Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Gilded Cage ❯ Chapter 4
Ran finds it hard to accept the truth.
Anime/Manga: Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 10.12.2002 | Pages: 1 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 489 | Status: Completed
DISCLAIMER: Kyoko Tsuchiya and Project Weiß hold the copyright over all names, likeness and rights of Weiß kreuz. All these characters and materials are used without permission, and I'm not profiting from this piece of fan fiction.
Gilded Cage
Part 4 - Broken Chains
By Jacque Koh
May 2002
@>;-'-
Ran carefully slid his whetstone over the blade, taking comfort in this familiar activity of sword maintenance. He used to do this once a night when he was with Weiß, whether or not his sword was in need of sharpening. It was a relaxing activity and routine enough to distract him from the reality that was his life. Despite not having done this for almost nine months, he found that he lost none of his touch.
He truthfully had not expected to ever see this sword, which he named Shion after his former Master, ever again. Weiß had returned Shion to him without question after Nagi handed it over when he joined them at the mountain cabin. The telekinetic had claimed that it had been kept under lock and key in Brad's closet. It had never occurred to Ran to ask either Brad or Schu if Schwarz kept it after they picked him up.
Ran slid his sword back into its sheath and placed it at the head of his bed. As he regarded it, he found himself thinking of how Kudou had so readily given it to him. It made him wonder why the man did not consider that he might try to use the sword to avenge the death of one of his lovers.
Thinking of that, he wondered if Brad or Schuldig would have returned it just as unhesitatingly if he had asked. A month ago, he would have easily said 'yes'. Now he was unsure if it was misplaced trust. With Nagi and Jei backing up Weiß's claims as well, Ran's life was thrown in turmoil to understand what had been done to him. He couldn't-- didn't want to believe them.
Ran closed his eyes, willing the tears away as he piled his pillows over the sword. His thoughts were still in chaos as he turned to look around his room; taking in the familiar writing desk and chair, and the shadows cast by the moonlight streaming though the clear glass of his window. It may have been over a year since he last stayed at the cabin in the mountains, but he'd never forget his old room for the calm and relaxation he enjoyed there. Being here did much to alleviate the stress he currently felt.
Still he was... 'blank'. That was the only way Ran could describe it. He felt empty and confused. Everything had happened around him so fast-- Two weeks may have passed since that-- bloody night, but he was still in shock.
A part of him wished that it were a horrible dream that he would soon awaken from. However, the details of the night Weiß 'retrieved' him were too vivid. Ran could still imagine smelling the blood that had spurt all over him and on the bed after Kudou...
It was a mistake. It was all a terrible, terrible mistake. Weiß... He now realised that they-- *did* care about him. He had been away from them for over eight months and he was amazed that they had spent all that time searching for him. They thought Schwarz were holding him against his will, but it couldn't be further from the truth. It wasn't like he had been kept in shackles or locked up. Ran insisted that he could have left at any time. He didn't have to stay with Schwarz. He was allowed to come and go freely. Brad and Schu guarded or accompanied him if they felt he might need to be protected when he went out, but he had the freedom to move about. He *wasn't* a prisoner.
To be fair, if that was the assumption Weiß had, Ran could understand why Balinese acted as he did. Brad and Schu had been rather fervent with the whip and riding crop that night. They could not have been presented in a worse light when Weiß burst into at the hotel suite. The white hunters had looked upon an enormously incriminating scene with Schuldig sexually sated and relaxed on the divan; Brad energetically fucking his torn and bleeding asshole, while he lay chained and gagged to the bed; His body covered in flowering bruises and liberally crisscrossed with red and bleeding welts; And the expression on his tear streaked face twisted with pain... Ran could understand why Weiß jumped to the conclusion that he was being brutally raped.
A shudder ran through his frame as he remembered that interrupted session. Ran had deeply regretted suggesting a gag in their games. He had thought it safe as Schuldig could have read his mind and known if he was in distress. However, he never considered a situation where the telepath might have been too tired to spare the effort to listen in on him. He had been surprised when Schuldig took the first round to top him, and when he was done and it was Brad's turn... Brad was quite a bit larger than Schu, and despite the additional lubrication offered by Schuldig's orgasm the American had torn into him. The agony of Brad's vigorous fucking almost made him pass out. Unable to plead with his lover to be gentler with the gag on, he had wished desperately for something to stop the man. He truly never expected or wanted his wish to be fulfilled so-- bloodily.
At the least, Brad hadn't suffered. Ran had a great deal of respect for Kudou's weapon of choice. The Garrotte was not a weapon that Ran was particularly comfortable with. In the short time he had trained in its use, he had come to appreciate the strength of the man who would wield it. He was not sure he had the stomach to listen as his victim died of asphyxiation while he held the wire taut. There was also another way to kill with it that Kudou had turned into an art form. Ran just could not imagine how Balinese so easily sent the wires flying out to slice his intended target into pieces. One of the first times he witnessed this display of skill was on the mission against a 'doll-maker' who used real children to create his life like dolls. Kudo did the same to Brad as the man towered over him. Ran was never going to forget witnessing his lover decapitated before his eyes and having the body, still balls deep within him, fall upon him to pin him to the bed.
His fright to have a suddenly headless corpse spurting blood over him was enough to make him forget the agony he had been subjected to. He was quite unaware of Schuldig's departure though he had felt the impact of the bullets in their dead lover's body as the German tried to shoot him. If he thought about it, Ran could imagine that Schuldig was perhaps thinking to give him a quick death instead of letting Weiß capture him. Pain, blood loss, and shock quickly took their toll and mercifully sent him into unconsciousness before Weiß could approach him.
After that, it had all been a blur to him. All he could think of was that Brad was dead. It seemed unbelievable that the man's gift of foresight had failed him in this instance. He-- Ran felt the weight of guilt upon him. Was it his fault? Was he such a distraction for Brad that he overlooked a vision?
It never occurred to Ran to blame Nagi for betraying them. The boy had always been uncomfortable about their relationship and Ran couldn't fault him for his concern. Then there were also his unrelenting efforts to seek treatment for Jei that the pair did not believe was necessary. Ran knew that Nagi had the conviction that he was doing the right thing because he cared about him and Jei. That seemed clear enough to Ran when he accidentally witnessed the quiet exchange between Hidaka and Nagi after they had settled down in the cabin.
He distinctly remembered the mission with the church where Weiß's target had been a nun who sent her orphan charges out as assassins. She had been the same woman who Hidaka knew and loved from the orphanage. She died on Siberian's bugnucks for her proven crimes as exposed by Kritiker. Nagi had been angry at Hidaka then for killing someone who he cared for too, despite the reasons. Now, however, with this new perspective of having betrayed the ones who took him off the streets, Nagi had told Hidaka that he understood. The boy had settled in very well after that.
Ran had to admit that being with Weiß was good for Nagi. He had come alive and laughed more freely and joyously then Ran ever remembered in the time they stayed together. In the two weeks they had lived at the cabin, he had watched as Nagi, Omi and Ken played in the snow and sometimes engaged in snowball fights outside his window. Ran's pale lips pulled into a small smile of amusement to remember a scene of the telekinetic carrying a good load of snow in front of him with his powers and chasing the laughing pair who were trying to avoid being buried.
Then there was also Jei. Ran would be the first to admit that he was uncomfortable with the Irishman, but he meant him no ill will. From what Nagi told him, Crawford had refused to engage any medical aid for the man because Schwarz wanted to use his berserker capabilities in battle. Now freed from Schwarz, Jei could finally availed of the medical aid he required through Kritiker's generosity. Nagi had been thrilled to tell Weiß that Jei was responding well to the treatments and would at some future point like to meet them when his doctors deemed him sane enough to have more company. Their response had been understandably lukewarm. Tsukiyono was especially distant about accepting the Jei since he remembered all too well how the Irishman murdered his cousin. Nevertheless, Ran did sense that Weiß were curious to meet with a sane Farfarello who did not 'hate God'.
It gave Ran a lot to think about to know that Nagi and Jei believed Brad and Schuldig were abusing him, and that they thought they needed to put a stop to it. But it wasn't true, was it? Why did they waste so much time and effort nursing him back to health if they didn't care about him? If he was just a-- a toy to be used and abused, why did they bother to create an identity for him and let him take classes at the university? Why did they take him to the movies or-- to the cherry blossom festival with its crowds of people? Schuldig hated crowds because of the shields he had to erect to protect his mind from the mental assault. Why did he endure the nuisance of the additional shielding if he hadn't cared?
Ran thought that Brad and Schu really did love him... didn't they? Everything they did for him wasn't some-- after thought. Or-- was it like Nagi and Weiß insisted and it was manipulation. Was everything just-- need-driven then? Like the university course... Despite his able handling of basic bookkeeping and general administration, which he had learned under his father's wing, Ran really wasn't all that keen to take up a degree in business. Brad had persuaded him that it was a practical course for the future. He had complied with the arguments as they did make sense, but it wasn't his area of interest.
And there was Weiß... In spite of everything he had believed-- After all that he had been told-- it stunned him to learn that they cared and worried about him all through his long absence. At first he had thought the anger they displayed around him was due to their feelings of betrayal that Ran had voluntarily stayed with Schwarz. But later, he understood that the fury they unconsciously displayed when they regarded him was not directed at him. It was the sight of the amount of weal scars, fresh wounds and bruises, new and old, which covered his body that invoked these feelings. He could sense that his injuries were inciting in them a smothering bloodlust for the escaped Schuldig's hide.
His hand unconsciously moved to rub absently at the healed cuts on his wrists caused by the handcuffs they had used on him that fateful night. He hadn't thought his injuries had been quite as bad as Weiß made them out to be. The doctors seemed to think that he was anaemic from blood loss, but it was ridiculous. He had always been pale; More so now since he had spent less time out in the sun and in the open for fear of discovery by Kritiker or Schwarz's enemies. It wasn't like they regularly broke his ribs or made him bleed all that bad. It-- wasn't like bruises took all that long to heal...
Brad and Schu-- He didn't want to believe Weiß or Nagi. He wasn't so pathetic as to have fallen in love with his abusers. He knew they did love him. They-- just enjoyed a type of rough S&M love. There *wasn't* anything wrong with that. He had been happy with them. Wasn't that enough... He-- wasn't-- He wasn't-- They did...
Ran bit his lip hard drawing blood as he tried to distract himself with pain and derail his train of thought. His hands moved up to hug his arms as he lay on his bed in wretched confusion. He almost didn't notice his window being open, though the cold breeze that entered his room quickly drew his attention to the intruder.
"Schu?"
The German looked awful as he painfully pulled himself into the room. Ran leaped off his bed in alarm to approach him. Despite the cold outside, the man was sweating and his eyes looked fevered. Ran looked immediately at the bloodied bandage, which was wrapped around Schuldig's left arm. He remembered then that Tsukiyono mentioned having managed to shoot the man while he had been slowed down because he was sluggish from sexual satiation.
Ran felt the weight of guilt crush him again. Schuldig was fast. He normally would have no problem avoiding Bombay's crossbow bolts. This-- was his fault too...
He started to reach for his lover's injured arm. "Let-- let me take care of that."
"Don't touch me!" The German's knuckles impacted against Ran's cheek hard, throwing him back onto the bed.
"Schu?" Ran shakily pushed himself up from his pile of pillows to stared at him in surprise and shock. In all the time they had been together, they had never tried to injure his face. They'd rip into his arms and body easily, but they loved his face and didn't want to ever see it marred by bruises or cuts.
"Don't you, 'Schu' me, slut." Schuldig snarled at him as he stalked into the room. "He's dead! He's dead because of you!"
"I-- Brad--" A gun fired. Ran felt the wind of a bullet whiz past his face as it embedded itself into the headboard. For the first time, he noticed the gun that was clutched in Schuldig's right fist as it was pointed at him.
"*You* have no right to use that name, Kätzchen. You were never what I was to him and *I* still had to call him 'Crawford'!"
"Schuldig? You-- you're not well-- fevered..." Ran cringed to hear him snarl the familiar 'Kätzchen' like it was a sneer. "You-- don't know what you're saying. Weiß-- It-- it was all a mistake--"
"Ja, it was a mistake to keep you. We should have dumped you the moment you got sick, but Brad saw something in holding onto you." Schuldig growled as he waved his gun at Ran. "He said it would be interesting entertainment for us and that it wouldn't be too hard to train you."
"Train--?" One of Ran's hands moved to gingerly touch his reddening cheek. He was experienced enough about receiving 'love taps' to know that it was going to bruise horribly later.
"Ja, what did you think?" The German stood close enough that even though he was wavering on his feet, he couldn't have missed hitting Ran at that point-blank range. "All it took were a few sweet words and a kind touch every now and then--"
At that moment, they both heard the pounding on Ran's locked door. They could hear Youji yelling outside. "Ran?! What's happening in there? Ran?!"
"It-- was just-- you were only--" Ran's mind went blank as he stared at his former lover.
"Did you think it was love?" Schuldig sneered at him ignoring the commotion outside.
"You-- were just using me..." Ran's hand slid under one of his pillows.
"You were nothing to us!" The fever mad German thundered as his body blocked the moonlight and his shadow loomed over the shattered man. "He was my heart! And he's dead-- Because. Of. You!"
So engrossed were they in each other that neither man had paid much attention to the shaking door and the shouts from outside. Then the door finally burst open under Nagi's telekinetic shove.
For a split second, Schuldig's attention faltered. In that instance, Ran rose to his feet on the bed and the sword that he had named Shion slid easily and swiftly out of its sheath into a shining arc.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Schuldig felt his gun kickback into his hand. The German's eyes shifted from looking at the red blossoming on the man's pyjamas top to seek out the other redhead's face. Ran's expression of grim determination was one that he knew all too well from when they met on the field as enemies. Schuldig may have been a telepath, but he had no warning at all of the Weiß redhead's intensions, neither could he read anything in the man's mind right now. No hate, no anger, no sadness...
Even as he felt the recoil of the gun in his hand again, the German knew that he was looking upon his death. The sword continued in its unwavering arc as the man appeared seemingly unaware of his being shot. Schuldig now understood Crawford's respect for Abyssinian's clear and intense mission focus, which made him a formidable assassin.
Before the blade connected, the German consoled himself with the thought that Ran would surely be following him shortly. Perhaps he and Crawford could greet their little sex toy together in the netherworld.
~tbc~
@>;~'~ @>;~'~ @>;~'~ @>;~'~ @>;~'~ @>;~'~ @>;~'~ @>;~'~
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