his tracks. Omi was propped against a desk, blocking the view of anyone that could be sitting there. He could clearly see, however, the white-haired man leaning over the desk, twirling a bloodied knife in one hand. Immediately perceiving this as a danger to his teammate and friend, he let out a length of wire, sending it in the direction of the assumed assailant. I will not lose someone else to this place.

 

Omi felt Yohji's spike of fear almost too late. Turning from his position, eyes widened as he saw the nearly invisible line flying towards the Irishman. The next instant, Farfarello was lying in the floor, unscathed. The archer was not as lucky; he had somehow manage to leap over the desk, knocking his from out of the. He had not been able to avoid the razor sharp wire that was currently wrapped around his torso, pinning his left arm to his side. Fortunately, Nagi had fast enough reflexes that he had managed to stop most of the damage from the attack with a quick display of power. Whereas the attack could have sliced Omi to the bone or killed him, he now only had a few minor cuts near his abdomen and one deep, though nowhere near life threatening, gash in his arm. Finally coming out of his shock and catching up to the situation, Yohji released the wire holding his friend as Nagi rushed to the front of the desk, checking on his teammates.

 

“What's… You just… He was… I thought you were… and I…” The tall blonde was understandably confused. He finally managed to get a complete sentence out. “What the hell were you doing? I could have killed you!” His guilt came out as anger. Nagi and Farfarello ignored him as they checked Omi's wounds. It was Omi who finally replied.

 

“There's a lot to explain, and we can't do it here.” Turning to the others he asked, “Are you finished here?” The telekinetic returned to the computer and pressed a few keys.

 

“I am now,” he stated. “You need to take care of that,” the brunette gestured to the still bleeding wound.

 

“It can wait,” the archer had returned to full mission mode. “Can you contact Mastermind, let him know what's going on and see if he can get away from his assignment?” Nagi nodded, though he looked confused at the use of Schuldig's codename; they never used them. I think Schu would rather tell Yohji, Omi clarified. “Good. There are some things I need to take care of first, but we'll come by to talk later.” Flipping on the microphone of his communicator, he relayed a message to the other half of Weiss. “Abyssinian, Siberian, mission is completed. We'll meet in ten minutes.”

 

“Confirmed, Bombay,” the reply came from Ken. Omi signaled that they should all leave. Throughout the short exchanges, the wire-wielding assassin had remained silent and unmoving. Apparently, his own teammate, his friend, wasn't who he thought. What really caught him off guard more than anything happened as the four made their way out of the office. Green eyes had moved to observe the young blonde and had caught sight of a brief, somewhat private gesture on the brunette's part; he quickly ran a hand down to the small of Omi's back, where it had lingered just a little too long. Could Omi have betrayed Weiss for this kid? Another thought struck him as he remembered a conversation from three days ago. Oh Shit! What if Schu is connected to this? He said he knew Omi's boyfriend. Deciding that enough was enough, he stopped, making the others pause.

 

“What are you doing?” his blue-eyed leader hissed.

 

“I want you to answer something for me,” the tall man growled. “How can I, or the others for that matter, possibly trust you after something like this happens? No one is supposed to know about us.” He was not about to follow this person anywhere unless a reasonable answer was given. What he immediately received was a glare that you did not want to be on the end of.

 

“You guys go on,” the pyro directed at Farfarello and Nagi. “We'll see you later.” If this takes too long, the others could get suspicious. Aya may know about all of this, but Ken doesn't, and I don't want a repeat of the incident in the office. Two heads gave short nods, and they left to find their way out of the building. Turning back to Yohji, the shorter blonde started speaking. “I told you before, I will explain later. As for trusting me… well I've already told Aya everything, and he trusts me. Take that how you will, but we have to leave before we get caught.” Yohji wasn't quite satisfied with the answer, but if Aya, the man who probably didn't trust that gravity would keep his feet firmly planted on the ground, had faith in Omi, then he could give the archer the benefit of the doubt. At least for now; I still want answers.

 

“Fine, but I will be expecting answers later,” he replied as they resumed their departure. “I think, though, that you should include Ken in the conversation. He deserves to know, and despite the fact that I'm pissed at you for keeping something so obviously important from us, I don't like seeing you get hurt when a bit of knowledge could have stopped something from happening.” Omi gave a somewhat bitter laugh.

 

“Yohji,” he started, a seriousness about him that the older had never before seen. “I don't have a choice in the matter. Aya found out because I had to tell him. The same holds true for you, now. My understanding is that Ken will get his explanation soon enough.” Omi sighed and glanced to his side where Yohji walked. “Do you think I enjoy keeping things from you guys? Even though things will be much more complicated once you know, having this secret has been eating away at me for a long time now.” Greens eyes studied the teen next to him for a short moment. I hadn't noticed before, but he looks so tired, the way he looked the other day when he ran into Schu on the stairs; how has he managed to hide it from us?

 

“I can accept that Ken can't know for now, and I will at least hear you out before I decide anything on the matter.” Omi gave him a grateful look, and they continued the last couple of minutes in silence. Aya and Ken were waiting for them outside near the exit.

 

“What happened to you!?” Ken exclaimed quietly, while Aya gave a suspicious look at the visible cuts on Omi's body.

 

“Just an unfortunate encounter in the main office,” Omi replied. Well, he thought sourly, at least I don't have to lie about that. Waving off any attention in favor of going home, the four returned to the Koneko.

 

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Farfarello opened the door to the penthouse and walked in, Nagi not far behind. They hadn't tried to get in touch with Schuldig yet, though it turned out they didn't have to. Entering the living room, they were surprised to find the red head sprawled across the couch watching TV.

 

“I thought you had to stay with Takatori until later,” the one-eyed man voiced his curiosity. Schuldig looked away from the television.

 

“Brad told me I could leave about an hour ago,” came the response. “He said something about I would be needed here tonight and that he could handle things. Do you know anything about it?”

 

“Yeah,” the telekinetic sighed, slumping into an armchair. “Yohji saw us with Omi tonight. Rather, he saw Farf with his knife and assumed he was attacking. Long story short, we'll be having a couple of visitor's tonight as Omi didn't think you would appreciate him telling Yohji about your involvement.” The German's mouth moved but made no sound for a few long seconds.

 

“Fuck,” he finally muttered. “I know he had to find out, but would it have killed Brad to give me a little warning?”

 

“You're not the one who got sliced up, so don't complain,” Schuldig gave a sharp look to the white-haired man.

 

“What are you talking about?” he demanded. “Neither of you seem hurt… Don't tell me…”

 

“It was Omi,” the Irishman stopped him before he could get worked up. “He pushed me out of the way of Yohji's wire, and ended tangled up in it himself. It was nothing serious, but he did get a few cuts and a nice gash across his left arm. I suspect that Nagi had something to do with it not being worse than it was.” Nagi nodded his confirmation at that. The red head looked relieved that nothing as terrible as he imagined had occurred.

 

“Gyaah.” A sound of frustration came from Nagi. “I can't wait for this to be over. I don't see why we couldn't just tell Weiss everything in the first place.”

 

“You know the answer to that,” the blue-eyed man said as he sat up on the couch. “It would screw with the future we're trying to achieve. If we put up with all the anxiety now, it will pay off in the end.”

 

“I know, I know,” the telekinetic sighed. “I just wish this weren't so damn difficult. I hope nothing this dramatic happens when it's time for Ken to know what's really going on.”

 

“Don't worry so much over it,” Schuldig soothed. “If anything too bad was going to happen, Crawford would tell us. He may be an anal retentive bastard most of the time, but he would never intentionally let anything happen to us.”

 

“That's the problem,” Nagi complained. “He doesn't know every factor that could be involved. His visions are contingent on taking all possibilities into account. I'll give you that he's rarely wrong, but it has happened before.”

 

“I agree that we have to be prepared for the unlikely chance that he's wrong, but you can't worry over it all the time,” the German responded. The brunette gave him a weak smile in return.

 

“Yeah,” he said. “I think all the extra stress Omi is feeling from tonight is getting to me. I can't seem to block the stronger emotions from him anymore; ever since we started dating, our link has been opening even more. Whereas before we could block out the other if and when we needed to, now it seems to be more difficult.” Schuldig looked on thoughtfully at this but never had the chance to reply.

 

“I'm going to go shower then read for awhile,” Farfarello stated out of nowhere as he walked to the doorway, interrupting his teammates' conversation. “Let me know when they get here. If it's okay, Nagi and I are going to try to get Omi to maybe eat something and actually sleep, and you can explain things to Yohji.”

 

“That's fine,” was the reply. “I'd rather tell him everything myself anyway, and it might take some of the burden off our pyro's shoulders, at least temporarily.” After that, Nagi and Schuldig were left to wait for the arrival of their respective boyfriends, an unsettling silence their only company.

 

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It had taken them all of twenty minutes after returning from their fact-finding adventure to decide that they would plan the mission tomorrow. The assassination couldn't take place for two nights as that was when all the targets would be in one place. Ken had already gone to his room for the night, or was it morning now? Omi wasn't sure. Yohji was heading towards his own room to change from his mission clothes, saying that he would be ready soon. After the lanky blonde was out of earshot, Omi turned to Aya.

 

“We ran into some of Schwartz tonight, or rather they ran into me,” the young blonde informed his teammate. “Yohji walked in, and now I have to explain things to him. We're going to meet up with them after I get cleaned up, and we'll mostly likely be gone until the morning.” The red head looked to be considering the merits of this idea.

 

“I think it would be better if you stayed here and explained all this to Ken as well,” the swordsman replied. “He shouldn't be kept in the dark, not to mention the fact that you're clearly barely holding yourself together; keeping this a secret is doing us all more harm than good.” I think I'm going scream if one more person tells me Ken should be informed. I already know that, but there's nothing I can do about it, yet. The archer let out a frustrated growl as he thought this.

 

“First of all, Schu's involved, and he'll want to tell Yohji himself, so we are going over there. Secondly, I can't tell Ken, not yet.” Omi stated. Aya rolled his eyes.

 

“Something about it not being the right time?” was the sarcastic remark.

 

“Don't give me that, Aya,” the teen glared at the taller man. “If he finds out before he's supposed to everything will be fucked.” Shock shone in violet eyes; he had never heard Omi use that kind of language, ever. Of course, Aya had also never been to the Schwartz penthouse, nor had he ever seen Omi really be himself, though that would change over the course of the next several months.

 

“I understand,” the swordsman finally replied. “It's just that it's not everyday that I find out for a fact that there are different futures based on what choice is made. It's only been a few days since you told me, and I haven't adjusted, yet. Usually when someone says `The timing isn't right', they're merely making an excuse.” The archer just shrugged.

 

“I know that… I didn't mean to snap at you,” the blonde apologized. “I guess I'm just letting the stress get to me.”

 

“Maybe if you would get some sleep, you wouldn't be so irritable.” This was Aya's round-about way of showing his concern while at the same time trying to lighten his friend's mood.

 

“Am I that obvious?” the younger laughed; the movement caused by this served as a reminder of the numerous lacerations located on his abdomen, as well as the one on his arm. Wincing slightly, he turned to head up the stairs. “If you see Yohji before I get back, will you let him know I'm just cleaning up and will be down soon?” Receiving an affirmative reply, he continued up the steps as Aya headed for the kitchen, where he found Yohji sitting at the table, inhaling what had to be his fifth cigarette in the last half-hour. He's nearly as stressed about this as Omi is.

 

“Omi just went upstairs to take care of his wounds,” the red head stated as he made himself some tea. “By the way,” he continued. “Those cuts look like they were caused by wire. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?” The blonde man nodded and looked down at the table.

 

“It was an accident,” came the dull reply. Despite his concern about what was going on, he felt extremely guilty at causing the youth harm. “I thought he was being attacked, so I threw out some of my wire; Omi pushed the guy out of the way, and I couldn't stop it in time. I'm surprised he's not worse off than he is.” He looked up as Aya took the seat across from him; the man seemed to accept the answer as the truth. “Are you really okay with whatever this whole thing is about?”

 

“Define `okay',” the red head stated wryly before continuing. “There's a lot going on here that none of us knew about. Do I like the situation now that I know? Not really, but in a way, it's better than what we thought we were dealing with. We'll be better equipped to handle what's coming our way. I don't think I can really say much more without telling you everything, and it's not my place to do so. You'll understand after you've talked to Omi about it. Hell, you'll be further along than I am; you get to talk to the others involved.”

 

“And I thought my life was already complicated,” the blonde complained. Aya rolled his eyes at the comment. Finishing his tea, he left the older assassin in favor of getting to bed; he had the early shift in the morning. About fifteen minutes later, Omi stuck his head into the kitchen.

 

“Ready to go?” he asked. Yohji nodded and stood from the table, following Omi out the door. The drive to the penthouse was made in relative silence, the occasional directions from the archer the only words spoken. After they arrived, the ex-detective followed Omi into a rather extravagant looking building and into the elevator. We'll be up in a minute, the younger blonde warned his teammates. Stepping out of the elevator, he noticed the older man's surprise at finding himself at the entrance to a penthouse, not to mention the fact that Omi had a key.

 

“You're not going to like this,” the teen warned as they walked through a short hallway. “Just try to wait until everything has been said before deciding anything.” Coming into the living room, Yohji decided that his young friend was absolutely correct; he didn't like this at all.”

 

“What the hell!!” he exclaimed; even though he had suspected something like this since the earlier incident. “Thus is fucking insane! You're a part of this too, Schuldig?!” Sitting on a couch in the middle the room was his boyfriend. The red head just shook his head in exasperation. The two from the RIOT building were also in the room, standing near another doorway. Omi just slumped against the wall and sighed. This is going to be such a long night. The dark haired teen made his way over and pulled the archer into a hug, placing a kiss on his forehead.

 

“Come on, Omi,” the brunette said quietly as he gently pulled Omi towards the kitchen. “Farf and I thought we should let Schu handle this. While they're talking, you can eat and then get some sleep. I know you haven't done much of either since you talked with Aya.” Omi just nodded wearily as the three entered the kitchen. Schuldig waited for them to leave before addressing Yohji.

 

“This is going to take awhile,” he stated in a tired voice. “You might want to sit down.” The blonde chose to sit on the couch with the red head as a show of good faith. He wasn't so angry that he wouldn't be willing to at least hear the man out. Without preamble, Schuldig started talking, essentially giving the same story that Omi had given Aya, though adding a few details that involved his previous encounters with Yohji. The Weiss assassin didn't interrupt, only listened until Schuldig was finished.

 

“That's pretty much everything,” the telepath leaned back against the couch, trying to gage the blonde's reaction. Green eyes gave a resigned look; Aya had been right. Things were definitely worse than he thought, but at least he knew what they were up against now. What surprised him most was how easily he was accepting everything; at some point during the red head's monologue, Yohji had lost all traces of anger.

 

“This is all just… it's just incredible,” he eventually said. Turning to Schuldig and looking the directly into the man's eyes, he asked something that had been bothering him all night; he thought he may have the answer now but wanted confirmation. “You know about what happened tonight?” At the telepath's nod, he continued. “The telekinetic, Nagi, he was the one who kept Omi from being killed, wasn't he? I know I didn't change my grip on the wire; I didn't have enough time to react.”

 

“Yeah,” the red head responded. “But, really, you shouldn't feel so guilty about it. You didn't know what was going on. You were only trying to protect him.” The sound of the front door opening, followed by the entrance of the final member of Schwartz cut off any reply Yohji had.

 

“I see that we have a guest,” the American stated through a smirk. Schuldig rolled his eyes.

 

“As if you didn't already know,” came the retort. “Arrogant bastard.” There was no heat behind the insult, and Crawford just gave him a smug smile then turned his attention to Yohji.

 

“You do understand that our teams will have to appear as enemies for the time being.” This was more of a statement than a question.

 

“Of course I do,” the blonde replied, slightly insulted by the condescending tone. “I'm well aware of the risks that we'll all have to take to keep this from getting out of control.” Crawford gave the ex-detective a nod of acceptance.

 

“Schuldig,” the precog began. “Your presence won't be required tomorrow. I'll be taking Farfarello with me.” At that the American excused himself, leaving the others to their own devices.

 

“Well, he's certainly got a stick up his ass,” the blonde commented once the American was gone.

 

“That's just how he is,” Schuldig explained. “You get used to how he acts, though it is just an act. He cares, probably even more than he realizes, but until this fight is over, he won't let his guard down, though he does have the occasional slip.” Yohji looked to his lover curiously at the last remark.

 

“What do you mean by slip?” he asked.

 

“Take for instance what he said right before he left,” the red head started. “That was Brad's way of saying that I should spend tomorrow with you. It probably also meant that we'll both be busy for a while, not able to really see each other outside of the occasional meeting on missions.”

 

“You could tell all of that from one sentence?” Yohji looked as though he didn't believe that. Crawford's words had sounded dismissing to him.

 

“Like I said, you get used to him. I've had over ten years to figure him out.” The blonde just shook his head and decided to drop it.

 

“Seeing as how you've been given the day off, I guess it's a good thing I'd already convinced Ken to cover my shift tomorrow afternoon.” Schuldig smiled at that and pulled his boyfriend off the couch.

 

“Let's go to bed,” the red head's voice held more than a hint of suggestiveness. Yohji took the not-so-subtle hint and followed the telepath through the penthouse to his room.

 

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“Omi,” Nagi was clearly frustrated. “You have to sleep.” Not even Farfarello, who had never failed at finding a way to get the teen to rest, was able to get Omi to shut his eyes for more than a few minutes.

 

“I know,” sighed the archer. “I just can't seem to stop thinking about everything.” Half-sitting up in his bed, the blonde looked to his boyfriend who was sitting on the edge of his own bed. “I know Yohji and Aya are okay with everything, but I'm worried about how Ken will take it. He's been my best friend in Weiss, and I'm afraid of what might happen once he finds out I've keeping something so big from him.” The brunette stood from his position and sat next to Omi, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

 

“It will all work out,” he soothed as Omi relaxed into the embrace. “Crawford is as confident as he's ever been, so I don't think you need to worry too much. Everything will be fine.” As he finished he leaned down to place a kiss on his boyfriend's lips. The blonde responded immediately, wrapping his arms around the smaller form's waist. The contact deepened as their mouths opened, tongues touching though neither tried to gain the upper hand. The kiss was slow, gentle, comforting, allowing the pyro's mind to shut down for the first time in days. The kiss came to a close with Nagi placing one final, chaste touch to Omi's mouth. Seeing the exhaustion the blonde was feeling finally taking its toll, the brunette crawled under the covers and held his other half tightly, minding his injuries, as he fell into a much needed sleep. Nagi smiled softly as he watched the other teen sleep. You don't have to handle everything on your own, he thought to himself. I will always be there with you. As he closed his eyes, he didn't see Omi's face relax; the words had been inadvertently sent to the blonde and had been heard even in slumber.

 

When Omi woke the next day, it was already well past noon. He noticed the arms wrapped around him and tilted his head up to see that Nagi's eyes were still closed. I wish it could be like this everyday. He shifted a bit so that he could run a lazy hand through chocolate locks. The slight movement was enough to wake the telekinetic; Nagi blinked away the last remnants of his slumber before looking at the blonde in his arms.

 

“Hi,” he whispered with a smile. “How long have you been awake?”

 

“A few minutes,” was the reply. “It's way past noon, though, so maybe we should get up.” Omi, though, didn't make any attempt to move

 

“In a minute,” the brunette responded. “We don't get to do this very often, so I think the world can do without us for a bit.” Their quiet moment was interrupted by the door opening, revealing two tall figures.

 

“And here we thought you were going to stay in bed all day,” Schuldig teased as he came in and plopped onto the end of the bed. Yohji followed, though he chose to sit in a chair he dragged over from the one of the desks. The teens sat up slightly, breaking their tight embrace, sending identical glares to the older assassins. Neither was embarrassed at being caught in bed together, they were just annoyed at being disturbed.

 

“Have you heard of knocking?” Nagi growled.

 

“Get over it,” the red head responded. “Yohji wanted to meet you, so we came to wake you guys up.”

 

“He met Nagi last night,” Omi pointed out sourly. “You could have waited for us to actually get up for a more appropriate introduction.”

 

“Besides,” the brunette added. “If Omi had still been asleep, I would have thrown you across the room for waking him. It took me forever to get him to fall asleep, and you know he needed it.”

 

“Relax,” the older blonde held up his hands. “Schu told me he could tell you were both awake. Something about sleeping minds feeling different. Anyway, we both know you haven't slept in days.” Yohji grinned. “Your white haired friend… Farfarello? Well, he gave me a little warning about what would happen if I woke you up, and he wasn't talking about what Nagi here would do.” Omi and Nagi both laughed at that.

 

“I'm surprised,” the blonde got out between giggles, “that you're still here after a threat from him. Most people would be far away by now.” Yohji just shrugged.

 

“We're all pretty much insane,” he stated dryly. “He just happens to be further along than the rest of us… Well except maybe Schu.” That last comment earned him a hit to the back of his head as more laughter erupted from everyone in the room.

 

“So, anyway,” Schuldig changed the subject. “We're planning on having a day out and thought you two might like to join us. Yotan has already called the Koneko and talked to Aya. He and Ken are going to cover for you today.” His face turned more serious at the next part. “Crawford pretty much told me this morning that we won't have much time to relax over the next week or so, what with Farf's mom being around.” The teens nodded their understanding and quickly agreed to the impromptu day off.

 

“We've got to plan the mission tonight,” Yohji reminded the younger blonde. “So hurry up and get ready if you want to actually do anything today. We've only got a few hours before we have to be back.”

 

“I know.” Omi responded, giving the lanky blonde a pointed look. “I haven't forgotten.” With that, the two older assassins left the room. Less than ten minutes later, the four left the penthouse, determined to make the most of these precious moments.

 

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“Where were you guys all day?” Ken asked once the two blondes had returned. Aya wouldn't tell him why they had to cover for their teammates all day, even though he had already agreed to take Yohji's shift. Actually, he hadn't even bothered asking as Aya seemed much more accepting of their absence than he would have expected.

 

“It's not important,” Aya interjected. “We have a mission to plan.” Omi gave him a grateful look at that. He hadn't wanted to lie any more than he already was, and he certainly didn't want Yohji to have to go along with it. The four assassins headed to the basement, settling around the table for the planning session.

 

“This is the room where the meeting will take place,” the youngest said while pointing to a section of the building's blueprints. “The information we obtained last night has it schedule for midnight, tomorrow; we should be in place by 11:30 pm and attack fifteen minutes in.” The others nodded their agreement to this assessment.

 

“What kind of resistance should we expect?” Ken voiced the question. “I mean, you guys did have that run in while you were in the office, but other than that, the security seemed fairly lax.”

 

“Actually,” Yohji looked to the ex-soccer player as he spoke. “It wasn't just lax, it was practically non-existent. When I scouted the building, I never saw the first guard. To be honest, I'm suspicious.”

 

“I agree,” the crimson haired assassin spoke up. “Did the data you retrieved from the computer say anything about security measures, Omi?” The blue-eyed teen nodded.

 

“Yeah,” he replied. “I was wondering about that myself, so I looked into it. It turns out that most of the building's defense is electronic… cameras, alarms, etc. The system calls in the police at the first sign of intruders. I can take care of that just like I did before, but with the meeting that's taking place, there will be a large number of guards patrolling, especially in the vicinity of the conference room.”

 

“So we'll definitely have a fight on our hands,” the ex-detective surmised.

 

“Yes, and…” he paused, throwing meaningful looks to Aya and Yohji. “There have been rumors that another team has been brought in to act as bodyguards. Kritiker isn't sure about how many there are… the stories differ, saying there are anywhere between two and five. They are supposedly highly skilled, so we should be prepared for more resistance than usual.” Ken nodded his understanding while the other two took the warning as it was intended - put on a good show, but they'll let us get the targets in the end.

 

“We'll leave here at 9:30 pm,” Omi continued. “That should give us more than enough time to avoid any obstacles and get into position.” He turned his attention to Aya. “You should set up near the south entrance. Yohji, you'll be at the east entrance; Ken, I want you with him as that's the door nearest the exit. You will both need to make sure none of them make it out. I'll be entering from above through the ceiling crawlspace.” Pausing, the archer allowed the others to study the blueprints to determine the best hiding spots in their assigned areas before he continued. “There will be a total of ten people attending the meeting; our primary target is this man.” Omi passed around two pictures. “The woman in the second picture is his personal assistant. She will be the secondary objective. The other eight are undoubtedly deep into this, so allowing them to live is not an option either. However, the first two are the ones we cannot, under any circumstances, permit to survive.” Looking around the table, he received affirmative gestures from the others.

 

“Anything else?” Ken asked, to which Omi shook his head. “Alright. I'm going to head upstairs. There's a soccer match going that I want to catch the end of.” Three sets of eyes rolled at the brunette's obsession. I swear, if he thought he could use a soccer ball as a weapon…the sarcastic thought ran through Yohji's head. Once Ken had left the mission room, Aya and Yohji turned to Omi.

 

“How are you expecting to keep him from trying to kill any of Schwartz?” Aya demanded. The blue-eyed assassin gave a short laugh.

 

“First of all, it's just going to be Schu and Nagi,” the teen responded. “The others are going to be busy with something else. Yohji and I worked out something with them earlier this afternoon, which will leave you and Ken free to take out our targets. They're even going to help with keeping the guards off our backs until the job is finished, though they'll have to leave us to fight our way out.” This answered satisfied the swordsman, but he had another question.

 

“Are we always going to know when they'll show up ahead of time?”

 

“Only until Ken finds out,” the young blonde replied, the crimson haired man gave him a slightly questioning look.

 

“We won't need the warning in the future,” Yohji joined in the conversation. “But as long as Ken is kept in the dark, we have to plan around him, making sure that he doesn't get directly involved in any of the `fighting'.”

 

“And just how long is this going to go on?” Violet eyes looked back and forth between the blonde assassins. Both shrugged, indicating that they didn't know, but Omi answered anyway.

 

“I'm not sure, Aya,” he sighed. “I know it will be soon, though. There's something going on with Farfarello's mother right now which, when taken care of, will bring everything to a head. That's all Crawford has said to any of us.” Yohji looked up at the mention of the white-haired man's mother. That was the second time he'd heard her come up.

 

“What's the deal with that,” the ex-detective questioned. “When Schu mentioned her earlier, you all looked liked you wanted to kill something, and now again, you have that same look.” Aya looked on, interested as well. He hadn't been there earlier, but he had recognized the look on Omi's face not more than a minute earlier.

 

“It's not my story to tell,” the young blonde replied in an even tone. “Suffice it to say that Farf wasn't always blind in his left eye.” Having said that, the teen stood and made his way up the stairs. The two remaining exchanged looks; had Omi really meant to imply that the woman was out to get her own son?

 

“That shouldn't surprise me as much as it does,” the lanky blonde stated. “After all, Omi knows first hand about fucked up relatives.” Aya nodded at that, nearly missing the next thing Yohji said as it was spoken so softly. “And so do I.” Violet eyes widened in surprise, but didn't have the chance to ask what he was talking about as the older assassin swiftly made an exit. There's so much we don't know about each other, he thought as he too rose to leave the mission room. And I have a feeling we'll all be knee deep in each other's pasts before this is all over. Oddly enough, his thoughts included Schwartz, people he hadn't even met.

 

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It's a good thing we got here so early. Omi had indeed been correct that Farfarello's escapade two nights ago would be discovered; no one could leave nothing behind. Now he was having to essentially start from the beginning with breaking into the security system. This time it was taking him twice as long, as further measures had been taken to ensure that not only would the clients be protected, but those attending the meeting as well. At least they were stupid enough not to cancel… There, I'm finished. He quietly crept to where the others were waiting and signaled to them that they could enter. Once inside the RIOT building, Omi and Aya split off from the other two, heading in different directions. Ken and Yohji took a third route; so far, everything was going as planned.

 

These guys are either over-confident or complete fo… Ken's thoughts trailed off as he and Yohji had to duck behind a pillar to avoid the passing guards. Or not, he amended. Up to this point, they had only seen two guards, both of which had been immediately disposed. The brunette felt a slight touch at his shoulder and nodded. It was time to move again. Keeping more to the shadows now, as the patrols were becoming more frequent, the two silently made their way to the fifth floor where the meeting was to take place. Finally arriving, the two assassins ducked into a small office directly across the hall from the conference room; the door contained a small window, allowing them a decent view. They still had forty-five minutes before the meeting would begin, meaning the targets, along with the guards, weren't likely to show up for about half an hour.

 

“Siberian and I are in position,” Yohji's nearly silent voice was heard through all their headsets. They received hushed replies; Aya would be in position within five minutes, while Omi was likely to take the remaining fifteen they had. Apparently, the crawlspace in the ceiling had not been built to specifications, and it was taking longer than expected, though he assured them he would be ready in time. True to his word, he called in his readiness with one minute to spare. Now they simply had to wait for the meeting to begin. The assassins watched as the targets trickled in, along with two rather conspicuous men and several guards, some of which remained outside the room at either entrance. Omi had to rely on his teammates, both Schwartz and Weiss, to tell him if everyone was accounted for as he didn't have any view of the room. He was ready to lift the ceiling tile and jump down into the corner of the room near where he knew Nagi and Schuldig would be standing. At precisely 12:15 am, he gave the order.

 

“Now,” the archer whispered, sending a mental warning to the other two. As he gracefully landed in the conference room, he took a moment to make sure everyone was where they should be. To his right stood Nagi and Schuldig, though they were preparing to `defend' the targets. Aya was across the room, the bodies of two guards behind; Yohji and Ken were just entering the room from the door to his left, presumably having already taken care of any guards in their way. As Nagi advanced on him, the archer called out orders.

 

“Abyssinian, Siberian, take out the targets,” he shouted above the noise of the panicking men and women. “Balinese, take care of the red head; I've got this one.” Try not to throw me around too much, Nagi. The blonde's mental voice was laced with humor. Nagi's mouth formed a smirk at hearing that as the two began their dance, darts and bolts flying towards the brunette, only to mysteriously fall short while the occasional invisible force lightly slammed the archer into the wall; however, no matter how gently he hit the wall, it was still painful. Nearby, Yohji was having his own choreographed fun.

 

“Stop that,” the tall blonde hissed. Schuldig was keeping a running dialogue mentally, and the Weiss assassin was having the worst time trying not to burst out laughing. Admit it, you're amused. Yohji couldn't argue with that. Of course I am, but if I start laughing like a maniac in the middle of a fight… Well, let's just say it wouldn't be a good thing. He threw his wire towards the red head, who dodged with inhuman speed, appearing behind his opponent to land a pulled punch on his back. Damn it, Schu!! At least give me something! Yohji was seriously losing the fight, as fake as it was. No way, came the response. Not unless you find something other than wire to hit me with. The blonde gave it some thought and realized that it really wouldn't be a good idea to wrap the telepath in his weapon of choice; no matter how gently he pulled, it would still cut. Seeing the agreement from his lover, the next time Schuldig got close enough, he allowed an elbow to hit its target. Feel better, now? He teased. Much. They continued in this manner, waiting for Aya and Ken to finish.

 

“Balinese! Behind you!” Aya shouted a warning. Their main target had managed to escape the crimson haired man while he was busy fighting off guards and taking out a couple of the targets, including the female assistant. The man was currently approaching Yohji and Schuldig, gun drawn and aimed at the blonde. The telepath moved his head into the path of an incoming punch, something they had previously decided on avoiding, allowing himself to fall back and giving Yohji room to work. Turning to face the target, the ex-detective had a rather malicious glint in his eyes. So I'm going to actually get to take out the guy who ordered Asuka's death. Faster than the eye could see, thin wire wrapped around the target's throat, slicing it open as pressure was slowly applied. The man dropped to the floor, dead within five minutes; whether it was from asphyxiation or the deep throat wound was not a concern.

 

“That's it.” Ken called out. “That's the last of them.” The clawed assassin had managed to cut down several of the guards as well as five of the targets. The mission was complete. A few of the remaining guards took one look at the massacre and fled, allowing for an easy get away. Nagi and Schuldig had disappeared at some point after having determined that their presence was no longer required.

 

“What do we do about the two bodyguards that got away?” Ken asked as they made their way out of the building.

 

“They weren't our targets,” the leader of Weiss stated. “Once they saw their bosses dead, they no longer had a reason to be there. They aren't our concern anymore.”

 

“That's not what I meant,” the brunette stated. “I meant what was the deal with them? The red head was moving faster than I could follow, and that kid, well I don't know what was going on with him, but it seemed like he was throwing you around without ever having touched you.” Omi just shrugged; he had hoped Ken wouldn't notice with all the chaos in the room.

 

“We can worry about that later,” he finally replied. “For now, let's just get out of here.” Much to the others' relief, Ken let it drop, and they left. Once they made it back to the Koneko, they entered the shared living room and took the time to assess one another's injuries. Much to everyone's surprise, they all only maintained a few bruises and scrapes, though they had yet to take a look at Omi's back. The joys of being thrown into a wall, he thought sarcastically. No matter how lightly I hit, I'm going to eventually feel it after the first dozen times or so.

 

“Take off your shirt, bishounen,” the older blonde demanded; the younger glared but complied.

 

“Damn,” Ken let out. “Your whole back is bruised.”

 

“It's not that bad,” the blue-eyed teen replied. “I can barely feel it.” Aya's eyebrow rose in dissatisfaction at that.

 

“That's not exactly a good thing,” the crimson haired man stated. “If you're numb now, you'll be more than feeling it in the morning.” The others made noises of agreement.

 

“It comes with the territory,” the youngest shrugged it off while replacing his shirt. “Besides, I've had worse.” They couldn't argue with that; they'd all gotten off lightly this time. The four settled themselves around the room; Yohji and Aya taking seats on one couch, Ken and Omi on the one across the table from them.

 

“So,” the brunette began. “Am I the only one curious about what the hell those two bodyguards were doing?” Really he was the only one curious as the others already knew, but they nodded none-the-less.

 

“The one with the red hair was moving faster than I could blink,” the wire-wielding assassin offered. He didn't mention the telepathy as that wasn't an obvious trait.

 

“And the one I was fighting was using some kind of invisible force to stop my weapons,” Omi added.

 

“And throwing you into the wall,” Aya interjected with an uncharacteristic smirk, receiving a glare from the youngest.

 

“Thank you, Aya,” he retorted. “I'd forgotten all about that part.”

 

“So… what…” Ken brought them back on topic. “Do they have some sort of super-human powers?”

 

“That appears to be the case, yes.” Yohji was the one to respond, keeping his answer as vague as possible.

 

“And you said there may be up to five on their team…” The brunette looked thoughtful. “So if we run into them again, we should expect the same type of thing from their other members.”

 

“That would be a safe assumption,” the swordsman replied. “It would be better to err on the side of caution in any case.”

 

“This sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie,” Ken complained. Turning to Omi he asked, “Are you going to actually put this in the report?” The teen shrugged.

 

“I don't see that I have much of a choice. Kritiker has to be warned of the possible danger should anyone run into them.” Actually, Crawford had told him he should report it to Kritiker; he didn't see the advantage to doing this, but he would comply.

 

“Personally, I'd like to the looks on their faces when they read it,” the oldest put in eliciting small chuckles from Omi and Ken, while Aya rolled his eyes.

 

“Whatever,” the pyro ended the conversation. “I guess I'd better take care of the report now. I still have an assignment for school to finish, as well, so I need to get started.”

 

“I wouldn't worry about your homework, Omi.” Violet eyes looked pointedly at the youth. “I doubt you'll be moving much tomorrow, or the next day for that matter, with your back the way it is. Take care of the report, swallow some painkillers and get some sleep. There's no point in staying up all night to finish schoolwork when you won't be attending.” The blonde teen didn't bother to argue; he knew Aya was correct. Aside from that, he found school to be a pointless venture as he already knew more than his teachers; Omi had no problems using his back as an excuse to miss a couple of days. Standing, he bid the others goodnight and headed off to write the mission report.

 

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Son of bitch! Actually that curse was right on target. Crawford had just had vision concerning Farfarello's mother finding him tomorrow if the young man went with Schuldig to guard Takatori. One of the problems was that if the white-haired man wasn't present, Takatori would die in an assassination attempt by a third party, thus ruining everything. The other problem was that Ken had to be present at the little family reunion in order for things to progress according to plan. I need to get in contact with Omi immediately. Schuldig, where's Nagi? I need to give Omi some information. The quickest way to get a message to the pyro was to go through Nagi; the link the teens shared kept them in constant contact should they choose to do so, eliminating the time it would take in searching out his mind. He's in his room working on that hacking job you gave him. Relaying his thanks, the American left his office and knocked on Nagi's door, entering at the distracted `Come in'.

 

“Something's come up,” he stated. “I need you to connect me to Omi.” The brunette nodded his understanding, opening his mental barriers, allowing Crawford temporary access to the bond. Omi, I have an assignment for you. He didn't have to wait long for the blonde's response. I'm listening. The precog proceeded to explain what needed to be done and when. I'll take care of it, Omi assured once the instructions were complete. I have no doubt you will. Crawford nodded to Nagi, indicating that he was finished and could return his shields to their normal state.

 

“This isn't going to cause any problems, is it?” the telekinetic inquired. A moment passed as the man checked the future.

 

“No,” he replied. “Everything is in order now.” Upon hearing the answer, Nagi returned to his work as Crawford went in search of Farfarello. He wouldn't give the young man any details, but he needed to be warned that it would happen the following day. Crawford had already looked into this as well. If he didn't tell the white-haired man to be prepared to face his mother, Farfarello would not carry the necessary weapons for the confrontation. Brad Crawford smiled to himself as he walked through the penthouse. This incident will mark the beginning of all our futures.

 

 

TBC

End of chapter note: We'll finally be seeing more of Farf and Ken next chapter. In fact, after chapter 7, all the guys will all be more deeply involved in the plot, so if your favorite hasn't shown up much yet, there you go. For you Manx fans, sorry, but you'll have to wait awhile before I give her a more pronounced role; she is very important to the story, but it doesn't come up for a while.