Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Rain's Instigation ❯ Burning Tiger ( Chapter 1 )

Rain's Instigation

Burning Tiger - Chapter I

Disclaimer: Let's say it together now, I don't own Weiss or Schwarz or Crasher or the rest of Kritiker.

********

"What the hell?" Ken shouted, having gone to get the paper when Aya hadn't shown up downstairs yet. Omi ran down the hall to see what was wrong and gasped.

"Omi, go get Youji up, now!" Ken ordered, bending down to see if Aya still had a pulse. It was there but weak. He glanced up to see Omi still standing there, eyes wide. "NOW!" he repeated and Omi was gone. He stared down worriedly at his leader wondering what the fuck they were going to do. A mantra filled the downstairs of the Koneko, a repetitive "oh shit, of shit, oh shit" that made Ken feel better.

"Oh my god, oh my god…" Omi repeated, bounding up the stairs (the upstairs' mantra). He pounded on Youji's door, in the end just throwing it open. "Youji!" he shouted. He got some inarticulate mumble in response. "Youji! Aya is hurt!" he tried again, and this time it worked. Youji shot up, yelling "What?" he didn't wait for an answer, only rushed out of bed, grabbing a pair of jeans and throwing them on. The two blondes rushed downstairs, the taller halted a moment at the sight of Aya laid out on the hallway floor, completely still except for the minuscule rises of his chest as he breathed, then only sound in the room Aya trying to breathe. "I called Kritker, they're sending someone here." Ken stated.

Youji stepped towards him carefully, almost as if he was afraid that the smell of smoke on his clothing would make it even more difficult for the redhead to breathe. "Ken, how bad is it?"

"It doesn't look that bad on the outside, but there are internal injuries. It seems as if someone almost put a bat to him, but that wouldn't make any sense. I mean, it's Aya, he could have god damn well shattered the ba-" he stopped his rant abruptly, seeing Kritiker staff knocking on the door, an ambulance sitting in the driveway. Ken went in the ambulance, as he had the most clue as to what was going on but Youji and Omi weren't far behind, the seven keeping up nicely with the speeding truck. They watched as their redhead was brought in, and were directed to the waiting room, where they waited, and waited. Ken was pacing, Youji's fingers were twitching and Omi looked near tears by the time the doctor came out. Aya's collarbone was broken, as was one of his ribs, which had punctured a lung on the drive to the hospital; he had a mild concussion and multiple lacerations and contusions. He had needed stitches down his left eyebrow and along his jaw.

"Can we see him?" Youji questioned, staring at the man, who blinked at him.

"Your Kritiker operative has requested that he be kept in solitary confinement until he is awake and she arrives." He stated, sounding like he had quoted something, or someone. The eldest Weiss' growl was almost drowned out by Omi's `eep' and Ken's curse but the good doctor heard it none the less and after the promise to keep them informed escaped past the admitting doors, which could not be opened from the outside without the nurse's cooperation.

*********

Aya awoke with a groan, the pain everywhere excruciating. He forced himself up by will alone, to see Manx sitting as pretty as you please beside him. "Aya" she said and he nodded back to her, or tired to and found he couldn't. Why the hell couldn't he…oh yeah…that.

No wonder Manx had greeted him instead of Youji, Ken and Omi.

"Water?" she asked, holding a cup.

"Please." He responded, figuring it was probably best to be civil right now, she had the upper hand. He watched her walking around the room, flaunting her ability to move while he was stuck in the hated hospital bed. She handed the plastic cup to him, watching him take small sips.

"So" she said, sitting back down in her chair and crossing her legs. She leaned over until their faces were closer together, "There is a rumor going around that there was a fight in a park right around here, one you frequent often enough after you visit Aya-chan, which you did last night. The fight included four men, including one redhead and one blond. Strike a chord?"

Aya remained silent.

"Oh, and did I forget to mention that redhead refused to fight back and just let them hit him?" she snapped, her anger getting the better of her. "You could have been killed! And where would Weiss be then? Or Aya-chan? All for a bunch of traitors!" she jumped out of her chair, starting to pace around the room, obviously agitated.

"What happened to Crashers, Manx?" Aya stated calmly, pushing aside his own ire for answers.

< attack them make to happened what or Crashers mean you>

"Both," he responded, wanting to shrug but unable to.

"You didn't really know Rook, as you were his replacement but everyone was pretty close to him. A pretty loveable guy. He got captured on assignment and he was killed. Crashers wanted to go back and get his body, or actually, in reality, to get him. They didn't believe he was dead. Queen forbade them to go through with and they rebelled, you know how protective Knight was of his team-mates. They are now attacking anyone with any affiliation with them. You should have seen Queen, she would have died if Birman hadn't been on her way to see her and found the woman." She finally looked at him, "and you were willing to let them trample all over you for the sake of the past!"

He turned his head away and she sighed. "Fine, I've said my bit, I'll let the others come in now. But I'll ask you this, how many people are you going to let get hurt so you don't have to kill an ex-lover?" he remained silent, staring out the window as the red-haired woman walked out the door.

Almost immediately Youji tumbled into the room, followed by Ken and Omi. "What the hell were you thinking?" the tall blonde snarled, reaching out to shake the man before thinking better of it and instead clutching the side rail. "What the fuck happened, Aya? And why was Manx so adamant about seeing you first?" Aya almost groaned at the headache the bombardment of questions was causing him, only Youji could shoot questions at him like he had spent his entire life as a reporter and still live.

"Meh, Youji-kun! Aya-kun is in the hospital here, he just woke up! Give him some time to recuperate before you play reporter! How are you feeling, Aya-kun? Can I get you anything?" It was amazing how the boy could go from such a reproaching voice back to his normal genki and concerned one so quickly. Youji grumbled slightly but the wind had been knocked out of his sails and he shut up, for now. Aya could have kissed Omi…well hugged, because Omi and kissing was just wrong. It would be like kissing a twelve year old. Aya almost scrunched up his nose at the thought but realised that it would only cause questions.

"I'm fine. Thank you, Omi." He responded, instead.

"So how long are you going to be in here for?" Ken finally spoke up, having smothered his chuckles at Youji being shot down by such a little guy. Like he could talk, all of them, even Aya had been reproached by Omi and he always got away with it.

"I should be out tomorrow." He said shortly, wanting to get off the topic of his hospital stay as quickly as possible.

Omi laughed, "better to be lying in bed at home than here, ne Aya-kun? Common guys, we should let Aya-kun sleep. Bye-bye!"

"Bye." Aya replied as Youji shot him one last confused glance before following the other two out. He leaned back onto the raised bed and sighed. He had a funny feeling Youji wasn't through with his questioning.

***********

Aya frowned at the giant white sign, "We Missed You!" in bold red letters.

"It's probably from a fan girl," Youji said, glancing around at the flowers and such surrounding the area. Aya got out of the car, ignoring Youji as the blonde scowled and scrambled out of the other side to help him. The redhead was starting to slowly walk over when Ken and Omi appeared on Ken's motorcycle. "Wow." Ken muttered, taking off his helmet.

Aya went to the largest box, standing directly in the centre of everything and Youji laughed. "Always go for the biggest one first, ne Aya?" Aya ignored him, lifting the lid up carefully. Of course the sides fell down then. Revealing a bomb.

"Go," Aya stated, sitting down to get closer to the explosives, wincing slightly from the pain in his ribs.

"But…" Omi started, but Ken was already putting his helmet back on, starting his motorcycle. He knew that voice.

"LEAVE." He ignored the sounds of the motorcycle revving away.

Aya stared at it, licking his lips in concentration. He knew this; he had done this. Years ago, he had been a pro at this. It had been included in his training at the Aoba center; you had to learn how to disable explosives before you could find out how to set them up. He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them the time on the clock was less. No time to be reminiscing. He started unscrewing the top plate, looking inside…

Aya stared at it. The clock was still ticking, but it wasn't attached to the bomb anymore. That was a good thing. He watched it tick down, 00:02, 00:01, 00:00. It beeped, and nothing happened. He sighed, the moment felt slightly anticlimactic. The pain adrenaline had pushed aside earlier came back and he stumbled a little. Youji, who it seemed had been watching him, caught him. Aya looked up at him.

"You should have left." He told the man gravely.

The blonde shrugged, righting the redhead and saying, "I should do a lot of things. I figured if you couldn't get it, maybe something from when I lived on an army base might have helped. You wouldn't have had time to run all the way outside. Especially in your state." He couldn't help but add, judging from the guilty smile, meaning his usual one. "Come; let's get you upstairs, where you should be."

Aya didn't bother to respond. They reached the bedroom, Aya leaning on Youji's shoulder. Walking inside, Youji brought Aya towards the bed when something caught his eye on the black covers. There were three things. One white rose, one marble rook playing piece, and a note.

"Here" Youji said, handing the note to Aya.

Tiger, Tiger burning bright
In the forest of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder and what art
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand and what dread feet?

What the hammer? What the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did He smile His work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee?

Tiger, Tiger burning bright
In the forest of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Aya sighed and put the piece of paper by the bed. There was nothing he could about it now. Youji, noticing his intentions with some surprise, picked up the other two objects, placing one in a glass of water and the other on the desk. Aya almost fell into bed and was asleep before he could put the covers over him instead of just lying on them.

Youji smiled indulgently and picked the man up, moving him so as to get him under the covers. Even with all his bruises and cuts the man was beautiful, looking fragile and more at ease than he ever did when he was awake. What the hell had gone on that Aya hadn't fought back? That had to have been what happened, because unless it was Schwarz Aya could kick the crap out of anyone, even without his sword. Youji stood beside the man's bed, staring down at him until he realised that he should probably call Omi and Ken and tell them that the house was fine and Aya had saved the day again. And then Kritiker would need to be informed, though it was likely they already knew. Damn informants. Damn fucking mess. What the hell had Aya gotten them into now?