Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Mea Culpa ❯ MEA CULPA PART ONE: Hello, Goodbye…Hello Again ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: Yeah we all know I don't own them, I just use them *EG*

Ok this is really A/U, I've changed people pasts and totally twisted everything around. I know not everyone's going to like this story but oh well. I had to get it out of my head. Oh, remember reviewing the story when you're done is a nice thing to do and Isa will just luv you for it!!

In reference to the title: "Mea Culpa" is a slightly more precise phrase than "I'm guilty", if translated literally is means "I am culpable".

You can read it now! :oD

MEA CULPA PART ONE: Hello, Goodbye…Hello Again

It all started when Manx came into the flower shop, telling the three boys that she had found them a leader. One week later that leader had tried to attack them on the roof of a building, the most hot-tempered of the three Weiss of course had attacked back. Yeah, ok, so it turned out that said leader hadn't been informed about his new position, or even of who they were, but he could have asked. The next day the redhead had showed up in the Koneko no Sumu Ie where he and Ken one again had broken into a fist fight. That fight had left half of the store wrecked and the newest member knocked out cold on the floor, the dark haired assassin stood over him cursing under his breath as he held his hand.

Manx hadn't been pleased. Then again nether had their newest member when he finally woke up a few hours later. Needless to say it was like walking on glass whenever the two assassins got close to one another for the next few weeks. Yohji and Omi had decided it was best to just stay out of their way and let them find their own even ground. Anyway, neither of them had anything against the redhead.

That was until Yohji found out the redhead was younger than him. "So does he have mental problems?" The oldest Weiss had asked; Manx had only shot him a look. "Hey, I'm just trying to protect myself. If he has mental problems I'm going to stay as far away from him as possible."

"Yohji!"

He had smiled at the blond. "What? You're telling me you don't think he's a bit unstable?" Omi had only blushed.

"Yohji, Aya has his reasons for being how he is." Manx said, her arms crossing. "Please, just give him a chance, all of you. He really needed this, Aya needs the stability of a team and you're all I have." Yohji frowned, Ken shook his head and Omi just sighed at the other two. "Look, do you really think I would put someone in charge of you who wasn't capable of the position?"

"She's right." Omi finally said, looking at his other teammates. "Manx and Kritiker would never put us in that kind of position."

Ken growled. "He attacked us Manx!" The redhead met his eyes. "Personally, that was fucked up!"

"I know he attacked, that was my fault. I left another informant in charge of getting him there, I thought she would have told him why he was going." She answered. "Blame that on me, not on…Aya."

"Whatever." Ken flopped down beside Yohji on the couch.

The older man shot him a look, glancing at the woman. "Yeah fine."

"Good!" Omi grinned. "So where is he now?"

"He should be down in a minute." She said, just then the door opened as the male redhead walked down into the basement room. The second he saw Manx his eyes narrowed; the three assassins noticed this. "Hello Aya, I'm Manx." Yohji noticed she said that a bit too quickly.

"Manx?" He arched a brow as his deep voice echoed though the room. "Fine."

She nodded, breathing out. "I want you to meet your new teammates." She said as the pale man leaned against the wall. "Omi is our computer wiz, Ken is our brute strength and Yohji...well he's Yohji."

Omi giggled and the long, dark haired man shot her a look. "Hey!"

"What are the team's codenames?" He asked.

"Bombay, Siberian, Balinese." She answered, pointing at the three boys. "You're Abyssinian now," There was a pause. "…the team is Weiss." Ken saw the momentary flash of pain in the violet eyes.

`Violet?' That was the first time he had noticed. 'He has red hair and violet eyes? How beautiful...' Ken caught his thoughts at that, breathing out.

"Weiss." The redhead repeated, making a noise as he walked out of the room.

Manx sighed. "His name is...Aya."

"Aya?" Yohji said, grinning. "Manx, sorry to tell you but that's a girl's name."

Obviously Manx wasn't amused; she shot him a look. "I don't care what you think of the name he goes by!" She yelled. "You will follow him, you do not have a choice in the matter." And with that she walked out of the room.

If the others hadn't caught it, Omi had. "Goes by? So Aya isn't his real name?" The blond asked the other two men.

"I don't really care kid…the man's a bit odd." He answered, pulling out his cigarette. "Was it just me or did it look like they knew each other?"

Ken didn't respond, he didn't like the redhead at all; at least that is what he kept trying to tell himself.

But even that really didn't matter, especially as Ken sat there bleeding from two gunshot wounds. He had made a wrong turn trying to get out of the building and one of the guards had decided to use him as target practice. Taking a bullet to the side and shoulder, Ken had stumbled out into the alley trying to find a place to hide. Now he lay there, his back propped against a wall about to pass out from blood loss. 'I'm going to die in a alley, isn't that a fucking joke...' Wincing, he looked up. There was a figure standing above him, looking down into the shadows he had hid himself in.

"Come on Siberian." Pain shot though his shoulder as he was lifted up off the alley floor.

"Abyssin...?" He whispered, suddenly feeling very lightheaded.

The redhead frowned, lifting the dark haired assassin into his arms. "Come on, you're not dying tonight." Though he doubted Ken had heard him, the man was pretty far-gone. "Damn.."

It was the next day when he finally opened eyes, seeing he was in his own room. "Shit..." Lifting his arm, Ken cried out in pain looking down at his shoulder. It was wrapped in gauze, a faint bloodstain just beginning to show, another bandage covered his side. "Wonderful." He whispered, slowly pushing himself up from the bed making his way to the door.

Omi looked up as Ken walked into the kitchen. "You're awake!" Ken nodded, sitting down at the table. Aya was reading the newspaper while Omi cooked. Obviously it was still too early for Yohji to be up, though when he looked at the clock he saw it was almost noon. "Are you hungry?"

"Very, thanks Omi." The blond smiled, picking up one of the plates. "Thanks for bandaging me up too."

He turned to looking back at Ken. "I didn't...Aya did." Ken looked over at the redhead who seemed to be ignoring the conversation. "He found you and brought you back here in his car, by the time we got back from the mission he had already bandaged you and you were in bed." The redhead finally looked up at the smiling blond. "Aya is nice, isn't he?" At that Aya made a noise that sounded almost like a grunt, then stood, walking out of the kitchen. "Well...he can be." Omi whispered.

Ken nodded, giving the youngest a sympathetic smile. "He is still getting used to us Omi, don't worry too much, ok?" Once again Omi smiled, setting the plate of food down in front of Ken. "I'll eat in a second, I want to go tell Aya thanks, be right back." Standing, he walked out of the room. Aya was now sitting on the couch, newspaper still in hand. "Aya?"

"Hm?"

He paused, thinking for a moment. Walking around the couch he sat down beside their leader, smiling at him as he looked up from the paper. "Thank you Aya." There was a ghost of a smile as he nodded, looking back down that the paper. Grinning, the dark haired assassin stood to walk away; he figured that was better than nothing at all.

"You're welcome." Ken turned, looking back to see Aya was still looking at the paper. Nodding slightly, he walked back into the kitchen to eat.

After that, things seemed to change between the two. Yohji noticed it first, when they walked into the room the underlying tension wasn't there, or it was a different kind of tension. At least he didn't have to worry about the two men suddenly breaking out in an all out fight. Though the feeling that replaced it wasn't much better. 'It's tension all right, but its more like a kinda sexual tension.' And out of anyone he should have known, but Yohji just figured he was seeing things.

One day things were fine, then next…everything seemed to hit like a ton of bricks.

Suddenly out of the team, Aya and Ken had become the closest, which totally confused the other two members. These were the two members whose whole life with one another had started with a full out fistfight. These were the two men who had sworn they were going to kill the other. They had yelled and bitched and complained, even doing things to annoy one another on purpose. They lived to piss the other assassin off in any way possible, but now they were...friends. Yohji just couldn't figure out what changed and when. The two men in and of themselves were complete opposites.

Where Ken was tanned, well built and totally masculine; Aya was pale, his strength hidden under what one could call an almost feminine grace. Ken was happy where Aya was pensive; Ken seemed to care about everyone where Aya seems to just want to be left alone. Where Ken could almost be considered a slob and clutz, Aya was a neat freak, perfecting everything he said and did. Ken adored sports, loud music and being a pain in the ass in general. Aya would rather be left alone with a book and some classical music.

Disturb him and face his katana. The only time they seemed similar was when they were on a mission, where Ken became a well-oiled assassin and Aya's coldness didn't seem so out of place. Both could kill and did kill without qualms, they were eerily alike at those times. Both men with their blades; slicing flesh as they killed the targets without mercy. But that was their job, wasn't it...

Yohji and Omi could only guess at what connected the two to one another, but never could find anything solid to back it up. It was an enigma; after everything was said and done the hatred was gone. There was just Ken and Aya, and the two assassins finally found a connection they could accept, and that was all there

was to it.

Yohji became the silent observer, needing to figure out exactly what was between them. The game, as he had come to call it, had started shortly after the mission in which Aya had saved Ken's life. The four had come home together; Yohji knew Aya had been injured. He could see the slice in the leather jacket and smell the blood, though that could have been the blood of the people they had just killed. Aya didn't say a word, just walked past them, going upstairs to his room. Yohji saw Ken frown, obviously the clawed assassin had also noticed he was injured. At first it was nothing, Omi bandaged up Ken then him, then Yohji had helped the youngest member do his own wounds. The oldest assassin noticed Ken had been staring at the stairs the whole time. "You ok, Ken?"

"Yeah, fine."

Yohji sighed, looking back down at the blond. "You ok?" He nodded, closing up the first aid kit. It was that moment something had changed, Yohji had decided. Something just went off in Ken's head and that had officially started the game he now observed. The tanned man had stood, grabbing the kit from the blond, walking upstairs. There was a knock on a door and though it was muffled; the two had heard Aya snap at the younger man then Ken growl back…then nothing. They had checked the ex-soccer player's room seeing it was empty, neither of them daring to knock on Aya's door.

The two had stayed in there for hours, Yohji and Omi had never asked. The game they played continued...the group would come home from a mission, Aya leaving. Ken would then grab the kit and follow their taciturn leader. Once again a small argument would commence in the hallway ending as Aya's door closed and the two would disappear inside for a few hours. At one point they had gotten a second kit because Ken had decided it was too much trouble to wait around, usually right behind the redhead as he went up stairs.

After one mission Aya had stopped half way up the stairs looking at the dark haired man. "Ken!" He had growled.

Ken stood his ground, looking right back up at the redhead. "Aya." He had simply said, the redhead sighed as the two once again walked up the stairs.

Yohji watched the game carry on from his seat behind the cash register. He wondered if the two realized this little dance that had become second nature to them. When Aya wasn't looking at Ken, the dark haired assassin was looking at Aya. Then there was the fact that the redhead seemed to open up a bit when Ken was around. The eldest assassin just took it all in stride, he had figured out months ago what was going on. 'Ken and Aya have fallen in love.' As preposterous as the idea sounded, Yohji couldn't deny what his eyes saw. Once again that made him wondered how oblivious the two men really were, even Omi had noticed.

"Are you going to do any work today Yohji?" Ken asked, meeting the deep green eyes.

He just smiled. "Maybe...are you?" He asked, glancing over at the redhead. Ken blushed, walking away. 'Works every time.'

*

Six Months Later:

It was almost three in the morning, as you would have expected the streets below were practically empty. Only the occasional police car or night worker would break the peaceful silence as they went down the roads below. Dark clouds hung low in the sky as rain covered everything on the ground, the light reflecting off the wet surfaces. The Koneko no Sumu Ie was as dead as any of the buildings around it, not even hinting at the life that was quietly sleeping inside, well almost sleeping. The dark haired ex-soccer player had been lying in his bed for the past few hours, but sleep seemed to be avoiding him tonight. Though he could hear the rain falling on the roof, it was too hot inside the building. Ken hated the mugginess that came with the rain during the summer; it made him irritable and cranky. He would have rather it been a bright sunny day so he could go outside and play soccer. But it was night, it was raining and he was stuck inside.

Pulling back the sheets, he was about to give up and go down into the living room when he heard a door closing in the hallway. 'Looks like I'm not the only one who can't sleep.' He thought, getting out of bed and looking out into the hallway. Ken heard the door to the roof close, frowning. "Who else is up?" Walking up the stairs, Ken pushed open the roof door, seeing it was still unlocked. A cooling breeze swept in the door as he walked out into the rain, sighing in relief. 'At least it's nicer out here, still a bit humid though.' That's when he saw what he had been looking for, a figure was sitting over on a covered bench the four men had rigged up one day. Walking over, he looked down at the redhead, he was looking out over the city seeming as if he never heard Ken walk up. "Aya?"

"Hm?"

Smiling, He walked over sitting down beside the man on the bench. "Can't sleep either?" He asked as the older assassin looked over at him for a moment, then back out over the city. "Are you ok?"

"Fine."

He frowned, looking away from Aya. "Ok." Shifting on the bench, he leaned back and looked up at the redhead beside him. "So what's bugging you?"

Aya looked down at the man beside him. "I'm fine."

"No, you're even grouchier than normal, so what's wrong?" The redhead breathed out, looking away from the man beside him. Ken wanted to smack his leader upside the head; the three Weiss had tried to open the redhead up. Sometimes it would work, at other times he would close back up once again putting up that icy mask he had perfected. Yohji had told Ken to give up, that Aya would be the way Aya was and he would never change. Ken disagreed; he had seen bits and pieces of what was behind the mask ever since Aya had saved him. He knew that the redhead was a good man; he just had a different way of showing emotions. Right now the redhead was choosing to be stubborn. Ken just accepted it.

Aya sighed, once again looking down at the man beside him. "What do you want?"

"I can't sleep, between what Manx told us and this last mission. I'm too irritated." Ken admitted, meeting the deep violet eyes of his leader. "I want to sleep but all I do is just lay there and think that we may not be together tomorrow."

Aya didn't know how to respond to that, he too was worried about what would happen. Manx had said she would return to tell them what their futures would be, but he had a sinking suspicion that it wouldn't be what they wanted. Though he had acted out the part of a loner, he had come to depend on the three men he now considered his team. Even at his coldest, this team he had been put into continued to care about him, he had never felt so stable in a group before. 'The last thing I want is to be separated from them, especially Ken.' That thought caught him off guard for a moment but he quickly pushed it aside. "Takatori was the main target." Aya finally said, seeing the ex-soccer player look up at him. "Now that he is dead Kritiker wants us to lay low for a while, perhaps break from them."

"What will happen to us then?" Ken whispered. "We are dead to the world, it's not like we can go out a get real jobs!" The redhead smiled for a moment at that sarcastic remark. "Well it's true!"

"I know Ken." They both sat there for a while in silence as the rain continued to fall around them. "I'm sure everything will be fine." He finally said, looking down to meet the dark brown eyes of his companion. "You're strong, and so is Weiss and together we can manage anything."

The younger man could only smile. "You really mean that?" Aya nodded. "Promise me something?"

"Hm?"

"You're not going anywhere, that you're staying here with us." That caught the redhead off guard. Arching a brow, the dark haired assassin moved closer to him, wrapping him arm around Aya's. "I mean it, we need you...I need you."

Once again he was at a loss for words, feeling Ken's hand tighten around his, he sighed. "I don't make promises..." He whispered, looking back out over the buildings. Aya knew that Ken wouldn't accept that answer, then felt the man lay his head down on his shoulder. "Ken?"

"Then what will you promise?" He whispered, his eyes closing. "Isn't there anything that you can say, anything you would swear by?"

The redhead looked down at the man pressed against his side. "I..." He felt the smaller man's hand on his cheek, meeting his eyes as Ken looked up at him. "Ken?" The tanned man just nodded, capturing his mouth. Shocked at first, Aya finally relaxed pulling him closer as the kiss deepened. When they finally pulled apart he was breathless and Ken, now wide eyed, was looking up at him. "I swear, no matter what happens I'll always come back for you, no matter how long it takes…" Ken smiled; it was worth the promise.

*

Manx looked at the four boys in front of her. "I'm sorry, but Kritiker wants Weiss to retire for a while, things are getting too close to home." The assassins didn't know how to respond, Aya was standing behind them shooting her a dirty look. "I'm sorry, but this is what Kritiker has decided. You can keep Koneko no Sumu Ie; Kritiker will continue to pay the bills on it. We may need you back one day and we want you to be where we can find you." The three boys nodded, Manx looked past them at Aya. "I need to speak to you alone, please."

Ken looked over at the redhead, seeing he did not look happy about what was happening. 'He knows something that we don't.' As he passed by his hand grabbed the older man's arm gently. "Aya?"

"It's ok Ken." He responded, the dark haired man just nodded and walked out of the room.

Omi looked up at Ken as he closed the door. "Why do you think Manx wants to talk to Aya alone?"

"I don't know."

"I do." They both looked over at Yohji. "I tell you, there is something odd going on between those two. From the first moment he joined us I could tell they knew one another from somewhere else. Manx had that problem calling him Aya, and the first time he saw Manx he had the look when he found out her code name. "Pulling out a pack of cigarettes, Yohji pulled one out. "Also, Aya's younger than me, but he acts like he's been doing this for years!"

Omi frowned. "Those are all speculations Yohji, you have no proof!"

"I don't need proof, I can see it." He replied. "It's kinda like that thing between Aya and Ken, you would have to be blind not to see there's something betweenthem." Ken blushed, shooting the oldest assassin a look.

"Idiot." He hissed, looking up at the door to the mission room opened. Aya walked out, Manx right behind him. "Hey, is everything ok?"

Their leader nodded. "Don't worry about it." He whispered, walking past them to the stairs. Manx saw the looks the remaining boys were giving her.

"We will contact you when we need you, don't try to contact us." She said simply, and then walked out.

The moment the door closed Ken walked away to go find the redhead. Checking his room, he found it empty so looked in the next logical place. Opening the door to the roof, he saw Aya leaning against the wall. "Hey, are you ok?" Aya didn't respond. "Ok, so now you're back to ignoring me?" He asked as he walked up to the older man. Once again he received no response from the man. Sighing, he wrapped his arms around his waist, laying his head against Aya's back. "I wish you would talk to me."

"It's...fine." He whispered, looking down at the people below. "Just, things happening too fast."

Smiling, he went to release his waist but felt a hand on top of his stopping him. "Aya?" Leaning back against the tall redhead he smiled. "I'm here for you, you know that don't you?"

"I know." Turning in his arms, Aya leaned back against the wall looking down Ken. "I appreciate that."

It had been an odd afternoon and an even odder night. Aya only got more distant as the evening progressed and Ken had caught the redhead staring at Omi several times. When he had asked Aya what was wrong the redhead had just shaken his head. That didn't help, Ken was jealous and that jealousy was pointed at the small blond. 'So I kiss him and now he wants Omi?' The more he thought on that the more he realized how absurd the idea was, but he couldn't help but think it.

Yohji noticed, and of course being Yohji, he had to know what was going on. "So tell me?" He and Ken were alone in the kitchen, Aya had left to go upstairs an hour prior.

"Nothing..."

"Now you're sounding like Aya, spill it Ken."

The younger, now ex-assassin sighed. "I don't know." He admitted. "Aya is being odd, ever since Manx spoke to him alone he's been distant." Looking up, he met the jade eyes looking down at him. "Did you notice that he's been looking at Omi all night?"

"Yeah," He responded. "I figured he was zoning out, Aya does that a lot...you're jealous?" The dark haired assassin blushed. "You are!" Yohji had to grin.

"Whatever..."

Shaking his head, Yohji smacked the boy lightly on the forehead. "Idiot, go talk to him." Ken hesitated. "Go, now."

*

Aya sighed, looking up at his door. Once again he heard the light tapping. "Yes?"

"Aya, can I come in?" Standing, the redhead walked over to open the door slightly. Ken stood there, his rich brown eyes meeting Aya's. "Can we talk, please?"

Standing there for a moment, Aya finally nodded. "The roof." He answered, walking out of his room. The two men made there way up the stairs, walking out into the cool air. After a moment he turned, looking back at Ken. "So?"

"I'm sorry?"

Aya shook his head, a slight smile crossing his face then disappearing. "You wanted to talk?"

"Yes." Once again the younger man went silent, playing with the ends of his sleeves. 'Ok, this isn't hard...' He told himself. 'Just tell him you like him, you care for him. Ask him if he likes Omi, tell him you're jealous...It's not that hard; so why can't I say it?' The hand on his shoulder made him jump.

"You got lost." He said simply, seeing the tanned skin darken slightly as he blushed. "Ken?"

"Why were you staring at Omi?" It had just come out; Ken covered his mouth, eyes wide as he looked up at the redhead. "I'm sorry...I just..."

Violet eyes were downcast as he stood there. "Manx told me something earlier...I'm worried for all of you. I'm worried for Omi." He whispered. "This is our life, but Omi was raised in this life. I don't know how he's going to respond to..." The words trailed off, but that explanation had made Ken feel better. Aya wasn't in love with Omi; he still had a chance.

"We are going to be fine, we have each other." He whispered, reaching out to brush his fingers gently across one of Aya's cheeks. "I thought...." He saw the redhead look up at him. "I mean; I was..."

"Jealous?" He asked, finally meeting the other man's eyes. "Ken, I don't think this is a good idea." That left the younger man confused. "You and I, if something ever happened..."

Ken could only frown. "You said no matter what you would always come back to me!"

The man was right, he had promised that. Sighing, Aya could only shake his head. "This is why I don't make promises..." Ken was still frowning. "I, Ken I care about you, but my life..." A hand ran though the blood red strands as Aya breathed out in frustration. "Things are happening and I can't assure anything right now!"

"This has to do with Manx, about what she said to you after we left the room." He saw Aya nod. "What did she say?" The redhead didn't respond and that made Ken frustrated.

They stood there for a moment, neither looking at the other. Finally Aya couldn't take it anymore. "I don't want to argue Ken. I do care about you, but I'm more afraid of hurting you, that if anything ever happened that you wouldn't want me anymore. Right now I can't commit to anything, not when I can't even tell where my life will be tomorrow."

"I'll wait." Deep purple eyes met his, puzzled. "I-I think I'm in love with you Aya so if something happens I'll wait for you to come back to me, just like you promised." Taking a step forward, tanned arm wrapped around the other man's waist as Ken kissed the exposed, pale neck before him. "I will wait." He whispered once again.

Aya didn't know how to respond to that, and wisely didn't. Reaching down, the two men kissed once again. At that moment, nothing else mattered but the here and now. It was just he and Ken and the kiss they shared, everything else could wait till later.

*

Ken had woken up that next morning to Omi pounding on his door. At first Ken couldn't understand and really didn't care what the blond had been babbling about. Only two words make it into his brain, -Aya- and -Gone-. The dark haired man bolted out of bed, the door flying open as he looked down at the shocked and tear stained face before him. "What did you say?" By this time Yohji was also standing in the hallway looking down at the youngest member of their group.

"Aya...h-he's gone." Omi sniffled, looking down at the floor. Ken hadn't waited for a further explanation as he ran down the hall to the leader's room, pushing the door open. The room was empty; the few things Aya had kept in there were gone. It was as if no one had ever lived in the room, Ken slumped back against the wall. "I came up to wake him, usually he was up by now. He was gone...." Yohji and Omi were now standing beside Ken in the doorway. "Why would he just go Yohji?"

"I don't know kid..." Even the playboy was shocked at this sudden revelation. Aya had left them, he knew that they sometimes annoyed the redhead but he though Aya had cared. Now he was gone and there was no reason or clue left behind as to why.

Ken felt like his heart was shattering into a thousand pieces, last night, how unsure the redhead had been. Everything Aya had said suddenly came back to him, all he knew was that the man he loved was gone and he knew Kritiker was involved. "Oh Aya...why didn't you tell me." He whispered, sliding down the wall to the floor.

That night Manx had come back one last time. "Aya asked I give you this." She said, handing the letter to Ken.

"Manx?" She turned, looking back at him. "Where is he?" The redhead stood there for a moment more, then without a word, she turned and walked out of the room. Opening the letter, he looked at the words, frowning. Three words were written on the paper, that was it. No explanation or reasons, just three words.

~I Love You.~

It hurt, but it was enough. Aya would come back for him, he had to come back for Ken.

*

"Ken?" There was no answer. "Ken, you're daydreaming again!"

"Let me try...."

"Oww!" Ken looked up at Yohji smiling down at him. Reaching up, he began to rub his forehead. "What was that for you asshole!"

Yohji shrugged, leaning against the counter. "You were out of it, Omi had been calling you and you and you weren't responding. You know Omi, the kid's too nice to smack you so I volunteered."

"Sorry." He whispered, crossing his arms. He saw Omi and Yohji were still looking at him, Ken could only sigh. "What?"

"You were thinking about him weren't you?" The tanned man looked up meeting worried green eyes. "You haven't been sleeping well, last night you were tossing all night."

That made Ken frown. "How would you know?"

"You were crying." Omi whispered, he was concerned for their friend as well. "I woke up Yohji to go in and look at you...I wanted to make sure you were ok." Brown eyes slid closed, shaking his head slightly. "I'm sorry Ken.."

"Why?"

"We shouldn't have intruded."

Yohji breathed out, shaking his head. "Hell we shouldn't! We have to stick together, Ken, you know you can talk to us!"

"I know it's just...Aya, you know?"

Yohji nodded, he knew Ken loved the redhead. Actually Yohji knew Ken was still deeply in love with the redhead. For the first few months Ken had kept telling them Aya would come back, something about some promise he had made. But the longer he waited, the worse Ken seemed to get, now it had been over a year

Since Kritiker had dropped them and taken Aya away. Oh yes, the three ex-assassins had decided that Kritiker had something to do with Aya's disappearance. Right now they weren't very happy with their ex-employers especially when they saw how much Aya's sudden disappearance affected their friend.

Ken sighed. "I know it's stupid but I keep thinking he's going to come back like he said he would. I keep thinking that maybe he loves me..." He paused, thinking back on the letter Manx had brought him the day Aya had disappeared. He hadn't let the other two see it; the letter itself was up in his room. He had read it over so many times the paper had become worn and was falling apart but Ken couldn't bring himself to throw it away. A part of him still hoped those three words were true. "I know he doesn't, but…"

"You don't know that." Yohji said, his hand resting on the younger man's shoulder. "If he made that promise, come hell or high water he will keep it. You know how Aya is, he has his honor to worry about." The last part was said with a grin, Ken couldn't help but smile back. "How about we close up a bit early today?"

"I like that idea." Ken answered, even Omi smiled. "Maybe we can watch a movie together? Group night?" Yohji and Omi both nodded seeing the smile disappear from their friend's face. They knew what he was thinking; they wouldn't be a group again till Aya came home.

It had been slow all day, so the three men were glad they could close up a bit early. Ken had decided to sweep while Omi worked on the books and dealt with the money. Yohji was moving plants from outside into the store. They were just about done when the door opened, someone walking inside.

"I'm sorry we are...." Yohji paused half way though his sentence, smiling at the woman before him. She was beautiful, ivory skin with deep midnight blue eyes, her blue-black hair hung in waves down to her waist. The woman was wearing knee high black boots with a short black skirt and deep red low cut shirt. There was an envelope under her arm. Yohji couldn't help but go over to her.

"Hello, can I help you?" Ken frowned; Omi just shook his head.

The woman smiled, looking up at the man before her. "Yes, you can help me." She answered, her voice soft, a bit of humor ringing though. "I am looking for a man named Omi...Omi Tsukiyono?"

The blond looked up from his books. "I'm Omi." She walked past Yohji, over to the younger man sitting behind the counter. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, you can." Smiling, she pulled out the envelope and sat it before the blond. "Maybe we should go someplace and talk." Omi looked from the symbol on the envelope to the woman, nodding. "Thank you."

The four had walked upstairs and now were sitting in the living room. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Omi? She's from Kritiker!" Yohji growled. "Remember, we don't like Kritiker right now!" He said, his head gesturing towards Ken.

The blond frowned. "Yes, but she might be thirsty!" He pouted, looking back down at her. "Are you?"

"Thank you for the offer, but no. I am here to talk to you and that is it."

Yohji nodded as Omi sat down beside him. Ken looked up, meeting the woman's eyes. "Who are you?"

"I am an informant sent from Kritiker." She responded. "I am from Central Intelligence, we are called Angel. You can call me Cassiel, and you are Bombay, Siberian and Balinese."

"We were, Kritiker retired our group." She looked over at Yohji, nodding. "Sorry to be rude lady, but your little group hasn't contacted us in over a year so..."

"Actually," She said, interrupting the playboy. "It's been one year, three months, fourteen days." She looked down at her watch. "…three hours and thirty seven minutes since Manx finished her debriefing and retired your group." The three ex-Weiss looked at the woman. "Sorry…I know it's depressing. But then again that is why I was chosen to be in Angel." Omi smiled.

"Ok...Cassiel?" She nodded. "Fine, why did Kritiker send you here?" She simply pointed to the folder that was in Omi's hand. He opened it, looking up a moment later. "They want to reinstate us?"

Yohji grabbed the folder out of the boy's hands. "Excuse me?"

"Yes, it's true. Kritiker would like you to come back to us." The dark haired woman said, looking back over at Ken. He seemed to notice she kept looking at him, blushing. She simply smiled, turning back to the other two men. "What do you say?"

The youngest of the group shook his head, suddenly frowning. "You can't come back after all this time and say you want us back without giving us a reason!" The other two nodded in agreement. "Explain, then we will talk about this."

"Explain?" She asked.

"Yes, why did Kritiker let us go in the first place?"

She nodded, understanding. "Fine, after you Uncle was killed Kritiker fell apart and that is why you were released. We couldn't keep our own people safe so they cleaned out the files so no one could find the remaining teams that were alive." Omi nodded, sitting back into the couch. "Estet's found out about our temporary weakness and...lets just say it was a private war between the two groups for a while. Right now we are stronger than we have been since Shuuichi Takatori's death. We are calling back groups we once had out of their retirement, you are now next on our list."

"So now what?" Ken asked.

"Now?" She repeated. "You are given a choice. I will be the first to tell you that Kritiker has changed; it's not the way you remember. You may not like everything going on, but then again you didn't like everything about the original Kritiker either. So that's your choice, join up or go on as you are."

"Well that's different." Yohji said down to the younger man beside him. "I always figured that Kritiker was kill or be killed."

The woman nodded. "Like I said, things have changed and this is the way Abyssinian wanted it to be." All three men looked at her at those words, but it was Ken who spoke.

"Aya?" The woman arched a brow. "Aya is back with Kritiker?"

They could see she looked confused, then suddenly midnight blue eyes widened and she laughed. "Sorry, I forgot that you knew him as Aya, silly man he is! You're talking about Ran?" Now it was their turn to look confused. "Your Aya, his real name is Ran Fujimiya. That is the name he goes by now, he was using Aya for...reasons."

"His sister." Omi said. "I followed him one time...." He said with a grin. "He told me his sister's name was Aya, but we never knew his real name."

She nodded, frowning as the blond said those words. "Okay, enough talk! Kritiker may be giving you a choice but we don't wait for answers. Have I wasted my time or are you going to come back with me?"

Ken looked over at Yohji, seeing he was looking down at Omi. "Well kid?"

"Can I ask one question?" She nodded. "What if we go back and we decided that this isn't what we want?"

"In any other circumstance you would be out of luck," she answered. "But you have friend in high places, they will allow you to come back for one week, but at the end of that week you will give us a definite answer." They were silent. "But I will tell you now, if you refuse Kritiker is never coming back for you again."

"Okay, so what happens now?" Omi whispered.

She stood, smiling. "Get your things, I'll be back in one hour to retrieve you. After that, I take you back to Headquarters." Ken looked up as she walked over, holding out a white envelop to him. "This is for you, Ken. I was told that if you decided to come back, I was to give you that." He nodded, taking it from her. "Now I have to go, I'll be back."

She turned, walking for the door. "Hold up! We agreed to come, the least you can do is tell us your name?"

"My name?" She asked, looking back at them. "You can call me Aya, Aya Fujimiya." With that said, she walked out closing the door.

The two men on the couch looked at one another shocked, turning they saw a tear run down Ken's cheek. Omi stood, kneeling down beside him. "Are you okay, Ken?" He nodded, handing the letter down to the blond. Omi smiled at what was written there, it was simple but he knew it meant the world to Ken.

~I told you I would come back for you, no matter how long it took.~

Aya...no, Ran had kept his promise to Ken. It took him over a year to do it, but he had kept the promise.

*

Yohji looked at the woman sitting beside him, she was sitting cross-legged in the front seat while he drove. There was a computer in her lap; she was flipping through many screens. "What are you doing?"

"Updating information of your group." She said, popping down a screen. "I need to get this done before we get to Kritiker, it will make things go smoother."

He nodded, looking back at the road. Ken and Omi were in the back of the van asleep. 'Man, I'm about ready to wake Ken's ass up and make him drive!' Aya heard him growl, looking over at the man. "Sorry, getting tired for driving." They had been on the road for two days. Aya had told them they would reach their destination today. "So... Aya... I mean Ran? Is he going to be back in our group?"

"Yes, not only will he be your leader but also your commander." Aya looked over at the man driving. "Your missions will come directly from him."

Yohji nodded. "So how high up is...Ran now?" Aya arched a brow. "I mean his position? I'm guessing he's not just a normal assassin anymore."

"Your guess would be correct."

"Then what is he?" She turned, looking back at Omi. Both him and Ken were now awake and obviously interested in the conversation going on.

"Oh, well..." She paused, thinking this over for a moment. "Well, it's confusing. He is like Omi's Uncle in the sense that he has teams under his command and informs them of missions. But his actual position within Kritiker is higher than that; he just chooses not to take on any real titles. The Persia we have now only took the position because Ran flat out refused to take it." Ken looked at Omi who was shaking his head. "But even Persia asks Ran's opinion on things so I really don't know what to consider him."

The three newly instated assassins just sat there, unsure how to respond to what they just learned. All four agreed it would be better not to talk about Kritiker anymore until they got to headquarters. Ken took Yohji's place at driving, Aya staying up front with him. It was now four hours later and Aya had informed them they would be reaching headquarters in roughly an hour. They had stopped at a hotel, renting a room so they could shower and change then continued on their way.

*

Aya kept looking at him; he could feel it. At first he wasn't going to say anything, but when she once again turned to look at him he sighed. "Okay, are you going to just say it?" He growled, glancing at her for a moment. "You keep looking at me and it's getting on my nerves."

"Sorry." She whispered. "I was just thinking about how my brother described you." This got Ken's interest. "He said you were beautiful, but you're just down right gorgeous!"

He blushed, clearing his throat. "He...I mean...yeah." There was a pause. "He said I was beautiful?"

"Yes." She answered. "He showed me a few pictures he had of the group, but you seem better looking in person." Aya then giggled. "To bad my brother is so taken with you..."

Yohji looked up, leaning forward. "Why, are you looking for someone because I am single and you are beautiful!" Now it was Aya's turn to blush.

"Yohji! That's Ran's sister...pervert!" Ken could hear Aya laughing, looking over in time to see her wink at him. "Leave her alone."

"Oh Ken, it's okay really." She answered, then turned to look at the playboy in the back seat. "Actually I said that because I have a friend in Kritiker, his name is Mikio. If my brother wasn't so interested in you, he and you would make a very cute pair!" Ken once again blushed, trying to pay attention to the road. "To answer your question Yohji, I have a boyfriend. He's one of Ran's good friends and he gets very jealous so you might want to be careful."

"Damn, all the good women are taken!" He grumbled, going back to his magazine.

They drove on in silence for a while, till Aya was once again looking at him. "Ran..." Ken looked over at woman. "He really missed you."

"I missed him."

The woman turned, looking away from the dark haired assassin. "We weren't supposed to come back for your team till next year." She said, focusing on the scenery outside the window. "I could see how Ran was reacting to all of this, the longer he was away from Weiss and you. He tries to act stronger than he is, he's changed a lot from the brother I knew."

"This is the only way I have ever known him." He responded, Aya turned to look back at him. "I hated him when I first met him, he was...well he was himself, closed off and cold to everyone. He really didn't talk and we just seemed to annoy him but I knew it was an act. Somewhere along the line I fell in love with the person I saw little glimpses of, that person he once was, the person he was killing." Ken smiled, looking at Aya for a moment. "I can remember thinking that if...if I could open him up, if this was him, then I could love that, even with the ice."

She nodded. "I'm glad you didn't give up on him. He's gotten better, smiles a little more but I could tell the stress of all of this. Of being apart from you and them...it was beginning to wear him down. That mask was coming back and I told Persia she had to get Weiss back for my brother's sake. He needs all of you, he looks on you as his family and he has told me that more than once. Ran had never connected with any of his teams before and Weiss was the only one who tired. Most gave up..." She paused, pointing out to something. "You're going to see a road on your left right over that rise, turn there." Ken nodded.

They had been driving for about three miles. "So now what?" Omi asked, just seeing trees around them. Then the trees broke, a huge complex stood before them. They pulled up to the gate as a man walking up to the car.

"Can I help...Cassiel?" She smiled. "This must be Weiss then?"

"Yes, is Persia here?" He nodded. "Is Ran?"

The man looked down at the papers in his hand. "No, he went out with Schwartz about...oh four hours ago. Some last minute mission they found out about."

She nodded, seeing the other three men looking at her. "Thank you." She handed over a card, the man swiped it then handed it back. "Have a nice day." They pulled though the gate and Aya prepared herself for what was coming.

"Schwartz? As in our enemy Schwartz?" She nodded. "What is Ran doing with those nutcases?"

She sighed, pressing her hand to her temple. "Schwartz works for us now, they were the ones who helped us get the hand over Estet's. As to the reason that he is with them, Schwartz is no long a full team. Crawford was killed while trying to help us fight Estet's. In fact he died trying to save Ran, I think that was the last straw for him, his hatred for them just kind of melted away. So whenever there is a mission that Kritiker feels Schwartz is needed he takes Crawford's place and goes out with them. Anyway they are one of his favorite teams and he doesn't trust anyone else going out with them." They hopped out of the van, walking up to a door. Aya laid her hand down on a pad, a moment later the doors opened. "I guess you will meet Persia first since Ran isn't here."

The three nodded, following her into Kritiker Headquarters.

~

kami: REVIEW THE ISA-CHAN!!!

Schu: Ack... *holds ears*

kami: *mentally thinks, REVIEW THE ISA-CHAN!!!*

Schu: X_X