Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Crazy Sunday Mornings ❯ Who Is This Nut? (complete chapter) ( Chapter 16 )

Tick tock.

 

Aya could feel the salty sweat flowing it's way to his left eye, but he dare not blink. For whatever screwed up reason, Yohji is now beyond fast, and he's not taking any chances. He stood there in the dark of his room, katana ready; his body poised to either lunge forward or fall back to regroup. He psyched himself into a mission state, working on his apprehension and annoyance and building it up to somewhere near his “Takatori- shine!” mode of mind. A thing kept bugging him in the recesses of his mind though; Yohji is a teammate… whatever moral dilemma that that thought could've led him into was shattered with the sound of broken glass. Shit, here he comes.

 

Imagine a bird of prey poised for the kill on a branch of tree. That was how Yohji looked on the windowsill, sitting on his haunches, hands gripping the frame. He looked positively delighted, and the way the shadows fell on his face made it look eerie. Goddamnit, Aya thought, never saw the bugger so happy. Nobody made a move, and for some insane reason Yohji, if that's still Yohji, could hold his ridiculous position far longer than Aya could. Despite Aya's misgivings, he made the first move- he took a step forward, katana before him.

 

Tsk, tsk, tsk… Aya. You must listen to your instincts.

 

That's not Yohji's voice. Yohji's lips did not move. What the fuck is going on. Abort, idiot, abort…

 

Aya took a tentative step backward, and sure enough the voice replied.

 

Confused, Aya? Or should I call you… Ran?

 

Kami… how the hell… The katana fell on the floor with the sound that a falling katana makes. Aya was rigid. His hands twitch and he couldn't breath properly. This must be an equivalent of a panic attack for Aya. He never told ANYONE his real name, so how in the name of all orange could Yohji have known?

 

I'm not Yohji.

 

Resolve fast fading, Aya stumbled backwards until his back met the wall. To stem his panic he asked a question, voice deceptively calm.

 

“Who are you then?”

 

Yohji, or whoever he was now, talking without moving his lips and looking like the evil cat who got the cream, slowly slid out of the window and into Aya's room. Yohji's body didn't move, it flowed- like a tiger on a prowl. Aya could only watch.

 

“Who are you?”

 

Stoping an arm's length away from Aya, Yohji made a flourish move with his hand and placed it on his chest.

 

Who am I you ask? He cocked his head to one side, as if considering an amusing question. This triggered Aya's hair trigger annoyance.

 

“You deaf or what?”

 

Laughter so deep it shamed Aya's voice was heard, coming from all sides. It was the kind of laughter that raised the hairs on the nape of your neck, and Aya's did.

 

My, my, my. A fiery little kitten do I have before me.

 

The voice in Aya's head just had to make a comment. My, my, my? Tsk, tsk, tsk? Who is this nut and why does he sound like a dandy repeating things thrice?

 

Did your dear sweet mother; may her soul rest, ever read you fairy tales?

 

Aya instinctively threw a punch, one that was deftly caught with a steel grip that almost bent Aya to his knees. Twice in one night, my you really are becoming the weakling. Shut up! Aya snarled at the voice inside his head. As if dealing with one nut wasn't enough!

 

Well, did she?

 

“What does it have to do with anything you…a-ah…” The grip, if it could, tightened and twisted, and Aya bent his knees slightly to alleviate the pain.

 

Answer the question.

 

“Ye-es…”

 

Then you know me already.

 

“What?”

 

I am the big bad wolf. I am murderous king Bluebeard. I am the treacherous Mr. Fox. I am the wicked queen who eats hearts. I am Koschei the deathless, I am Baba Yaga the witch… but I am older than those fairy tales. I am the deep dark forest, I am the spirits who howled in the deep of the night, and the troll under the bridge or more appropriately, was. Right now, I am Yohji Kudou, former P.I. and now Hunter of the Night, which is ironic, because I am the Night.

 

He released Aya's wrist, and walked, or more appropriately, flowed towards the bed, first making a face towards the Spartan décor then gracefully sitting himself down.

 

What do you think?

 

Massaging his wrist, Aya snarled. “I think you're a complete and utter nut.”

 

Yohji, or the person formerly known as Yohji, smiled wryly.

 

That's what they all say… at first.

 

`What does he mean? Who's they?' Aya realized, and not for the first time so maybe he just remembered, that he was way in over his head. This was something he didn't sign up to do on the Kritiker `Do you want to be an Assassin?' survey. Then something clicked.

 

“You.” Aya snarled, “I know you… I've…” he tried thinking of a word with less innuendo, but couldn't, not in the present condition was his brain up and ready to do word hunts, so he gave up and said it instead. “I've felt you.” Which was appropriate, because he couldn't very well say that he's seen Yohji or the thing residing in Yohji's head before.

 

Ah, brilliance to rival that old nut, da Vinci. I knew him, you know.

 

“Most everybody does.” Then he added, to spite, “You know.”

 

Yohji, or the person formerly known as Yohji, so let's just call him `P.F.K.A.Yohji', shall we? Inserted the voice in Aya's head. Kami… enough! P.F.K.A.Yohji sighed and gave Aya a condescending sideways look. He's acting like a dandy… when did Yohji ever not. Aya mused.

 

I knew him intimately, ate at his table, watched him paint your overblown Mona Lisa. Quite frankly, I never gave that painting of his a, how do you say it nowadays? Ah, yes, never gave it a rat's ass. So much fanfare for quite the ugly lady.

 

Aya raised an eyebrow. He was pissed, his arm hurt from being attacked twice in one night with an iron grip, his head gave up minutes ago from trying to make light of the situation he was in, and here was Yohji, or P.F.K.A.Yohji, sitting on his bed, being a dandy and telling him the most irrelevant and useless things. Kami, what a pricelessly shitty day…

 

“So? You knew the guy. What the hell do I care?” was what Aya had in mind, but instead he settled for “So?” It unnerved him that this thing before him made him terribly annoyed and annoyingly terrified both at the same time. P.F.K.A.Yohji smiled a particularly malicious smile, which unnerved Aya further.

 

Nothing, just trivial nonsense. I've been watching you for so long I wanted to hear you talk.

 

His nostrils flared as a sudden anger flowed like a torrential flood through his body. He has displayed the widest range of emotion since he joined Weiss this single night, switching from pissed, foreboding, terrified, clueless, affronted and clueless yet again, then this… like a lamplight turned on and off at someone's will… what the…

 

“It was you wasn't it? The one outside my window… watching me sleep…”

 

I hardly think a little old shadow in the night would unnerve a mercenary like you.

 

He stayed his hands from flying to strangle Yohji, because he's a smart Assassin and could at the most assess situations where there is potential loss, but also because he was fighting of something else in his head. Now that he thought about it, it was as if a veil had been lifted and he could see, no, feel the heaviness in his head. The thing inside Yohji's head was trying to get into his own head!

 

“Get the hell out of my head.”

 

The silence that greeted Aya's low growl was broken by hollow clapping- P.F.K.A.Yohji was clapping slowly, malevolent glee still apparent.

 

I had a feeling you'd be so much smarter than Mr. Yohji Kudou… well, he figured it out himself, but was too late. I had near perfect control of his mind when he figured it out. He's a fighter, definitely. Thank you, by the way, for knocking him out with that jar of ammonia earlier, if it hadn't been for that then I would never have had taken over completely.

 

“What?” Aya cried out, eyes wide and jaw slack.

 

Yes, Ran. You're my little accomplice. It wasn't hard to maneuver the two of you to stay together long enough for the right time. A little nudge here and there, and the two of you thought it was all your idea…

 

Kami... oh shit. Aya desperately wanted to look around for an escape, or bend down to retrieve his katana, but he knew deep in his guts it would be futile, so he went back to slumping against the wall instead. His throat had gone dry…

 

“Why… why me?”

 

Yohji raised an eyebrow, again amused.

 

Why? Simple. Because I want you.

 

As if on cue moonlight shone in and the curtains fluttered, and this time when Yohji smiled, it was mirthless, and Aya could see the fangs.

 

 

***

Koschei the deathless and Baba Yaga are staples of Scandinavian (or is it Russian?) folk tales that have evolved to fairy tales. There is a Baba Yaga cameo in the Sandman series and Koschei was mentioned, regarding his heart.

 

Leonardo da Vinci, I can't tell if he's a nut. I have nothing against Mona Lisa, and I think it's a fine painting, although admittedly she does creep me a tad.

 

Hopeless, hopeless, hopeless. I'm drawing this out… ah, I actually did a drawing for this story, but I don't have a scanner, so tough luck for me. So I'm going to admit it, I thrive on reviews! Please review… lengthy ones are deeply appreciated. There's this happy pink fuzzy state of feeling that I get when I read reviews and get new ones… yes, it's vain… okay I'm ashamed now.

 

KD, I'm trying to write as fast as I can, but such exercise is futile when you have nothing to write at the moment, but still thanks for sticking with me all throughout this crazy story, and yes the light at the end of the tunnel is near, although I think it will be short-lived, and would need a sequel. Argh!