Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Neutral Territory ❯ Lessons Learned While Cloud Gazing ( Chapter 11 )

Title: Neutral Territory [part 11/?]

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}}

*****

Wednesday late afternoon. A public park.

*****

After over an hour of lounging on the grass by the lake, Omi and Nagi had ended up laying on their backs side by side while watching picturesque cottony clouds parading across the azure vault of the sky.

"That one looks like a pirate ship," Omi offered, pointing at one cloud in particular and then waving a finger as he explained, "See? There's the main mast, and some sails, and if you look really closely, there's even a flag waving over the crow's nest!"

Nagi turned his head on its cozy spot on the now sun-warmed denim jacket and asked skeptically, "Oh really?" With a playful yet restrained smile, he teased gently, "You see all of that in a simple cloud, Weiss? You have an overactive imagination."

Omi chuckled and turned to face Nagi, the brilliant smile that refused to fade still shining brightly even as he defended himself, "It's all there, Schwarz! Open those big blue eyes of yours and take a look!"

Without being aware of it, Nagi's voice softened and deepened ever so slightly as he answered without looking at the sky at all, "My eyes *are* open, Weiss."

Somehow, the sable-haired boy's mind barely stopped the following thought about how he liked what he saw from being spoken aloud, and he almost glanced away before Omi replied equally tenderly, "I know, Schwarz. I know."

Barely able to keep from vocalizing similar admiring thoughts, Omi tried to distract himself by reaching up to brush fluffy blond bangs out of his eyes before inadvertently dropping his hand on top of Nagi's when he allowed it to fall back to the ground between their bodies. Omi would have pulled his hand away as soon as he realized his mistake, but the moment contact had been made, the smaller boy had intertwined their fingers firmly and held them together, silently asking him to not break them apart.

Surprised, Omi turned his head to gaze at Nagi, wondering if he was misinterpreting the situation, but the other boy had closed his eyes out of fear of being rejected, a worry that shone through the now useless attempt to hide deeper feelings.

Pleased and reassured, the older teen sighed happily and relaxed, satisfied to be allowed to maintain the unexpected physical contact with the boy his mind could barely remember to label as "enemy" in any way, shape, or form. Sadly, Omi failed to notice the presence of someone who deserved that particular title and worse in the park at the same time that he was daydreaming about Nagi.

Gliding through the crowds of young mothers and their children with a friendly and totally false smile on his face, an attractive man with long, golden brown hair exchanged pleasantries with whoever he found to be of interest. Occasionally, Glocksten would pause and his hazel eyes would gaze upon the gathered youth of Tokyo with an almost wolf-like expression in their unfeeling depths as he sized up his prey, innocent children playing around him like gentle lambs in a field.

Discovering a particularly lovely young boy with huge violet-hued eyes which were filled with tears since he'd strayed from his mother's side and couldn't find her once more, the malevolent beast chose a plaything for his latest client, a sick and twisted physician who enjoyed causing pain. From the depths of a pocket of his expensive designer trench coat, Glocksten withdrew a bag of crackers for feeding the ducks and acted as if he had been enjoying that pastime before crouching by the child and offering his assistance in leading the boy back to safety.

Peering up at him with luminous eyes, the child agreed and placed his hand all too trustingly into that of the man with the strange onyx earrings. With his usual sense of victory, Glocksten escorted the boy away from the lake, away from his mother, and away from life since the child's battered and abused body would be found floating in Tokyo Bay within 72 hours.

The Weiss assassin code named Bombay could have identified the detestable criminal at a glance if he'd seen the German, yet he hadn't. It was an ironic blessing that by the time the facts of the case came to light, Omi would be in no condition whatsoever to suffer the pangs of guilt he would have experienced had he known he'd missed an opportunity to stop a killer in his tracks that day. On the rarest of occasions, fate allowed a tortured soul such as his own to find a bit of happiness in an otherwise dark and painful existence and simply spending time with the youngest member of Schwarz the way that he was had been destiny's gift to him.

*****

Wednesday late afternoon. A public park.

*****

As time passed much too quickly, Omi finally got the nerve to glance at Nagi's face again and was amazed to see that the usually guarded telekinetic was so happy as they discreetly held hands together that he was openly smiling as he gazed at the sky.

Turning his head and locking gazes with his companion, Nagi asked quietly, "What are you thinking about, Omi?"

Omi almost blurted out that he was starting to consider the endearing psychic much more than a friend, but he bit that back and said instead, "I was thinking this has been the best week of my life and it's only Wednesday!" Considering the fact that on Monday he'd labeled the week one of his worst, this change of heart spoke volumes about the impact Nagi was already having on him and how profound their new relationship truly was.

The warmth of Omi's smile spilled over Nagi like a pleasant blanket and as the younger boy who was also discovering he felt quite strongly about his companion was about to ask if they could get together again the next day, a strange sound interrupted them.

"Esca~flowne! Esca~flowne!" A chorus of deep, resonant voices sang out from somewhere under the sable-haired youth's body.

Nagi released Omi's hand in a rush even as he jumped to his feet as if he'd been burned, exclaiming, "What the hell?!?"

"My phone!" Omi scrambled to drag the denim jacket towards himself before the voices could continue with the refrain from the Yoko Kanno anime soundtrack. He pulled the cell phone out from its hiding place and flipped it open before greeting brightly, "Omi here!"

Nagi stared at his friend and then rolled his eyes, annoyed with himself for overreacting the way that he had. Then again, he'd rarely been as relaxed and truly comfortable as he had been laying there holding Omi's hand loosely in his own and the interruption had startled him straight out of his pleasant reverie.

Meanwhile, cerulean eyes had gone wide as Omi belatedly realized that only one group of people would contact him at this number and it might be mission related, something he truly didn't want to cope with at that point since they were having such a nice afternoon together.

Calling him from the phone at the back of the Koneko, Aya growled angrily, "Where the hell are you, Omi? You were supposed to be here at five o'clock since Ken's team has soccer practice."

"Oh, shit! I am *so* sorry, Aya-kun," Omi looked like he felt ill and hoped that Nagi would catch Abyssinian's common name and know not to say anything to give them away.

The Schwarz psychic, of course, had already made that realization and had stepped away a little to avoid listening in case this was a matter involving their "night lives." Nagi desperately hoped that Omi wasn't being informed that he had an assignment from Kritiker that evening. Neither youth had actually taken the time to consider what they'd do when the other was sent off on a potentially life-threatening mission, but that was a worry they were deliberately procrastinating about.

"All right, take it easy, Omi," Aya calmed down as soon as he realized that he'd panicked his teammate if Omi's language had fallen apart so easily. In a more reasonable tone, he asked, "How soon can you get back here? We've got another couple of hours of work to do before we close up and then we're going to need you to finish a set of arrangements for a luncheon the ladies at the shrine ordered today that they need for tomorrow. Can you do that?"

"Sure thing, Aya-kun," Omi answered smiling and nodding to Nagi that everything was all right before explaining, "I'm at the park right now. I can be home in about twenty minutes if I hurry, will that be okay?"

One of the fangirls yanked on Aya's arm and the Weiss swordsman added in near desperation, "Just get here as soon as you can, Omi. We need a break!"

Almost choking on a giggle when he heard Yohji's melodious voice calling a greeting to even more new customers, Omi answered cheerfully, "No problem! I'll be there as soon as I can!"

Disconnecting and then closing the phone, Omi rose and smiled apologetically to his companion and said, "I'm very sorry, Nagi-kun, but I totally lost track of the time! I promised Ken-kun I'd be back to take over at the flower shop when he went to take the neighborhood kids to play soccer this afternoon. I need to go."

Picking up the denim jacket he'd enjoyed laying on and knocking off the few blades of grass that clung to it, Nagi shyly smiled back, "I understand, Omi, really I do. I had no idea it had gotten so late already."

As he pulled on the jacket, and noticing that it smelled faintly like his friend's light yet masculine cologne, Omi smiled then frowned a little as he admitted, "Oh, and I won't be able to meet you after school tomorrow. I've got to work then, too."

The younger assassin's pleasant mood crumbled entirely and he nodded glumly, looking at the ground and wishing it would swallow him up. For the first time in a very long time, Nagi had allowed himself to rely on someone else for his happiness for even a moment. And just as he had given up on hiding his emotions and was letting Omi know what he really felt, the insecure boy assumed he was being told that the older teen was no longer interested in spending time with him.

Dejected, Nagi tried to let his expressionless façade slip into place as he finally remarked, "Well, this was fun for awhile, Weiss. I guess I'll see you the next time we battle."

"Nani?!" Omi exclaimed, a worried frown on his face as he reached out and took Nagi's hand in his own the way he had when he'd first arrived at the park but didn't release it quickly as he had done previously. "What are you saying, Nagi-kun? I'm sorry if I forgot to mention all of this sooner, but I was hoping you might want to go to a movie with me on Friday. There's a new show at the anime theater by the university and we could see the matinee right after school, then get a bite to eat together, if you like."

Rapidly shifting moods left Nagi open once more to expressing himself more fully and he smiled quizzically as he asked, "You're inviting me to dinner and a movie the day after tomorrow?" His astonishment couldn't have been greater as he asked nervously, "Like a date, Omi?"

The older boy blushed slightly and nodded, clasping their hands together more tightly as he said, "Yes, Nagi-kun, I guess you could call it that." Even as he distantly realized this would be his first real date with anyone, he added hopefully, "If you're interested, I'd really like that a lot."

"I think that sounds great," the telekinetic responded as he smiled shyly. With obvious regret, Nagi then released the hand holding his own so warmly and pulled a slip of paper from a pocket which he gave to the older teen saying, "Um, I wanted to give you this in case you needed it for something. Come to think of it, it might come in handy if something comes up Friday and you can't meet me."

"Oh? What's this?" Omi asked, glancing at the paper and reading aloud, "'ProfX@mutants.org'?" [1] He had no clue what the name meant, but he didn't bother to ask since he was busy thinking how thoughtful Nagi was to have this ready to give to him.

"Um," midnight blue eyes dropped down in embarrassment, "that's my email address. I'm online a lot, so I thought it might help if you needed to get in touch with me."

Omi grinned happily and put the note in a pocket of his jeans even as his other hand slipped into a jacket pocket, searching out a scrap of paper and a pen. He scribbled something down in a hurry and handed it to the other boy with a smile never once noticing that in their excitement about their upcoming date neither mentioned the neutral territory issue. Not that it mattered, the same things that made both the library and the park safe for them to meet at applied to the anime theater as well.

It was Nagi's turn to be a little confused, though, as he read the slip of paper and asked, "This is your email address? 'Williamtell@classicalmusic.net'? There must be an interesting story behind that."

"Oh, not really," Omi smiled and then nearly panicked as he realized he was going to be late getting back if he didn't hurry, but there was something else he needed to check on first. As always, he wanted to make sure that the Schwarz assassin had transportation home, so he asked, "Will you be able to catch the subway from here okay, Nagi-kun? I've really got to get going or good old Abyssinian will have my head!"

Chuckling very softly, Nagi commented, "I got here just fine, Bombay, I'll get home equally well. Now go before that katana-wielding menace calls again."

Despite their decision not to discuss their other lives, teasing one another by code name seemed a natural for the boys but Nagi was extremely relieved that Omi had no clue that within Schwarz he himself was referred to as "Prodigy", a name he disliked with a passion.

Laughing outright, Omi agreed, "Yes, yes, I'm going! See you on Friday, Nagi-kun!"

Lightning fast reflexes allowed Omi to step forward and give Nagi a quick yet heartfelt hug before turning and dashing off to the parking lot. The genki youth was blushing when he arrived at his motorcycle even as he hoped against hope that he hadn't made a terrible mistake by giving in to the impulse to embrace the smaller teen the way that he had. After pulling on his helmet, he checked the pocket with the slip of paper with Nagi's email address on it one last time, grinned at his good fortune to have found a fellow online addict for a friend, and then headed home in a hurry.

Back by the lake, however, a dark-haired youth stood frozen in place, temporarily unable to move as his mind spun crazily following the incredibly brief moment spent in Omi's arms, a moment that flashed past too quickly for Nagi to even attempt to respond to the older boy in kind.

//Did he just do what I think he did?//

Nagi couldn't believe that he'd been hugged by his handsome friend in public the way that he had been, but the sad truth was that he couldn't recall being offered such a caring gesture before in the first place.

//Um, well, I've got to admit, that felt really nice.//

Forcing one foot in front of another, the telekinetic slowly began to make his way to the subway stop that would take him back to the Schwarz penthouse. His thoughts swirled and tumbled over themselves. Images of blond hair that looked as soft as a feather and eyes of blue that seemed to dance whenever Omi smiled at him kept popping in front of everything else his mind tried to consider.

With a happy sigh, Nagi boarded the train and let his daydreams carry him away to a place where he could watch Omi make ice cream for him without fear and the two young men didn't have a care in the world. No more combat in the frightening urban war-zone that Tokyo could become at night. No more hiding their friendship from the men each of them lived and worked with. And, best of all, no more forcing himself to pretend that he didn't have feelings and that happiness didn't matter to him at all.

Needless to say, Nagi enjoyed the ride back more than he had expected to thanks to Omi's spur of the moment parting embrace. It was amazingly good to know someone cared about him so much.

*****

To be continued.

Author's Notes:

[1] The email addresses I use in this story are intended to reflect what the characters think about themselves as well as what is important to them. Nagi's address will be explained in the body of the story later and Omi's should be obvious to anyone familiar with classical music. Before anyone laughs and thinks I mean the Lone Ranger based on the old American television show whose theme song was based on the piece in question, no, that was *not* what I had in mind!

[Posting Run Dedication for Chapters 10 & 11] This evening's posting run is hereby dedicated to the many wonderful hall costume wearers at Neko-Con V, especially the many males who were spotted actually portraying some of the same delightful bishounen so many of my stories are about! There was a perfectly adorable young man who played both Kenken of "Weiss Kreuz" *and* Hakkai from "Saiyuki" who went so far as to have a custom-made Hakuryu plushie with him. Kawaii! To my utter amazement, there was an entire collection of eight fans dressed as the assassins of Schwarz and Weiss which surprised me endlessly, especially the Nagi who had a great costume. There was also a complete set of "Gravitation" characters who had a choreographed dance performance no less and what had to have been one of the most "on the mark" Shuichi's I've ever seen. There were plenty of single characters wandering about, lots of Schuldich's and plenty of Omi's as well as the requisite number of Gundam pilots, Kenshin's, Inuyasha's, etc. All in all, it was most entertaining just to watch the people wandering around and I wanted to take a moment to salute them.