Title: Crawford no imouto

Author: Chisha

Category: Humour/romance??? Maybe.

Warnings: Original character inserted for the fun of it. :) Also swearing.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, except for Emily. Now I wish I owned a few of the others, but that doesn't change the fact that I don't. Damn.

Author's Note: I switched from SZ to Estet. Everyone uses it, even the subtitles, so why bother to freaking change it? That's right ;) Sounds better.

<< telepathy >>

Chapter 3 - Commence Hunting Sequence

Crawford was late.
And I loved that. He was never late, and I knew he'd be agitated. Of course, he wasn't late enough to make a real difference, because he was always early, but late enough to be annoyed himself. Even we were on time, and he was still not here.
A broad grin decorated my face when I saw his car arrive. It became even broader when I saw him get out, and Emily emerged from the passenger's side. This day kept getting better and better.
I knew he'd rather not take Emily with him, but he had to, because he had gone shopping.
The scent of flowers reached my nostrils and I saw the broad was carrying an exceptionally large bouquet of flowers, in all colours and sizes. Now where did she get those?
I had to suppress a fit of chuckles when they approached and the idea came to mind that Crawford might have bought those for her. Of course, that wasn't true, but it was a funny idea nonetheless.

'Wipe that grin off your face, Schuldich,' Bradley commented as he walked past me.

'Sure. It was never there, oh dear devilish leader,' I joked, feeling his annoyance grow with every word I said. Especially the last three bugged him.

In mind, he was cursing me over and over, and I replied with, 'My, my, Bradley, I never knew you could even spell those words! That disappoints me, I always thought you were a nice guy…'

'Schuldich.' The annoyance was dripping off his voice; it sounded like music to my ears. How I loved pestering him over and over, testing his patience. I had not found his limits just yet.

'Yes, sir,' I replied, saluting.

'Stop it, right now.'

Okay, even I knew when to stop, and this was definitely the time. Irritation was building inside the man and I didn't want him to burst. That would not be good. Especially not when that happened near Takatori Reiji. Even though that would be funny, Estet would come after us for spoiling their plans with the politician, and who knew what they'd do to us? I was sure I did not even want to know.

I followed Crawford to the slide-doors that formed the entrance to the building, and I could hear Nagi and Farfarello's footsteps behind me. Quicker ones went past me and I caught another wave of flower scent as Emily caught up with her brother.
Her brother. Snicker, snicker, snicker…

As soon as she did, Crawford stopped dead in his tracks and glared at her.

'Nan da?' She clearly wanted to keep him satisfied. I was pleased to hear that I could now finally understand what she was saying.

Shop owners, how I love thee and thine Japanese…

'Throw those away, Emily,' he barked, still slightly irritated.

'But I got them from-'

Those nice boys.
Which nice boys?

'That doesn't matter. Throw them away, you can get new ones later. Don't argue with me, Emily.'

'Fine,' she pouted, and dumped the rich bouquet in the nearest trash can.

Still… which nice boys? Which boy in this stinking city could be cooler than me? Why had my flattery not done anything, while it obviously had when those boys did it?
I quickly dug in her mind; Crawford couldn't stop me anyway as long as I kept my mouth shut. Impressions of four guys, a shop called Koneko No Sumu Ie and especially the smallest of the four boys trickled into my mind.
Not good.
She was beginning to fall for someone. I couldn't let that happen, she was too pretty for that. Well… pretty… in her own ice cube sort of way.
If anything, it was that I hated outsiders getting near Schwarz and my territory. If there was a lady in my territory, I had to have her. Even if it was Crawford's sister. I just had to obey my predatorial instincts. No, I've never denied those, contrary to popular belief.

I glanced at her from somewhere behind, and I realized that she was indeed quite pretty. If you liked that kind of girl.

Another grin spread across my face as I started planning things to conquer the girl's heart. And if I succeeded, the boy she fell for would be angry. Very angry, if he fell for her, too. So cute.

'Schuldich.'

Ah, Nagi. My partner in crime. He was supposed to help me find out if Emily had weird talents, too. At first, he had been reluctant to join forces, even suspicious about my motives, but as always, I had managed to convince him. I could convince anyone if I tried hard enough.

'Nani?'

He glanced around him for a short moment, as if to make sure no one was listening. 'Does Crawford hate her?' He sounded hopeful.

I could have just said "yes", but I needed to keep him satisfied, and I knew he expected me to check, first. And so, I entered Crawford's mind. Something I did rather often, even though it wasn't always that pleasant.

'No,' I retorted, 'but she knows how to drain his patience very well, and he does not really appreciate it. As far as I know, he's trying to shape her so she'll do what he says.'

Nagi frowned, 'He's not going to let her join Schwarz, is he?'

I grinned, 'If that's what he's planning, he will have to answer to Estet, most probably.'

That seemed to reassure Nagi, because the frown faded and he looked at Farfarello's back as he muttered, 'Good. Then he won't do that.'

The Irishman in front of him followed Crawford and Emily into the elevator.

'Indeed, and our positions will be secure that way,' I mused, the grin turning into a happy smile.

Nagi shook his head, annoyed with my poetic tone of voice, and stepped into the small mechanical chamber that would take us to Takatori's office, eleven floors up.

Takatori greeted us as always; calm and collected. Crawford of course did just the same, then introduced Emily as "an apprentice" or something equally silly, and Takatori directed us to a few comfortable seats.

A young man, dressed as what one would call a waiter in a restaurant, came to ask us if we would like a drink, while Takatori started talking about his plans.
I never even listened; looking directly into the man's thoughts would tell me more than the words that came from his mouth. Besides, Crawford expected me to keep tags on the man, just in case. We needed to know his every move for our own plans.

'If it came down to voting right now, I would win for sure,' Takatori mused, muttering a thanks under his breath as he accepted the drink offered to him by the young man from earlier. 'My manager told me I have most of the people's votes on my side.'

'Of course, that was the setup, wasn't it, Mister Takatori?' Crawford replied, adjusting his glasses and making sure that he looked absolutely trustworthy.
I knew that Takatori knew Crawford and the rest of us could not be trusted… but he did not know that even he could not trust us. So, Takatori trusted us. The fool.

I wondered if Takatori could hear how Crawford sounded when he said "Mister Takatori". I wondered if it had any effect on his trust in the man. Crawford was not the type to show respect to anyone, but in his role in Estet's plans he had to. He wasn't used to it, that was why the fake admiration dripped off his voice. Personally, I would have made it sound more plausible. But I supposed this was the best our dearest Bradley could muster.

Takatori chuckled as he took a sip of his wine, then looked straight at our leader. 'Do you think that if those assassins who have been after my sons come after me, you can handle them, Crawford?'

'You can leave it all to us,' Crawford assured him. 'If they dare to go near you while we are here, they will perish before they touch you, Mister Takatori.'

That pleased the old koala; he chuckled again, though this time it sounded a little mean. 'That's what we're aiming for; complete annihilation of all my opponents.'

All this idle chatter started to bore me; I decided to commence plan Conquer Brad's Sister while Bradley entertained the koala bear.

<<Hey, beauty.>>

Emily, who had patiently been staring out one of the windows, her hands folded on her lap, suddenly tore her gaze away from the window and looked around to see who had just said that.

I saw Crawford's glasses glitter, as he kept talking to Takatori but had noticed her sudden movements from the corner of his eyes.

<<Don't show them you've heard me.>>
<<That's you, isn't it, Schuldich?>> she replied. As almost everyone I used my telepathy on, she had figured she could just think the words. <<How long have you been in my mind?>>

<<Actually, I was in Takatori's just now.>> I snickered mentally.

<<That funny? I think I was right; the man is an old fag.>>
Oh, how funny. She shared my opinion about the big koala. <<Correction: a stupid old fag.>>
She nodded invisibly; again I saw Crawford's glasses glitter as he caught the movement. I had to be careful with this conversation, else I would have a problem, starting after the meeting.

<<Don't show them you've heard me, remember? We don't want your niisan to beat us around the place later, ne?>>

She did not nod this time, but I could feel that she understood. Now I had to be careful. I had to get her on my side and not rise her suspicion at the same time. And I had to figure out if she had the power of precognition, just like Bradley.

<<He bores you too, does he not?>> I tried.

Her annoyance came at me in waves, <<He's a blind cockroach; he doesn't even hear how Brad despises him and everything he represents.>>
<<And I suppose you did hear, hm?>> I tried my best to make amusement sound through; it would please her, get her on my side, and I would learn more about Crawford as well. She seemed to know him pretty well even though she had not seen him in years.

<<Of course. I know him like the inside of my pocket.>> she answered. <<Is that so strange?>>

I adjusted my right sleeve as I continued, <<Not really, I suppose. I was just trying to get to know you.>>

<<Do you have to do that now? I'm having trouble concentrating on two things… You can teach me all about this telepathy thing of yours later, okay? After this old fag talked us to sleep.>>
Witty, even though it was no lie. She had the childish urge to look at me during the conversation, as every human being on the face of the earth would have.

<<Of course. It's not so hard when you're me. I'll shut up now.>>
I had to give her what she wanted in order to win her over… and I had to get to know her, of course. Right now, I still had to keep a channel to Takatori's mind open as well, so I couldn't dig in hers very deep, but I could amuse myself by looking at her instead.

All those female curves are so cute…

Even if she was still so young, she was obviously done growing up physically. Curves, curves, everywhere I looked. Exactly what a man wanted in a woman. The short skirt didn't help either. Of course, if there was another woman in here, I would not have to look at her so much to be satisfied, but for the moment, Emily did just fine.

Then I caught Crawford's glare; caught. I knew I had a problem now… But I tried to mask my surprise and looked back at Takatori, who was still babbling on and on about what he would do as soon as he was elected as Japan's most powerful politician.
But I didn't listen. The only thing I could think about was how to fend off Bradley in the coming days.

* * * * *

Everyone was gone; I sincerely hoped it was everyone. If Brad was looming around in the residence somewhere I would certainly make like the others and high-tail it out of here.
Farfarello had gone off somewhere to hurt God again, and Nagi had wanted to buy some computer parts or something like that. I never bothered about what he was muttering while he closed the door behind him.
Emily had gone to pick up books for college; I bet she was going to go to that shop again, too, even if it was closed. I knew she hoped the boys lived above their shop so they were home and she could talk to them. I sure hoped it was closed, anyway.

And Crawford… that was what bugged me. The day before, after the meeting, he had not said a thing while Emily went to hang up her clothes in my ex-closet. Nagi had gone to his beloved laptop again, while I had to lock Farfarello up in his padded room.

When I emerged, Bradley was there… and nothing happened.
The tall precognitive had just been sitting there, reading his New York Times, and even when I sat down to watch a strange but hilarious talkshow, he had said nothing at all.
Now that the residence was so quiet and empty, I went paranoid. He had probably not said anything yesterday because he did not want the others to hear what he had to say; I guessed that was not good either. It meant he had some pretty nasty things to say to me.

Or he just did not care, even though I was sure the lust had been radiating off me like crazy before I noticed that he'd caught me in the act. How did a Crawford react to someone lusting after his sister?
Yes, I was very paranoid. He could be in any room, watching me, waiting till I was comfortable and then come round to curse me over and over. His way of telling someone off was usually very bad.
He would throw you insult after insult in his cold, collected way of speaking, as if he did not care at all, to try and piss you off. And then when you were finally ready to yell at him for being such an arrogant bastard, he would turn around and leave you alone in doubt; attack your leader and die, or live with the indescribable anger that he'd just triggered in you? Of course, you would always choose the last one, because the first one involved lots of pain and you valued your life as a Schwarz member.
Finally, I chose to settle at the kitchen table with some coffee; coffee would help me relax and stay alert. Another thing was that Bradley barely came into the kitchen after 10:00 AM or before 8:00 PM.
Feeling relatively safe, I decided to see what was happening around Tokyo, and pulled the local newspaper closer to me.
Another criminal had been killed off without any sign of how it happened. Weiß's fault, no doubt. Probably that leader of theirs had given them another mission, they had successfully eliminated the target and gone home to receive their salaries. It made me wonder where they lived, what their hideout was.
As I went through the rest of the news, I did not even hear Crawford come into the kitchen until he was right behind me.
A distinct cough notified me of his presence.

I gave a scream and almost jumped over the kitchen table; I had to consult every bit of self control I had in order to stay in one place.

'What is it, Schuldich? Bad conscience?' Crawford asked me.

Whose fault do you think that is, you bastard?

'Not at all - I just didn't hear you coming,' I tried, hoping to sound plausible enough to fend off a few of the insults that were undoubtedly burning on his tongue. After all - I was the only mind-reader of the pack.

'As I could have expected. I suppose you were entertaining yourself with images of naked skin and all that?'

I braced myself. The insults had started and would not end until Brad had pissed me off enough to have his own anger subside. I didn't answer. That would please him, and give him more reasons to insult me.

Crawford sat down at the table, right across from me. A short look at the newspaper before he settled his eyes on me once again. His glasses glittered ominously in the light that managed to have trickled through the blinds in front of the windows. Another insult was on its way here.

'I don't remember if I have taken the time to tell you this before,' he started, 'but Schwarz is not a night club. If you tend to like staring at a female's legs, you can go back to one of those strip clubs you must undoubtedly have attended in your earlier days.'

I clenched my teeth; this was a kind of thing he liked to use often. Of course everyone saw me as a man-whore, and I knew exactly where this conversation was headed. He was lying - of course he had told me this before, in different words.

'Of course, in those days, you must have been the one cheered for, and not the one cheering.'

Yep, there it was. The meaning was nothing I had to guess for; he was again implying that I had earned my money as a male stripper. If that were true, he would never know. Only I had the right to think of that. But I kept my mouth shut.

'Your silence confirms my suspicions, Schuldich,' Crawford continued, now fixating his eyes on the newspaper he had pulled towards him, as if I was so easy to ignore. 'In any case, I would appreciate it if you could control your lusts here in the future - we have some underaged in our group that would not really care for your predatorial glares, nor would they want to answer to them.'

I muttered, 'And what if they did? You can't stop human instincts.'

'If they would ever answer to your hunting skills, I would call it "intimidation", if nothing else.'

So far, I had managed pretty well to control my emotions, but now that I heard my "hunting skills" being degraded to a mere matter of intimidation, I felt a small sting in my pride as he said it. The man had his ways with words, but tact wasn't one of those ways.

'Now, before you consider releasing more of those lust filled glances upon Emily - or Nagi, for that matter - I want you to realize that pedophilism is not generally appreciated. Not even among the Estet staff.'

Okay, so he'd gotten his point across now. He didn't want to catch me looking at Emily like that and all that crap. But he didn't have to say it that way! Contrary to very popular believe, I tend to wait until someone grows up before I lust after them. This was just pure crap.

'Are you done yet, Bradley?' I knew I shouldn't have said that, but it could accomplish two things: or he was going to quit talking to me because this was a sign of my rising anger, or he was going to continue about how much he liked to hear me call him Bradley.

'Quite done, but let me tell you to remember what happens to certain German telepathic mind-raiders when they let their blood run other parts than their brains.'

Ouch. Stab in the back.

And with those words, he left, leaving me steaming mad, alone, in the kitchen. With a cup of coffee that I hadn't touched yet.
So when he closed the door, I threw it after him, the sky-blue pottery being hurled into several directions as it shattered against the hard wood. It left brown splatters of hot coffee on the now scratched material. I left it there the way it was, looked back at the newspaper and only felt that my resolve had grown worse.
Now that Bradley had pissed me off, I would certainly get back at him in a way that he could not foresee until it was too late. I would conquer that girl and make her mine, even if it was the last thing I did.
And hopefully piss off that other boy as well. I grinned, one of my trademark evil grins that only my opponents and victims would see from time to time. And this time, the grin was directed to my very much respected leader.

~~~

Author's Note: Whew. I'm glad I got that over with. Does any of you have any idea of how hard it is to write an insulting Crawford? He'd never be as low as to directly call someone names right in their faces… So here's the result of that. I hope I stayed at least a little in character. Damned precognitive dickhead…
Yeah. Chose Schuldich's POV once again, for obvious, fun reasons. ^_^

NeonAngel: There you have it, next chappie. Glad you like it.

Mistress of Darkness: It's not even my idea. Read the Author's Note above Chapter 1 to see what I mean ;)
Misura: Yes, precognition is a bother - I can know, it bothers me a lot, too ;) Anyway, glad you like how I put Crawford in a cute position. It's gonna be even cuter, so be warned!

Setsuna: Actually, I have another fic where I paired an original character with Aya… That character is much closer to me, too. Anyway, pairing Em with Aya would be so bad. He'd never like her. Never.

Soulfire: And another one of those mucho appreciated long reviews, buddy! ^_^ Yes. Bradley and shopping. The only way you can get a man like that to be overwhelmed is when you force him to take someone out shopping. And I did catch the sarcasm in your review, too ;) Of course he adores her! :P I hope I made you happy by choosing Schu's POV again this time. Not that I'll stick with this, of course…

Japanese words for the uninitiated (in order of appearance):

Nan da: What is it?

Nani: What?

Niisan: Short form of oniisan (= big brother)

Ne: Something like "hm" or "right"… something you stick at the end of your sentences ;) I tend to do that a lot now -.-