Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Halcyon ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

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

Title: Halcyon

Author: Genuinelie(s)

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Weiss Kreuz is not mine.

Pairing: Leading toward AxY.

Summary: The boys are finding that until death, all ends are just masked beginnings.

A/N: Continuation.

xxxxxx

"Shit!"

Yohji looked at the empty stairwell, after his teammate. His eyes were narrowed.

Pissy, emotionless dick.

But Aya hadn't been emotionless, had he?

He wanted to follow his teammate up, and punch him in his perfect face. Crack the mask for good and make the other man finally show them all what he was carrying beneath it.

You got what you wanted back! Luckiest one of them. So why'd he let them keep his sister? Why hadn't he stayed there with her? They'd all risked their necks for her - for him - and here he was talking about opening up shop like usual. They'd almost fucking died.

And "Ran." Who was Ran? Different from Aya? The same? He felt sorry for Aya-chan if that was what she'd had as a sibling.

It was a bitter thought. He knew the answer was "different."

Yohji ran a hand through his sandy hair, frustrated.

He looked down at the beer in his hands, then put the pack on the counter with a sigh.

Why couldn't Omi or Ken be up to take care of this?

Because it was four in the morning, and they were both asleep. Ken both couldn't and wouldn't have been able to handle Aya like this, anyway.

Yohji decided he'd allow himself one beer, then go to find Aya.

xxxxx

"Leave me alone." Aya didn't look up from tying a bandage around his arm. He was sitting in a chair against the wall by his dresser, his mission gear a stiff pile on the floor. He'd taken a quick, scalding shower and checked himself for injuries the Kritiker doctors might have missed. He'd opted against letting them give him a full checkup. All things considered, the mission could have gone worse.

And Aya...his sister was awake.

Alive.

Safe.

For tonight. It was a physical pain to be without her, when he'd fought so hard to stay by her side. But Manx had been right. He needed to look after himself, and she didn't need to see him dress his wounds.

Thought she'd begged to come home with him.

"This is my room, Kudoh." Aya closed his eyes. He'd been doing all right, but he wasn't sure he could deal with Yohji. The man somehow knew exactly how to get where he didn't want him going.

"That's how I knew where to find you," Yohji commented. "Want help?"

"No."

Yohji came in and sat on his bed, across from him. Aya tied off the bandage and glared at him. "So, where is she?"

Aya considered throwing him out. Instead he said shortly, "With Manx." Being brief never worked with Yohji. "It was best for her..."

Yohji actually nodded at him. Aya couldn't get a handle on the emotion in those green eyes. "...not to see this," he finished for him.

Why was he here?

"So, I think we can label that our most disastrous mission yet..." Yohji said suddenly. He was leaning back on his elbows.

Aya raised his eyebrows in surprise. The reminder of what exactly Aya's return had cost his teammates was hidden in Yohji's comment.

They'd been there through this with him.

Their choice.

"...Ayan?"

Their choice, but he'd needed them.

Yohji's hand was suddenly on his shoulder. He hadn't noticed him move. Yohji was crouching in front of him, peering at him with a concerned expression that made Aya uncomfortable.

"She's safe, Aya."

Why couldn't he feel like that was true?

...because he was still here, still Weiss, and she was somewhere else.

...and she knew.

"Aya!" He jerked back into focus. Yohji was shaking his shoulder.

Yohji's golden face was slipping out of focus. Aya looked down at his hands, and finally noticed that he was shaking. Sobbing. His face was dry, he wasn't making any noise.

He couldn't stop it.

Yohji tried to pull him forward. The swordsman pushed him violently backwards into the bed. Yohji scrambled to his feet, hands fisted, but he relaxed them immediately.

He didn't want Yohji to see this.

He didn't want to admit that it was happening.

"Aya-"

"Get out," Aya gasped.

Aya crumpled over his knees, wrapping his arms around his head.

A moment later the door clicked shut.

Aya folded over onto the floor.

It should have been over.

But his parents were still dead, his little sister was still missing part of her life, and he was still...

Part of him wished Yohji would come back.

xxxxx

"Yohji-kun!" Omi hissed, dismayed.

"Are you seriously drunk, you ass?" Ken snickered.

Yohji gave them what was clearly supposed to be a charming smile. "I'll have you know I'm as sober as I can be." The man swaggered into the kitchen as if nothing unusual had happened the night before.

He swung a chair around and slid into it, stretching back.

"Get out of here," Aya hissed. His hand tightened on the back of another chair, turning his knuckles white. The fact that none of them looked like they should even be properly alive was bad enough, Kudoh greeting his sister wasted was more than he could tolerate.

"Ran!" Yohji turned the smile up a notch. "I'm serious. Look. Best behavior. You can't even see a peek of these well-toned abs." He patted his stomach. He was in a button-down dress shirt, sure enough.

Ran. Aya felt nauseous. He'd said it last night - his name - for the first time since joining Weiss. It felt wrong to hear it from Yohji, sliding off his tongue like it'd been there all along. He hadn't expected him to remember, let alone use it.

He felt like screaming, "I'm Aya!"

There was silence in the room. Yohji kept his blase expression intact, eyes trained on Aya's far too intently to be innocent. He felt like the ex-detective was measuring him. He wished Yohji would speak again, and give him a reason to punch him to the floor.

"...Ran?" Omi blinked at him. He looked stunned.

Ken followed suit, mouth open slightly.

Aya nodded shortly at them. It felt like he was lying. He was Ran though, and he'd promised himself he wouldn't forget that when he accepted Yohji's nickname.

It was an eternity ago. It no longer fit.

Their scrutiny made him uneasy. He hurt too much from the embarrassment of what Yohji had seen, and he felt like their eyes could see his memory. He'd been trying his best since recovering from the fit to forget it had happened. At the very least, it seemed like Yohji had decided to do the same.

It didn't make him any less raw.

There was a knock on the door.

All three sets of assassin's eyes were trained on him. Ken and Omi with their eyes wide, Yohji's barely detectable above the rim of his sunglasses.

He opened the door for Manx. His sister was behind her. She lit up when she saw him. Manx stepped to the side to stand by Omi.

She looked healthy. She looked vibrant.

He suddenly felt the smile that had been on his face all along. He opened his arms.

Aya-chan ran into them, and buried her face into his orange turtleneck.

He buried his face in her hair, and breathed.

A small giggle came from under his chin. "Eh?"

His sister giggled more. "I can't believe you still have this." He pulled back just enough to look at her face. She reached down and touched the hem of his sleeve, where it was fraying.

His smile widened marginally. "I remembered how much you liked it."

She laughed then, and it hit him like a breeze on a hot day. Her eyes were big on his, then suddenly, they creased into happy half-moons. She turned to the others in the room, who Aya had forgotten were still there.

"I tried to burn it," she said conspiratorially.

Aya's eyes were still on her face. "I kept it so you could," he said softly.

Aya-chan turned back to him, and her eyes were too serious, and too seeing for a moment. Still a Fujimiya. "I just might."

"So, Aya, we just going to stand here, or what?" Ken's voice was tenser than he'd probably meant it to be.

Both Aya and Aya-chan turned to him. Aya-chan shifted on her feet with a glance toward her brother. Her face looked surprised, and uncomfortable. "Uhm...well, I..."

Aya dropped a hand on his sister's shoulder. He glared daggers and katanas at his teammate.

Aya-chan's head jerked toward him. Her eyes were shining. "He meant...why would he..."

His voice was low. "Remember what I told you, last night?"

"...oh." His sister's voice was small. "I didn't...it's different, hearing it..."

"I'm sorry, Aya." It felt strange, apologizing for the very thing that had kept him strong.

"A-Aya..." Omi gasped.

"Ran," he corrected, eyes still on his sister's face.

He would be who she asked him to be.

"N-no..." Aya-chan's lower lip was trembling, then suddenly, it stopped. She smiled at him. There wasn't even a hint of a lie in it.

"I understand why you did it. You keep me alive and with you by doing it. If 'Aya' is who you are - I know that it isn't me. And if you're not Ran any longer..."

"...I'm still your brother." His voice was almost desperate. Why were the others here?! Why were they watching...why wouldn't they leave...

She nodded, firmly. "Yes. You are." She stepped forward, and wrapped her arms around him tightly. "Aya."

xxxxx

Yohji intended to stay drunk the rest of his life.

He fell back on his bed, and stared at his ceiling. The paint was cracking.

He'd come to a realization in Aya's room, and it wasn't one he was particularly comfortable with.

Like a planet circling a black hole, he'd finally been sucked in.

Devoured.

Annihilated.

If he'd listened to himself, he'd probably have seen it coming.

Instead -

Hate is such a comfortable alternative.

He'd taken his beer and waited outside of Aya's room until the coughing stopped, and he'd heard the creak of bedsprings. If Omi or Ken had needed the bathroom, he'd have had some explaining to do.

The goddamned man didn't even remember how to cry.

He didn't have a snowball's chance in hell.

He was never going to fucking learn.

Yes, Asuka. I remember what you were always trying to tell me.

One hand trailed up to his tattoo.

Aya had his sister back. He didn't need the mess that was Yohji. He'd told him that loud and clear since they'd met.

The reunion had been like watching a train wreck in reverse. He'd been witness to the end result of it simply by living next to Aya in the Koneko. He was a head case, and that's why Yohji had been careful to keep his distance. He'd taken his sister's name while she was asleep and killed with it. It was creepy on a level the ex-detective still wasn't comfortable with.

Seeing them together today...

Aya had smiled.

For the time being, his sister was only going to come on visits, for her safety and, Yohji assumed, mental health. Which was surprisingly decent considering what the girl had been through.

And it seemed like she accepted who her brother was in a way he doubted any of them had. The cloaked disbelief on Aya's face was painful to observe. She knew about all of them.

If she'd always been like that, Yohji could understand why Aya would commit himself to hell for her.

And Aya, he mused, had that same pull. Only it was darker, more dangerous. Instead of a guiding light, it was the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

He hadn't realized it, and Aya sure as hell didn't, but he'd been following the man from the start. Skirting on the outside of the abyss, keeping it contained behind the cage of his wire and his focus on the past. That lens had been more than enough to keep him protected from his present life.

Yohji laughed, loudly. He slapped a hand over his face, then pushed to his feet.

He went to his closet and began pulling out clothes.

It was a good night to mingle with some other lonely souls.

xxxxx

Tbc.