Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ What is Mine ❯ Chapter 13 (Part One): The Better Cat ( Chapter 13 )

A/N: I'm back! Well, sort of. I had a huge hiatus as some of you will know but as promised I have finished the fanfic. I have, and will continue to appreciate the comments that I have gotten. It played a big role in developing the story from another PWP to a full blown out story. Whether you enjoy ending or are disappointed with it, it has been an honor to write it. Maybe I'll do more when another story pops in my head. Anyway, these will be the last two chapters for the story. I hope you enjoy it. Editing will be done in the future.

~shadowlink06

 

What is Mine

 

I do not own Weiß Kreuz or any of its characters.

 

/Telepathy/

 

^Inner Thoughts^

 

{Flashbacks}

 

One essential to success is that your desire be an all-obsessing one, your thoughts and aim be coordinated, and your energy be concentrated and applied without letup.

--Claude M. Bristol

 

Chapter 13 (Part One): The Better Cat

 

“Weiß. . . what a pleasant surprise.”

 

“Don't give me your bullshit Schuldich!” Ken snapped, “Why the hell are you here?”

 

“I think I should be the one asking you that.” The telepath said smoothly looking at each Weiß assassins. “Hmm, you guys seem to keep popping in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

 

“If you have such a problem with it why don't you just stay out of our hair?” Omi retorted.

 

The telepath smirked, “Because you Weiß kittens easily amuse me.” He gazed turned to the burning building. “My, my, `some' people should learn not to play with fire.”

 

“Fuck you.” Ken hissed through clenched teeth.

 

“Fuck you?” Schuldich said sardonically. “No thanks, I've already got someone filling in that role, and think I can say they're much better than you could ever dream to be.” His eyes drifted to Aya holding back from laughing.

 

Aya's grip on the shira-saya tightened, as he met Schuldich's eyes. That bastard. . .he was toying with him.

 

“What's wrong Ran? You seem a bit. . . tense.” Schuldich drawled thoroughly enjoying himself. He glanced in Ken's direction, the Weiß member's eyes reflecting a terrible death for him. Goodie. Schuldich smirked at the brunette, “Did I say something to make you mad Siberian?”

 

/-Schu, move to your left/ Crawford commanded.

 

Seeing that the telepath was distracted Omi wasted no time throwing two darts at the Schwarz member. Just as he thought the small projectile would hit their target, Schuldich moved at the last second. ^Dammit, I thought for sure that would work^ Maybe it was just his imagination, but the telepath's movements seemed a lot slower than normal.

 

Schuldich gasped at the sudden movement, the stitches in his back were starting to tear and blood was flowing down his back. Even though it hurt like hell, he didn't let the pain he was feeling be shown on his face. The last thing he wanted to do is to let the Weiß assassins know he was still hurt. He smirked, “You kittens really need to calm down. I'm not here to fight you.” He had owed Bradley for saving him from that one but knew better than to rely on his help again.

 

“Like we would believe you.” Omi growled.

 

The telepath chuckled. “If you `really' want to know why I'm here, it's because I'm looking for something I lost, or I should say. . . `someone'.” The implication was heavy in the air and he saw Aya flinch slightly from what he had said.

 

Ken narrowed his eyes at him. “I couldn't give a damn why you're here, all I know is you're going to pay for what you did to Yohji.”

 

“Hmm . .Yohji?” The telepath said with amusement. “Was there something I did to him?”

 

“Don't try to play dumb with me! I'll never forgive you for what you did to him!”

 

A grin curled on his face, ^So, you didn't tell them after all did you Ran?^ Schuldich eyes locked onto Ken's. “Oh now I see, you must mean when he got shot. . . As much as I wanted to, I assure you it wasn't me that did that to your precious Balinese.”

 

“Don't you dare try to lie to me!” Ken snapped.

 

“But I'm not lying. . . the `real' person that you should be seeking your revenge on is Beansprucht. He's the one that really did it, now if you'll excuse me I have to hurry up and find him.” He didn't have to read the redhead's mind to know that Aya was angry, and now probably scared. ^Yes Ran, let's see how you `friends' react when they know the truth^ He took a step towards the Weiß assassins stopping abruptly. His left hand went up to cover his mouth as he gave a startled gasp in mock surprise. “Well what do you know. . . I found him.”

 

^What?^ Ken said in confusion. This had to be some kind of trick; there was no one behind the Weiß assassins. His eyes narrowed at the telepath, “I don't know what you're trying to pull Schuldich, but it won't work.” It was then that he heard the telepath start to chuckle. It wasn't the normal annoying voice that he was used to hearing from him. . .it was dark, almost demonic, that nearly made his blood run cold.

 

“I must say this is all too amusing, you're `literally' standing next to the enemy and you don't even know it.”

 

“You're insane!” Omi shouted, “There's nobody behind us.”

 

“Exactly. . .”

 

The brunette's eyes narrowed, ^What the hell is he talking about?^

 

The telepath's head lifted back up, lifting it to the burning building. “Hmm, did you kill Takatori Reiji?”

 

“And if we did?” Omi hissed.

 

Schuldich smirked, “Well, that's one less bastard to worry about.”

 

“Too bad another one is standing in front of me.” Ken retorted coldly.

 

“Ouch, that hurt, right in the heart” The telepath said placing a hand on his chest in a mocking gester. “But I suppose you think all of Schwarz are that don't you.”

 

“Damn right I do.”

 

Schuldich chuckled harshly, entertained by the brunette's response, “You don't say? It's kind of funny really. Have you ever realized how time can change a person? One minute they can be your best friend, the next they can be your mortal enemy.” His eyes shot towards Aya, “-But I'm sure you know that better than anyone. . . don't you Ran?”

 

For the first time, Aya's head look up meeting the telepath's eyes and stared at him, desperately trying to keep his face neutral. He didn't like this one bit. What Schuldich was trying to imply, what he was trying to get him to admit. . . if Schuldich exposed him now in front of them now. . .

 

“What the hell are you talking about?!” Ken shouted at him.

 

Schuldich merely grinned at him. The Weiß kittens always had a habit of amusing him, and this time seemed more fruitful- but he could only hope. The trio was unpredictable at times. “Why don't you ask your Weiß leader?” He replied simply to the brunette.

 

Omi's innocent azure eyes locked onto the redhead. “What's he talking about Aya?”

 

The Weiß leader's eyes cast down on the young assassin. He could feel a lump forming in his throat, cutting off his airway. God, not now, he didn't want them to know now.

 

Schuldich smirked maliciously “Yes `Aya' why don't you tell them what I am talking about.”

 

Ken turned around facing the Weiß leader, “Aya. . . what is going on?” He said softly. Though he had wondered where the redhead had been at, it now bothered him how the telepath was acting, and on top of that, how the hell could Schuldich know where Aya had been?

 

^Decisions, decisions, what are you going to do now Ran?^ Schuldich mused to himself watching the tension rise as rapidly as the fire that was engulfing the building behind them. Aya was cornered now. It was all a matter if his adrenaline would allow him to flee, fight, or roll over. And for the strangest reason he thought that the Weiß leader would do the latter.

 

Aya stood there immobile. Schuldich just did the one thing that he wasn't ready to face. He had known very well what he had done to Yohji. He had planned to tell Omi and Ken about it but that wasn't the point. It was all a matter of how to approach it and the telepath had simply cut down his options to two and only two: lie or tell the truth.

 

“What's wrong Ran?” Schuldich said mockingly. “Cat got your tongue?”

 

The Weiß leader looked up and glared at him. Even the telepath drew in a deep breath by that one look. It was enough to know that he had pushed Aya, and by god Aya was going to make it a point to push him so far back, he would beg for death. Still, the thought didn't faze him. “Well if you won't say anything, I guess I'll tell them for you. That doesn't bother you does it?”

 

“-Stop it Schuldich.” Aya replied coldly.

 

The telepath chuckled, “Ah, so you are going tell them?” He couldn't help but grin, when the redhead didn't respond He chided waving his left hand in the air. . “Tsk tsk, I'm surprised that you keep this from them, such a naughty little boy you are.”

 

“I said shut up!”

 

Surprise showed in both Ken and Omi's face. Aya had never lost control like that, he had never shouted like that, not at Schwartz, and sure as hell not at Schuldich. Oh Schuldich was the smug one as his eyes looked impassively to naïve pair. “And you two seem to really want to know don't you?” As he suspected they had said nothing, but that was just dandy with him. The shock would be a whole lot worse. “ Haven't you wondered where your Ran has been at all of this time?” He mused staring at Aya in his eyes. There was fear there and anger, oh so much anger. “Your little Weiß leader has been with Schwarz all this time. You want to know who Beansprucht is. . .?” He held his left hand out, pointing towards Aya, “Well, there he is.”

 

Omi's azure eyes widened, “Impossible!” He exclaimed.

 

“Bullshit!!” Ken shouted. He had seen how Aya and Yohji had slowly become romantically involved, the love they showed for each other to the point that it was unfathomable. No one meant more to them than each other. There was no way in hell that Aya would go with Schwarz, and there damn sure was no way that he would be involved with Schuldich. It. . . it just wasn't possible.

 

Schuldich didn't respond, only laughing again. “To see the look on your faces. . . it's priceless.”

 

The brunette looked at Aya. Why was he just sitting there like that? Why wasn't he trying to deny what the telepath was saying to him? No, it wasn't true, it couldn't be. He didn't know when he had done it, but he found his hands on the collar of the Weiß leader's police vest mere inches away from Aya's face. “Tell me. . .” He choked out quietly. Aya wouldn't! Schuldich was lying! The redhead would never dream of betraying Weiß or doing that to Yohji. “Tell me he's lying Aya!!” He shouted almost face to face with him.

 

Schuldich watched the entire scene, amused by Ken's reaction. He had almost forgotten that the brunette was such a hothead. Ah, but made the whole thing more interesting, and he was very curious to see what Aya would do now.

 

Guilt made itself known as the Weiß leader looked at the brunette. He made no attempt to try to pull away from Ken. He had a right to be angry, he had every right to hate him too.

 

“Ken stop!!” Omi shouted at the brunette. He ran over to the two assassins trying to make Ken let go of Aya, but Ken didn't even budge.

 

“No!” Ken shouted angrily his grip tightening, “I want to know Aya, is this true?!”

 

“. . .You don't understand.” The Weiß leader said softly.

 

“-IS IT TRUE?!”

 

Aya dropped his gaze from him, his mouth going suddenly dry again. He would never bring himself to lie to them but. . . they way he had just looked at him- the hatred that he showed. . . it hurt.

 

“-ANSWER ME DAMMIT!!”

 

Aya's breath got caught in the back of his throat. He wanted to lie about this, but no amount of will power was letting him do it. Exhaling slowly, he spoke in a very quiet voice. “. . . It's true.” As soon as he got those two words out of his mouth Ken's fist closed and punched him hard in his face. The blow had caught Aya off guard enough to leave him stumbling and trying to regain his balance. The Weiß leader stared at Ken, knowing that he was going to have a huge bruise in the morning.

 

Ken was shaking, he didn't know how to react to it. He had sworn he would kill whoever had nearly killed Yohji, and here he was. Aya... Aya of all people that had done it. He was afraid to come any closer to the other man. Fingers curled until he could feel the skin under his fingers rub against the bones in his palms.

 

*5*

 

“Why Aya?!” He screamed at the other man. How?! How could this have happened?!

 

*4*

 

“I had no choice.” The Weiß leader whispered.

 

*3*

 

“Why didn't you tell us earlier?!” Ken said angrily.

 

*2*

 

“I-I. . .” The redhead stuttered.

 

*1*

 

“It was because I-”

 

*BOOM*

 

Shards of crystalline glass and concrete broke apart from the burning building. The Weiß assassins had been so distracted from Schuldich's presence, they had completely forgotten about the bombs they had set earlier.

 

^Ch' just my day^ Schuldich muttered hearing the explosion rip through the side of contrite wall. Weiß certainly did have a habit of blowing things up. A part of him should have expected it but then again, he was expecting this building to be burned to the ground. Obviously that wouldn't have been fast enough for Weiß. All five of the men scrambled in all directions as jagged pieces of rock, glass, and twisted metal descended to the earth. Through it all Crawford watched the images of the five. They were like mice scurrying in a maze, but he knew that not even that was going to kill Schuldich or Weiß for that matter. They had a habit of always surviving such destruction. Still, that made him think about Aya and Schuldich. In less than five minutes he had gotten two more possible outcomes and that made him frown. One thing was for certain... one of them was going to fall tonight. But unlike Aya, once Schuldich fell, he was down for the count.

 

It was amazing to Ken how he had managed to not get even scratched by the falling ruble. It was even more amazing that the truck that he had sought refuge under hadn't collapsed on top of him with that entire added weight. For a long time he just lay there on his belly until the dust had cleared. Crawling from under the truck he could feel the heat that was pressing against his skin. God how could they have gotten so careless? It looked as though an atomic bomb had gone off. Coughing softly he looked around hoping that the others had gotten as lucky as he had gotten. “Aya!” He said as loud as he could and stumbled away from the vehicle. “Omi! Where are you?” All he could do is just stand there completely bewildered. Then... a small voice called out to him. Even if it was dim he recognized the voice immediately. “Omi! Keep talking! Where are you?!”

 

“Ken...”

 

The brunette turned to his left and found Omi there and couldn't believe what he was seeing. The upper part of his shoulder had become trapped under a heavy piece of concrete pinning him to the ground. It was fortunate that the hard slab of rock wasn't on fire but it still had to have shattered the bone and the way the shoulder socket was placed, the bone had to have been dislocated. There were tears running out of his eyes as Omi tried desperately to free himself from the concrete. “I'm stuck.” Just by listening to his voice it was easy to tell that he was in serious pain.

 

“Hold on Omi, let me help you.” Grabbing onto the concrete, Ken pushed it over with his shoulder until he managed to roll onto the ground. He was fortunate that the stone slab wasn't too heavy. A soft thud was heard as he looked to the damage done to Omi's arm. Both the radius and ulna bone were sticking bent in an unnatural manor. Luckily the bones had not gone through the skin yet, though the bone looked like it was barely holding on.

 

“God... it hurts.”

 

“You have to hold still or your going to make the wound worse.”

 

Omi rolled on his back trying to pull himself together. “We have to get out of here.”

 

“We have to get you to a hospital. You might have eternal bleeding.” More concrete fell from the building making the ground tremor. “This place isn't going to hold for long.” He helped Omi sit up and dragged him away from the burning building.

 

“Where's Aya?” Omi asked not seeing any traces of the red head.

 

“I don't know. I can hardly see anything with all of this rubble here.” Knowing the Weiß leader, he wouldn't even make a sound even if he were injured. Aya did have a habit of being the hardass after all. “We have to find him though.”

 

“I know... I still want to talk to him.” There was a long pause between them as they thought of how Aya had shot Yohji. Why would he do something like that?

 

Ken dragged Omi to the woods making sure that the other man was out of harms way. “I do to. But first I need to find him. He's too much of a fighter to die in a place like this.” Standing up, the brunette's attention was focused on the blazing fire that was starting to spread around the area. “Wait here Omi, I'm gonna look for Aya.”

 

***************************************************************** *******

 

Aya's vision was hazy as he looked around at where he was. All he saw were pieces of the building falling off. All he could see was flames as he sat up trying to see were he was at. Short of the dust that clung onto his clothes, not a scratch was on him. It was his lucky day. ^I need to get out of here...^ Not only because the police would be here soon, but Schuldich... if he had found him then-

 

“Explosives?”

 

The Weiß leader grit his teeth as he heard that sickening voice. His hands were already going towards the shira-saya's hilt just in case Schuldich tried something. It didn't take Aya long to find the telepath, calmly looking down on him as if he were pray.

 

Schuldich smiled glad to have found Aya in good condition. It always did surprise him how easily the redhead could get out of danger. “My god Ran, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you really wanted to kill someone.”

 

“Too bad it wasn't you!”

 

“Why are so angry? Are you mad that I told you're teammates what you did? It's not like I lied to them. . . Besides, they had a right to know didn't they?”

 

“You of all people had no right to tell them!”

 

“Oh?” Schuldich said with amusement. “And why not? Is it because I'm the `bad-guy'? Or maybe it's because it hurts you every time you think about it.”

 

Aya brought his shira-saya up pointing it to the telepath's chest. “Mark my words Schuldich. . .” He eyes became deadly cold as he stared at him, “You're going to pay for what you made me do to Yohji.”

 

^Let's hope your words don't come true^ Schuldich smiled grimly, “Only one way to find out kitten.” Even as he said those words he started walking closer to the Weiß leader. His heart was fluttering fast from anxiety and anticipation. There was one question that came to mind as he saw Aya tense. How do you declaw a cat that would do anything to kill you? There was nearly two feet between the pair now as the telepath spoke in a neutral voice. “Don't make me have to hurt you, make it easier on yourself and just come back to me. That is the only outcome that you have”

 

“I don't think so.”

 

“Ch'. . . figures you would be stubborn,” Schuldich muttered. “You really think you can win against me don't you?”

 

“I can, and I will.”

 

The telepath smirked, “If you say so my pet.”

 

“I am NOT your pet!!”

 

“Well you are something to me, and I am something to you. Don't try to deny those wonderful moments that we shared. Don't you remember-”

 

“-Don't you fucking say it!” Aya shouted at him. Those nights with him had be the worst days of his life, maybe even more when his sister had gotten run over. Even as he thought of those times, rage like no other was spilling out of him. Schuldich hadn't destroyed him, but oh it had hurt so much. And knowing that the telepath intended to do so much more! Aya raised the shira-saya in the air until it was horizontal with the ground and charged Schuldich.

 

The telepath didn't even move as he saw the Weiß leader charge. Actually, he was expecting it. His good hand reached behind him and grabbed onto the weapon that Crawford let him use. He could feel the dried blood still on it as he raised it from the sheath. He waited until Aya prepared to hack off pieces of him before he withdrew the weapon fully. The clash of metal hitting metal was heard as he pushed his body weight against Aya forcing him to back off.

 

At first, the Weiß leader wasn't sure what to make of what Schuldich had pulled from his back. But then, he could see those familiar Japanese characters at the base of the blade that Schuldich was using, at the hilt with the dragon emblems carved out of the metal. ^My. . . katana^ He was forced back by the force the telepath was using still looking at him in disbelief. Aya's own weapon was being used against him.

 

The telepath smirked at Aya's expression. “You look surprised Ran. You didn't think I would come here unprepared to fight did you?”

 

^Yes. . .^ Aya thought, but it was a foolish, foolish thought. He still had an edge of Schuldich though. It was obvious that the telepath was no swordsman or had any kind to training handling one before. But still, he still posed a problem with the damn thing. Schuldich was the one that swung at him again causing Aya to be on the defensive. A hand was on the shira-saya's hilt, while the other free hand was extended to the other end of his sword on the flat side. The Weiß leader began to push Schuldich's katana away from him. “Leave me alone Schuldich!”

 

“I thought you knew Ran. . .” His left hand tightened on the katana, then used his body weight to push down on the Weiß leader's shira-saya. “The more you fight me, the more that makes me want you even more. And my aren't you delectable.”

 

Aya took a step back trying to get his footing. Unfortunately for him, Schuldich's was heavier than he was which gave the telepath just a bit of an advantage over him. The Weiß leader's grip on the shira-saya tightened, the only thing that he could think of was hold his ground and hope that he could push the katana off him. Bursts of flames surrounded the pair creating an almost impenetrable wall, not letting the Weiß or Schwarz assassin try to escape. . . or let anybody interfere.

 

“I have to know something Ran. You killed Reiji did you not?”

 

“Maybe. . .” The redhead retorted clenching his teeth together.

 

“What was going through your head as you saw him take his last pathetic breath?”

 

“None of your damn business,” Aya growled.

 

Schuldich chuckled, “Did you see his fear? The fear of a man scared of his own death? It was intoxicating wasn't it? Aya didn't respond to his words, which only made him smile. “You see it every time you kill someone don't you? Even now, I see you want nothing more to kill me, to see my blood soaked on your hands. . . the look in your eyes, it's like staring into the eyes of a ravenous demon- not the innocent angel that you make yourself out to be.”

 

“I never said I was.”

 

“Consciously maybe not. . . but you do try to.”

 

“What the hell is your point?”

 

“You don't belong with Weiß Ran, you're nothing like them.”

 

“What would you know?!” He shouted angrily.

 

“More than you want to admit,” Schuldich said as the katana and shira-saya clashed against each other again. “Why do you insist on this constant struggle?”

 

“Why can't you get it through your head that I don't belong with you?!” There was a faint crack heard, and he could feel the hilt in his hand start to wavier. As soon as he looked down, his eyes widened in shock as he saw the condition of the shira-saya. He had completely forgotten about the crack in the hilt, made courtesy of Reiji, and now the split was expanding to where the blade was. There was too much pressure being put on it, the strain was finally taking its toll.

 

Schuldich could see the condition of the Weiß leader's blade and smirked. Oh yes, this was just perfect. He was literally making himself lean against Aya as the sound of the wood breaking increased and then it finally happened. There was a violence snap, a flash of wood and the shira-saya's blade skidded across the concrete floor, landing a few feet away from them.

 

There was a look of horror in Aya's eyes as he stood facing Schuldich with only a splinted hilt. This... couldn't be happening.

 

Schuldich grinned seeing the look. “Oops, looks like I broke your precious sword, now hasn't it?” Now that he had solved his problem of how to declaw his prey, Aya would be his again. He brought his left leg up sending it into the Weiß leader's side. He wasn't going to give Aya the chance to recover, or even try to get the blade back again.

 

Aya gasped as his entire body was sent into the hard ground. He landed hard, the left side of his face scratching against the hard surface of the concrete. Blood was already starting to leak out of a gash on his temple and he winced at the pain. His vision blurred for a moment, but as soon as it focused, he saw Schuldich coming towards him. He tried to stand up, but it was proving to be quite difficult because he could get his body to move the way he wanted it to. Apparently he had fallen harder than he thought.

 

“This little game is over.” Schuldich said as he kicked Aya in his ribs, sending him rolling a couple of feet away.

 

A cry of pain escaped the Weiß leader's mouth as his body was thrown on his side facing away from the telepath. He could hear Schuldich coming towards him, chest tightening with every echoing footstep. He placed his left hand on the concrete hoping to push himself up. As his palm went to grip the stone ground under him, he felt something under it. His eyes looked down to see what the foreign object was. . . surprisingly, it was the broken shira-saya hilt. He reached for it, hopping to grab it before Schuldich noticed it. It wasn't a sword, but it was the only thing he could get his hands on at the moment so it would have to do.

 

Schuldich smiled maliciously noticing that his prize wasn't moving. He had hoped that he had managed to knock him out. It would make things a whole lot easier for him. Again he tried probing in Aya's mind, but found that the mental barrier was still as strong as last time. He snorted, “You make it harder on yourself Ran.” His left hand reached down to hold the redhead's shirt collar lifting him up. “You will never win against me. . .”

 

Aya's teeth clenched together as his body was forced up staring Schuldich in his eyes. Apparently Schuldich had not seen him slip the broken shira-saya hilt in the palm of his hands. “. . . And you will never have me. . . Schuldich.” He whispered taking the hilt firmly and striking it into the telepath's side. He put all of his strength behind the thrust hoping that he would break two if not three ribs. It would slow the telepath down enough so that he could escape.

 

He looked down at the sudden ache settling in his ribs. A gash manifested the area pouring out a large amount of blood. “I see. . . you still have fangs.” He said in evident pain from the wound.

 

“I told you.” The Weiß leader growled trying to stand up again. He gripped the bloody hilt tighter in his hands, “I'm not going back, and I meant it.”

 

The telepath managed to put on a smirk, “And I told you. . . I'm not leaving without what I want. So I guess we both can't win now can we?”

 

“I guess not.”

 

Schuldich could see it now. This was the ultimatum that he was going to have to choose. The longer he waited, the more blood was leaving his body, and he was going to loose consciousness eventually.

 

Aya really wasn't fairing too well just like the telepath. No matter how much he adjusted his eyes, he was still seeing doubles and doubles of doubles. It had to be a concussion of some kind from the fall. ^Fuck. . .^ He thought grimly, they were all coming towards him. The last thing he wanted to do was clue Schuldich in that something was wrong with him and so he stood, hilt in hand and waited for the telepath to make the final move. They both knew it had come to this and someone was not walking away. His vision flashed again, there were three. . . then seven. . .then five images of the telepath. ^Shit. . .^ He thought breathing hard against the police vest. The only thing on his mind was trying to figure out which one to aim at.

 

Schuldich didn't catch the signs that something was different in the Weiß leader's moment, his mind consumed in his own thoughts. There were so many forces against him now, and it only added to the thrill of the hunt. It was now or nothing. . . He sighed finally giving in to his body's urges, after all, what the hell was life without taking any chances? “You want me dead so much Ran. . . well here's your chance.” He said in a callous tone. Schuldich charged, using every ounce of strength that he had gathered. He only had one chance and as the distance closed, a hand went out to the wound in his chest trying to keep the blood from pooling out of it.

 

Aya's breath caught in the middle of his throat as he heard those impending footsteps but still held his ground. He white-knuckled the handle while his eyes tried to focus on the Schuldich in the center. They were all running at him with extreme procession. Whatever the telepath was planning, he had to figure it out quick. The Weiß leader could see the color within Schuldich's eyes; he could smell the blood from the other male getting stronger, the telepath's hand reaching out to grab him. That was what he was waiting for. His arm swung sideways in a swift motion. The sound of wind could be heard as the small piece of wood slashed through the air.

 

It was adrenaline that kept Schuldich going even as he saw the hilt aimed towards his throat. His body turned trying to avoid the swipe, but as slow as he was now Aya still managed to do some damage to him. A loud scream was uttered as Schuldich's back was cut into with the shira-saya's hilt. He staggered to the side a moment before balling his fist up to try to punch the redhead in the face. The impact wasn't as strong as he had liked, but at least Aya had stumbled, and appeared dazed. As soon as the telepath saw the look in the redhead's eyes and the broken hilt headed towards his chest again and left his guard open Schuldich knew this was the moment... it was all he needed to turn the tables on the Weiß leader. The hand that was holding the wound over his ribs shot out flicking the blood out and into Aya's face aiming the stream of crimson liquid straight at the Weiß leader's eyes.

 

Aya was a bit surprised seeing what Schuldich was doing. At first he thought that it was only an attempt to grab the hilt of the shira-saya. Oh the Weiß leader was ready though, and he only shifted his elbow to the side, trying to deliver a finishing blow straight for Schuldich's heart. He would never get the chance to see it though as the spray of the telepath's blood got into his eyes. It was pure instinct that Aya immediately put his free hand up to wipe the blood from his eyes. It was so thicker, the metallic elements in it burned his irises and the back of his hand was the only thing that he could use was to get it out of his eye. Even as he could see again he opened his eyes to a nightmare. Schuldich's body was pressed against him and he could feel himself falling back only to see an arm wrap around his neck. The Weiß leader cried out as his breathing became restricted and knew... just knew that the he wasn't going to be able to get out of this.

 

“Gotcha. . .” Was the only word heard out of the telepath's mouth as his body cupped so perfectly against Aya. He wasn't sure what had made him do such a move, but it was by dumb luck he had pulled it off. He could feel the Weiß leader starting to struggle against him, though the force wasn't as strong as before. It was starting to become a good day. “Shh. . .stop fighting me.” Schuldich purred.

 

“No!” He screamed. He couldn't- he wouldn't go back there again! His hand gripped onto Schuldich's right arm trying to pull it away from his neck.

 

“Dammit Ran.” Schuldich said annoyed by the Weiß leader's struggling. His arm tightened around Aya's neck determined not to let him go. “I told you once before that you would not escape me and I meant it.” He leaned forward, his mouth mere centimeters away from the redhead's ear. “It's time to come back home.”

 

“No.” Aya whispered feeling the sting of panic travel through him. He opened his mouth gasping for air as he tried to dislodge the arm around him. However, instead of breaking free from his enemy, he only was tiring himself out. His strength was abandoning him along with his will to fight and it was then he knew that he was not going to make it.

 

Schuldich's grip loosened around his neck when he felt the redhead lean against his chest. “That's a good little kitten.” More rubble from the capital building was breaking away from it and a piece of concrete fell close to the two assassins. Schuldich cursed to himself, for all the work he had did, it really didn't matter who won, if they were crushed under the heavy stone. Thinking quickly, the telepath's eyes closed seeing if he could get a mental link with the redhead. He was surprised to see that his mental barrier was still in place, but lucky for him, it had weakened considerably. After a bit of coaxing, he finally broke through the barrier taking hold of Aya's mind. “Time for you to sleep my pet, you have had such a long day.”

 

The Weiß leader's eyes became heavy responding to the telepath's command. The last thing looking at was the crumbling building. This wasn't supposed to happen. His hands dropped lifelessly from the telepath's arm around his neck. ^Goddammit. . .no. . .^ Whatever had he done to be worthy of this type of punishment?! His eyes slowly slid shut as the familiar hold of unconsciousness embraced him then. . . darkness enveloped his senses once again.

 

“Sweet dreams Ran.” Schuldich whispered as Aya finally went limp under him. The weight shifted and he found himself too weak to support both of them. Knees crumpled from under the telepath and they both collapsed on the ground. He coughed hoarsely starting to feel the tar from the smoke line his throat. “Shit. . .” He whispered. If he didn't find a way out of here soon, they would both die.

_________________________________________________________________ _______

 

There was still nothing heard as Ken looked around the burning rubble. How long had he been searching? How long had he screamed the Weiß leader's name? The smoking enveloping the site was getting worse by the minute. Ken truly hoped that he had not been wrong about Aya, but the only thing that he had seen so far were Reiji's dead soldiers. The sight of those crushed bodies and charred flesh was getting to him. “Aya...” he whispered again still seeing not even a trace of the red head. Ken truly was about to turn around and go back to Omi. He was in great need of medical attention and those precious minutes that slipped by meant more internal damage.

 

He saw the movements of the pair: Aya slashed at Schuldich and the telepath barely dodged. The katana being broken, the hilt going into Schuldich's body, the choke hold that the Aya had been put in. Ken trudged closer to where the stood and could see that Schuldich whispered something into the Weiß leader's ear. Aya's hands fell, hanging limply by his side. It was hard to tell what had happened, but quickly he saw the two descend to the ground. Both of them were smeared with blood, and it was difficult to tell just who was the owner of it. “Aya!”

 

Schuldich's head shot up to see Ken coming towards them. Dammit, out of all the times to see him. . . His arms wrapped tighter around the Weiß leader. If Ken attacked him now then he was gone. He had poured everything into his fight with Aya; there was no way that he could fight off the brunette. Fate had smiled upon him today it seemed though. Ironically the same flaming concrete that fell just a few minutes before was the only thing separating Ken from Schuldich and not even Ken would charge into the inferno before him. It was pure suicide. Schuldich was too tired to speak so instead relied on his telepathy to help him speak. /I wouldn't worry about your Weiß leader anymore, he's in perfectly good hands now/

 

“Let him go!!”

 

Schuldich smirked, /Make me pretty boy/ He knew there was no way for the brunette to get to him, might as well savor the moment.

 

God, that son-of-a-bitch was asking for a death warrant! Ken was practically within walking distance from him but there was nothing he could do to get to that bastard or let alone help Aya.

 

/Why are you so concerned about him anyway? You looked like you wanted to kill him before, so why are you wasting your time on him?/

 

“That's none of you fucking business!” True he was upset that Aya hadn't told them about it but. . . if Aya had truly betrayed Weiß them, then why had he saved him from being shot by Schuldich the other night? There must've been a reason why. . .

 

/Oh I see, you must still be trying to figure out why you Weiß leader betrayed you. I'm afraid that you're going to have to search for that question with someone else/ He managed to haul himself off the ground, Aya clutched tightly within his arms. /Well Siberian, it's been fun, but Ran and I have matters to attend to, you understand right?/ Schuldich smirked as he turned his back on the brunette /Oh yeah, if you see Balinese give him my regards. . . that is assuming he wakes up of course/

 

Ken's eyes widened, wait a minute. . . how did he know that? Another piece of the building fell, the ground underneath him shook like a mini earthquake. He staggered from the sudden shock his body swaying like a feather in the wind.

 

Schuldich was surprised to find himself able to balance both himself and Aya with the sudden shock. He wasn't sure where Omi was, but if one kitten was around the other wasn't far behind. The last thing he need was to get involved with them right now. /Until next time we met Weiß kitten/ He said starting to slowly saunter away from the brunette, the Weiß leader clutched possessively against him.

 

“No! Aya!!” Ken screamed watching as the telepath and Aya disappeared in the fiery inferno. Without thinking what he was doing he took a step towards the flaming rubble. Murky soot invaded his lungs and he choked taking a step back again. He could do nothing but watch as the two disappeared in the thick smoke cloud, rubble falling down like endless rain. There was no way he could tell if it hit the two or not. . . he just hoped that the Weiß leader was okay. “AYA!!” He shouted from the top of his lungs trying desperately to see what had happened to him. But it was to late, the cloak of smoke was smothering him, and all he could do was image what Schuldich would do to Aya.

 

Schuldich unsteadily began to walk away struggling to keep Aya balanced properly. Concrete fell below his weakened legs stumbling on his side. The Weiß leader fell off his shoulder landing on his side. Schuldich's hair plastered against the middle of his sweat-covered forehead. He coughed literally choking on the smoke around him.

 

“If you think that death is going to take you away from me tonight think again Ran.” He whispered at the unconscious body. “Not when I'm so close.” He grabbed the redhead's vest within his hands forcing himself to stand up. He held onto Aya half dragging and lifting him off the ground again. Even as he walked away again, he could hear Ken's voice in the distance mournfully echoing through the moonless night sky.

 

***************************************************************** *******

 

How long had it been since the building had fallen? Crawford looked at his watched for the twentieth time. “Dammit,” He muttered. Why the hell couldn't Schuldich just listen to him? Another explosion, another piece of heavy concrete fell from the building shaking the ground. He leaned over the side of his car so he wouldn't loose his balance. It wasn't good for him to fall down whether it was intentional or not. He had an image to maintain after all. Crawford sighed, it had been far to long since Schuldich had gone in. . . He wasn't a pessimist by any accounts, but he wasn't going to sit here and wait for a dead man to appear. It seemed that Aya had indeed been more than Schuldich could handle, and the telepath paid for it in the end. He turned his back from the burning building, “Farf, let's go.” He said going towards his black Toyota.

 

The Irishman didn't move from his spot, quite content with feeling the ground tremble underneath his body. He had heard Crawford talking to him, but he didn't care much. He was far too entranced looking at, or better yet, looking through the fire itself. The flames, the heat, the burning flesh, smell of death and in the air, it was all too exciting. He brought a knife up to his cheek running the blade over his pale flesh. His golden eye focused on a part in particular. He wasn't sure if it was real or not, but it looked as if something was walking through the fire. He blinked a few times before taking the blade to run over his tongue. There was something there after all, the shadow got bigger as it stalked towards him. It definitely had a human like appearance but it looked deformed. One shoulder was higher than the other, and for a second, he could have sworn that it was a one-winged creature. He chuckled a bit as he finally could make out what, or rather, who it was and the thing on the shoulder turned out to be nothing more than a man. “. . .The Devil has returned.” He announced with a certain malicious joy etched in his voice.

 

Crawford stopped when Farfarello spoke to him ready to simply drive off whether the Irishman got in the car or not. “And how do you figure that?” He asked impartially to him. “Has he somehow risen out from the dead?”

 

Farfarello laughed darkly at the precog's words only continued to stare at Schuldich. “No. . . he has risen from the ashes of hell and even felt so kind as to drag an angel with him.”

 

The precog said nothing at first, then got out of the car. He looked at Farfarello and his eyes turned to where the Irishman seemed to be staring at with interest. Sure enough, he looked at Schuldich staggering towards them with an unconscious Aya balanced on his shoulder. Crawford didn't move an inch to help the telepath, only a bit amused by his obsession with the Weiß leader.

 

The telepath gasped finally managing to make it away from the heat of the fire. His face was smudged with soot and ash along with what was left of his clothing. He was surprised he was still conscious at all still bleeding from all the wounds on his body. He let Aya's limp body fall to the ground as his knees gave out from under him again. His head looked up seeing both Schwarz remembers staring at him. He smirked somewhat before speaking in a thick voice. The soot and ash where still caught in his throat and swallowing and even coughing was very difficult “Hiya Bradley, miss me?”

 

“Don't be senile.” The precog replied as if nothing had happened to him. “Though. . . I am happy to see that you are still breathing.”

 

Schuldich chuckled a bit looking into Aya's face. “Yes, it is good to be alive. . .” He forced himself up again getting ready to haul Aya off the ground. “If it is okay with you Bradley, I am more than ready to go home.”

 

The precog arched an eyebrow at him, “You really are tired aren't you?” He mused, “It must have been an excellent fight.”

 

Schuldich lifted the Weiß leader up finally holding him in his arms to walk towards the Toyota. “Yes. . . I will always remember this night, for a very long time.” Not because of the amount of injuries he had received, but because he had claimed Aya once again.

 

Crawford simply dusted some foreign lint on his jacket before starting to get back in the car. “I'm sure, well if you want to go then get in. The police are on their way, and I don't feel like going through all of the police blocks they will have up.”

 

Farfarello laughed seeing the Weiß leader hoisted up in the telepath's arms. He raised his blade sliding it across his tongue. “You captured the black angel; you will kill him to hurt God?” He asked, “Surely the Devil will allow me to help hurting His precious angel.”

 

Schuldich looked at the Irishman knowing that he wouldn't hesitate to kill Aya if he had the chance. He calmly smirked at him balancing both Aya and himself. “Sorry Farf, but this angel can't die.”

 

The Irishman's single eye filled with such wrath as he heard those words, Schuldich might as well just have said that God would save him. “He tried to give the Guilty One to God! He tried to go back to Him again! Let God cry by seeing His angel's death!” One of his knives appeared in his hands, “I will see God cry tonight!!”

 

Schuldich couldn't help but take a step back as Farfarello approached him. “Stop Farf, don't you think God will cry more seeing the angel in the hands of the Devil? Let Him watch as I turn His own precious angel against Him.”

 

Farfarello stopped thinking about what the telepath said. Ah! And what a day that would be to see! “You will turn him into a demon?”

 

“The worst there can be.”

 

The Irishman gave him a dark smile. “God will shed tears of great sorrow.”

 

“Yes, He will. . . and so will the angel.” There was a tense moment between the two Schwarz members. After a few moments Farfarello lowered his knife but still stared at Aya. “I look forward to seeing that happen.”

 

“So do I.” Knowing that Farfarello wouldn't try to attack him, Schuldich moved forwards again to where the car was desperately trying to hold both Aya and himself up. He carefully made his way to the Toyota. Aya's limp body was almost thrown in the backseat with Schuldich collapsing on top of him. The telepath struggled to breathe. The smoke from the fire was still causing him a bit of problems along with the wound Aya had inflicted on him. It was still beyond him how he had managed to get so fucking lucky. Maybe, just maybe he might make a little prayer tonight, not to God of course.

 

Crawford looked down noticing the blood dripping from the wounds on the telepath. He couldn't tell how serious it was from where he was standing, but if Schuldich was in pain, he was doing a damn good job of hiding it. “I hope you know that you're cleaning out all the blood that gets on my seats Schuldich.”

 

“Your concern about my health is touching Bradley. . .” The telepath replied opening the door to the backseat. He half-dumped Aya on the seat there trying to make sure that he didn't topple over, though he was panting hard to regain his breath. It was like he had been jogging for miles and miles. The feeling was not welcomed at all but he unconsciously touched his side finding that less blood was coming out from it. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

 

“You'd be surprised.” Crawford replied bluntly. “I don't have to tell you how hard the smell let alone the color takes to get out of the car. A soft cry brought both of their attention back to Aya. The Weiß leader was thrashing around in his sleep as if he were having a bad dream where he knew the bogyman was going to eat him. Schuldich leaned down in the car and studied the other man's face. ^Having nightmares again eh Ran?^ He rested his hands on both sides of the redhead's temples. He focused hard attempting to take control of his pet's mind again. Slowly, Schuldich searched his memories trying to sift out information on Weiß and Kritiker. The images were like scenes straight out of a movie, only that everything he saw was from Aya's own mind. He smirked, gathering the information he needed like a soaked sponge. Now that he had solved that leverage problem, there was nothing that Aya could do to fight back. . . not now, not ever. The telepath closed his eyes trying to find that subconscious link that he knew was in everyone. Sweat ran down his face as he grabbed hold of it and concentrated. One by one he would lock each memory away, take away his consciousness. Packed away behind a lock and key that only he had access to. Even now he could feel Aya begin to relax under him again. It was all so perfect, the only thing the Weiß leader could do on his own was the basic motor functions: breath, have a pulse, the occasional hunger pangs. But save for those few minor details Schuldich had put him in his version of a coma. The telepath collapsed on top of the redhead and smiled contently. Oh he could very well kill Aya like this if he tried hard enough, but he wouldn't do something like that.

 

Crawford had watched the whole incident, but was polite enough to let Schuldich have his concentration. “What did you do to him?”

 

“For the time being-” Schuldich started off, “I'll keep my Sleeping Beauty this way until my wounds have healed.”

 

“That's the most sensible thing you've said all day.” The precog said somewhat amused.

 

The telepath cracked a half-smile, “Doesn't it just bring tears to your eyes?”

 

“No, it just makes me think you're drunk.”

 

“Touché. . .” Schuldich said pulling himself into the car. A hand went to his side trying to slow down the blood seeping out of it. He had to admit, Death had almost caught him off guard tonight, but like all the other times, it was too slow to catch him. Farfarello had to close the door, but he had said nothing about it. With all of them piled into the car they finally drove off seeing the familiar blue lights of the policemen approaching them.

 

Crawford looked at Schuldich in the rearview mirror. The telepath had his eyes closed leaning against the car window. “Did your kitten manage to hurt you that much Schu?”

 

Schuldich didn't open his eyes but a half-smirk formed on his face. “Yeah right, me being hurt? I have no idea what you're talking about. This is nothing more than a mere scratch.”

 

^For your sake it better be^ The precog mumbled. The car was started, quickly pulling away from the capital. Looking back at the inflamed building, Schuldich was lucky to have gotten out of there in the shape he was in let alone with Aya. He snorted under his breath

 

The rest of the drive back to the Schwarz headquarters was a quiet one, which surprised the precog. He was so used to hearing Schuldich smart-ass comments or Farfarello's insane babbling. It just felt. . . wrong when those two were that quiet. Even as they went farther from the building police and fire trucks continued to go to the fire. After what seemed like hours, the black Toyota finally pulled into the driveway of the Schwarz headquarters.

 

Farfarello was the first to get out, knife in clutched possessively in hand. Tiny trickles of blood running down his arms. He may have been quiet on the trip back, but that didn't mean that he had to stop hurting God.

 

“Dammit Farfarello!” Crawford shouted angrily looking at his now bloodied passenger seat. “Why the hell did you do that for?!”

 

The Irishman looked back at him emotionlessly. “I've hurt God.” He replied simply.

 

Crawford snorted angrily, he should've known. . . He knew it was utterly pointless to punish the psychopath. Farfarello was as masochistic as anyone could get and no physical pain that even Rosenkreuz could think of would hurt him. He watched the Irishman continue into the house about to follow him inside when he realized that Schuldich hadn't got out yet. Amber eyes traveled back to his vehicle to see the telepath slumped into the set. “Get out Schuldich,” He said in a neutral tone. He waited for the telepath to move. . . but he didn't even so much as flinch. His eyes narrowed in annoyance, “Dammit Schuldich, get up! I've got things to do.” He opened the door on Schuldich's side and much to his shock, the telepath collapsed lifelessly on the ground. ^Shit^ The precog bent down beside the telepath, his hands going to Schuldich's neck. He was relieved to feel that Schuldich still had a pulse, though he found it annoying that he would pick the most inopportune time to pass out. “You really are becoming quite annoying Schu.” Amber eyes traveled back to the Weiß leader. “He truly had better been worth your trouble,” He said beginning to lift Schuldich up. ^God, what the hell was I thinking?^ He and his big mouth about getting a pet for Schuldich, how the hell was he supposed to know that the damn telepath would take it seriously? He snorted taking Schuldich in the house, “I'll say it once and I'll say it again, redheads are nothing but trouble. . .”

 

To be concluded. . .