Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Like Winter In July ❯ Dreaming Of You ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: Weiss belongs to that really lucky man in Japan, which…obviously isn't me! *whimpers*

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` These are Thoughts '

" These are Spoken "

(( This is Schu. ))

Schu: WOOHOO!! GO ME! ^___^

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Isa: Ok, here we are…chapter two of this very OOC kinda…ok VERY A/U story. So far I have gotten a wonderful reaction to it when makes me happy! ^____^

Schu: It's because I am in it, they all love ME!

Isa: O_o Ahhh….

Schu: IT'S ME!! ME ME ME ME!!!!

Isa: ….

Schu: Read the story, I'm in it!!!

Isa: Anyway, I want to thank everyone who's supporting me lately, letting me bounce ideas off of them and just generally telling me I'm doing a good job! Means a lot to me, so thank you…and you know whom you are! *grins*

Schu: It's ME!!!!

Isa: ……he's just a bit excited about this. Enjoy the story and please review. Thank you.

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A million roads, a million fears

A million suns, ten million years of uncertainty

I could speak a million lies, a million songs,

A million rights, a million wrongs in this balance of time

But if there was a single truth, a single light

A single thought, a singular touch of grace

Then following this single point, this single flame,

This single haunted memory of your face

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-RECOLLECTION-

Yohji leaned back into his chair, smiling over at the young blond across from him. "Now that was a good meal, both of you! I know who's gonna be cooking dinner from now on." The youngest members of Weiss looked at one another, shaking their heads.

"We will all be taking turns with things like that." Omi replied. "There are six of us, the way I look at it is each one of us will be responsible for a meal a day. I don't care what you decide to do, cooking, ordering out, as long as you fulfill your obligation." He looked around the table, seeing if anyone disagreed.

Ran looked up, violet eyes falling on the young blond assassin. "Perhaps, we should wait till our final member decides to show up before making decisions?"

"I agree!" Everyone looked towards the speaker; Yohji could only grin. "What? Maybe he's a slack ass like me? Anyway, we shouldn't leave anyone out of our little bonding ceremony."

"What does he look like?" Callan looked over at his redheaded companion, wondering why Ran would be asking that question. The younger man simply glared back before looking at Omi once again. He knew he didn't have to explain himself, but better that, then having the German tease him all night. "I feel like I have heard of him before, I'm trying to remember."

"Oh!" His brow furrowed as the blond tried to remember everything in the file. "Ken Hidaka is nineteen years old with brown hair and eyes, stands about five foot six I believe? He was supposedly a really good soccer player, but Kritiker took him from his family. As far as I can tell he hasn't been active with any assassin teams for about a year. Hanae said that he's been living in a little place near the Ise Shrine for a while now."

The silent redhead nodded, eyes narrowing slightly. "Interesting…"

The four men looked at him as e said that, then Callan just laughed. "Ignore Ran, he finds everything interesting." Omi just glanced from Ran to the German then back again before letting it go.

"It's a shame he missed the meal." Omi nodded, agreeing with Nagi. "I wonder where he is, didn't you say all of us would be here today because the informant comes tomorrow?"

"Yes, that is what Hanae told me."

The fire haired German just shrugged. "Maybe he decided we weren't worth his time? What did you say he was again, like an Oracle?" Suddenly, Callan began to laugh. "Maybe he saw what a fucked up group we were and figured he was better off."

"Maybe he saw his untimely demise if he got too involved with us?" Yohji said, grinning at the man beside him.

Ran sighed as the two men continued to babble. `Those two men are getting along a little too well.' He thought, purple hues falling on his long time companion. `Maybe Callan finally found someone he can be with?' Yohji's laughing pulled the redhead from his thoughts.

"Or maybe he saw you dragging him off to some club, then decided that it wasn't worth it!" By this time both men were snickering, amusing themselves with their playful banter. Nagi shook his head while Omi just smiled at the two jokers. Ran chose to say nothing as he stared out the window, no emotion hinting at what he thought of the two men`s banter.

"Maybe it was because traffic was bad," The men looked up at the person now standing in the doorway. "We were having problems finding the place as well." Pulling off his glasses, the stranger looked at the five that occupied the table. "I should have foreseen the problem, but my gift doesn't always tell me everything."

Blue eyes narrowed slightly as he stood. "Who are you?"

"My name is Brad, Brad Crawford." He replied, putting his glasses back on. "Hanae asked me to bring Ken here for your…team." No one said anything for a moment, then the dark haired American smiled slightly. "Oh, you may want to tell your boys here that Ken isn't an Oracle, he is a Dream Seer."

"There is a difference?"

Ran glared at the German, it was obvious he felt the German should know better that that. "You really are an idiot, aren't you?"

"I knew you loved me, Princess!" Sighing, violet eyes closed at that ridiculous remark. The American eyed the other foreigner in the room, he was about to speak when another voice broke his concentration.

"The difference between a Oracle and a Dream Seer…" Everyone's attention was suddenly on the man who had just entered.

~

-THE SEER-

That singular voice made Ran look up, feeling as if he should know it from somewhere. A shorter Japanese man now stood beside the American, his eyes glancing over the other people who occupied the small room. `That is him? But…why do I…' The man's thoughts were cut off as he began to look the younger assassin over. He was tanned and well built, the redhead figured Ken was slightly shorter than himself. Dark eyes looked out from under equally dark hair, both reminding him of a rich chocolate. For a moment their eyes locked, as a flash of familiarity passing between them. `Do I know him?'

Ken couldn't help but blush slightly at the way the pale redhead was looking at him. Dark eyes closed as he breathed out, trying to regain his thought process. "I am a Dream Seer, we see flashes of things, past, present, future. Sometimes it's clear, sometimes it's purely symbolism and we have to figure it out. People's dreams don't always make complete sense, so most times it's like putting together a puzzle. An Oracle, on the other hand, has visions and sees flashes of the future."

"I figured there was a difference!" Ken's eyes fell on the blond who was now standing, a huge grin in his face. "So you are Ken Hidaka?" He nodded. "Wonderful! We had made dinner, waited for you as long as we could. We got kinda hungry and…"

Finally, the brunette smiled, his whole demeanor seemed to change with that one expression. "Don't worry, I would have never expected you to wait for me. Brad and I stopped and got something to eat, figured we would be really late." Setting down the bag he was holding, Ken took a few steps towards the group. " I haven't been to Tokyo in such a long time!" Letting out a slight laugh, he ran a tanned hand though his hair. "Guess I forgot my way around a bit, somehow we ended up in Downtown Tokyo!"

Yohji stood as he held out his hand to the final member of their team, a smile on his face. "Well we are glad you finally got here!" Ken accepted the hand, pulling away a moment later. "So do you like to club? How about drinking?"

"You go right for the important questions, don't you?"

The longhaired brunette turned, grinning at the German. "You know it!" Looking back at Ken, he arched a brow. "So?"

"Huh? Oh, no…I'm not much of a party person. I-I like sports, reading, oh and riding my bike. Nothing really exciting, guess my job is more than enough to satisfy that part of me!"

Omi breathed out in relief. "Wonderful, I think having two partiers is more than enough for any team!"

"No way!" Callan replied, stretching back in the chair. "The more the merrier, maybe we can drag you and Nagi out with us?

The youngest Weiss frowned. "Never."

"Yeah really Callan, not everyone likes clubs!"

"As if you would know, you two are still a bit underage aren't you?"

He could hear the two men laughing as the sound around him seemed to blur. `No, not right now…not like this? Why am I being pulled in now, what do you want to tell me?' Chocolate eyes widened as his head turned slightly, eyes falling on a mirror in the living room. So wrapped up in the sensations of an oncoming dream, Ken never realized that the people around him had fallen silent.

`Ken? Come see me…come see what I see.'

"Hey Ken?"

Brad shook his head, looking down at the tanned assassin. "He's not going to respond, Ken's been pulled into a dream."

"But I thought Dream Seer's had to be asleep to walk though dreams?" Nagi asked, seeing the American look up at him.

For a moment Brad said nothing, then sighed. "There are a few different types of Dream Seers. Some have their gift under total control, go where they what to go when they want to go there. Some, they have to wait till they are asleep and only then can they walk in the dream worlds. Some of the gifted can control what they see, how long they see it and when they see it."

The blond nodded. "Some gifted can't, they are pawns to their own gifts. The gift controls them more than they control it?" Pulling off his glasses, golden-brown eyes met his own blue and the stranger nodded. "So what is Ken then?"

"He is a pawn." Was the reply he received. "Ken can control his gift, go in and out of dreams whenever he feels like it. Asleep, awake, it doesn't matter to him. But there are times when he is dragged into dreams without his consent. He calls them his waking dreams, they speak to him and show him flashes of the future and the future alone."

Ran could only stare at the man as he stood there, submissive to what he was being shown. `He is so much like me, not able to control what he sees and what he doesn't. That's why I hate to be touched, when I touch someone I sense all of their emotions and I can't block it.' Momentary sympathy flashed across his features, knowing very well how it felt to be a slave to your own gift. `I wish I could help you…'

~

-WHAT DREAMS MAY COME-

He didn't know why the dream had chosen then to consume his mind, but he knew he couldn't stop it. Breathing out, he walked towards the mirror while, somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered. He wondered what his new teammates would think when they saw him like this, would they reject him, decide they didn't want him here? As much as he wanted to run away from people, he wanted to be loved by them as well. `But for now, this dream…only this dream.' A tanned hand rested on the smooth reflective surface as he met equally dark chocolate eyes. `I know you, I know you because you are me.'

`Ken, do you hear me?'

`Yes, I always hear the dreams that call to me.' His reflection shifted slightly, smirking at him as he pulled his hand away from the smooth surface. `Who are you?'

"I am you." The man answered, crossing his arms. "But look, you bring all of this with you?"

Ken couldn't help but turn, looking to where his dream self was pointing; what he saw was the last thing he expected. A sea of blood stretched out as far as the eye could see, the crimson liquid lapping at the ground as it stained the pale sand red. `Everything is red, even the moon is stained red. But I don't understand what you are showing me? Why do I bring blood, is it because I am an assassin?' His dream self never answered, allowing this vision to run its course. Ken simply stood there, watching as the light played across the deep red ocean, the gentle sound of the liquid echoing in his ears.

`I would never hurt you.'

Dark eyes looked towards the voice, seeing nothing. `Who is there?'

`Why do I feel as if I should know? Why do I want to find out why I feel like this?'

"It's the echoing of another mind." Ken faced his dream self, seeing that the man was looking up at the sky. "There is another with great power, suffering much like you suffer. Wanting companionship, yet shying away from it." The dream Ken smiled, meeting the eyes of the Dream Seer. "But you know all of this, you know who it is that calls. You dreamed of them in that jungle turned to ice, knowing that they brought you comfort."

The brunette simply shook his head, knowing what dream this one was referring to. `I know what you speak of, the tiger that was calmed by the ice. But I don't know who you speak of, I never saw a person!'

`But you felt them."

Ken just stood there, thinking those words over. It was true, he had felt someone and that presence was like a calming effect to his never-ending stress. `I want to know who that person is, if they could calm me like that outside of this dream world?' Even thinking of the presence was beginning to relax his, already frazzled nerves. `An ocean of blood flows to the shore...' He thought, trying to solve the mystery to this dream. `I spoke of my ice dream in this one as well, so the two are connected?'

"Aren't you a smart little Dream Seer." His other self mocked, a slight sneer crossing his lips.

Ken shook his head, smiling at the other brunette. `If you're not going to help go away.' Raising a hand, he waved it and his twin disappeared from sight. `Two dreams, I remember ice, a flash of purple…now blood?' The dream world around him rumbled, chocolate eyes now wide as Ken glanced around. He knew what that sound brought with it, he knew why this world was quaking. `Collision, two dreams have collided!' A darkness came over him, drowning out all light from the sky like a black hole. The warmth his dream had, now gone as he was awash with the chill that eroded this dream world.

In the distance he could hear the cries of people, though some sounded like animals. The voices echoed though his head, some called out for mercy while others cried out for blood. He could feel the pain that radiated from the dream, the sorrow of knowing what was to come. Ken reached forward, trying to find the core to the dream, wanting to bring the dreamer a sense of comfort. The harder he tried the worse the dream became, soon the darkness was pressing into him as it threatened to destroy him. The brunette knew that all things that affected him in this dream world also affected his physical body.

`If I die here, my body will give out.' He thought, working though his mind on how to get out of this predicament. `That's why I get panic attacks after I help people with their nightmares; I take all their fear into my body! Fuck, Brad's gonna kill me when I get out of this dream.'

`Stop!'

`Please stop…' He begged, not knowing what else to do. `Please, don't do this to me?'

`Stop now!'

A sense of urgency washed over him, it was as if someone was trying to protect him. `Stop…' The darkness recoiled from him, seeming to dance right out of his reach. Then as soon as it had pulled away, once again it struck out it him.

"Ken?"

"Is he ok?"

"Yes, he should be fine." There was a pause. "Nightmares or aggressive dreams can strike out at Dream Seers, trying to hurt them. Sometimes dreams feel like a Seer is just interfering."

Chocolate eyes opened, everything covered in whiteness and that is when he realized he was staring at his sleeve. Breathing out slightly, Ken waited for his mind to catch up with his body. The tanned assassin was laying on the floor roughly five feet from the mirror, his arms held up before his face in a defensive manner. The mirror, itself was now broken and glass littered the floor. Ken could feel something running down his cheek as blood oozed from a cut he had gotten when then glass had shattered. `Someone else was there with me, but it wasn't a Dream Seer, the person didn't have a physical form.'

"Ken, are you alright?" He couldn't only nod in response to the American's question. "Are you sure? What did you see, was something wrong?"

Swallowing, the man dropped his arms to his side. "No." It was only a whisper but he saw Brad smile. "Dreams…two collided…it caused problems." He then said, still shaken from the visions he had seen. "How long was I out?"

"A minute." Omi replied. "Maybe two?" Ken sighed, nodding his head slightly.

"Ken, you are ok?"

"Yes." With that one word the brunette closed his eyes, passing out.

Yohji shook his head, kneeling down on the opposite side of the man. "So much for being ok, ya know Brad we can take care of him if you have to go?" He simply nodded.

~

-PAIN-

"That was odd." Callan arched a brow when he saw Ran rubbing his forehead, his brow creased in pain. "Are you ok, Princess?"

"Why do you have to call me that all the time?" He growled, his voice low so the others wouldn't hear. The two men watched as Yohji helped the American carry Ken upstairs to the room he would be occupying. For a moment Ran felt a rush of panic, brushing it aside he turned his attention back to the German. "You know I get annoyed when you call me Princess."

Callan couldn't help but smile at his friend. "Yeah, but it gets a rise out of you. Ya know you are awful with your emotions. One would think an Empath would have a better handle on things like that." The German knew he was just babbling, he knew all about Ran and his problems. How Kritiker had taken the redhead from his family, he had always wondered early on in their friendship why the redhead never went to see them. One night when his gift had just been too much, all the emotions crashing down on him Ran had told him something that had shocked him. `Kritiker had been watching him; they wanted Ran and had spoken to his parents. His parents had told the organization they couldn't have their son. A month later there was a car accident, his family had been involved.' Callan knew that Kritiker would do anything to get what they wanted, but doing what they did to Ran…it had been a low blow.

`The Doctors told my parents that I had died in the car accident. A month later that hospital received a huge donation from an unknown company. Hush money, I can't go back…not when they have suffered so much. If I was taken away again, it would only cause more suffering.'

A hand on his shoulder jarred him from the memory, concern plain in the bright purple eyes. The telepath couldn't help but smile, it wasn't often Ran would touch other humans. It also wasn't often he showed his emotions so plainly. `I must have looked like something was wrong.'

Pulling back his hand, Ran frowned. "You had such sadness in your eyes, figured you were thinking about the past."

"I was." He whispered, and then smiled. "So why the headache?"

"Headache?" His friend gave him a look; he knew it would be pointless to lie to the man. Not that he would ever invade Ran's mind without permission, the German just knew him too well. "I-I don't know…" He finally answered, the confusion in his voice clear though he remained passive. "I felt what he saw, I panicked. I-I…attacked…"

Callan nodded. "You somehow you got pulled into him?" Ran shook his head. "Then how did you get pulled in?" He asked. Ran took a step back, leaning against the wall for support. "Ran?"

Violet eyes met the calming blue of his friend's. "There is something about him, a familiarity…I don't know how to explain it. It was as if…like I was already there."

"You mean you were already connected to him?" He nodded, his eyes falling closed. "How is that possible, Ran?" This wasn't right, Callan knew it wasn't right and that was what worried him. But something else was bothering him, it had been bothering him from the moment Ken had come in he door. It was a surface thought that had flitted across the redhead's mind when he had first seen the man. Callan knew that Ran probably didn't even realize that he had thought it; the words were so fleeting. He hadn't understood it when he had first caught the thought, now it had him wondering.

`I am he, he is the one…the soul, the jungle, where the ice lay in wait. I know you, don't I?'

"Callan?"

Shaking his head, the man smiled. "Yeah Princess?" One again a glare was sent his way.

"I said I am going to go check and make sure Ken is ok."

"Ah, are you gonna be ok?" Ran just watched him for a moment, trying to see if there was an alternative meaning to those words. His fingers entwined around his long braid in an unconscious motion, then tugging on the blood red strands, he turned and walked for the stairs. `You suspect that I know something.' He thought, wishing that he could plunge into the Empath's mind. `But that would be betraying a friend's trust, gods…Ran when are you going to tell me what you are hiding?'

Ran made his way up the stairs, Yohji meeting him half way down. "Yohji?"

"You looking for the dreamer?" He simply nodded. "Yeah, he's in the room next to yours.

"Thank you." The brunette nodded, walking past as he continued back down to the living room. Sighing, Ran looked up the stairs, continuing on an instant later. A minute later he stood in the doorway of the younger assassin's room, golden-brown eyes looked up and he smiled. "Is he ok?"

Brad nodded, standing up from where he sat on the edge of the bed. "Yes, I think his mind just went into overload. To much information and stress in too short of a time, sometimes the dreams fuck him up." The redhead simply nodded, violet eyes fixed on the sleeping figure. He was so engrossed with those features that he never saw Brad observing him. "You and him are a lot alike, I saw this…I can trust you."

He glared at he American, not sure what he meant by those words. "Excuse me?"

"I said I could trust you…" He paused. "You are Ran Fujimiya?" The bight purple eyes widened, that action being the only answer he needed. "I know of you, an Empath tortured by his own gift. You are very solitary, hate to touch and be touched…one who shys away from society."

This American was beginning to piss him off. `Who does he think he is, looking into my past like this?'

"I know what you're thinking, you are assuming that I looking up this information about you?" Ran glared at the annoying man, his arms crossing over his chest. Brad could tell he had offended the assassin, but then again he knew it was very easy to do so. "I saw you in one of my visions, I knew you would be here even before I saw the files on this new team. I knew that I could trust you, Ran."

This caught his curiosity. "To do what, exactly?"

"To take care of Ken." He whispered. "I leave him in your hands, Ran Fujimiya. I know it is a safe place for him to be, though I'm not sure why." And with those words he walked out of the room, leaving a very confused redhead in his wake.

~

kami: ;_; This was sooo great!!

Ken: *emerges wearing a tiger suit and has stripes across his cheeks*

Ran: O.O

kami: Erm, wasn't this chapter supposed to be a serious, emotional one… ahh… KAWAII!!!

Ken: Rawr! ^_~

Ran: *eminent nose-bleed* Where did you get that costume?

Ken: *shrugs* Dunno, found it.

Ran: So you wouldn't be too upset if it accidentally got ripped off your body…

Ken: I'd be upset if it WASN'T… *yaoi smile*

*Ken and Ran run off*

kami: *stutters*

Schu: *walks in* Heeey!! Anyone seen my tiger suit? *looks around*

kami: REVIEW ONEGAI!!!