Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Neutral Territory ❯ Tentative Beginnings ( Chapter 2 )

Title: Neutral Territory [part 2/?]

Author: Enigma

Written: begun October, 2001

Rating: R

Pairings: (Omi + Nagi) (Yohji + Ken) (Brad + Schu)

Category: Shonen ai/Yaoi Angst Friendship Romance Action Violence. AU-OOC. Giftfic.

Archive: fanfiction.net & mediaminer.org [author: "E-sama the Llama"] plus Wuffie.net [author: "Enigma"]

Warnings: shonen ai/yaoi, angst, masculine friendship in many forms, various levels of romance, action, coarse language, whiffs of citrus but nothing detailed, possibly graphic violence, bloodshed, tiny bits of humor, fluff, and sap; more warnings will be added as necessary. AU-OOC. Giftfic for Rubious.

Spoilers: Aya's sister's condition and a few other small things, nothing major.

Disclaimer: "Weiss Kreuz" is the property of Koyasu Takehito and Project Weiss. All original characters featured herein (including but not limited to: Glocksten, Charon, etc.) are © Enigma, 2003, and are not to be used without permission. This unauthorized work of fanfiction is intended for entertainment only; kindly do not sue me.

Notes: Omi's first trip to the public library results in an unexpected meeting when Nagi saves his life without being aware of the Weiss archer's identity. Can two lonely teens overcome the limits of their dark purpose in life to find friendship and possibly love in the midst of "neutral territory"?

//thoughts//

{{mental speech}}

*****

Monday late afternoon. Unnamed sushi stand.

*****

Both boys were nervous, yet Omi maintained his usual smiles and good cheer as they quietly enjoyed an interesting assortment of sushi and sashimi, wondering the whole time what Nagi was thinking.

Nagi was, of course, wondering pretty much the same thing about Omi as well as pondering the fact that he had eaten more in the first half hour the two had sat together in the small shop than he usually did in an entire day.

As they sipped pleasantly steaming jasmine tea, Omi finally broke the companionable silence that had dropped over them so easily by asking, "So, Naoe-san, if I may ask, why were you at the library today?" [1] Hoping a neutral topic might make starting a conversation easier, the blond deliberately skirted the bigger issues temporarily. Or so he thought.

Nagi had been in what seemed to be a fairly good mood for someone who showed almost zero emotion most of the time until this issue was raised. Now, however, he glanced away and his thin lips curved downwards in a hint of a frown as he responded, "I prefer not to return home directly after school whenever possible. The men I live with can be so unpleasant at times." [2]

Omi realized immediately that Nagi meant the other members of Schwarz and didn't push the issue, merely stored it away to consider in the future.

While he was thinking about it, though, Nagi asked, "How is it where you live? Is it similarly unpleasant that you sought refuge in the library, too?"

A brilliant smile broke out on Omi's face and he shook his head in negation, "Oh, it's nothing like that at all! Home is terrific! We all get along great most of the time."

Nagi's frown had slipped away and was replaced by something that Omi couldn't help but think looked more like wishfullness than anything else as he replied almost silently, "It must be nice."

Not willing to allow the other boy to become despondent, Omi turned the conversation back towards the issues he'd felt needed answering earlier. "Um, Naoe-san, could you tell me please why you said what you did in the library?"

"Um, exactly which statement are you curious about?" Nagi replied, trying to cover the fact that he had no clue what Omi was talking about, then added, "And call me 'Nagi', please, Tsukiyono-san. I hate being called by my surname." He didn't add that he doubted it even was his real family name, there was no reason to share so much information with an enemy agent.

"Okay," Omi agreed with yet another smile, "if you'll do the same for me, Nagi. Not that I hate my surname, I just don't like to be formal all the time. Now, as to what I wanted to know about was what you said about the library being, what did you call it? Oh, right, 'a place of safety'. You said you didn't want to see any bloodshed there, why is that important to you, Nagi?"

The Schwarz assassin seemed sad to Omi while retaining his emotionless expression. The Weiss tactician's inherent talent for reading people's true feelings was rapidly beginning to express itself as he became more familiar with the other teen's moods.

As the sable-haired boy thought it over, Omi regretted the fact that he asked and was about to retract the question when Nagi sighed, allowed a look of sorrow to enter his eyes and then, in a soft voice, he answered, "The library is a sanctuary for me. It's a place that I know the others won't come looking for me. Farfarello wouldn't make it past their metal detectors with all of his knives and Crawford would never go into such a high visibility situation during broad daylight just for me."

When he spoke of his precognitive leader, Nagi's voice was filled with a sadness that verged on disappointment which surprised the listener, but Omi didn't have time to contemplate that realization as the other boy continued to speak, "And Schuldich…"

His voice trailed off as the memory played itself out and Nagi winced as he recalled an incident when the redhead *had* come after him and it hadn't ended well.

Some months prior, after receiving a vision of an impending subway disaster which would've claimed the life of their youngest teammate, Crawford had sent Schuldich to pick up Nagi from school. The telepath had been bombarded by a virtual flood of noisy teenaged minds he could barely hold back. The effort had left the German incapable of getting out of bed for days yet Schuldich secretly felt it was worth all the pain knowing that the Japanese telekinetic was uninjured. Granted, he hadn't wanted Nagi to know that and had taken the opportunity to behave as if he held it against the boy and thereby maintain his own façade.

Taking a steadying breath, Nagi finished, "Well, Schuldich wouldn't want to have to handle that many minds all chattering away at him again like that unless he absolutely had to. So, you see, Omi, the library was a refuge for me. A place that was safe and yet I knew that I wasn't as alone as I am otherwise."

Omi was shocked, to put it mildly.

The youngest member of Weiss had never even considered what the conditions might be like on the opposing team and to hear their youngest member speaking of it with such pain disturbed him greatly. But before even that idea sank in fully, he realized something even more worrisome.

Without even thinking it through, he reached out a hand and placed it on Nagi's arm as if to comfort him and asked in confusion, "Wait, Nagi. Why did you say that last part in the past tense? I mean, if it was your personal sanctuary before, why isn't it still safe for you?"

Nagi's instinctual reaction to jerk away from human contact was oddly overridden by the blond boy's gentleness and he allowed the hand to remain on his arm despite his considerable abilities to defend himself. He glanced at Omi with the same sorrow in his midnight blue eyes as before and kept the bitterness from his voice as he stated quietly, "Because now Weiss knows where they can find me, that's why. I can't afford to make myself such an easy target, now can I?"

Realization and understanding both hit Omi almost immediately and he smiled a subdued yet reassuring smile as he shook his head. "No, Nagi, that's not true at all. You see," carefully emphasizing certain words and not others, he explained, "'Weiss' doesn't know where you are, *I* do. And I have no intention of mentioning what happened today to them anyway. Your secret's safe with me."

"Why should I believe you, Omi?" Nagi asked, his voice unintentionally transmitting how very strongly he hoped that it was true. "Before today, we only encountered one another as enemies. Why should I trust you now?"

Omi kept smiling, allowing a little more confidence into his voice as he explained with a question of his own, "Why should I have trusted you to sit here and share sushi with me without killing me?"

Nagi snorted softly at the sheer idiocy of the statement, "If I wanted you dead, Weiss, I could've just put those books back on top of you, you know."

Victory at hand, Omi cocked his head slightly and tried not to grin. "Precisely, Schwarz. The bottom line is that if either one of us wanted the other dead today we could've done it a few times over by now, couldn't we? But instead, we're both here, perfectly fine, enjoying some tea and talking as if we've been friends forever. See my point?"

Shaking his head and actually letting the tiniest hint of a smile cross his lips for the first time that Omi could recall, Nagi finally gave in. "Yes, I see your point, *Omi*." He emphasized the other boy's name and received a bright, approving smile in return. But the moment of levity was soon past and Nagi sighed as his expression returned to its usual bland, mask-like emotionless state. "So, if you're not going to mention what happened to your teammates and, of course, I *never* tell mine anything I don't absolutely have to anyway, what does this all mean?"

Suddenly shy, Omi allowed his cerulean blue eyes to dart down and then back up again as he suggested, "Maybe it means I might see you again at the library tomorrow, Nagi? After all, the geography assignment I went there to do won't go away and I've got to go back to finish it."

Hopefulness snuck into Nagi's midnight blue eyes and the telekinetic barely suppressed the desire to smile in return as he commented carefully, "Are you saying that you're interested in talking together again sometime, too?" When Omi nodded encouragingly, Nagi added thoughtfully, "To be perfectly honest, it's been refreshing to talk to someone close to my own age that understands what my life is really like. No lies. No pretending that the others are my family. No acting as if my hands weren't stained with blood. It's liberating in a lot of ways."

"But we didn't talk about any of that stuff," Omi remarked, wondering how bad Nagi's world must truly be if he felt so much pressure all the time from thoughts as dark as these.

"I know," the smaller boy responded, shrugging waif-thin shoulders and glancing out the window at the late afternoon sky before turning his full attention back to the boy across the table from him. "But if we had, I wouldn't have needed to lie about it. Then again, it's probably best if we *don't* talk about those things if we do happen to see each other again. It might, um, 'complicate' matters, if you see what I mean."

"Oh definitely!" Omi agreed fervently then offered, "How's this? Why don't we declare the library to be 'neutral territory' for the two of us? A place we can meet and talk if we feel like it as long as we leave Weiss and Schwarz out of it?"

"Hmm, 'neutral territory'," Nagi said contemplatively as if tasting the words and finding favor with them. "I like that. From now on, we can both consider that a refuge if we want to and as long as none of the others finds out, we'll be safe there."

"Works for me," Omi grinned, happiness at making a new friend bubbling up and threatening to escape, yet he fought it down fearing he might scare off the reserved boy in front of him. Trying to let just enough of his relief into his voice to reassure Nagi, he added, "And I really *will* be back there tomorrow after school. Luckily, the revised version of my project isn't due until Wednesday and since this is only Monday, I've got one more day to work on it."

"Oh?" Nagi asked with interest, "What is it about? I'm fairly good at geography, maybe I can help you with it."

Omi couldn't believe his good fortune and after ordering them both another cup of tea, he spent almost a half-hour basically complaining about how hide-bound his teacher was and being surprised at how many clever ideas Nagi had for the project straight off the top of his head.

Soon the two new friends had a plan for the assignment that, if it worked, would let Nagi get started on it before Omi arrived and the two of them could finish in time to let them grab a quick dinner together again before they returned to their respective homes. Both were pleased to discover how well they worked together as a team doing something far less destructive than killing or destroying property.

Even as Nagi was about to give in to his curiosity and ask Omi straight out how old the other boy was, the orange glare of sunset caught his eye thereby reminding him of a certain German psychic's hair and it caused him to curse angrily, "Oh, fuck! I can't believe it's so late!"

As the telekinetic frantically began to gather together the few notes he'd made on napkins, Omi asked with concern, "What's wrong, Nagi?" Despite the brief time spent together talking, he already knew that the levels of anger and borderline fear that he was detecting in the smaller boy as Nagi quickly buttoned up his jacket and glanced at his watch nervously were highly atypical in public.

"I need to get back, that's all," Nagi said bitterly, calming temporarily and trying to reclaim his emotionless mask and failing.

With a defeated sigh he bent one of the pair's new rules by explaining, "When I get home late, Schuldich takes great joy in harassing me about it all night. And if I act as if I had even a *minute* of fun, he tries to get inside my head and find out what it was that I did so he can spoil it for me. Damn it, I don't know why he hates me so much, but," frustration took away whatever else he was going to add and he stated, "I'm sorry I said anything, never mind. I just need to go, that's all."

Omi felt overwhelmed but rallied quickly. "It's okay, Nagi, I understand. Listen, my motorcycle's over in the library parking deck. I bet I can get you home quickly if you like."

Nagi gave him a grateful look even as he shook his head, "Thanks, but no. It's one thing for us to meet on 'neutral territory', it's quite another if I take you straight back to our headquarters, you know?"

"Ack! Duh! I'm so stupid!" Omi hit himself in the head comically and entirely missed the small smile of amusement that Nagi failed to suppress in response to the antics solely intended to lighten his mood. "Geez, I'm sorry, Nagi! I'm a bit too eager to help for my own good. At least, that's what Ken-kun always says, anyway."

"'Ken-kun'?" Nagi asked automatically.

The smaller boy never once realized Omi had just deliberately balanced the scales of breaking the rules, something the genki boy was more than happy to finish doing by adding, "Siberian. You know, the brunette with the claws?"

"Ah, right," Nagi finally gave up on trying to suppress all of his mirth and allowed a tiny grin to light up his face as he nodded to indicate he accepted Omi's favor, "The one with the hideous orange sweatshirt, right? Well, maybe he's right, but I don't think it's such a bad thing. For now I'll just catch a cab, though, and try to reduce the bullshit I'm facing by not being any later than I already am. I'll be fine, really I will, Omi. Don't worry."

"Okay," the slightly taller boy nodded, a soft smile on his mouth as he commented, "I'll try not to worry, but I feel a little guilty that you might get in trouble just because we talked for so long."

Nagi snorted softly again, an endearing little trait in Omi's mind. "Enough, Bombay. Face it, if they knew we talked at *all,* regardless of how long, we'd both be toast, right?"

"True," Omi agreed as he slipped his own jacket on thinking about heading home, too.

The bland expression the telekinetic wore failed to hide the look of determination on Nagi's face as he added before heading for the door, "I'll see you tomorrow at the library, Omi. And after we get your project repaired, it's *my* turn to pick what we eat. I don't do sushi two days in a row!"

Omi grinned happily and followed him out the door, answering, "Sounds good to me, Nagi! I like surprises! Ja ne!"

As the youngest Weiss assassin walked away, he failed to see the warm, genuine smile that blossomed onto Nagi's face as he pushed hair the color of dark chocolate from his eyes. The fifteen year old sighed to himself, "Even if Schuldich gives me shit about being out late, it was worth it. What I told Omi before was the truth, I would've saved anyone from that mess this afternoon, but seeing the way it turned out, I'm actually kind of glad it was him. He's a really nice person."

Pulling his thoughts away from the jacketed figure who had vanished from sight, Nagi lifted one hand to flag down a taxi and rode back to the Schwarz penthouse mind whirling with thoughts about what other places he and Omi might eventually designate "neutral territory".

*****

To be continued.

Author's Notes:

[1] For those of you who are only familiar with the wretched English dub of this wonderful series, the use of traditional honorifics may seem strange, but for the rest of us, Omi would rarely use anything less than the proper form of address at any given moment. Hence, when not in battle or under certain stressful circumstances, each of the members of Weiss will be called "-kun" while others will receive commensurate recognition. Other characters as well will follow this same pattern when it fits their personalities, the situation, and other key circumstances.

[2] When Nagi is talking or thinking about his teammates, please keep in mind this is strictly *his* point of view at any given moment in the story and as is often the case with teenagers, he only sees certain aspects of them and not the whole truth. There will be much more about what life is really like in the ranks of Schwarz later. Also, even though it will take awhile before they occupy center stage here, Crawford, Schuldich, and Farfarello all will play a much greater role in this story than they did in "Cold November Rain", something that ought to please quite a few readers.

[Posting Run Dedication for Chapters 1 & 2] This evening's posting run is dedicated to the people who responded to my plea for guidance regarding whether or not to wake this sleeping giant of a fic. Hence, it is with deep gratitude that I mention those who helped included: Diana of Wuffie.net, Wataruo, Yanagi-sen, Rubious, Heather, Ryoko, Kaze, Issini, Mamba-chan, and Lor-lor. Of course, AOHell is my eternal bane when it comes to eating emails, so if anyone not listed here wrote and I never saw it, please accept my apologies and consider yourself amongst these wondrous souls all the same, okay? Thank you all for your input!