Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Schrecken ❯ Chapter 4

"Where are the others?" Aya turned an impassive gaze to Schuldig and Yohji. The mask had fallen into place, like it always did when he needed it. There was something out of place, wrong, and even he could feel it.

"We left Ken, Farfie, Brad, and the maid upstairs; haven't seen either of the chibis since then." Yohji was rubbing a hand over his face. Whatever the hell was going on was one big mind fuck.

"We find them. Omi and Prodigy are priority."

"Hey, his name is Nagi," Schu mumbled.

"Wait a second. One, this isn't a mission and two, they can take care of themselves." Yohji folded his arms across his chest.

"Yohji, there is something going on here. Whatever it is, Omi and Nagi would be in more trouble than the rest of us." Aya stared his lover down.

"Aya, Omi and Nagi are assassins. Get it? We'll all be in the same amount of trouble. Get it through your thick skull." He tapped Aya's forehead and the redhead glared at him. "Be that way. Let's head back to the sitting room." The blond moved towards the doors as the other two followed behind.

Aya was irritated, already, and they weren't even sure what was going on. He absently walked forward and through the doors after Schuldig and Yohji. The redhead continued until he bumped into Yohji. "Kudoh," Aya growled.

Yohji didn't move. He just stared up ahead, where Schuldig was standing.

"What the hell is your problem, Kudoh?" the German cast Yohji and annoyed look.

The blond just stared down the corridor that turned to lead into the main room. "The walls..."

Aya shook his head, believing his lover to be completely insane by this point. It hadn't been helping things that the blond had been spacing out every so often in their trek down through the halls. Paintings would catch his eye and he'd stare at them and, more often then not, walk into Schuldig.

The redhead silently stepped around his lover and walked down the hall. He continued until he heard a sound from Yohji. Turning around too sharply, he slipped and fell. Once on the floor, he blinked in confusion and moved to stand. There shouldn't have been any reason for him to fall. He put his hand down and pushed himself off the floor. His hand came away from the floor wet with blood.

"Aya-"

Aya put his other hand out to silence Yohji as he turned his bloodied palm over. It was only his hand. The rest of him was just dusty. "I think someone is trying to tell us something."

"Way to- fucking- go, Fujimiya! It took you this long to figure that out? Hell, I knew that when I saw your bloody cor-umph!" Schuldig was on the floor, cradling his cheek.

Yohji stood over him, his long blond locks hiding his face. He held a fist, clenched at his side. His voice sounded high pitched, almost feminine, "Do-don't say that... it isn't nice."

The two other assassins just stared at their companion. Schuldig stood and rubbed his cheek. The blond had one hell of a right hook. "I know it isn't nice. The redheaded bastard was stating the obvious ag-" He ducked to avoid another punch.

The blows, while up to Yohji's strength, had a quality to them that suggested no discipline. The first had been lucky and the second was just sloppy.

Aya approached the blond only to have the older man retreat backwards, shaking his still bowed head. "Yohji, come on. We have to find Omi."

Yohji shook his head again. "Stay... away.. you're dead." He still sounded oddly feminine, his cigarette roughened voice high.

"Yohji, please." Aya slowly approached the blond. This wasn't Yohji. "I'm not dead. We can go find Omi." He raised a hand and held it out to the blond. "Here." Aya could see his lover trembling. This wasn't like Yohji at all.

"Aya-kun?"

Schuldig turned to see Nagi and Omi standing down the hall they had come from. He glanced at Aya, seeing the redhead's attention focused fully on reaching his lover. "Stay back, there's something weird going on."

"We know! Farfarfello was right." Nagi stepped forward.

"What the hell do you mean, `Farfarfello was right'? He's legally insane, Nagi." Schuldig scowled at the youth.

Nagi shook his head. "Haven't you been noticing that the hallways haven't been going where they should? The portraits have been following you as you walk down the halls. How would you explain all of that?"

"Your overactive imagination."

The brunet scowled. "Fuck you, Schuldig." He glared at the older man and tossed out his power to know the German down.

Schuldig didn't move.

Suddenly, Nagi was pale as a sheet. "My... my powers." He tried again. "It's the house," he reaffirmed.

"Come off it, Nagi. A house can't do this stuff."

Behind them, Aya has reached Yohji. The blond was back against a wall. He wouldn't look up at Aya and the redhead's patience was wearing increasingly thin.

"Yohji, come on. It's me. I'm here, alive." He reached out and brushed his finger tips over the blond's cheek. Yohji was cold.

The blond shrank back, slamming his back into the wall behind him.

"Yohji!" Aya stepped forward. He curled his hand over the whimpering blond's cheek. His other hand went around Yohji's waist. Aya just held him. He held him tight against his body and for once Yohji was the colder one. "I know you are in there, Kudoh." He closed his eyes and clung to the stiff figure of his lover.

"Fuck... My telepathy is still coming up with noise. I wasn't worrying about it before. Fuck!" Schuldig turned around to talk to Aya but drew himself up short. "Aya..."

The redhead turned his head so he could see Schuldig. "Help me." Yohji still remained stiff and inhuman in his arms.

Schuldig had no clue what to do but he wanted to help. He approached the pair and watched Yohji's body remain rigid. "Hey, Blondie." Yohji didn't respond. If only he had his telepathy. "There's nothing I can do... no telepathy."

Aya shifted his grip on his lover. "Yohji, come back to me." He rubbed his cheek against Yohji's.

The blond flinched and an idea hit Schuldig. "Aya, kiss him."

A puzzled look passed the German's way, Aya unsure about following the suggestion. "What?"

Schuldig approached them both, standing close enough that Aya didn't have to move to look at him. "Ground him. Give him something he is familiar with. Call him back with your body."

Blinking, Aya pulled enough away from Yohji to look at his face. He took a gentle hold of the blond's chin and tilted his face up. Aya searched Yohji's eyes for a moment, finding them blank instead of the intensely expressive nature they usually showed. It was the reason he always wore those damn sunglasses. His eyes would betray him in a heartbeat if he wasn't careful. "Yohji," he whispered, brushing his lips over the blond's cheek, across his face, and to his jaw. Pressing the blond to the wall, he moved his hands over the bare skin at Yohji's waist.

The German watched carefully, catching every sign that Yohji was responding. A slight unclenching of his fists. The twitch of his arms, upward, like he wanted to hold Aya. "Keep it up."

Not glancing at Schuldig, Aya slid his hands up, over the snug t-shirt his lover wore. His hands settled on the blond's cheeks. He leaned up, brushing his lips over the blond's again and again. It pulled more subtle reactions from Yohji. Aya finally pressed his lips over Yohji's kissing with everything he felt for the blond.

Omi watched in awe at the tenderness that his teammate was showing for Yohji. He silently wished that Yohji would just come back. Not sure what exactly was wrong, he only had to go on what little Schuldig and Aya were saying.

"Come on, damnit," Schuldig muttered. He wished that he could telepathically check on Yohji but he had to settle for watching body language. At least he had learned that when he suffered through Rosenkreuz.

"Yohji-kun..." Omi bit his lip and gripped Nagi's arm. He knew he couldn't do anything. It was up to Aya.

His arms moved around Yohji's neck as he stretched up. Aya's lips moved over Yohji's. Still, the blond wasn't coming out of the state he was in. The redhead pulled back. "Damnit, Kudoh." What he wouldn't give for the man to be pouncing him like he always did. He tried again, his lips returning to Yohji's unmoving pair.

Schuldig watched, unsure what they could do if this didn't work. He could see that Yohji was trying to come back, fighting whatever it was that changed him. Then he saw Yohji's shaky arms wrap around Aya's waist.

Aya froze as he suddenly found himself being kissed back. It only took him a moment to recover and begin fiercely kissing Yohji. He clung to the blond as Yohji spun them so Aya's back was against the wall.

Omi blushed and Schuldig ran a hand over his face. "We should go find Bradley and Siberian."

"Ken," Omi corrected.

"Sorry," mumbled Schuldig, agitated that the members of Weiss corrected him on the small matter of names.

Aya gently pushed Yohji away, breaking their kiss. "Are you ok?"

Yohji was shaking and he felt cold. He nodded his head in response to Aya's question. Thoughts jumbled his mind, some of them not his own. He knew things and had feelings that he couldn't make sense of.

"We'll go back the way Nagi and Omi came." Aya stepped past Yohji, taking charge again. Schuldig was baffled at the way the man seamlessly switched gears.

The blond reached out and caught Aya's hand as the pale man passed him. Aya turned around to him and they shared a look for a long moment. The redhead threaded their fingers together and continued on his way.

Schuldig shook his head and followed closely behind them. Omi and Nagi hurried to catch up with them.

=

"Holy shit!" Ken tumbled off the bed, dragging some of the sheets with him. He scuttled backwards into a crouched figure.

"It's angry." Farfarfello voiced the words calmly. He stared at the far side of the room.

Ken jumped as Farfarfello placed a hand on his shoulder. "What is angry?" He glanced back over his shoulder to the Irishman as he dragged their clothes over to them.

"The house."

The far wall was bulging again, enough to bleed into the corner and ceiling. That portion of the room was hanging downwards, pregnant with whatever it was that was causing all of the odd things to happen.

The assassins pulled their clothes on, Ken faster than Farfie. He was up and itching to get out of the room before Farfarfello had his pants buttoned. Ken took a hold of his new lover's arm and pulled him out of the room and down the hall.

Farfarfello jerked his jeans closed and tugged on his long sleeved t-shirt as they hurried down the hall. "They're watching." His eye shifted back and forth between the two walls of the corridor.

"Fucking paintings again, isn't it?" He glanced to a portrait of a young woman standing beneath a sakura tree. She was Asian but dressed very European. The man next to her was dressed Oriental, as was the woman on the other side of her. He was European and the child appeared to be Asian. All of the eyes of the people in the painting moved with Ken and Farfarfello as they passed.

They reached the stairs and clattered down the huge staircase of the foyer. Farfarfello moved faster than Ken did. The soccer player sped up to catch the Irishman at the bottom of the stairs and ended up tripping on the last step.

"Fuck!" He tumbled down the last few steps and ended up sprawled over the landing.

Farfarfello returned to his side and moved to help him up. "Come along, kitty. We've got to go."

Ken moaned in pain and curled towards the Irishman. "My arm.." Clutching the appendage, he sat up with Farfie's help. "Fuck. It hurts." It felt like something was wedged in between the break, pushing the bones apart.

The Irishman turned his golden gaze up. His eye narrowed at the top of the stairs. "Bradley!" he yelled, "Oracle!" He curled an arm around Ken, a protecting gesture. "Bradley!"

=

"So you are saying that people were killed in this house?" Brad was peering through his glasses. He wiped them off with the cloth in his hand before sliding them back on.

"Yes." Kyoko sat with her arms wrapped around herself.

"Before tonight?"

She nodded. "A long time ago. They were stories I heard has a child; of events like what happened tonight happening again. The older kids would tell us then dare us to come up here."

Brad raised his hand for her to stop. "I understand." He hooked his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans. "Are we in danger here?"

Kyoko shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe."

Sighing, the American walked to the other side of the room. He wanted to know where Schuldig was. The man could get himself into a lot of trouble if Brad wasn't around to watch him. Bradley rubbed his temples. Nagi and Farfarfello had been absent too. He knew Bombay would handle Nagi just fine and he was sure Farfarfello and Siberian would be downstairs after they had their... `fun'.

"Bradley!" He shifted his attention to the door that led out towards the main stairwell. "Oracle!"

"Farfarfello." Brad grabbed Kyoko's arm and pulled her along with him.

"Bradley!"

He reached the doors they had shut and tried the handle. It wouldn't open. He threw his weight against the door as he heard his teammate yell again. "Farfarfello!" Brad forced his shoulder into the door. The wood splintered and flew open. They raced down the short hallway to find Farfarfello and Ken on the landing below the main staircase. "Farfarfello."

The Irishman turned to look at his team leader then carefully helped Ken from the floor. He glanced back to the top of the staircase. "She's angry," he whispered, guiding Ken backwards, away from the landing.

"What are you talking about, Farfarfello?" Bradley asked, his voice resuming its calm tone.

Motioning towards the top of the stairs with his chin, Farfie let Ken lean on him. Next to him, Ken held his own arm. He leaned on Farfarfello as the searing pain continued. He tried his best to ignore it, as he would on a mission but, the wedge only felt stronger then.

"Ask that little whore-bitch you've been watching over."

Bradley shifted his gaze to the girl next to him. "Who's angry?"

"She is. Don't you see her?" Yohji's calm, yet still shaky voice came from the other hallway.

The rest of the two teams entered the room. Only Farfello and Yohji noticed the ghastly figure at the second landing, in front of the large portrait. Omi rushed to Ken's side, intent on finding out what was wrong with him. Nagi and Schuldig stood back as Yohji, leading Aya, approached Brad, Farfarfello, and Kyoko.

"No," Brad glanced up the stairs and only saw the large portrait of a woman. "The woman in the portrait?"

Farfarfello shook his head. "She's not in the portrait. Ask the little whore-bitch about it. She knows what I'm talking about." The Irishman shook his head and turned his eye back up to the stairs.

"You're not helping, Farfarfello. I wouldn't call her daughter that anymore," Yohji's soft warning had all of them staring at him.

"Her daughter?" Brad glanced at Kyoko then up to the portrait. He still saw nothing more than the painting. There were a few subtle similarities between them, though. "Kyoko, what are they talking about?" Of the time he had spent with her, she hadn't said a word about this.

Yohji knew there was something about the girl but, until shortly before they arrived in the room, he hadn't gotten the impression of relation between her and the `force' he felt before. One thing he knew was that at the top of the stairs was something only he and Farfarfello could see. He was almost sure that if Schuldig's telepathy was working, that he would have been able to sense her as well.

Kyoko shook her head, tears streaming down her pretty features. "Stop! It's not true! I'm not hers! She is lying!" She covered her ears with her hands and backed away from Bradley and the others. Tripping on the stairs, she cried as she fell.

The blond assassin shook his head. "You share her last name. Her maiden name, before she was married to Englishman."

Aya cast a glance at his lover. "Yohji, how do you know this?"

"How the fuck do you think, Aya? It was her doing that to me before." He rubbed his hands over his bare arms, cold again. Extending a hand to Aya, he waited until the redhead took it.

"Who, Yohji?"

"Fuck if I know. All I get from her is anger, some vague impressions of memories, and a motherly feeling towards the little bitch over there." He rolled his eyes and glared up in the direction in the portrait. "I get it, go fuck yourself and leave me alone," he hissed. At this point, Yohji was just tired of being fucked with. He didn't care if his attitude wasn't helping.

"That wasn't smart, Kitten." Farfarfello guided Ken and Omi away from the stairs.

Slowly, a figure faded in, descending the stairs. Yohji remained where he was as the apparition made herself visible. She was pretty but forever caught in the state she was when she died, wearing European dress. The other assassins took a step back from the stairs, except for Aya. Yohji still held his hand.

Schuldig could admit that he had seen some strange things for all the time he worked with Esset, but a ghost honestly took the cake.

"But, mother, they were so nice! Why?" Kyoko pleaded to the apparition, even grabbing the hem of her skirt.

The apparition stopped, turning to face her daughter. She stared at the younger form for a few moments. Every passing second, Kyoko grew younger until she was about ten or eleven.

Yohji stared at this, utterly confused. Aya tugged on his hand and managed to pull him back from the landing a little bit. "She's dead too..."

Schuldig cast a scowl, like he wanted to make a smart comment to Yohji. Nagi smacked him before he voiced it.

"Why, mother?! Why?" The now little Kyoko tugged at her mother's skirts. She turned a teary, pale face to the rest of the room.

Her mother brushed a hand at her, sending her back behind her. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Again, she moved her hand back and this time returned with Kyoko's hand in hers, leading her daughter forward.

"Why did you kill them?" Omi is the first one to speak in the consuming silence. They were standing before things that had been dead a long time and he was still asking questions.

Kyoko made a face, all child, and glanced up at her mother's impassive face. "They had to die. Like you do." The child turned back to her mother and they seemed to be communicating for a moment.

Yohji shook his head. "No. I'm not you and you are not me. Aya's not dead and Ken's broken arm is not going to kill him. They aren't here to harm us. They are our friends."

Aya blinked, staring at his lover for a moment. The blond was having a conversation with the apparition without the little girl speaking for her. "Yohji, what's going on?"

"Bitch, here-" He stopped speaking, and his chest grew tight. He couldn't breathe.

"Mother! Let him go!" Kyoko pulled at her mother's hand. "Mother, please!"

At her daughter's pleading, the apparition seemed to free Yohji enough that the blond could breathe.

He coughed and rubbed his throat, glaring at the woman. "Yumiko Tachiwara. Over a hundred years ago, her family was attacked in their home. Here." He motioned down. "Her husband was murdered first, then her daughter broke her arm. They wouldn't let her see a doctor so, she died of whatever the hell it is when you break a bone and it gets into the blood stream, I'm not a doctor. Their maids were killed, like Omi's friends. She was the last to go, fighting them. They raped her, beat her, and finally cut her throat." He scowled at the figure of Yumiko. "Happy now? Your precious daughter didn't have to say that." He gasped and fell back on the floor.

Yumiko turned her unchanging features to him as Aya followed Yohji to the floor. He crouched beside his lover, making sure he was ok. The redhead turned back to the woman. "If I'm supposed to be her husband, why aren't I dead?"

"We did see you hanging from the ceiling," Schuldig spoke quietly.

Everyone fell silent as Yumiko moved forward. She let go of her daughter's hand to stretch it to Aya. The redhead narrowed his eyes and Yohji pushed himself off the floor.

"No! You won't do to him what was done to Fitzwilliam!" Yohji threw himself in front of Yumiko.

"Yohji!" Aya reached for his lover as the blond screamed.