Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ In The End- Anfang ❯ Dreams ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter 1: Dreams

Blue and amethyst eyes regarded each other cooly over the chess board. The teenagers were booth utterly bored as the time had gone by. "Oniisan," the young woman said almost secretly. "I don't like this place," she said as she moved her bishop.

Her older brother glanced around their father's office with a frown. "I know Aya. But for now this is all we have," he said in a soft spoken alto. He countered her move with his rook. "How is you new job working out?"

Aya's lovely blue eyes lowered. "It's something I'd rather not talk about here."

"Aya, I wish you would tell me what you've been doing," he said lowly. "I can see that hiding everything is tearing you apart."

She looked at her brother with a small smile. "I'll be fine Ran. As long as you get better, that's all that matters."

Ran frowned at her. That statement was starting to become her mantra. He reached over the chessboard and touched her hand. "Nothing is worth your pride Aya-chan," he said seriously.

Her eyes started to fill with tears as she looked at him. "You are," she said standing up. "I have to go now, and I don't know when I'll be back."

He stood as well. "I want you to promise me you'll be careful," he told her. Ran's eyes held Aya's for a moment. He hated knowing that he couldn't protect her. That the only place they can meet and talk was in his mind, in a recreation of their father's office.

She nodded and released his hand. "I will Ran," she whispered closing her eyes and vanishing from his site. Aya felt a tear slide down her cheek as a rhythmic beeping reached her ears. She looked around and saw that once again she was sitting in her brother's hospital room. She leaned forward and ran her fingers through his deep red hair. "I'll do anything for you Ran," she whispered before kissing his forehead. "You're all I have left."

"You've said your goodbyes?" a deep voice asked from the door. He watched the sixteen year old as she placed one of her gold earrings in the comatose man's hand. As she straightened, he saw the light in her eyes slowly fade. "Aya, you have my word, we'll take care of Ran."

"I've already agreed to work for you, Persia.You don't have to continue dangling the carrot in front of me," she said in a soft, cold voice.

Indigo eyes lowered as Aya walked out of the hospital room. Things had gone so out of control the past few months. Just days after he was promoted to his current rank of Deputy-Commishner, his best friends were killed, their oldest child in a coma, and their youngest child was slowly turning into a shadow of herself. As the months rolled on, Shuuichi Takatori had realized that as long as she was alive, Aya would want nothing but revenge for her family. That was why he posed the question. It was both Ran and Aya's birthright as the children of two of the best agents Kritiker ever had.

So he asked Aya if she wanted to join Kritiker. She would train and become an operative, while the organization paid for Ran's care. It wasn't a fair arrangement, but he would make sure she would have as much leeway as he could give her.

Aya lowered her eyes to the floor as Shuuichi joined her at the elevator. "Did they say how long I'll be away?" she asked in a whisper.

"A year. But you'll be able to come and see Ran on the holidays," Shuuichi told her. He Knew she wouldn't react well to not seeing her brother at all, so the first thing he did was to make sure Aya was allowed to see her brother every few months.

She frowned as she thought. There was no turning back now. Ran's bills needed to be paid, and their families fortune was seized by the government. "Maybe working for Kritiker won't be so bad,"she thought as she closed her eyes.

In an instant, Aya saw a series of flashes in her mind. She stood, covered in blood, among a sea of corpses. Just behind her, a tall man with blond hair easily lit a cigarette and made his way over to her side. Then off to the left, she saw the image of two other men covered in the shadow of a white cross. She opened her eyes and saw the curious look on Shuuichi's face.

"Are you sure you want to keep your powers a secret?" he asked in a whisper. He took a breath when hard sapphire eyes glared at him.

"Don't ever mention them. Ran and I won't be used as fortune tellers for you or anyone else." Aya continued to glare at Shuuichi until he reluctantly nodded. Without a word, Aya turned and called for the elevator.

Shuuichi wanted to reach out and run his fingers through her hair, but knew the act wasn't welcome. "There is a car waiting for you downstairs. It will take you out to the training site."

Aya's eyes turned down the hall to her brother's room one final time. "Since I can't visit him, can you put roses in his room?" she asked quietly. She looked into Shuuichi's eyes with more sadness and regret than any other sixteen year old should. "He likes the red ones."

When the elevator doors opened, Shuuichi nodded. "Of course. And don't worry, I'll let you know of any change," he told her.

She nodded as she stepped onto the elevator. Aya looked at Shuuichi one final time as the doors closed. Her eyes widened as darkness filled the elevator.

"That's how it all started, isn't it Kitten?" a voice asked in the darkness. Aya looked around wildly, trying to find the speaker, to no avail. "You sold your soul to a devil, and now must suffer the consequences."

"Who's there?" Aya called out to the accented voice. A gasp escaped her when strong arms wrapped around her body.

"You know the answer to that," the voice whispered into her ear. "Or do you want me to refresh your memory."

Tears quickly filled Aya's eyes when the darkness lightened and she stood on a street corner. The man holding her grinned as an image of Ran crossed the street. "I don't want to see this," she whispered.

Ran turned to the direction he had come from and frowned. "Aya, father won't be happy if we're late," he called.

"But you have to watch this Kitten," the redhead holding Aya taunted. "In order to understand where you are, you have to remember the journey it took to get there."

"Ran, get away from there," Aya whimpered as her tears spilled down her cheeks. Without thinking, she leaned heavily on the one holding her.

"... two... one."

The building Ran was walking to suddenly exploded. Aya could only watch as her brother was thrown away from the blast and was struck by various pieces of debris. She closed her eyes and hung her head when she heard herself scream. "Why do I have to watch this?" she asked. "I know what happened."

"Do you really?" he asked in turn. He moved her around and looked into her eyes. "You know that you ultimately fucked fate in a way not even Oracle has dared?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Aya spat as she struggled in his grip. She stilled when she heard a familiar and hated beeping sound. Aya looked to her side and saw Ran lying in his hospital bed. Her eyes hardened when she saw the tall German moving away from her and to Ran's side. "Stay away from him, she ordered.

Jade green eyes were amused as he looked at her. "What will you do? Kill me?" he taunted. "If you kill me, you become me. And while you started on the correct path, you aren't ready to fill my shoes, yet." He saw Aya slowly shake her head and pulled her close to him. "You, my dear, need to stop living in denial," he said in a playful tone.

"Leave me alone," she growled as he ran his fingers through her hair. "You don't know anything about me." Aya felt the air in her lungs leave her as she was pinned against a stone wall.

"You're a precog. Like Oracle. You have the gift to see things that haven't happened, and you can play with fate by changing things to suit your needs," he said pressing close to her.

Aya could feel herself trembling as his lips brushed against her ear. "I've never done anything of the sort."

"Lair," he said in an amused tone. "Why do you think your dear Oniisan is in a coma?" His eyebrows arched when the scene changed. He and Aya were back on the street corner, but now a version of Aya was cradling Ran's bloody body close to her own. In the distance, he could also see images of his teammates in the near shadows, and he himself was walking over to the siblings.

"You and your friends are why Ran was hurt," Aya said as she struggled to be freed. She was now older than she appeared in the memories. Her eyes were harder as she tried to break out of the foreigner's grasp. A growl escaped her as he leaned in close again.

He brushed his lips against the soft skin of her neck and smiled inwardly. He was right on that night two years ago. She was more fun to play with now that she had a better understanding of her powers, but there was still one fact that she had blinded herself to, until now. "Why can't you make yourself see Kitten, it was fate. Reiji Takatori ordering Schwarz to blow the bank your parents ran. Every last bit of that day. That was until you had a vision and didn't want to go to your father's office. One of the Fujimiya children would end up in a coma. That was supposed to be you. But selfishly you stayed back, while poor Ran went on, oblivious."

"I tried to stop him," Aya said as tears started to cloud her vision again. "But no matter what I said, he kept walking."

The German's lips were centimeters from hers. "And no matter how hard you tried, you didn't stop him. You're still here, while Ran has to live in a room in his mind. He can only see glimpses of the past, while you get both the present and the future."

"Shut up," Aya whispered in despair. "Just shut up and leave me alone."

He gently wiped away the few tears that had fallen and kissed her. He couldn't stop the smile that crossed his face as she gave into him. When he pulled away from her, he could see the turmoil he would be leaving behind. "I'll go for tonight, Kitten," he said as everything around them started to fade. "But think about what I said. You'll see we're more alike than you think."

Aya wrapped her arms around herself as even he started to fade. "What do I call you?" she asked in a whisper.

"Schuldig," he said with a smirk. When her eyes widened, his smirk grew. "See, I told you we're alike."

Blue eyes snapped open as the sun started to rise. Aya started to sit up, but hissed when when her left arm and leg protested any movement. Gritting her teeth together, Aya forced herself to sit up and look around the room. She was about to move from the bed when she saw a figure in the shadowed corner of her room.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" the shadowed woman asked.

Aya carefully held back a growl. "No. Takatori doesn't have any ties to that research center. His men, however, are another matter."

The tall brunette nodded as she went to Aya's computer desk. "The team called Schwarz, right?" she asked. When Aya nodded, she sat. "They answer to an organization called Esset."

"Much like other teams do to Kritiker," Aya mumbled as se found the strength to get out of her bed.

Brown eyes stayed focused on the younger woman. "Yes. But are you sure you don't want to be checked into the hospital?" she asked noticing the limp Aya now had.

Aya's eyes narrowed as she looked at her reflection. "I'll be fine," she said with a glare. She looked at the woman sitting at her desk and fought down another growl. She hated it when everyone tried to coddle her and shield her from everything. "Why are you here Birman?" she asked at last.

The Kritiker agent ignored the ice in Aya's voice. "What happened tonight Rook?" she asked plainly.

"Knight and I went to investigate the Harahoi Research center. Somehow, they knew we were coming. We were pinned down and out numbered. I fought back and killed a number of attacking guards."

Birman's head lowered. "When were you shot?" she asked.

"I found an opening for us to escape. En route, Schwarz showed up and tried to stop us. I was shot in both my arm and leg." Aya then tuned and gave Birman a meaningful look. "Upon returning here, Knight patched me up."

"You're lucky you were able to escape at all. Not many can say they've faced Schwarz and lived," Birman said easily. She kept her eyes locked with Aya's. "But Crashers has no need for a killer. No matter how justified." She saw the dangerous glint in sapphire eyes and stood. "You have until noon to be cleared out. After that, we'll see what will be done with you."

Aya nodded as Birman left the room. She knew what she wasn't being told. Crashers had no need for her, therefore, Kritiker had no need for her; and this organization didn't keep useless things. Aya carefully made her way over to her closet and picked up a black backpack. She didn't care about what they were going to do to her. She just wanted to reach him before anything happened.

"Going somewhere?" a male's tenor asked from the door.

Aya was careful about sliding her arm into her purple sweater. "Crashers has no need for a killer," she said coldly. "So I have to be gone by noon."

Her teammate leaned against the door frame as she shoved a couple of shirts and pants into her bag. He crossed his arms when she pulled out two handguns from under her mattress. "You're going to the hospital, aren't you?" he asked quietly. When she didn't answer him, he sighed. "Aya, don't you think that's the first place they'll look for you?" Silence still answered him. He walked over to her and saw how she was still favoring her leg and growled. Without thinking, he grabbed her good arm and started to shake her roughly. "Damn it Aya! No one is worth this!" he yelled at her. When he saw the dead look in her eyes, he released her. "Tell me something," he pleaded. His golden eyes narrowed as she zipped her bag closed. "Why? Why are you doing this for him? I know he's family, but this... this goes way beyond."

She lifted her bag onto her good arm and looked at him. She hated having to answer him, but knew she couldn't leave things like this. "I do this for him, because I know he'd do the same for me," she said before going to the door. "Do me a favor, tell the others I said goodbye,Yuushi."

He stood watching Aya as she carefully limped out of the room. There wasn't anything he could do to stop her, especially with Kritiker deciding to step in. His eyes closed as he heard the front door of the safehouse open. "Goodbye, Aya," he whispered as it shut, sending Aya off for whatever Fate had in store for her.