Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Bradley's Devils ❯ Tastes ( Chapter 3 )

Actually, Schu's inspiration now demands a donut every time someone calls her one, so that won't work. It doesn't really matter, come to think of it, since she always reads my mind, and the actuality of someone using her without her permission is fodder for anger enough.

Thinking of it like that, sending Farf's inspiration as well just might be overkill.

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Bradley's Devils

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"You look rather proud of yourself, Brad," Schuldich commented as he came in through the door. She didn't mention that he also looked tired, and that his mind was harder to touch than usual.

He smiled. "I caught a dart out of thin air. I think that's reason to be proud."

"What did he do?" Farfarello asked from the living room.

**Oh, nothing much,** Schuldich said, taking Brad's case from him and pushing him through the door. **He just caught a poisonous dart, is all.**

"Of course he did," Farfarello said, looking surprised. "He's an angel."

"No he's not, because he refuses to sit!"

"I dunna see how-"

"Never mind that, just make him sit down!"

Farfarello grabbed a wrist and tugged - rather hard - and Brad came crashing down onto the sofa at an odd angle and bumped his head. "Op! Sorry about that. Are ye okay, Brad?"

"I'm fine." He smiled a little and sat up a bit, rubbing his head, then collapsed back, so that he was sprawled over all of the couch that wasn't already occupied.

Schuldich had to laugh lightly, but she moved around the back of the sofa and pushed Brad to a somewhat sitting position, then caught him when he tried to lie back down again. "Sit up! I need the space."

"Nn."

To make up for it, once she was in place, she started massaging his shoulders. Farfarello looked a bit oddly at her, but settled for snorting and unpausing the game she was playing.

"What else happened?"

"Our `boss' has someone who really hates him."

"Oh?"

"Yes. From his looks, I would guess Mr. Takatori wasn't as successful as he'd thought in taking out the Fujimiya children."

"You want me to pay him a visit?"

"Hm?"

"The kid. In his dreams."

"Mm. Check out the others with him while you're at it. He seems to be part of an assassin group."

"Interesting. Oh, ew, Farf. That guy's been dead for a while. Did you have to do that?"

"It's fun," Farfarello replied, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"You should try against Nagi sometime. She likes Mortal Kombat too."

Farfarello grinned.

"So this guy really hates Mr. Takatori?"

"He abandoned his target to run after us, yelling `shi ne.' We had to take the helicopter to get away, and he almost caught us. Threw the katana after us, too. Crazy kid."

"Probably just vengeance-driven." Schuldich glanced a little worriedly at Farfarello, and tried for Brad's mind again. She sighed a little when she could touch it. Good. **Get airsick?**

**Only a little - not enough to notice.**

**That's good.**

"We need to work on communication," she said aloud. "When you came in, I couldn't taste you."

"What do ye mean by that?"

"His mind was closed off by using his precognition, so I couldn't taste it."

"Taste?"

"Mmhmm. For some reason, I taste the outer layers of a mind, feel the next few, hear any words that float through, and see the pictures, before I can just comprehend the innermost bits - where everything is expressed in ideas and simple knowledge. It's really just a way of describing something that doesn't actually link to a sense. Brad's mind," she squeezed his shoulders, "tastes like salted apples. Must be why I've developed a liking for them."

"Really?" Farfarello defeated another opponent, and watched in fascination as her character tore him into itty bitty pieces and ate the heart. "What does my mind taste like?"

"Coppery mineral water and pretzels."

"Huh. Ooo, I want this guy's knives."

"We'll see what we can do."

"We?" Brad interposed.

"Me and Nagi. Still interested in minds, Farf?"

"Yes. Why is…" she trailed off, but picked up the sentence after a complicated move. "Why does Brad's mind so different from mine?"

"It has to do with the way you think and what influences you the most. Brad's mind is sweet and savory because he's a nice guy, but he's killed a lot of people, and doesn't feel guilty about it. Your mind tastes remarkably like blood because you're steeped in it and you think about blood-related things a lot. The water, for all the coppery taste, is fresh and clear because of the purity of your belief, and because you haven't given up hope. It's very refreshing. The pretzels, on the other hand, don't taste like much more than salt, and the tasteless bread is the parts of your mind you've locked away. I can tell just from tasting the outer edges of your mind that you're insane and that your memory is incomplete."

Farfarello paused the game again, and looked at Schuldich. "What don't I remember?"

"That blankness is from the one time God answered you," Schuldich said gently, "and I will not take that gift away."

Farfarello stared at her for a while.

"Play your game and I'll tell you about Nagi."

"Okay."

"That's enough for now, Schu," Brad said. He tried to stand up.

"Absolutely not! You still have a knot here." She pulled him back down and set to work, making him wince occasionally. "Nagi's mind tastes like milk. That's because she's not bitter, but she's not idealistic either. For the most part, she's neither happy nor sad - which means that she's content, and I'm glad her emotions are so stable. A life of contentedness is to be envied. Also, she hasn't killed many people or even been an assassin for very long, compared to how long she's lived, so there's no saltiness. At the same time, she's not sweet, because she's not an innocent. Her mind tastes like milk because she's calm and self-centered, and doesn't really have extremes, but uses her mind a lot. It's much better than the muddy pool she was when we found her.

Farfarello thought a bit about what a mind that tasted like a muddy pool would be, and decided that she didn't want to know about that. "What about you?"

"I can't taste myself! It's like trying to describe the taste of the inside of your mouth, or your own skin when it's neither clean nor dirty. I've been tasting myself so long I don't know what it is any more."

"Well, taste the part of my mind that's closed off, or something, and then taste yourself and compare."

"O-okay…" She found Brad's hand and gripped it hard, afraid for the first time in years. After a moment, she said, "I taste like - I can't be certain, but I think - I taste like grass and nasturtiums and snow. And shards of glass."

"I don't understand."

Schuldich hid her face in Brad's shoulder. He squeezed her hand and answered for her, "Your friend… The first thing the Gestapo did to her was break her spirit. And now it really is enough." He stood and lead Schuldich silently out of the room, his arm twisted so that she wouldn't have to let go of his hand.

He really was an angel.

~~~-~~~

The next time anyone other that Brad saw Schuldich, she was back to normal, as teasing and confident as ever. She made preparations, and once she was certain that they would all be asleep, she went into a trance, locked away in Farfarello's cell where she couldn't be disturbed, and sent her mind out to find the mind of a young man named Fujimiya Ran.

Aww, how cute, she smirked to herself, watching his dream as he talked to his sister. He was reaching out to her, but the bed elongated, and he could never touch her. Now, what was he saying?

"Eh? Are you crying? I'm sorry. I'm a terrible brother. I'll stay by your side forever. But you mustn't approach any closer than that. Please don't cry."

This was her entrance. Oh, but she loved this! "The one in tears is you." He couldn't see her, but she still made sure- yes, in full male form, complete with the lower voice and flat chest. She stood behind him, on the other side of the bed.

And, triggered by her statement, he was crying. Poor boy. She folded her left leg back, half kneeling on the bed, and leaned over him. Almost touching, but not quite. "So you're understanding now. You invest your cash in your sister's health… But you find that you can't look her in the eye." How sad…

She pushed a little, and his own subconscious changed the scenery slightly, dressing him in assassin gear and tattering the fabric. The katana came to his hands, but he held it loosely. After a quick check to make sure she was unchanged, she let her forearm settle over his chest. "The reason why is because you've earned that money from murdering people. Essentially, you're of the same stock as us. For our own personal reasons, we both make a life out of killing others.

"Have you lost something?" she asked, reaching down with her other hand to grab his wrist and pull the katana up, into his line of vision. She didn't let it turn to him so he couldn't make a move to try and kill himself, if the thought should come. "If so, that's only because you chose to. You ought to incant a spell of a single word."

He still didn't say anything, so she leaned over further and breathed into his ear. "You should admit it. Before you lose your mind."

And at last he spoke. "I… aaah…"

And then he woke up.

Schuldich shook her head and released control over her image, resisting the urge to return to her body. She still had to find out who was with him. Ran was still confused, so she could potentially get the information from him, but she wanted him to remember the dream, so, after twisting his memories a bit, she left him wondering why his subconscious had chosen to repeat that dream and went off to find the person in the room next to his.

She wasn't as interested in this one, so she merely touched his mind briefly, digging only deep enough to get his name, and moved on. After collecting all the information she wanted and could get, she finally retreated and promptly fell asleep.

~~~-~~~

Oh yeah… That's right.

Schuldich uncurled and stretched lazily before getting up. She'd have to tell Brad about that, of course - she'd forgotten before - but it could wait.

She wanted a shower.

As she stepped though the door, Farfarello looked up from the cute little origami creatures she was making. "Feeling better?"

"Much. Will you make me some of those little dragons?"

"Sure. No problem."

"Thanks." **Brad, guess what?**

**What?**

**I forgot to tell you something.**

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My thanks to the lovely people at Aya no Weiß Kreuz Corner for translating the manga (which meant I didn't have to, a process which might have delayed this chapter indefinately). The words spoken in the dream are taken directly from there.

My thanks also go to Neko Lynn for sitting down and actually copying down huge amounts of subbing off of the anime for me. I didn't use it at all this chapter, but the next I definately will!