Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Demon's Dreaming ❯ And a long, hard road it shall be ( Chapter 3 )

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

Pairings: Schuldig x Ran, Yohji x Ran, Crawford + Schuldig + Ran

Warnings: Spoilers for entire series, severely AU, m/m relationships (a.k.a. yaoi), harsh language, violence, lemon...the list goes on and on.

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Weiss Kreuz or any of its characters. I merely use them for my own amusement.

AN 1: I apologise in advance for this chapter. The story will slow down in coming entries, especially as I try, albeit briefly, to introduce Weiss. For now though, it's quick, dirty, and unquestionably confusing. Don't worry, it will be revised eventually.

Demon's Dreaming

Chapter 3: “And a long, hard road it shall be.”

Brad Crawford had been gifted with the second sight, and it had served him well over the years. Unpredictable it may have been, but that was the price one paid for a Gift, and he was never one to complain.

As a child he had been witness to great and terrible things, all courtesy of his visions. The process had continued into adulthood, though the strength of his clairvoyance had not intensified. Still, he was proud of his Gift, and proud of the security it offered…most of the time.

Now was not one of those times.

Crawford had lingered in his office for longer than necessary after the telepath had retreated, ostensibly to lick his wounds and calm down after the night's events. Schuldig was as unpredictable as his own Gift, and Crawford had learned long ago not to push quite so hard when the man was feeling particularly unbalanced.

However, their employers were not so inclined. Unsatisfied with Crawford's visions of the near future, they had demanded that he further interrogate his subordinate, eager to learn more of their potential new talent. And Crawford knew that was how they viewed the boy: as an acquisition. Fujimiya Ran was theirs, even if he did not yet know it.

Turning away from the window, Crawford crossed to the doors leading out of his office, his face blank. It was not in his nature to feel sympathy, and he saw no reason to start now. Despite that, he hesitated in the hallway that would take him to Schuldig's bedroom. The telepath was dangerous while in such a state; his Gift was a handful even without the added push of stress and physical pain, and at the moment Crawford didn't wish to take any chances. Composing himself, he continued on his way, stopping only briefly to knock on Schuldig's door. When there was no answer, he opened it quietly and slid inside.

Crawford rarely ever entered his teammates' rooms, and Schuldig's was no exception. It was relatively spacious and airy for a Japanese room, but far less cluttered than he would have expected. The curtains were drawn tight, blocking the burgeoning rays of the early sun.

Schuldig barely moved, raising one eyelid to regard Crawford thoughtfully. After a moment of intense scrutiny, he turned onto his side, and the older man had to check his anger. While the action had all the air of a dismissal, he did not believe that was the telepath's only intent. If he didn't know any better, he would believe that Schuldig meant to hide his face.

The implications of such an act were not lost on Crawford. Obviously the man was up to something, and most likely it would not bode well for their little group. Schuldig, when focused, was a reasonable team player. Perhaps the previous evening's mission had rattled him even more than initially thought. Nevertheless…

“You said that the boy had been neutralised. What did you mean?”

There was a long silence and, irritated, he found himself turning to leave. Then Schuldig spoke, shifting minutely on the bed.

“To put it plainly, he won't be waking up anytime soon. That wasn't all my doing, nor my intention initially.” Schuldig paused before beginning to speak again, his voice serious. “I realised however, that this state was necessary.”

Crawford weighed his options, then chose to remain silent. Schuldig was in a remarkably sober mood, and he would elabourate sooner rather than later. He wasn't disappointed.

“His Gift is, for the moment, beyond his control.” The telepath murmured, almost too low for Crawford to hear. The clairvoyant did however, and stiffened imperceptibly. Schuldig fell silent once more, knowing that his leader had understood.

Realising that Schuldig had answered any ensuing questions with his last statement, Crawford turned on his heel and re-entered the hallway, closing the door quietly behind him.

So his suspicions were correct, and Schuldig had indeed established further contact with Fujimiya's dormant mind. Crawford frowned. He and the telepath had come to an agreement long ago that if Schuldig's `extracurricular' activities didn't interfere with their goal he would gladly turn a blind eye. As of now he couldn't foresee any possible complications stemming from the Fujimiya boy's state and Schuldig's interest.

Nonetheless, as he walked back to his office he was already formulating their next course of action. While he had little to no input with the higher-ups, they trusted him to some extent - including knowing to go where he was needed. The sooner they were out of the area, the better, Crawford rationalised, ignoring his vague sense of unease.

Ran Fujimiya had never wanted for anything in his life. His father was the requisite provider of the family, his mother nurturing and caring, and his beloved younger sister thoughtful and affectionate. He was well-liked in school and made good grades; he was considered by all who met him to be a pleasant, mature young man.

How ironic then that his safest place was not the comfort and affluence of his family's home, but an imagined stretch of wilderness from a childhood fairytale.

Upon waking he initially curled deeper into himself, untouched by the warmth of the sun shining high above him. This place was different from the grey world he and his sister had inhabited only moments before, but in a way, was just as desolate. He had the feeling that if he willed it, he could populate this place with anything he wished…but after the uncertainty of that time before, he wanted only one thing.

“Aya-chan.”

As if on cue the girl appeared, stepping carefully over the trunks of fallen trees as she made her way out of the forest. Ran watched her silently, wincing at each stumble, though too drained to go over and offer his assistance.

There was no need. Aya eventually reached the end of the wooded area and made her way over, hands clasped before her solemnly. “Nii-san…I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting.”

Ran blinked. That wasn't quite right, and strongly reminded him of his first encounter with the spectre. Had that Schuldig character been right?

Before his eyes the image of his sister seemed to falter, and suddenly she was bounding towards him, arms outstretched.

“Where have you been Ran? I've been waiting forever!”

As the girl wrapped her arms around him, the weight of her body jolting him backwards, he realised.

This wasn't Aya-chan.

His own arms rose hesitantly, before he returned the embrace, resting his chin on the top of her head. If he concentrated, he could almost smell the scent of her shampoo, faint and familiar.

But only if he thought about it.

He gently pushed at her shoulders, half-expecting her to cling to him. Instead she retreated readily, eyes dark and unreadable. When Ran finally spoke, his voice was deep, his conviction firm.

“You're not my sister.”

The girl did not flinch, nor look away. If anything her gaze grew more intense.

“No, I'm not.”

He took some pride in the fact that he simply did not crumble and fall away, and that his sudden devastation did not seem to show. Nevertheless, the girl's expression took on some semblance of pity.

“Your sister is dead, Ran. You knew that.”

Yes, he had known. He had felt her die, and it had been a knife to his heart. But to be faced with the reality of it, to have it presented as immutable fact, was more than he could possibly hope to bear.

Almost immediately the sky began to darken, accompanied by an oncoming cold. The thing masquerading as Aya-chan looked up as the heavens broke, and the rain began to fall. Undaunted, it began to speak again.

“There was nothing you could have done to save her, you know. It was her—our—fate.”

The downpour continued, and Ran wavered on his feet, but did not sink to his knees. No, he thought fiercely, he wouldn't give it the satisfaction of that.

“I'm not Aya-chan, not really. But I suppose a part of me is, and you can take comfort in that if you wish.”

The look she gave him was undoubtedly filled with pity, and he bowed his head, refusing to let the tears fall.

“She loved you Ran, never forget that. And I do too, in my own way.” Again she moved to cup his face, her hands growing warmer as he reveled in the comfort her touch afforded. He was soaked now, and the cold that had surrounded him since the explosion now stemmed from his very bones. He found even this false ease preferable to that.

“I wish…I wish that I was really Aya-chan. I can't help it, if that's what you truly want.”

The girl's voice was soft, but he heard her clearly. The meaning of her words was anything but.

Ran frowned, leaning into the warmth of her body unconsciously. “I don't understand.” She wasn't Aya, but she reminded him of her, even if only superficially. “What is this?”

The girl ignored his question, her arms lowering to her sides, leaving Ran bereft of heat once more.

“He can still reach you here.” She held his gaze, lips curling into a soft smile. “But I'll protect you, just as you protected me.”

All around them, the rain continued to fall.

Schuldig had not planned to touch the boy's mind again so soon. Truth be told, the amount of energy he had expended during his last visit had troubled him, and the idea of trekking even further into Ran's consciousness was an ordeal he had no intention of enduring so quickly. But Crawford's visit and his subsequent announcement of their impending departure from the region had jarred the telepath. Granted, he could still keep an `eye' on Ran from a considerable distance and the boy's status had little chance of changing anytime soon, but Schuldig suspected that Crawford's sudden desire to leave the area had little to do with their orders.

Picking his way through the woods, Schuldig turned his mind to equally puzzling things. He wasn't very familiar with the boy's mind as of yet, but as far as he knew Ran Fujimiya was a sheltered city boy. Why in hell would the inner depths of his psyche resemble a German forest?

It seemed to be an eternity before he emerged from the wooded area, only to be faced with another anachronism. A far-reaching shoreline came into view, the ocean dark and tumultuous. Schuldig could feel the reason for that as raindrops peppered his skin, and momentarily ignoring the strangeness of it all, he turned to find his subject.

Only to find him facing the other Fujimiya spawn, the girl's arms wrapped around her brother's waist.

Something vicious sparked to life in Schuldig, and before they could spot him, he was already beside the boy. Ran looked up from his scrutiny of Aya-chan's hair and fairly gaped at him. Unfortunately, he didn't have the time to open his mouth and warn the girl before Schuldig was upon him.

“Take a rest.”

Almost immediately the boy was slumping in the little spectre's arms, with her struggling to support his sudden dead weight. The girl glanced over one shoulder, her own eyes growing wide with alarm as she spotted the older man. After a moment of jostling Ran's body, she allowed her own knees to collapse, bringing the both of them to the ground gently.

“Why did you—”

Schuldig cut her off with an imperious wave of his hand, satisfied when the girl's mouth snapped shut. Above them the rain petered off, tapering down to a drizzle before stopping completely. There. Now he could see the sun through the clouds.

The girl was still kneeling, Ran's upper body balanced in her lap. Hesitantly, she began to comb through his hair with her fingers. A nervous habit, Schuldig guessed, though one he couldn't confirm since the subject happened to be dead.

“I should kill you, brat.” His tone was almost affectionate, belied only by his eyes. “But I can't quite do that, now can I?”

“You could,” the girl replied, her own eyes narrowing even as she continued to stroke Ran's hair gently, “but you won't. You'd risk too much.”

Schuldig glared, gaze softening as it moved to the slumbering boy. He had never experienced the loss this child had, but in some ways he could understand the threat Ran faced. His power had been difficult to master, and during his training he had come dangerously close to fracturing on more than one occasion. But Ran's Gift didn't work quite the same way his did, aside from the obvious difference in effect.

“Enough chit-chat. My employers,” he spat, “grow impatient. I'll only ask this once: what is he?”

The girl appeared startled, as her fingers stopped their endless carding through the boy's hair.

Schuldig sighed. “What is his Gift?”

Aya-chan smirked, the expression decidedly out of place. “I thought you said that you'd only ask once?”

The telepath waved his good hand impatiently. He could barely resist the urge to wrap his hands around the girl's neck and squeeze, but she was right: it was a greater risk than he could take at the moment. And until he was sure of how she and the boy were connected…

Wait.

Schuldig eyed the girl curiously, taking in her stiff posture, as well as the brittle smile on her lips. It would be easy to rip her mind apart for the answer, but in this instance he didn't think that would be prudent or indeed necessary. No, the answer lay right before his eyes, and he'd seized on it before - only to dismiss it as unlikely.

“You don't know, do you?” He was gloating, petty and immature as it may have been. Then again, he'd never been the most gracious of opponents.

Aya-chan's shoulders straightened further, though her chin drooped even lower towards her chest.

“Oh, this is rich.” Shaking his head, Schuldig gave a snort of laughter. His suspicion that the bitch wasn't really Fujimiya Aya had proven to be true, and it seemed that his assertion at their last meeting had as well. “You claimed that this,” he swept his arm in an arc to indicate their surroundings, “was as much yours as his. You weren't kidding were you?” The telepath grinned maliciously. “You're not a ghost - you're a fucking memory.”

The girl did flinch then, slumping forward until her face was buried in Ran's hair.

“A memory…a completely useless one at that. It just proves the kid isn't a telepath though, to have conjured up something as worthless as you for a companion.” Schuldig looked at the girl with something akin to disgust. “Feh, a waste of time. I should destroy you right now.”

“You won't though.” The girl's voice was soft. “It's still too much of a risk.”

Schuldig snarled, hands clenching into fists. Fuck persuasion. If the girl wanted to play hardball, he would be happy to oblige her. Ignoring the pain of his injured hand, the telepath strode forward until he was in reach of Aya, then roughly grabbed her by the arm. Ran drooped in her lap, seemingly oblivious to the girl's distressed cry, his breaths still even with undisturbed sleep.

“Don't fuck around with me, girlie.” Schuldig shook her hard, fingers jabbing into the tender flesh of her arm. “I'm tired of your games. Now, you tell me all that you know, or so help me I'll rip you apart no matter the consequences.” He released her arm, satisfied that he had made his point. “Now talk.”

“You're right - he did create me, in a way. But I've always been here, in one form or another.” Her voice grew in strength, though her head did not rise. “Aya's will was stronger than you realise, and we…” The girl faltered, then seemed to shake herself, continuing. “She ensured that I retained some of her memories.” She help up one hand, halting Schuldig's impending question. “Don't ask me why, or how. When she died, Ran was in her head…or she was in his…I can't be sure. So as much as he had a hand in it, I think she did too - even if she didn't mean to.” At this the girl's head did rise, her face flushed with something indefinable. “Listen: he can mold me, but only I can create this world. If you kill me, there'll be nothing for you to return to…”

Schuldig was silent, his smile not quite as sharp as before. So the boy's psyche *had* fractured, and this girl was the result. But had she been created as the boy has stared down at his parents' bodies, as his sister had passed from this world to the next, or sometime before? The bitch had said that she'd been around for a while after all…that implied that she had existed before the murder of the Fujimiya family. If so, when had she --?

Scheisse. Of course.

When the boy's Gift had first manifested.

He glanced at the slumbering boy, then back to the girl. Her eyes still held a spark of defiance, and Schuldig realised that the little chit thought she had won. He scowled. Despite her insistence that she was crucial to the boy's well-being, he fully planned to destroy her the second she outlived her usefulness.

“You're speaking in riddles.” He drawled, gaze hooded. “And forget what you've said; I have no qualms about throttling you.”

The girl's hands tightened into fists, resting lightly on the unaware Ran's chest. Schuldig could feel her struggling for control, and watched her carefully lest she launch some sort of attack against him…or the boy.

“Go ahead, kill me.”

`Don't tempt me.' Schuldig thought sourly, resisting the urge to skim her mind for her intentions. `But then again, there may not be a mind to tear apart, judging from the way she prattled on.'

“But know this,” the girl matched his glare, her eyes hateful, “if you destroy me, everything he knows, including this place, disappears. You'll never learn a thing, because he won't remem—” The girl hastily shut her mouth, eyes widening.

There was a moment of tense silence, during which the only noise was Ran's light breathing and the distant crash of waves against rock. The telepath drank in the girl's anxiety over what she had inadvertently revealed, and felt a bit better about this visit. Ha, he suddenly felt better about a lot of things, to tell the truth.

“Fine.”

The girl started, jaw clenching reflexively. Hmm, the level of detail really was astounding. If she was what he now believed her to be, there was no real point in having her appear as the younger Fujimiya brat. Perhaps she wasn't lying about Aya's influence on her creation; it would have functioned just as well as one of these damned fir trees. As it stood, Schuldig wouldn't be able to do much more than bide his time and hope for a slip-up, minute as it would most likely be. Until then, he would find a way to hold the kid together after her destruction became a reality. Heh, reality. As if this was anything close to the real world.

“I'll wait.” He took a few steps forward, stopping only when he towered over the girl and her sleeping burden. “The boy misses his sister, yes? He couldn't have taken your little ah, revelation, well.” Staring at her hard for another long moment, he waited for a sign of understanding before turning on his heel and making his way back to the forest. It was high time to return to the penthouse and update Crawford, in hopes of appeasing their superiors for yet another week. It wouldn't do for the higher ups to act too hastily.

As much as she hated to admit it, Schuldig was right. It would be better, for all involved really, if Ran simply forgot their conversation before the older man had re-entered the picture.

Somehow it sounded more like an excuse than anything else. For the moment though, it couldn't be helped.

Aya frowned, splaying her hands on the crown of Ran's head, body tight with concentration…and guilt. Realistically, she shouldn't have been able to feel such an emotion, but she hadn't lied when she'd told Schuldig about Aya-chan's influence. Even now a sense of sisterly concern struggled to the foreground, and for a moment she entertained the thought of letting the boy stay privy to her true nature, and hopefully able to better contend with Schuldig's manipulations. The moment passed, and she pressed her hands resolutely to his head again, lips pursed. It literally hurt to do this but…

The girl calmly pulled her hands away from Ran, moving them to rest upon her own chest. It wouldn't spare him any pain, but it felt less like a direct manipulation on her part. Closing her eyes, she went still, grimacing slightly as the memory was revealed and then - there, it was gone.

Exhausted, she considered simply curling up beside Ran and falling asleep, but decided against it. It wasn't as though she actually needed rest, she thought bitterly, but then again, neither did he. Not here. Coming to a decision, she gently shook the boy's shoulder, patting at his cheek with a cool hand when he didn't stir.

“Ran? Ran? Nii-san, it's time to wake up.”

The redhead shifted in her lap, his features tight with exhaustion. After a moment he sat up, blinking slowly, then scrubbed at his face with his palm.

“Ah, Aya? I'm sorry - I don't know what came over me.”

Aya smiled beatifically, though it felt as though her face would crack from the strain. “Don't worry about it nii-san…you needed the rest.”

“Hn.” Ran ran his fingers through his hair, frowning as he took in their surroundings. “What is this place?”

Ah, it seemed he would no longer recognise the landscape. She shrugged inwardly; it was of little consequence, a memory perhaps left buried as it spoke of happier times. Ignoring the deep ache in her chest, an aftereffect of her recent actions, Aya clambered to her feet, holding out a hand to help Ran rise as well. After a moment of hesitation he accepted, standing with a wince and a sheepish smile.

“I've never seen anything like it.” Ran murmured.

Startled, Aya followed the direction of his gaze up to the sky. Above them, the clouds moved in an endless spectrum of light. The deeper, longer bands were tinged with a familiar shade of ocher, and the girl's eyes narrowed in contemplation.

“What do you think it is, Aya-chan?”

“I'm not quite sure.” She replied. “It's pretty though, isn't it?”

Notes: Hmm, I should probably clarify a few things, albeit briefly. While no one has asked, and I doubt that it could be sufficiently gathered from what has been written thus far, I have a certain amount of disdain for fanon Schuldig; namely his “past” as an abused child or a former whore. There is no evidence for either in the manga or anime and as such, will not appear here (of course, there's no evidence of homo- or bisexuality either…unless you count Tokyo Sling). I will say this though: I'm picking and choosing from both incarnations of Schuldig. The fact that he is confirmed to be German is from the manga, his hair and eye colour are from the anime, as is his general temperament. Feel free to ask me to elabourate further if necessary!