Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Halcyon ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Title: Halcyon (Ch. 2)

Author: Genuinelie(s)

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Weiss Kreuz is not mine.

Note: Pre-AxY. Continuation.

Additional: Takes place mid-series, after the OVA, but will jump in later chapters.

Summary: The boys are discovering that until death, all ends in life are just masked beginnings.

xxxxx

"Who is 'she', Aya?"

Would it have helped if he had never asked?

Yohji cursed, and it sent a stream of bubbles up toward the surface of the roiling ocean.

Probably not, he reflected. The day he'd somehow managed to snag the swordsman with his wire, there had been something that told him it was an inevitability.

Like the inevitability of a black hole sucking you in.

Yohji pulled himself down, hands gripping the side of a sunken wall, and picked up a jagged piece of concrete. Pressed his snagged wrist onto the broken piece of building and began sawing. His body was sliding into panic-mode, and more air bubbles escaped as he fought not to breathe.

The wire snapped, finally. Yohji used resources he wasn't aware he had to push up with his legs. What seemed like an hour later, he broke the surface, and was immediately slapped in the face with a wave. Gagging, he spat the water out, and grabbed hold of a nearby piece of metal tubing, possibly what had been a vent.

No one was in sight. He didn't allow himself to pause on that. Instead, he treaded water until he was facing the shore.

Two small figures, clothing blowing in the wind, were standing on the cliff jutting above the shoreline.

A small smile turned his shivering lips. He took careful strokes toward land, picking his way in the water between floating pieces of the tower, and the occasional body. He didn't check if they were dead or otherwise.

"Yoh-"

"Omi! Where are you?!" Yohji pushed a chunk of insulation to the side. The kid was weakly grasping something rubber and unidentifiable, and had a large gash on his forehead, but smiled nonetheless.

"I think the others made it to the shore..." Omi coughed.

Yohji nodded. "We will too. Come on." He grabbed Omi by the collar of his jacket. The younger Weiss seemed to steel himself, then helped Yohji tug him by kicking.

Yohji rolled onto the sharp stones and onto his back after he'd finally decided that he'd just give up and die, because it was really about time anyway. Guess he'd made it. Damn. He coughed a mixture of phlegm and vile-tasting water. "Omi?"

"Made it. Thank you, Yohji-kun." He sounded weak.

The oldest assassin's eyes were fluttering shut. Shivering uncontrollably, he wished distantly that someone would throw a blanket on him. And possibly remove that annoying bit of seaweed clinging to his leg.

"Oof!" A fist grabbed what remained of his shirt at his throat. His hand went for his watch before his eyes made it open. "Oi! Ken!"

The other boy tugged him to his feet, chin set. "No time for resting, you lazy ass." Yohji looked to the side. Omi was gone. "Already got 'im." Ken explained. A weary grin was tugging his mouth. "While you were napping."

Yohji was too tired to argue. He let Ken help him up the hill. "Schwartz?" He guessed.

"Dunno where they are. They could still be around."

He and Ken both stopped when they made it to the top of the incline. Manx was leaning on the hood of her car, Sakura beside her. Omi could be seen in the back seat, a compression on his head.

"R-ran...Ran-niisan...it's okay, it's okay...are you okay?"

Yohji forgot to breathe.

"R-ran, Ran, it's okay...I've missed you so much...it's okay..."

The girl they'd all risked their lives to save was kneeling on the ground, in front of their last teammate. Bloodstained and soaked through, his arms dripped red streaks down the white of his sister's gown. He was shaking uncontrollably. He was pale beyond belief, deathly beneath the drenched shocks of his crimson hair.

"Abyssinian," Manx's voice cut through.

Yohji's head jerked toward her. If she were using his mission name, in front of Aya-chan...he turned back to the scene.

He had never wanted his sister to know.

But if Manx were using his code name, then she already did.

Aya had gone still. His sister was tugging at his hand. "We need to get you warm," she said, firmly. Then, more quietly, "It's over, brother. Let's go. I'm safe."

Yohji finally shrugged Ken off, and stepped forward. He grabbed Aya by his bicep, and hefted the other man up. Aya-chan looked at him in surprise, then with gratefulness. Aya, for his part, let him. What Yohji saw on his face made his lips thin.

He wasn't looking at his sister, or at any of them. He looked, if Yohji was forced to describe it, lost. As if he didn't believe any of what he was seeing.

"She's really here," Yohji whispered, too quiet for any of the rest to hear. It was an experiment. He was at a complete loss of what to say to bring his teammate around. As unhinged as Aya usually was, at least he was always in control of himself. This - if it had been Yohji, he would have been crying, laughing, hugging the person he'd...

...or would he want to send her as far away from him as possible, so as not to stain her with who he was?

If he were Aya, he assumed it would be the latter.

Aya looked sideways at his words, taking in Yohji as if he were surprised to see him, then seemed to shake out of it. He jerked his arm away from him, and his face relaxed into a sight that Yohji had seen less than he could count on one hand. The other man smiled.

It was beautiful.

Aya-chan, whose face had been riddled with worry, broke out into a mirroring expression. Two of the prettiest god-damned humans Yohji had ever met.

"I'm sorry, Aya -" Aya coughed, then recovered his smile. "I'm just -"

Aya-chan stepped forward, and took his arm hesitantly. The two siblings went to the car.

A jeep pulled up just as Yohji was trying to figure out how not to be the one they threw in the trunk. Two men in black suits got out. Manx nodded at them, then ordered, "Yohji, you come with us. Aya, Abyssinian, with them."

Aya's head snapped up, expression verging on desperate. A chill that had nothing to do with ocean water settled over Yohji.

"No." The swordsman's voice was steady.

"You can come with us, if you'd prefer not to go with your sister to her checkup."

"I won't have her interrogated!"

"That's not what this is about." Manx's voice was surprisingly soothing. "They'll take you to Kritiker, and you'll be briefed on the situation."

Aya-chan put her hand on her brother's arm as a war was held on his face.

"You'll both be released," Manx added.

"Tonight?" Aya's hand folded over his sister's.

Manx hesitated, then nodded. It was obviously a compromise. A moment later they got in the jeep, and it pulled away. Yohji's hands clenched into fists at his sides, but he follwed Ken to the car.

He couldn't help feeling that Aya's old leather leash had just been traded for a choke collar.

xxxxx

The wire tightened, and Yohji gagged.

This could be all in your head.

The voice was amused. He clawed at his throat, giving the orange-haired sadist what he hoped was more threat than plea.

"My head would never come up with that outfit," He asserted.

The Mastermind grinned. Water was rising around him, licking at his heels until both he and the Weiss assassin were suddenly immersed. The image of his enemy wavered before him. Sinking debris came between them.

Yohji was clawing for the surface. The wire around his neck had been replaced by seaweed. When he reached up to grab at it, he felt the smooth fingers of a woman's hand pressing at his throat.

Gagging, he grabbed at her, twisting his arm behind his back to do so. He dragged the body around in front of him. Asuka was limp in the water, and there were no bubbles coming from her mouth or throat.

"No!" Yohji gurgled.

This wasn't how you died!

He pressed his palm into her cheek. Her eyes suddenly flew open.

They were violet.

She smiled. "Yohji. How many times do I have to tell you..."

"Off the coast. Water is still being dragged for bodies, this is a terrible tragedy..."

Yohji blinked open his eyes. The paneled ceiling of the mission room was above him.

"Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck."

He ground a hand into his eyes, one at a time. His fingers came away wet.

The television was still rolling coverage of the fall of the tower. Kritiker had apparently gotten the news station straight on the facts, but he couldn't convince himself to care enough to listen. He felt for the remote beneath his back, then turned it off and threw the remote at the screen. It fell short, skidding across the floor. The battery compartment lost it's cover, sending the two double-As rolling under the coffee table.

"Fuck."

He rolled off the couch and stumbled to his feet, taking the blanket with him. He'd soaked in hot water for over an hour, drank three cups of hot tea and made himself some soup, and still, he felt like he was at the bottom of that goddamned ocean.

Yohji ran a hand through his clean hair, and was disgusted to come away with still more grains of sand.

He shuffled up the stairs and to the refrigerator, coming away with a six-pack. When nothing else worked...

Click.

Yohji spun.

Aya looked nearly as surprised to see him as he did. The man was still in his mission gear.

They stood there for a moment, facing off. The open refrigerator leaked cold air into the room. Aya's hair had dried into a mat, his eartails plastered to his cheeks.

Yohji watched as slowly, all the naked pain on his teammate's face was eradicated. What was left was a familiar expression. Not emotionless, Yohji had finally discovered, but controlled.

"Tell Omi that we won't open shop tomorrow," the swordsman ordered. "Aya-chan is coming over."

Yohji almost laughed. He hadn't been planning to sell flowers for at least a week.

His expression turned dark instead. "You let them keep -"

Aya's hand clenched, but the punch never came. Instead, one arm went around his stomach, subconsciously, it seemed. Yohji shut the refrigerator and took a step toward the other assassin. Aya just barely flinched. He brushed past him as if it hadn't happened.

"Aya -"

The other man paused at the bottom of the stairs, one hand on the railing. He didn't turn.

Aya's voice was quiet. "I'm Ran."

He disappeared upstairs.

No one had followed him inside.

"Shit!"

xxxxx

tbc.