Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Love On A Leash ❯ Abyssinian’s Last Mission ( Chapter 22 )

Love On A Leash

By: Atsureki

Disclaimers: Only in my insane little delusional world are they mine!

Paring: Ran/Ken, Yoji/Omi

Warnings: AU, Yaoi. OCC, Angst, Slavery and some other stuff.

Notes: Stuff written in Italic are thoughts.

Okay I have gone through and fixed all chapters now and there might be a change or two there so if you have the energy please reread them… Um anything else? Ah yes things marked # are explained at the end and if there's anything that seems confusing it'll be cleared up later on. /hehe/ ENJOY!!

Chapter 22. Abyssinian's Last Mission

The redhead moved from one room to the other like a big cat, silent, crouching slightly and with narrowed eyes. His nimble fingers picked a lock and opened up yet another door, but he never went inside. Just one look told him that it wasn't the right one either. A string of curses were swallowed and his eyes searched for the next room. He hesitated when he found it unlocked, standing ever so slightly ajar.

With suspicion he peeked inside, his head tilted a little to the left as if that somehow could make him pick up on any dangers faster. Warily he snuck inside and headed towards the huge servers lined against the opposite wall. A malicious smile tugged on his lips as he dug through his bag of tricks, pulling out an explosive device that would ruin everything and anything kept on any of the building's joined computer servers.

The joy of networks, he thought as he poked around in the jumble of cables. Grumbling in silence the redhead dug deeper to find the perfect location for the little, but nasty bomb he was about to plant. The second his hands encountered something that felt very different from what he was expecting to find his whole body stiffened. Carefully he cleared away the mass of black cables to get a better look.

"Scheiße!#" he growled out loud and scrambled backwards. Someone had beaten him to it; someone else had already planted a bomb right there, a big fucking bomb, and it was counting down the last minutes fast enough to make him sweat bricks. As fast as he could the redhead left the room and started running down the long corridor.

"Raus!#" he bellowed into his headset and almost fell through a door and down a narrow flight of stairs.

"Do you read me Nagi? Get the fuck out, NOW!" He continued across the parking lot and just barely made it behind a large container when a deafening explosion blasted through the night and an enormous shockwave caused the ground to quake.

"Ach, was soll's!#" the redhead grumbled and carefully peeked around the corner to check the building, or rather what was left of it. There was no way the single bomb he had found could have caused THAT much damage. The once proud building was nothing more than a pile of twisted iron and rubble. If he hadn't gotten out when he had there wouldn't have been enough left of him to mop up. He shuddered at the thought and then he remembered something, or more precisely… someone. A second later he slumped down on the ground and pulled the bandana off his head. A moan of agony rose from his throat.

"Nagi," he whispered and banged the back of his head against the cold metal behind him.

"So it was you after all, I should've known," a bland voice suddenly muttered.

"Schuldig!" The redhead looked up just in time to catch the small brunette who launched himself at him.

"Nagi!" Schuldig wrapped his arms around the lithe body and buried his face against his partner's slender neck. "Thank God you're all right."

"He found me," Nagi snorted and withdrew from the German's embrace to nod towards a pale redhead dressed in black. "Looks like he beat us to it."

"Schuldig huh? I thought your name was supposed to be Fritz Böck. A German businessman?"

"Fujimiya? Didn't expect to you see you around here." Schuldig replied calmly and staggered to his feet. "And I am a businessman by the way, just not right now."

"Fujimiya?" Nagi echoed in confusion. "Isn't he the owner of…" He was interrupted.

"And who might this child be?" The small brunette scowled.

"That's not important. I'd rather you told me why Kritiker's headquarter just went up in smoke," Schuldig drawled and cocked his head to the left, peering into the impassive eyes of his former colleague.

"You first, what reason do you have to blow up that building, hm?"

"I wasn't trying to blow up the building," the German corrected matter-of-factly. "Just the computers, nothing more."

"Is that so?" Fujimiya asked with one perfect eyebrow raised.

"Well actually I also took the opportunity to get rid of Takatori. Would have gotten his little bastard Kase too if he hadn't been so damn lucky!" Schuldig huffed and pouted slightly at the thought of how he had failed to kill the man.

"Someone else corrected that mistake," the amethyst-eyed man shrugged. "Someone who is very grateful for your help."

"Ken?" Fujimiya nodded. "So he did make it to your place?"

"Aa."

"Good! Now tell me Aya… I thought you were all buddy-buddy with Manx? What could Kritiker possibly have done to deserve to have their headquarter blown to dust?"

"None of your business," Aya answered coldly and turned away from them. "And by the way, I was after the same thing as you two only, I'm not taking any chances! Better to level the whole building, it's the only way to be sure."

"How do you two know each other?" Nagi asked and both redheads turned to him.

"We used to work together," Schuldig muttered. "It's thanks to Fujimiya here that I'm no longer part of Kritiker and that I'm alive to not tell anyone about it."

"But you told me that one of the assassins was ordered to kill you," Nagi objected and a vague smirk played on Fujimiya's lips.

"Aa that's true," he nodded and Schuldig snorted softly.

"Like you would have succeeded anyway Abyssinian?"

"Dead men tell no tales Oriental#," the pale redhead almost purred. "But, I do recall that part of our deal was that you would return to Germany and never set foot in Japan again?"

"Believe me Fujimiya if I had had a choice I would be in Dresden# instead of running around here! But unfortunately I didn't have much to say in the matter."

"I'll make a calculated guess," the pale redhead muttered. "I wasn't the only one Takatori was checking up on? He was sniffing at your heels?"

"Ja. As far as Kritiker is concerned I've grown very tired of looking over my shoulder. Enough is enough! That's why I didn't just settle for Takatori and I didn't see any point in leaving a sadistic son of a bitch like Kase running around. Especially not after the way he ogled Nagi here." The small brunette huffed indignantly.

"He would have been dead before he finished the thought!"

"Spunky kid you got there. I have to go," Fujimiya declared and turned away again.

"Just one more thing before you go Aya," Schuldig called and the slender redhead paused.

"Hm?"

"Thank you."

"No need to thank me. Manx wanted you dead because you put someone before her missions. That's not a crime, that's being human. Now if you'll excuse me I have one more cat to kill." With those words Aya disappeared into the shadows.

/&/

Manx played with her glass of wine as she stared at Tokyo's neon lights. Her pupils suddenly contracted when the sky was alit and the floor beneath her vibrated. To her left the building she worked in crumbled to the ground and left her blinking in shock. It took a while for her to shake it off and by then sirens were howling through the night and a caravan of flashing lights were making their way towards the site. She took a step towards the window and winced when her slipper came down on the remains of her wineglass.

"Kami-sama," she muttered and stared at the crimson stain spreading out on her white carpet. The Kritiker building was gone and the place was probably crawling with cops. She had to call Persia and the sweepers and… Behind her the door opened and a shadow entered, but she didn't notice. Hurriedly she moved away from the glass on the floor, kick off the slippers and headed for the phone. They would have to put a team together immediately. Who ever had planted those bombs could be after Persia or even herself.

"You're not calling anyone." The words cut through the air like lashed from a whip and made her jump. Her body had been trained and it recalled it now, snapping itself into fighting mode like a cobra about to strike. But the man still hidden in the shadows had the upper hand and Manx knew she'd never beat him.

"Ran?" She couldn't see him but she recognized his voice and even more so his posture and the glint from his drawn katana.

"No, not Ran," he growled and took a step forward.

"But Ran…" Manx backed up, unsure and a little scared.

"Don't you know who I am?" He was even closer now and she didn't like the look in his pale face, nor the light in those amethyst eyes. Never before had Fujimiya Ran looked so much like a cold-blooded killer.

"Ran stop it!" she ordered and straightened her back, glaring at the man.

"Manx," the redhead sighed mockingly and took another step towards her. "You made me and now you don't even remember my name?" His voice was purring now, the words caressing the air but she could feel the underlying threat. Fear groped at her and she inched her way to the left and the heavy desk where she kept a gun.

"What do you want?"

"Yes, that is the question, is it not?" Ran mused and to her surprise he sat down on the armrest of the couch. From underneath his black coat he pulled out a small stack of files. "Takatori hacks his way into your files even though you have the best security systems available. Kase shows up during a mission I got only an hour earlier to kill me. The cops links me to Ken and thereby Takatori's murder even though Kritiker pays them to forget I even exist."

"What are you getting at Abyssinian?!" Manx snarled and glanced at the drawer she kept the gun in.

"I've always been told that Takatori can't be touched, that he's out of reach for everyone, including Kritiker. But tell me dear Manx, it wasn't like that, was it?"

"I don't know what you're babbling about!" A bead of sweat rolled down her temple and she had to swallow several times to get the lump of fright out of her throat. A lethal smirk quirked Ran's lips and he snickered quietly.

"Don't ever make the mistake of thinking I'm stupid," he warned her and threw the files at her. She watched the papers flutter to the floor. "I'll admit it took a bit of reading to figure it out but seriously, you didn't cover your tracks all that well."

"What tracks?" Manx barked and placed her hand on the drawer's handle.

"Kitano Tsaki. Does that by any chance ring a bell? Bald guy, he worked for Kase for the last couple of years but that was mostly a cover to hide the fact that Takatori wanted him to check Kase out, to make sure Kase didn't steal from his master."

"And I should know this man?" A soft but unpleasant laughter rose from Ran's throat and he stood up.

"The reason why Kritiker always left Takatori alone was because he paid you to, just like he paid the cops and everybody else to look the other way. And the ones who made it possible were you and Kitano. You know, after Ken killed Kase I checked up on Kitano but at first I didn't recall that I had seen him before. It hit me earlier tonight when I looked through the files again."

"You're barking up the wrong tree here! If you want that slave of yours freed I can help you, just…"

"Quiet!" Ran roared and narrowed his eyes. "Kitano's a little older and he's shaved his head and put on some weight but I have an excellent memory Manx. He stood partially hidden behind Persia when I was hired years ago. I've seen him enter this apartment carrying a briefcase only to come out without it moments later."

"Fuck you!"

"YOU gave Takatori access to Kritiker's computer files, YOU told Kase where I'd be that night and YOU gave me up to the cops. Thanks to Kritiker Tokyo has been Takatori's own little playpen for years and years. He gave you money to ignore what he was doing and to eliminate all his competition!" Manx suddenly smirked.

/&/

Ran tightened the hold on his control and managed to subdue the boiling wrath inside for a while longer. The woman before him was smirking. With ease he manoeuvred himself into a better position, in case she tried to attack, and corrected the hold on his katana.

"Well aren't you a clever boy?" So she had decided to smarten up. He had seen the fear in her eyes but now it was replaced with smugness. Whether or not it was real he couldn't say though and he knew she was dangerous. Ran was still taken by surprise when she suddenly burst into action, yanked a drawer open and aimed a gun at him. But she was just as taken aback when he smiled at her.

"Don't you know that bullets can't stop me? I won't die until I've smiled upon your corpse."

"Ran my dear, you're not going to kill me," Manx said with certainty and unclicked the safety. He calmly stood still as she fired the gun and only the impact from the bullet hitting his shoulder caused him to stagger ever so slightly.

"You once told me I had the essence of a cat and I assume that includes the nine lives. That was one bullet and I'm still standing, still breathing. I hope that gun of yours contains enough ammunition to finish me off," Ran said steadily and took two steps towards her. She fired again but only managed to scratch his side. "You're sloppy."

"Shut up you piece of shit!" Her fingers turned white as she gripped the gun harder and took aim once more.

"Look at the way your hand is trembling Manx. Are you sure you can hit me?" Ran steeled himself as she pulled the trigger and only willpower kept him from falling as the third bullet buried itself in his arm. "What are you aiming at?" She was getting frustrated and impatient now, causing her hand to shake even more.

"You shouldn't have such a big mouth there Ran! For years I've had you running errands for Takatori, getting your hands bloody carrying out his orders."

"I'll cut the payment for that from your body later Manx," Ran hissed and came closer, willing his legs not to buckle beneath him. His uninjured arm lashed out and the tip of the katana cut a deep wound in Manx's cheek. "Are you going to scream when I kill you? Persia did." Manx didn't answer but she widened her eyes in fear at the revelation that he had murdered Kritiker's leader.

/&/

"I don't believe it!" a fat guard huffed and slammed a paper down on the desk. "That guy is creepy." The paper was picked up and studied intently by the man sitting behind the desk. He took off his glasses and rubbed the mark they made on his nose.

"It's legit so why don't you go and get it done?" The guard huffed again and pressed the side of his belly against the chair he stood next to.

"It's late, my shift ended five minutes ago. Get someone else to do it or wait until tomorrow!" The superintendent glared balefully at him and waved the paper in his face.

"This document is signed by a judge Taguchi! Do you want to explain to him why his orders weren't carried out? Do you want Nakamura-san to sue your fat ass?"

"Nakamura can go to hell! Damn lawyer always finding loopholes in everything, freeing guilty people left and right."

"It's one slave, who cares? With no owner and this on his record, do you really think he'll make it?" Taguchi smirked and scratched his flabby chins.

"You're right, you're right."

"I know! Besides, Nakamura-san got him off the hook on a technicality, there's still a witness who proclaims him guilty of murdering his owner. All we have to do is wait patiently. Not even Nakamura Akira can find a loophole there!"

"Good! I'll transfer him back to his cell and hopefully he'll be taken care of tomorrow." Taguchi left the room with a snicker.

/&/

Ran raised his hand and made the reflection from the blade of the katana wink as he brought it down hard. His side was on fire, his shoulder pounded with pain but he wasn't about to lose this fight. The satisfaction hit the moment Manx let out a scream, dropped the gun to the floor and started clawing desperately at his arm. Red scratches appeared on his pale skin but his hand still held the katana steadily.

Ran's eyes impassively watched the razor sharp blade where it was biting into the woman's neck. She had stopped using her nails and was simply hanging onto him now, small gasps of air emitting from her mouth, lessening rapidly. Disgusted the redhead shook her off both the sword and his arm and actually winced a little when she landed on the bloodstained floor with a low thud. She gurgled pitifully and groped at the carpet.

"This was Abyssinian's last mission Manx," Ran murmured quietly and carefully sheathed his weapon. "These hands will spill no more blood." Without looking at the dead body he staggered towards the door.

TBC

# Scheiße! = Shit!

# Raus! = Get out!

# Ach, was soll's! = What the hell!

# Oriental = A breed of cats, similar to the Siamese but with long hair on their tails

# Dresden = City in Germany, not far from the Czech boarder