Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Fluesternd ❯ Part 12 ( Chapter 12 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Crimson 
Aiko faces her toughest challenge yet, and reveals an unexpected secret.
Anime/Manga: Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Psychological | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 08.19.2002 | Updated On: 08.19.2002 | Pages: 4 | Words: 6.2K | Visits: 226 | Status: Completed
Aiko faces her toughest challenge yet, and reveals an unexpected secret.
Anime/Manga: Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Psychological | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 08.19.2002 | Updated On: 08.19.2002 | Pages: 4 | Words: 6.2K | Visits: 226 | Status: Completed
*****12*****
How much stock do you put in faith?
Faith. Believing in something without proof, right? Without being able to touch it, hear it, or even know without a doubt whether it exists? Sounds pretty demanding to me. We're only human, so how can we possibly be expected to grasp a concept like this? Seeing is believing, remember? This isn't a new subject I'm talking about, they're all part of the same thing. They just have different names.
God granted us the gifts of faith, hope, and love, with the greatest of these being love. Of course, he didn't mention how fucking hard all of them were going to be for his "children" to live with. Oh no. That would be way too accommodating. Instead, we get to tough things out on our own.
Peachy.
It doesn't take very long to figure things out, though. Life sucks. Life is unfair. Good people get hurt, and bad people don't always get what's coming to them, despite what the movies tell us. There are no super-heroes, because human beings are - gasp - human.
All this leaves us so much room for faith, doesn't it? Get serious. We're supposed to throw out everything we know, everything solid and factual, and believe in something we can't even see?
Damn straight.
No, faith is not easy. In fact, hope and love aren't picnics, either. But we're stuck with them. We're blessed with them. And praise be to God for sending them down. I certainly wouldn't be able to survive without them. You can pretty much bet I'd be enjoying a permanent, dirt-cushioned bed right now if I hadn't given in and surrendered to ideals like faith, and I wouldn't be alone.
Even if you're thinking I don't know what the hell I'm talking about, it's a fact that you have faith in something in your life right now, no matter how small. Maybe you have faith in your friends. Maybe you have faith in your family. Maybe you have faith in your family wanting to borrow money every couple of months. Maybe you have faith in your bills coming in the mail. Maybe you have faith in your back going out when you try and move that couch upstairs next weekend.
Maybe you have faith in God.
Life without faith - without beliefs, without hope, without love - is worthless. You might be one of those unfortunate souls who has faith solely in the fact that God *doesn't* exist. That we made Him up. Believe what you will. We're all different. Just remember, although some people live without the finer qualities of life......
Even a psychopath can believe in God.
*****
Stale air singes his lungs with each staggering breath, the dull, humid heat of his surroundings making him nauseous just thinking about opening his tired eyes and getting up. This sleep is not peaceful, restful, or even desired, but it is certainly more welcome than what he is most likely going to find once he gives in and rises.
Awakening against his will, and keeping his jade eyes clenched shut, Schuldrich stirs ever so slightly, his trembling fingers twitching at the mattress below him. He knows he's alive, but in what condition was he left? What did Farfarello do to him before escaping into the unsuspecting world?
(.....he didn't kill me......so....what *did* he do...?) the German wonders pensively, consumed by an emotion he had thought long forgotten.
Fear.
(....I'm in shock.....that's why I can't feel any pain.......) Schu reasons, holding as still as possible on the bed. (....he probably.....cut me apart.....and it just hasn't hit me yet......)
His entire body is shaking, with breaths coming in desperate gasps. This child-like trauma, however, is not enveloping Schuldrich only because he believes Farfarello left him in some grotesque state worse than death, but because his friend betrayed him, even if "friends" is never what they were.
Afraid of what he might find, but stir-crazy to know the truth, Schu shoots open his eyes, discovering the high ceiling looking down on him. Despite his expectations, he still doesn't feel any pain. Cautiously, the red-head lifts an arm, turning it in the air to make sure it hasn't been severed. He then lifts the other - with the same result - and proceeds to check over his entire body, without moving his head to look for wounds or missing pieces face to face.
To his thrilled surprise, there isn't a scratch on him.
"I'm......not a mangled mess...? What's going on?" Schuldrich asks the air, sitting up sharply with the smallest hints of a relieved smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "I guess I owe him one....."
Achingly, and with a pounding headache from the lack of oxygen he had sustained, the German swings his legs over the side of the bed to get his bearings, running a shaky hand through his tousled hair. Though he hadn't really noticed at first, this instinctive motion forces Schuldrich to take pause and register an unexpected peculiarity.
His bandanna is gone.
The red-head stands stiffly, allowing his common grin to spread into an expression of pleased humor. "The little rat took my favorite possession." he comments, grandly shaking out his long mane of orange hair. "I hope he knows I'll be expecting it back."
Longing to break free of this stifling room, Schuldrich moves swiftly for the door, but pauses before he exists to look back into the darkened cell. Contrary to his beaming smirk, a flicker of sorrow overshadows him as he surveys the empty room. It isn't right without Farfarello there.
Nothing seems right anymore.
"Hmph." he voices condescendingly, turning on his heals, and practically laughing out the words that follow. "We're falling apart at the seams! Hehehe. Bradley's gonna love this!"
His laughter continues - loud and misleading - while the foolish red-head prowls down the hallway as if he hasn't a care in the world. Why is it mankind can deceive themselves so willingly? Why even bother? Why not face facts? Why not accept the truth?
Why? Because we're cowards.
*****
Why? Because that's the way things are.
The night is at its peak - dark, cold, and never-ending. It has been a long day, and though time has a reputation of ticking away agonizingly slow, the clock already reads past midnight. Even at this late hour, a couple stragglers are still clanking around in the downstairs shop at "Kitten's Cafe." Ever since the early morning disruption from across the street, both Weiss and Fleusternd had congregated around the cafe stand to work out how they were going to proceed in their mission. The shop was most definitely closed all day due to this, and once the authorities were dealt with concerning the destruction of "Kitty in the House," everyone realized just how much they had to talk about.
Naturally, Ken and Nori had taken awhile to join the rest of the group, but most of them were happy enough just to see the ex-J-leaguer on his feet - alive and breathing.
Now, with traces of exhaustion clearly evident from everyone, the entire group has headed upstairs to deal with sleeping arrangement so they can get themselves to bed. Only Aiko and Amaya remain downstairs as they finish locking the place up for the night.
"Hurry it up, slow-poke!! I don't wanna get stuck sleeping in the same room as Hiromi." Amaya complains, after putting the last few dishes away, and conspicuously inching towards the upstairs door.
Aiko merely laughs, returning from bolting the front entrance. "Go ahead without me then, if you're that impatient. I just want to wipe up the counter a little. That cup of tea Bombay spilled when you tickle-attacked him earlier will be a sticky mess in the morning if I don't."
Reminiscent of her pleasurable prank, the dark-haired pixie giggles, dashing for upstairs with an appreciative wave.
"Don't turn off the main lights!" Aiko calls after her, while slipping behind the cafe counter. "I'll get them later!"
The day has indeed been a tiresome one, with far too many unforeseen events, and the strain of it all is throbbing through Aiko's joints. Sleep is calling the fatigued red-head - deciding for her that wiping off the counter is without a doubt the last thing she is going to do before heading upstairs - and it is not a long distance call.
Bending down beneath the countertop, Aiko searches for a rag, grumbling slightly at how no one ever puts things back where they belong. Her hunt is cut short, however, because while digging in the shelves and drawers, she suddenly finds herself thrown into darkness.
Aiko groans, shooting up from her crouched position. "Amaya, I said *don't* turn off the lights!" she shouts at the ceiling, knowing very well the girl couldn't possibly hear her. Yet, somehow, she gets an answer anyway......
"She didn't." a low, cold-hearted voice echoes from the shadows. "*I* did."
The voice is eerie and frighteningly familiar, causing the red-head to become a pillar of ice right where she stands. Out of the darkness steps a young man with short, white hair, pale skin, countless scars, and a single golden eye, holding no signs of mercy or compassion in its tawny depths.
"Jei....." Aiko breathes, her voice quivering in paralyzation.
Farfarello's eye narrows, while his arms lift from his sides to show the two glinting blades held in such slender hands. "Don't.....call me that......" he growls, advancing on her in long strides. "My name is Farfarello. Remember....because you'll be screaming it before I'm through with you!!"
Like an electric current, the albino lunges for Aiko over the countertop, forcing her to back-peddle clumsily in a panic to get out of his reach. She rams hard into the cappuccino machine, grunting with the unexpected pain, but immediately rushes around to the other side of the cafe stand, madly escaping it in hopes of somehow reaching safety.
No such luck for the red-head, unfortunately, for just as she slips out from behind the counter on the opposite side, Farfarello is suddenly right next to her, pinning her down against the tile of the tabletop. He painfully presses one of his knives to her throat before she can even breathe in protest, while tracing the other along the leg that has so unfairly healed.
"Always running......running away....." Farfie whispers, his face very close to hers, while hungrily licking at his lips. "I thought you believed in God. Loved Him even. Where is your faith, precious lamb? Won't He protect you from a sinner like me?"
"Stop this, Jei....." pleads Aiko breathlessly in reply. ".....you....don't mean what you're saying......what you're doing......"
Farfarello answers her by throwing out a deranged laugh, snapping back to growl in her face, like some hungry animal rather than a man. "Pretty, little girl.......you think you can save me...? Hehehehe. I'm not going to take it easy on you this time......Crawford can't stop me anymore.....no....you're going to know true pain. And...I think I'll start......by cutting that stubborn leg of yours.......off."
"Jei- "
"Enough!" the twisted man screams to silence her. "Jei doesn't exist! No one will save you this time. Not your friends, not your God, no one! I'll have you squirming in agony to hurt Him as much as He hurt me. I'll show you what pain really is, so both you and that lying bastard will feel what I went through. A suffering no one could possibly understand!"
Shudder. Time slows. Both daggers are precariously pressed against Aiko's skin, and Farfarello's intentions are impossible to miss, nor ever hope to conquer. However, the trapped young woman - miraculously - no longer looks afraid.
Some distance away, a silent figure has worked his way down from upstairs, and is now standing frozen behind the door, apprehensively watching the events unfolding before his eyes. Though Aiko and Farfie can't see him, he most definitely sees them.
Never one to dismiss possibility, Fujimiya Ran had decided to see what was keeping the belated Korat from joining everyone, secretly hoping he wouldn't find her in any danger - though his sixth sense kept telling him he would. After all, how could he forget what happened the last time she was alone?
It's such a shame his hopes were in vain.
Afraid to spook the known psychopath into harming the red-head before he can think of a way to save her, Ran remains as silent and stationary as possible, absorbing every word exchanged between them.
Back in the center of the room, cool and calm, violet eyes stare up at Farfarello, revealing a strength that should be impossible, as Aiko speaks with steadfast certainty. "You're wrong, Jei. I know first hand the kind of pain you're talking about, because I have felt it myself. I have suffered just as you have. I......" She falters, fighting to tell him a truth that has been known only to herself for countless years. "......I have committed.....the very same crimes as you."
Farfarello's face drains of what little color it has, going entirely blank, while his hands waver in disbelief. Ran - unsteadied footing nearly giving him away - pales as well, blinking as if to assure himself he isn't dreaming.
(She can't mean.......)
"What are you......ta...talking about...?" Farfie stutters in ragged breaths, pulling ever so slightly away from the girl beneath him.
Confidently, Aiko smiles - a satisfied, yet unbearably saddened expression. "After so many years, you finally know the truth about what happened to your family." the red-head begins. "That you were the one who killed them. *You*. As a child you couldn't face it, the gnawing guilt, so you cowered away inside of yourself, blaming everything on a cruel God you believed hated you. A God who abandoned you. Perhaps, even today, you believe you were right for turning away from Him, but I am living proof of someone who has lived with the same demons you face everyday, and who still kept their faith in God."
Pausing, that old, familiar flame pulses from her violet eyes, threatening to burn jaggedly through the young man on the receiving end.
"Just like you.........I killed my family."
Shattered. Everything - the air, the floor, the ceiling - shatters into thousands of tiny pieces, digging into the skin like miniature blades as the shards fall.
So close - and yet so far away - Ran is a wax figure in the shadows of the half-closed door. (*That's* her secret.......her troubled past......?) he mumbles internally from the sanctuary of his hiding place, horrified and unwilling to process what he has clearly heard. (I don't believe it......how......it......it must be- )
"Lies!" rings Farfarello's frantic voice, as he presses Aiko down against the countertop once more. "You're lying.....trying to trick me! It's impossible! Impossible!! How could you have...how-"
"This..." Aiko cuts him off, holding up a steady hand. "...is how."
Just then, a spark ignites about an inch above her palm, growing and becoming a burning flame suspended at her control. The light from this small fire casts an unnerving glow about Aiko's features, and Farfarello releases her as if she herself burns his skin at the touch. His arms fall back to his sides, the knives hanging limp in unstable hands, and he falteringly begins to back away, confused and - unbelievably - a little scared.
"You didn't know about this, did you?" the pyrokinetic grins, steadying her footing now that she is able to stand fully again. "Brad is keeping much from you. You see, *this* is the reason he wants me. I don't know what he wishes to use my power for, but it doesn't matter. I was born with this ability, Jei. My gift.....this gift....killed the people I loved most in the world."
(Of course!) cries Ran's thoughts in epiphany, as he himself appears caught up in the scene like a movie buff at the theatre. (I knew there was something strange about her power, the way she never wants to use it. She *is* afraid......)
"Then it must have been an accident......." Farfarello's gruff words choke out amongst his scrambled state of mind, unable to free his gaze from the sun-colored ball of warm light dancing above Aiko's palm. ".....you.....didn't mean to kill them....."
Holding her hand out in front of her, the red-head allows the fire to pulse larger, while fixing her flaming eyes on the retreating albino. "Don't jump to conclusions." she replies, an unfitting cruelty entering her voice. "Temporary insanity or no, I knew exactly what I was doing when I slaughtered my parents, along with my naive imoto. I was even younger than you had been - only five years old - but at the core of my bitter heart, I willfully took their lives. Our stories are the same."
Could it be the cold, Spring air of the night, or is the frost forming on the tiny windows of the outside door coming from inside instead of out?
There isn't a single more efficient way of altering a person's perceptions and beliefs than by being able to relate to them intimately. How much does such honesty and trust cost, though? How much is given up in order to take someone else in?
Aiko could care less. She knew her mission from the very beginning, and was always willing to give up anything and everything in order to see it fulfilled. Even - God forbid - if it would cost her the safety of a secret she had shared with so very few.
Abruptly, two distinctive clangs echo up to the high ceiling of the shop. Farfarello has dropped his knives to the floor, his sweaty palms having finally surrendered to forces beyond their control. He watches, mesmerized, as Aiko gracefully moves her right hand through the fire being held in the left, like a magician preparing for an illusion, and pulls it out again to show two separate hands - unburned - each now controlling their own small flame.
"Like you, Jei, my rage was ignited by the revealing of a truth I couldn't accept." Aiko continues, wearing an almost wicked smile, so foreignly at home on her face, and taking slow, purposeful steps closer to the young man who is now quite a number of feet away from her. "You discovered your mother was a nun, and went mad because of it. I was told my father was not my real father at all, but that I was the product of an affair my mother had *after* my parents were married. So.......I guess I went a little mad, too."
Ran shivers while listening to her words, though not nearly as harshly as Farfarello is trembling, and the silent red-head's thoughts ricochet inside his mind. (She's so frightening like this.......a whole other person......no wonder she always seems to shut down when something's upsetting her......if she were to give in to her emotions.......she might.......)
"My family were kind and generous people, exceedingly strong in their devotion to God." persists Aiko's menacing tone. "They brought me up right, taught me well, and I turned around and killed them. I suppose some morbid sense in me believed I was punishing them in God's name for lying, for sinning, but truthfully, I just wanted to hurt them for hurting me, and I ended up hating everything......"
Her words trail off, an unfocused, distant daze fogging over the intensity of her eyes. The fire burning above her upturned palms suddenly spreads, as if the air around her skin is fresh kindling, until her entire form has become a burning bush. Moving forward a few steps more, Aiko nearly has Farfarello pinned against the wall, though she doesn't touch him, and they are only a yard or so away from Ran's hiding place.
Instantaneously, Aiko's lost expression jerks back into a look of crazed triumph. "They knew about my ability, even encouraged me to use it." she speaks, her voice a rushing whisper like spitting fire. "I was furious when I found out they had been lying for so long; furious enough to take action. Digging deep within myself to the center of my powers, I unleashed all of it in a wave of rolling flames, decimating the entire apartment building in a moments time. Though I remained unharmed after it was over, standing alone in the pile of rubble, no one else survived. No one......."
Clutching the wall at his back, Farfarello is immobilized with fear. Not a fear of Aiko, exactly, but a fear in believing someone else exists who is just like him. Someone who has experienced something so similar to himself.
What could it mean...?
The radiant light hovering around Aiko's form wraps her in the false image of an angel sent to prove some devastating point, filled with the ferocity of God. However, finally registering what affect this is having on the young man cowering in front of her, she suddenly pulls the fire back inside of herself, and appears before him as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened in the slightest.
The red-haired, young woman - coming to her senses - replaces her recent expression with a gentle, and much more fitting smile. "Forgive me, Jei. This is exactly what I *didn't* want." she begins, her voice back to its normal, low-toned grace. "Yes, I carry the burden of death on my shoulders just as you do, and yet here I stand, firmly trusting and loving the God who granted me these deadly powers. The truth is, I could have easily ended up just like you, but I was saved before things got out of hand. Saved, Jei.......by your mother. I owe her everything, and promised to repay her with the one thing she truly wanted: you. I beg of you, leave your hatred behind. It isn't worth putting the blame on Him when *you* were the one who committed the crimes you regret so much. God doesn't make the world a horrible place. We do. The reason He doesn't spring to our rescue in every instance of failure is because he granted us the gift of free will, making *us* responsible for our own actions. Don't you understand, Jei? You're just a lost, little boy, longing to be relieved of your sins. Please........trust me........we can survive only by helping each other........"
Cautiously, Aiko lifts a hand to Farfarello's face, tingling his skin with her warm touch against his cool cheek. The Irishman's golden eye is wide with disorder as he stares back at the red-head, but a shaky hand of his own slowly rises up to fold over hers.
(It's been.......so long......since I've felt pain like this........) he realizes, clutching his other hand to his aching chest. (What is this...? Guilt? Regret? Am I......sorry for the things I've done.....?)
Something warm and wet begins to fall from Farfarello's eyes, a feeling he barely remembers, and in an awkward surge forward, he suddenly - unbelievably - wraps strong, scarred arms around Aiko's waist, sobbing onto her shoulder.
(Oh, God........please forgive me......)
Aiko's smile widens beautifully as she holds the broken, young man in return, cradling his head with her hand. But......
How long do miracles last?
From behind the door, Ran is in a state of utter shock. He can't believe he has witnessed this, such an odd array of events leading to an end he never dreamed possible - even if he has agreed to aide Fluesternd in their objective to do exactly what Aiko appears to have done. His disbelief, however, lingers not only on the red-head's apparent accomplishment, but on her unforgettable confession. Combined, what is he supposed to think? Is this only an illusion? Or-
"Fujimiya-san?"
Busted. Ran's entire body tenses at the calling of his name from someone coming down the stairs. It is a somber voice, formal and hesitating. Who could it be, other than......
"Nagi....." Ran whispers, spinning around and coming face to face with the smaller boy advancing from above him. "Be quiet.....they don't know I'm here..."
The brunette replies with a puzzled expression after this order, tilting his head to peak through the crack in the door. "They? Who else is-" Boom. The sight of Farfie in Aiko's arms hits him like cascading iron, and his mouth drops open with eyes growing in horror. "Farfarello......no.......Aiko!!"
Despite Ran's efforts to restrain the boy, Nagi rushes past him, bursting through the door in a noble attempt at saving Aiko from certain doom. The door is left open, displaying the leader of Weiss in all his spying splendor, and the oddly-matched pair near by break from their embrace with greatly surprised expressions.
"Get away from her!" Nagi shouts angrily at the stunned albino, throwing up his delicate arms. Farfarello is tossed backwards off his feet, hitting the ground hard. "I won't let you hurt her again! I won't let you-"
"Nagi, stop. It's all right."
Aiko's calm voice cuts into the pressure building throughout the room, and she steps towards Nagi, carefully lowering his arms with her own. He looks back at her with uncomprehending, storm-cloud eyes, wondering why she would ever want to stop him from saving her.
"Jei isn't going to hurt me." the beaming red-head pushes on, brushing Nagi's hair out of his eyes in a motherly motion. "Not anymore." She pauses slightly then, crinkling her forhead in thought. "What are you doing down here anyway?"
Still very confused, and casting nervous glances at Farfarello as the former teammate picks himself up from the ground, Nagi vaguely gestures to the door - where Ran still stands like a deer caught in headlights.
Lifting her eyes from the young boy, Aiko's gaze locks onto Ran's frozen figure, and her features flicker with a combination of extreme emotions. Fear. Anger. Disappointment. And......perhaps a little understanding.
Ran looks away, lowering his head as if ashamed.
"I......don't know what to do....." begins Farfarello's panicked voice, cutting into the moment of silent accusations, and looking as if he is torn between falling to his knees and running for freedom. ".....what do I do now......I can't.....go back.....I can't.....stay with you.....it feels wrong......it hurts......I don't belong anywhere......"
Compassionately, Aiko reaches out to take hold of the albino's pale, gloved hand, complete confidence in her powerful grip. "No, Jei. You *do* belong here, and you *can* stay with me. The pain you feel is an unconquerable urge to release the suffering you have inflicted upon yourself by inflicting suffering on others for so long. If you truly were beyond help, beyond redemption, you would have killed me, or left a long time ago. But I'm still here. *You* are still here......aren't you?"
Farfarello looks deeply into Aiko's violet eyes, and a fleeting glimpse at the others prove they are silently beseeching him just as intently as she is. Nevertheless, the turmoil within is wrenching him apart. Half of him wants to cling to the remnants of hatred that has fueled his life for more years than he can remember, but the other half is nothing but a boy, digging for traces of the faith he once had, and the heart he buried with it. Luckily for the world, one half is stronger than the other.
Perhaps miracles last as long as we need them to.
*****
Perhaps miracles are only the beginning.
"You're out of your mind!" screams Hidaka Ken, after Aiko's explanation of Farfarello's sudden arrival into their home - and their lives. "That man is insane! He tortures people, mutilates clergyman, and cuts *himself* up out of some sick pleasure! How can you trust him?!"
Upon Farfie's entrance, everyone had taken a major double-take to be sure they were actually seeing what their eyes said they were. Of course, the lovely ladies of Fleusternd took it in stride, and though the site of the frightening Irishman unsettles them a little, they didn't object. Weiss, on the other hand, is far from taking this lightly. Sure, they have vowed to help Fleusternd bring Schwartz back into the light - knowing Farfarello is basically the main target - but they certainly didn't think they would actually succeed.
Which is probably why they can't believe Aiko has.
"Nagi I can understand." Omi puts in, very happy to be seated in the chair furthest from the troubling albino. "But.....Farfarello......he's just a.......a-"
"A what?" demands Aiko sternly, though still smiling as broadly as ever. "A killer? Condemning him for *that* is rather hypocritical of you, ne?"
Simply put, Omi shuts up. They all do. How can they possibly refute her explanation, despite the validity in their concerns? Nevertheless, Aiko can't really blame them for having doubts; fear is powerful, and faith is never easy to acquire.
The entire group is spread out around the living room, though Farfarello is staying close to Aiko with a look that suggests he is still ready to run for it, and Ran is hovering near the landing - set apart from the others completely.
Content with the momentary silence she has stirred within the others, Aiko takes control of the room. "Well, with no need for introductions or formalities, why don't we just forget today's unpleasantness and work out who will be sleeping where tonight? It's too late to do much of anything else."
(How can she be so calm....?) Omi wonders, feeling very awkward in the presence of someone so recently a hated enemy. (What if he was the one who blew up the shop? Ken-kun was almost killed......)
"I think it will be easier for everyone if Jei stays with me." Aiko suggests, surveying the others thoughtfully as she continues, and purposely not giving them long enough to grab at any chances for new arguments. "Siberian, you're already settled in Nori's room, so you and Balinese can sleep there. Nori, you'll move into Hiromi's room. Then Nagi, Nanami, and Bombay will stay with Amaya. That way, Abyssinian, you and your sister can have the guest room to yourselves."
Ran lifts his head uncomfortably at his assignment, making a meager gesture over the entirety of the room for Aiko to pick up on a slight discrepancy she hasn't noticed. "I sent Aya away, remember?" he states softly, his voice still betraying his feelings of guilt for having been caught eavesdropping before, despite his original intentions. "Birman and Manx took her, along with Momoe and Sakura, to Villa White for the time being, so we won't be seeing any of them for quite awhile."
"Well, the rest of us will make do with how I've laid things out, so you'll just have to survive the night by yourself."
Since no one is in much of a mood to protest the arrangements handed them, everyone gradual gets up and begins heading for their rooms. It's as if the day is refusing to end, and they all dearly crave a good night's rest, even if many of them will have disturbing nightmares knowing a madman is sleeping nearby.
As usual, Ran is the only one who lingers after the others have retired, and Aiko kindly tells Farfarello to go make himself comfortable in her room while she ties up a few loose ends with her twin. The albino obediently heads for the door she points out, but hesitates in taking each step, fighting with every breath inhaled to retain control of his jumbled mind, still clinging to a way of life the child in him is struggling to forget.
An hour doesn't change someone, after all, it can only set the wheels in motion.
"We keep parting ways like this, Abyssinian." Aiko begins with a melancholy smile, as her mirror image walks up to her slowly. "What thought will you leave me with tonight, I wonder? Do you also think I'm being a fool? You of all people shouldn't, since you witnessed what happened tonight first hand."
Ran flinches in reflex to her statement, even though her tone holds nothing even remotely similar to the malice she had briefly held downstairs. "You're right, of course. I shouldn't doubt you." the serious, young man answers. "But, that doesn't mean I'm not still worried. Are you certain he isn't a threat? That man is more unstable than any member of Schwartz. Naoe is only a boy, but Farfarello is a vicious, cold-blooded killer - even if it is hypocritical of me to call him that. I don't like the thought of you being alone with him."
Fire flashes in Aiko's intense pupils, and she takes a step closer to Ran, bringing them almost nose to nose. Every bit of determination in him teeters on the edge of breaking under the force of her stare. The two leaders seem forever in friction with one another, in just the same way a misguided soul fights to change their reflection when the only thing that really changes is themselves.
"I am well aware we've rushed into this, Abyssinian." Aiko speaks, with the semblance of tongues of fire on her lips. "However, I am prepared. It is you who suffer from being pulled into something you were not expecting to face. I know we are asking a lot of you, and under unfortunate circumstances things are moving faster than I anticipated. I am afraid I must help both Nagi and Jei find their places in life, so time helping *you* will once again be cut short."
"Time helping me...?"
Aiko takes a humored step back, looking Ran over with a teasing smile. "What, you think you've changed in the space of a heartbeat, as if you *don't* have the weight of countless deaths on your shoulders? Ha! Your intention may be purer, but you need help just as much as Schwartz, and *that* is what my mission is about." She instantly shifts back into her more pleasant, kinder state, looking into Ran's uncomprehending eyes sympathetically. "Knowing all this, I also understand that Jei cannot change overnight, either. I'm not afraid, though. He wants to be himself again, and that is enough. Faith is enough. You'd do well to remember that, Abyssinian."
Meaningful pause.
"Perhaps, you also need to reassert your relationship with God. I think He misses you......"
Turning briskly on her heals, Aiko withdraws from Ran on these words, leaving him - mouth wide open in overwhelming emotions - to think about what she has told him, and what she believes. No one ever said life was easy, as any intelligent person knows, and things can always get more complicated.
Therefore......they usually do.
*****
Usually, he would know what to do.
But right now he has no idea. In fact, Farfarello can't remember a time in his life - since that unforgettable, childhood moment of angered passion - when he felt so utterly lost.
Aiko spent a long time, hours into the depths of night, merely talking with him while she laid in bed, and he laid on the floor below her. When the inspiring red-head first joined him in the room, she had demanded *he* take the bed, actually, but he haphazardly refused. Comfort wasn't really something he enjoyed; the floor was much more appealing. Understanding, Aiko had given in, but tossed him a pillow and blanket anyway.
Tired eyes eventually overtook the exhausted, young woman, however, leaving Farfarello to lie awake amidst deafening silence, while feeling misplaced and alone in the strange darkness.
His surroundings, his state of mind, everything feels as if....
(...I shouldn't be here...) he thinks sorrowfully, staring up at the ceiling. (But......how can I hold onto vengeance......when *she* was able to surpass it...? I...wish I didn't have to feel like this, though.....pained.....when I've lived without it......lived with joy in hurting others.....in hurting *You*......I should......still hate You.......but......I'm so confused.......)
Troubled and aching, Farfarello turns his head to look up at Aiko from his place on the floor. He can make out her profile, so serene and beautifully pale in the moonlight shining in through the window, and her hand is dangling off the side of the mattress. Such a small hand - delicate fingers - and yet what a powerful weapon they can become once filled with the light of a flame burning above the palm.
With his eye fixed on those still, tempting digits, the Irishman absently reaches a hand up to kiss her fingertips with his own. She doesn't stir in the slightest, but he abruptly pulls away the moment their skin touches. Every pleasure he takes, every good-natured thought he tries to have, is injected with the shadows of guilt tailing him so relentlessly. Which is exactly why he cannot sleep. When a person is fighting a difficult, inner battle of demons and guardian angels, nightmares and haunting dreams surely lie ahead. Farfarello had long ago believed his guardian angel was dead, covered in acid and blood from his many victims, but now he believes he was mistaken.
If someone else had been able to keep faith after committing the same horrifying crimes as he, then perhaps it was not God who abandoned him, but he who abandoned God. Despite these revelations, Farfie is still afraid to fall asleep. Even more so......
......he is afraid to face tomorrow.
*****A/N*****
Alright!! Two down, and two to go. Schwartz wise, anyway. I bet you weren't expecting Aiko's dark secret, were ya? I'm just full of surprises! Keep REVIEWING peoples. Love ya!
How much stock do you put in faith?
Faith. Believing in something without proof, right? Without being able to touch it, hear it, or even know without a doubt whether it exists? Sounds pretty demanding to me. We're only human, so how can we possibly be expected to grasp a concept like this? Seeing is believing, remember? This isn't a new subject I'm talking about, they're all part of the same thing. They just have different names.
God granted us the gifts of faith, hope, and love, with the greatest of these being love. Of course, he didn't mention how fucking hard all of them were going to be for his "children" to live with. Oh no. That would be way too accommodating. Instead, we get to tough things out on our own.
Peachy.
It doesn't take very long to figure things out, though. Life sucks. Life is unfair. Good people get hurt, and bad people don't always get what's coming to them, despite what the movies tell us. There are no super-heroes, because human beings are - gasp - human.
All this leaves us so much room for faith, doesn't it? Get serious. We're supposed to throw out everything we know, everything solid and factual, and believe in something we can't even see?
Damn straight.
No, faith is not easy. In fact, hope and love aren't picnics, either. But we're stuck with them. We're blessed with them. And praise be to God for sending them down. I certainly wouldn't be able to survive without them. You can pretty much bet I'd be enjoying a permanent, dirt-cushioned bed right now if I hadn't given in and surrendered to ideals like faith, and I wouldn't be alone.
Even if you're thinking I don't know what the hell I'm talking about, it's a fact that you have faith in something in your life right now, no matter how small. Maybe you have faith in your friends. Maybe you have faith in your family. Maybe you have faith in your family wanting to borrow money every couple of months. Maybe you have faith in your bills coming in the mail. Maybe you have faith in your back going out when you try and move that couch upstairs next weekend.
Maybe you have faith in God.
Life without faith - without beliefs, without hope, without love - is worthless. You might be one of those unfortunate souls who has faith solely in the fact that God *doesn't* exist. That we made Him up. Believe what you will. We're all different. Just remember, although some people live without the finer qualities of life......
Even a psychopath can believe in God.
*****
Stale air singes his lungs with each staggering breath, the dull, humid heat of his surroundings making him nauseous just thinking about opening his tired eyes and getting up. This sleep is not peaceful, restful, or even desired, but it is certainly more welcome than what he is most likely going to find once he gives in and rises.
Awakening against his will, and keeping his jade eyes clenched shut, Schuldrich stirs ever so slightly, his trembling fingers twitching at the mattress below him. He knows he's alive, but in what condition was he left? What did Farfarello do to him before escaping into the unsuspecting world?
(.....he didn't kill me......so....what *did* he do...?) the German wonders pensively, consumed by an emotion he had thought long forgotten.
Fear.
(....I'm in shock.....that's why I can't feel any pain.......) Schu reasons, holding as still as possible on the bed. (....he probably.....cut me apart.....and it just hasn't hit me yet......)
His entire body is shaking, with breaths coming in desperate gasps. This child-like trauma, however, is not enveloping Schuldrich only because he believes Farfarello left him in some grotesque state worse than death, but because his friend betrayed him, even if "friends" is never what they were.
Afraid of what he might find, but stir-crazy to know the truth, Schu shoots open his eyes, discovering the high ceiling looking down on him. Despite his expectations, he still doesn't feel any pain. Cautiously, the red-head lifts an arm, turning it in the air to make sure it hasn't been severed. He then lifts the other - with the same result - and proceeds to check over his entire body, without moving his head to look for wounds or missing pieces face to face.
To his thrilled surprise, there isn't a scratch on him.
"I'm......not a mangled mess...? What's going on?" Schuldrich asks the air, sitting up sharply with the smallest hints of a relieved smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "I guess I owe him one....."
Achingly, and with a pounding headache from the lack of oxygen he had sustained, the German swings his legs over the side of the bed to get his bearings, running a shaky hand through his tousled hair. Though he hadn't really noticed at first, this instinctive motion forces Schuldrich to take pause and register an unexpected peculiarity.
His bandanna is gone.
The red-head stands stiffly, allowing his common grin to spread into an expression of pleased humor. "The little rat took my favorite possession." he comments, grandly shaking out his long mane of orange hair. "I hope he knows I'll be expecting it back."
Longing to break free of this stifling room, Schuldrich moves swiftly for the door, but pauses before he exists to look back into the darkened cell. Contrary to his beaming smirk, a flicker of sorrow overshadows him as he surveys the empty room. It isn't right without Farfarello there.
Nothing seems right anymore.
"Hmph." he voices condescendingly, turning on his heals, and practically laughing out the words that follow. "We're falling apart at the seams! Hehehe. Bradley's gonna love this!"
His laughter continues - loud and misleading - while the foolish red-head prowls down the hallway as if he hasn't a care in the world. Why is it mankind can deceive themselves so willingly? Why even bother? Why not face facts? Why not accept the truth?
Why? Because we're cowards.
*****
Why? Because that's the way things are.
The night is at its peak - dark, cold, and never-ending. It has been a long day, and though time has a reputation of ticking away agonizingly slow, the clock already reads past midnight. Even at this late hour, a couple stragglers are still clanking around in the downstairs shop at "Kitten's Cafe." Ever since the early morning disruption from across the street, both Weiss and Fleusternd had congregated around the cafe stand to work out how they were going to proceed in their mission. The shop was most definitely closed all day due to this, and once the authorities were dealt with concerning the destruction of "Kitty in the House," everyone realized just how much they had to talk about.
Naturally, Ken and Nori had taken awhile to join the rest of the group, but most of them were happy enough just to see the ex-J-leaguer on his feet - alive and breathing.
Now, with traces of exhaustion clearly evident from everyone, the entire group has headed upstairs to deal with sleeping arrangement so they can get themselves to bed. Only Aiko and Amaya remain downstairs as they finish locking the place up for the night.
"Hurry it up, slow-poke!! I don't wanna get stuck sleeping in the same room as Hiromi." Amaya complains, after putting the last few dishes away, and conspicuously inching towards the upstairs door.
Aiko merely laughs, returning from bolting the front entrance. "Go ahead without me then, if you're that impatient. I just want to wipe up the counter a little. That cup of tea Bombay spilled when you tickle-attacked him earlier will be a sticky mess in the morning if I don't."
Reminiscent of her pleasurable prank, the dark-haired pixie giggles, dashing for upstairs with an appreciative wave.
"Don't turn off the main lights!" Aiko calls after her, while slipping behind the cafe counter. "I'll get them later!"
The day has indeed been a tiresome one, with far too many unforeseen events, and the strain of it all is throbbing through Aiko's joints. Sleep is calling the fatigued red-head - deciding for her that wiping off the counter is without a doubt the last thing she is going to do before heading upstairs - and it is not a long distance call.
Bending down beneath the countertop, Aiko searches for a rag, grumbling slightly at how no one ever puts things back where they belong. Her hunt is cut short, however, because while digging in the shelves and drawers, she suddenly finds herself thrown into darkness.
Aiko groans, shooting up from her crouched position. "Amaya, I said *don't* turn off the lights!" she shouts at the ceiling, knowing very well the girl couldn't possibly hear her. Yet, somehow, she gets an answer anyway......
"She didn't." a low, cold-hearted voice echoes from the shadows. "*I* did."
The voice is eerie and frighteningly familiar, causing the red-head to become a pillar of ice right where she stands. Out of the darkness steps a young man with short, white hair, pale skin, countless scars, and a single golden eye, holding no signs of mercy or compassion in its tawny depths.
"Jei....." Aiko breathes, her voice quivering in paralyzation.
Farfarello's eye narrows, while his arms lift from his sides to show the two glinting blades held in such slender hands. "Don't.....call me that......" he growls, advancing on her in long strides. "My name is Farfarello. Remember....because you'll be screaming it before I'm through with you!!"
Like an electric current, the albino lunges for Aiko over the countertop, forcing her to back-peddle clumsily in a panic to get out of his reach. She rams hard into the cappuccino machine, grunting with the unexpected pain, but immediately rushes around to the other side of the cafe stand, madly escaping it in hopes of somehow reaching safety.
No such luck for the red-head, unfortunately, for just as she slips out from behind the counter on the opposite side, Farfarello is suddenly right next to her, pinning her down against the tile of the tabletop. He painfully presses one of his knives to her throat before she can even breathe in protest, while tracing the other along the leg that has so unfairly healed.
"Always running......running away....." Farfie whispers, his face very close to hers, while hungrily licking at his lips. "I thought you believed in God. Loved Him even. Where is your faith, precious lamb? Won't He protect you from a sinner like me?"
"Stop this, Jei....." pleads Aiko breathlessly in reply. ".....you....don't mean what you're saying......what you're doing......"
Farfarello answers her by throwing out a deranged laugh, snapping back to growl in her face, like some hungry animal rather than a man. "Pretty, little girl.......you think you can save me...? Hehehehe. I'm not going to take it easy on you this time......Crawford can't stop me anymore.....no....you're going to know true pain. And...I think I'll start......by cutting that stubborn leg of yours.......off."
"Jei- "
"Enough!" the twisted man screams to silence her. "Jei doesn't exist! No one will save you this time. Not your friends, not your God, no one! I'll have you squirming in agony to hurt Him as much as He hurt me. I'll show you what pain really is, so both you and that lying bastard will feel what I went through. A suffering no one could possibly understand!"
Shudder. Time slows. Both daggers are precariously pressed against Aiko's skin, and Farfarello's intentions are impossible to miss, nor ever hope to conquer. However, the trapped young woman - miraculously - no longer looks afraid.
Some distance away, a silent figure has worked his way down from upstairs, and is now standing frozen behind the door, apprehensively watching the events unfolding before his eyes. Though Aiko and Farfie can't see him, he most definitely sees them.
Never one to dismiss possibility, Fujimiya Ran had decided to see what was keeping the belated Korat from joining everyone, secretly hoping he wouldn't find her in any danger - though his sixth sense kept telling him he would. After all, how could he forget what happened the last time she was alone?
It's such a shame his hopes were in vain.
Afraid to spook the known psychopath into harming the red-head before he can think of a way to save her, Ran remains as silent and stationary as possible, absorbing every word exchanged between them.
Back in the center of the room, cool and calm, violet eyes stare up at Farfarello, revealing a strength that should be impossible, as Aiko speaks with steadfast certainty. "You're wrong, Jei. I know first hand the kind of pain you're talking about, because I have felt it myself. I have suffered just as you have. I......" She falters, fighting to tell him a truth that has been known only to herself for countless years. "......I have committed.....the very same crimes as you."
Farfarello's face drains of what little color it has, going entirely blank, while his hands waver in disbelief. Ran - unsteadied footing nearly giving him away - pales as well, blinking as if to assure himself he isn't dreaming.
(She can't mean.......)
"What are you......ta...talking about...?" Farfie stutters in ragged breaths, pulling ever so slightly away from the girl beneath him.
Confidently, Aiko smiles - a satisfied, yet unbearably saddened expression. "After so many years, you finally know the truth about what happened to your family." the red-head begins. "That you were the one who killed them. *You*. As a child you couldn't face it, the gnawing guilt, so you cowered away inside of yourself, blaming everything on a cruel God you believed hated you. A God who abandoned you. Perhaps, even today, you believe you were right for turning away from Him, but I am living proof of someone who has lived with the same demons you face everyday, and who still kept their faith in God."
Pausing, that old, familiar flame pulses from her violet eyes, threatening to burn jaggedly through the young man on the receiving end.
"Just like you.........I killed my family."
Shattered. Everything - the air, the floor, the ceiling - shatters into thousands of tiny pieces, digging into the skin like miniature blades as the shards fall.
So close - and yet so far away - Ran is a wax figure in the shadows of the half-closed door. (*That's* her secret.......her troubled past......?) he mumbles internally from the sanctuary of his hiding place, horrified and unwilling to process what he has clearly heard. (I don't believe it......how......it......it must be- )
"Lies!" rings Farfarello's frantic voice, as he presses Aiko down against the countertop once more. "You're lying.....trying to trick me! It's impossible! Impossible!! How could you have...how-"
"This..." Aiko cuts him off, holding up a steady hand. "...is how."
Just then, a spark ignites about an inch above her palm, growing and becoming a burning flame suspended at her control. The light from this small fire casts an unnerving glow about Aiko's features, and Farfarello releases her as if she herself burns his skin at the touch. His arms fall back to his sides, the knives hanging limp in unstable hands, and he falteringly begins to back away, confused and - unbelievably - a little scared.
"You didn't know about this, did you?" the pyrokinetic grins, steadying her footing now that she is able to stand fully again. "Brad is keeping much from you. You see, *this* is the reason he wants me. I don't know what he wishes to use my power for, but it doesn't matter. I was born with this ability, Jei. My gift.....this gift....killed the people I loved most in the world."
(Of course!) cries Ran's thoughts in epiphany, as he himself appears caught up in the scene like a movie buff at the theatre. (I knew there was something strange about her power, the way she never wants to use it. She *is* afraid......)
"Then it must have been an accident......." Farfarello's gruff words choke out amongst his scrambled state of mind, unable to free his gaze from the sun-colored ball of warm light dancing above Aiko's palm. ".....you.....didn't mean to kill them....."
Holding her hand out in front of her, the red-head allows the fire to pulse larger, while fixing her flaming eyes on the retreating albino. "Don't jump to conclusions." she replies, an unfitting cruelty entering her voice. "Temporary insanity or no, I knew exactly what I was doing when I slaughtered my parents, along with my naive imoto. I was even younger than you had been - only five years old - but at the core of my bitter heart, I willfully took their lives. Our stories are the same."
Could it be the cold, Spring air of the night, or is the frost forming on the tiny windows of the outside door coming from inside instead of out?
There isn't a single more efficient way of altering a person's perceptions and beliefs than by being able to relate to them intimately. How much does such honesty and trust cost, though? How much is given up in order to take someone else in?
Aiko could care less. She knew her mission from the very beginning, and was always willing to give up anything and everything in order to see it fulfilled. Even - God forbid - if it would cost her the safety of a secret she had shared with so very few.
Abruptly, two distinctive clangs echo up to the high ceiling of the shop. Farfarello has dropped his knives to the floor, his sweaty palms having finally surrendered to forces beyond their control. He watches, mesmerized, as Aiko gracefully moves her right hand through the fire being held in the left, like a magician preparing for an illusion, and pulls it out again to show two separate hands - unburned - each now controlling their own small flame.
"Like you, Jei, my rage was ignited by the revealing of a truth I couldn't accept." Aiko continues, wearing an almost wicked smile, so foreignly at home on her face, and taking slow, purposeful steps closer to the young man who is now quite a number of feet away from her. "You discovered your mother was a nun, and went mad because of it. I was told my father was not my real father at all, but that I was the product of an affair my mother had *after* my parents were married. So.......I guess I went a little mad, too."
Ran shivers while listening to her words, though not nearly as harshly as Farfarello is trembling, and the silent red-head's thoughts ricochet inside his mind. (She's so frightening like this.......a whole other person......no wonder she always seems to shut down when something's upsetting her......if she were to give in to her emotions.......she might.......)
"My family were kind and generous people, exceedingly strong in their devotion to God." persists Aiko's menacing tone. "They brought me up right, taught me well, and I turned around and killed them. I suppose some morbid sense in me believed I was punishing them in God's name for lying, for sinning, but truthfully, I just wanted to hurt them for hurting me, and I ended up hating everything......"
Her words trail off, an unfocused, distant daze fogging over the intensity of her eyes. The fire burning above her upturned palms suddenly spreads, as if the air around her skin is fresh kindling, until her entire form has become a burning bush. Moving forward a few steps more, Aiko nearly has Farfarello pinned against the wall, though she doesn't touch him, and they are only a yard or so away from Ran's hiding place.
Instantaneously, Aiko's lost expression jerks back into a look of crazed triumph. "They knew about my ability, even encouraged me to use it." she speaks, her voice a rushing whisper like spitting fire. "I was furious when I found out they had been lying for so long; furious enough to take action. Digging deep within myself to the center of my powers, I unleashed all of it in a wave of rolling flames, decimating the entire apartment building in a moments time. Though I remained unharmed after it was over, standing alone in the pile of rubble, no one else survived. No one......."
Clutching the wall at his back, Farfarello is immobilized with fear. Not a fear of Aiko, exactly, but a fear in believing someone else exists who is just like him. Someone who has experienced something so similar to himself.
What could it mean...?
The radiant light hovering around Aiko's form wraps her in the false image of an angel sent to prove some devastating point, filled with the ferocity of God. However, finally registering what affect this is having on the young man cowering in front of her, she suddenly pulls the fire back inside of herself, and appears before him as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened in the slightest.
The red-haired, young woman - coming to her senses - replaces her recent expression with a gentle, and much more fitting smile. "Forgive me, Jei. This is exactly what I *didn't* want." she begins, her voice back to its normal, low-toned grace. "Yes, I carry the burden of death on my shoulders just as you do, and yet here I stand, firmly trusting and loving the God who granted me these deadly powers. The truth is, I could have easily ended up just like you, but I was saved before things got out of hand. Saved, Jei.......by your mother. I owe her everything, and promised to repay her with the one thing she truly wanted: you. I beg of you, leave your hatred behind. It isn't worth putting the blame on Him when *you* were the one who committed the crimes you regret so much. God doesn't make the world a horrible place. We do. The reason He doesn't spring to our rescue in every instance of failure is because he granted us the gift of free will, making *us* responsible for our own actions. Don't you understand, Jei? You're just a lost, little boy, longing to be relieved of your sins. Please........trust me........we can survive only by helping each other........"
Cautiously, Aiko lifts a hand to Farfarello's face, tingling his skin with her warm touch against his cool cheek. The Irishman's golden eye is wide with disorder as he stares back at the red-head, but a shaky hand of his own slowly rises up to fold over hers.
(It's been.......so long......since I've felt pain like this........) he realizes, clutching his other hand to his aching chest. (What is this...? Guilt? Regret? Am I......sorry for the things I've done.....?)
Something warm and wet begins to fall from Farfarello's eyes, a feeling he barely remembers, and in an awkward surge forward, he suddenly - unbelievably - wraps strong, scarred arms around Aiko's waist, sobbing onto her shoulder.
(Oh, God........please forgive me......)
Aiko's smile widens beautifully as she holds the broken, young man in return, cradling his head with her hand. But......
How long do miracles last?
From behind the door, Ran is in a state of utter shock. He can't believe he has witnessed this, such an odd array of events leading to an end he never dreamed possible - even if he has agreed to aide Fluesternd in their objective to do exactly what Aiko appears to have done. His disbelief, however, lingers not only on the red-head's apparent accomplishment, but on her unforgettable confession. Combined, what is he supposed to think? Is this only an illusion? Or-
"Fujimiya-san?"
Busted. Ran's entire body tenses at the calling of his name from someone coming down the stairs. It is a somber voice, formal and hesitating. Who could it be, other than......
"Nagi....." Ran whispers, spinning around and coming face to face with the smaller boy advancing from above him. "Be quiet.....they don't know I'm here..."
The brunette replies with a puzzled expression after this order, tilting his head to peak through the crack in the door. "They? Who else is-" Boom. The sight of Farfie in Aiko's arms hits him like cascading iron, and his mouth drops open with eyes growing in horror. "Farfarello......no.......Aiko!!"
Despite Ran's efforts to restrain the boy, Nagi rushes past him, bursting through the door in a noble attempt at saving Aiko from certain doom. The door is left open, displaying the leader of Weiss in all his spying splendor, and the oddly-matched pair near by break from their embrace with greatly surprised expressions.
"Get away from her!" Nagi shouts angrily at the stunned albino, throwing up his delicate arms. Farfarello is tossed backwards off his feet, hitting the ground hard. "I won't let you hurt her again! I won't let you-"
"Nagi, stop. It's all right."
Aiko's calm voice cuts into the pressure building throughout the room, and she steps towards Nagi, carefully lowering his arms with her own. He looks back at her with uncomprehending, storm-cloud eyes, wondering why she would ever want to stop him from saving her.
"Jei isn't going to hurt me." the beaming red-head pushes on, brushing Nagi's hair out of his eyes in a motherly motion. "Not anymore." She pauses slightly then, crinkling her forhead in thought. "What are you doing down here anyway?"
Still very confused, and casting nervous glances at Farfarello as the former teammate picks himself up from the ground, Nagi vaguely gestures to the door - where Ran still stands like a deer caught in headlights.
Lifting her eyes from the young boy, Aiko's gaze locks onto Ran's frozen figure, and her features flicker with a combination of extreme emotions. Fear. Anger. Disappointment. And......perhaps a little understanding.
Ran looks away, lowering his head as if ashamed.
"I......don't know what to do....." begins Farfarello's panicked voice, cutting into the moment of silent accusations, and looking as if he is torn between falling to his knees and running for freedom. ".....what do I do now......I can't.....go back.....I can't.....stay with you.....it feels wrong......it hurts......I don't belong anywhere......"
Compassionately, Aiko reaches out to take hold of the albino's pale, gloved hand, complete confidence in her powerful grip. "No, Jei. You *do* belong here, and you *can* stay with me. The pain you feel is an unconquerable urge to release the suffering you have inflicted upon yourself by inflicting suffering on others for so long. If you truly were beyond help, beyond redemption, you would have killed me, or left a long time ago. But I'm still here. *You* are still here......aren't you?"
Farfarello looks deeply into Aiko's violet eyes, and a fleeting glimpse at the others prove they are silently beseeching him just as intently as she is. Nevertheless, the turmoil within is wrenching him apart. Half of him wants to cling to the remnants of hatred that has fueled his life for more years than he can remember, but the other half is nothing but a boy, digging for traces of the faith he once had, and the heart he buried with it. Luckily for the world, one half is stronger than the other.
Perhaps miracles last as long as we need them to.
*****
Perhaps miracles are only the beginning.
"You're out of your mind!" screams Hidaka Ken, after Aiko's explanation of Farfarello's sudden arrival into their home - and their lives. "That man is insane! He tortures people, mutilates clergyman, and cuts *himself* up out of some sick pleasure! How can you trust him?!"
Upon Farfie's entrance, everyone had taken a major double-take to be sure they were actually seeing what their eyes said they were. Of course, the lovely ladies of Fleusternd took it in stride, and though the site of the frightening Irishman unsettles them a little, they didn't object. Weiss, on the other hand, is far from taking this lightly. Sure, they have vowed to help Fleusternd bring Schwartz back into the light - knowing Farfarello is basically the main target - but they certainly didn't think they would actually succeed.
Which is probably why they can't believe Aiko has.
"Nagi I can understand." Omi puts in, very happy to be seated in the chair furthest from the troubling albino. "But.....Farfarello......he's just a.......a-"
"A what?" demands Aiko sternly, though still smiling as broadly as ever. "A killer? Condemning him for *that* is rather hypocritical of you, ne?"
Simply put, Omi shuts up. They all do. How can they possibly refute her explanation, despite the validity in their concerns? Nevertheless, Aiko can't really blame them for having doubts; fear is powerful, and faith is never easy to acquire.
The entire group is spread out around the living room, though Farfarello is staying close to Aiko with a look that suggests he is still ready to run for it, and Ran is hovering near the landing - set apart from the others completely.
Content with the momentary silence she has stirred within the others, Aiko takes control of the room. "Well, with no need for introductions or formalities, why don't we just forget today's unpleasantness and work out who will be sleeping where tonight? It's too late to do much of anything else."
(How can she be so calm....?) Omi wonders, feeling very awkward in the presence of someone so recently a hated enemy. (What if he was the one who blew up the shop? Ken-kun was almost killed......)
"I think it will be easier for everyone if Jei stays with me." Aiko suggests, surveying the others thoughtfully as she continues, and purposely not giving them long enough to grab at any chances for new arguments. "Siberian, you're already settled in Nori's room, so you and Balinese can sleep there. Nori, you'll move into Hiromi's room. Then Nagi, Nanami, and Bombay will stay with Amaya. That way, Abyssinian, you and your sister can have the guest room to yourselves."
Ran lifts his head uncomfortably at his assignment, making a meager gesture over the entirety of the room for Aiko to pick up on a slight discrepancy she hasn't noticed. "I sent Aya away, remember?" he states softly, his voice still betraying his feelings of guilt for having been caught eavesdropping before, despite his original intentions. "Birman and Manx took her, along with Momoe and Sakura, to Villa White for the time being, so we won't be seeing any of them for quite awhile."
"Well, the rest of us will make do with how I've laid things out, so you'll just have to survive the night by yourself."
Since no one is in much of a mood to protest the arrangements handed them, everyone gradual gets up and begins heading for their rooms. It's as if the day is refusing to end, and they all dearly crave a good night's rest, even if many of them will have disturbing nightmares knowing a madman is sleeping nearby.
As usual, Ran is the only one who lingers after the others have retired, and Aiko kindly tells Farfarello to go make himself comfortable in her room while she ties up a few loose ends with her twin. The albino obediently heads for the door she points out, but hesitates in taking each step, fighting with every breath inhaled to retain control of his jumbled mind, still clinging to a way of life the child in him is struggling to forget.
An hour doesn't change someone, after all, it can only set the wheels in motion.
"We keep parting ways like this, Abyssinian." Aiko begins with a melancholy smile, as her mirror image walks up to her slowly. "What thought will you leave me with tonight, I wonder? Do you also think I'm being a fool? You of all people shouldn't, since you witnessed what happened tonight first hand."
Ran flinches in reflex to her statement, even though her tone holds nothing even remotely similar to the malice she had briefly held downstairs. "You're right, of course. I shouldn't doubt you." the serious, young man answers. "But, that doesn't mean I'm not still worried. Are you certain he isn't a threat? That man is more unstable than any member of Schwartz. Naoe is only a boy, but Farfarello is a vicious, cold-blooded killer - even if it is hypocritical of me to call him that. I don't like the thought of you being alone with him."
Fire flashes in Aiko's intense pupils, and she takes a step closer to Ran, bringing them almost nose to nose. Every bit of determination in him teeters on the edge of breaking under the force of her stare. The two leaders seem forever in friction with one another, in just the same way a misguided soul fights to change their reflection when the only thing that really changes is themselves.
"I am well aware we've rushed into this, Abyssinian." Aiko speaks, with the semblance of tongues of fire on her lips. "However, I am prepared. It is you who suffer from being pulled into something you were not expecting to face. I know we are asking a lot of you, and under unfortunate circumstances things are moving faster than I anticipated. I am afraid I must help both Nagi and Jei find their places in life, so time helping *you* will once again be cut short."
"Time helping me...?"
Aiko takes a humored step back, looking Ran over with a teasing smile. "What, you think you've changed in the space of a heartbeat, as if you *don't* have the weight of countless deaths on your shoulders? Ha! Your intention may be purer, but you need help just as much as Schwartz, and *that* is what my mission is about." She instantly shifts back into her more pleasant, kinder state, looking into Ran's uncomprehending eyes sympathetically. "Knowing all this, I also understand that Jei cannot change overnight, either. I'm not afraid, though. He wants to be himself again, and that is enough. Faith is enough. You'd do well to remember that, Abyssinian."
Meaningful pause.
"Perhaps, you also need to reassert your relationship with God. I think He misses you......"
Turning briskly on her heals, Aiko withdraws from Ran on these words, leaving him - mouth wide open in overwhelming emotions - to think about what she has told him, and what she believes. No one ever said life was easy, as any intelligent person knows, and things can always get more complicated.
Therefore......they usually do.
*****
Usually, he would know what to do.
But right now he has no idea. In fact, Farfarello can't remember a time in his life - since that unforgettable, childhood moment of angered passion - when he felt so utterly lost.
Aiko spent a long time, hours into the depths of night, merely talking with him while she laid in bed, and he laid on the floor below her. When the inspiring red-head first joined him in the room, she had demanded *he* take the bed, actually, but he haphazardly refused. Comfort wasn't really something he enjoyed; the floor was much more appealing. Understanding, Aiko had given in, but tossed him a pillow and blanket anyway.
Tired eyes eventually overtook the exhausted, young woman, however, leaving Farfarello to lie awake amidst deafening silence, while feeling misplaced and alone in the strange darkness.
His surroundings, his state of mind, everything feels as if....
(...I shouldn't be here...) he thinks sorrowfully, staring up at the ceiling. (But......how can I hold onto vengeance......when *she* was able to surpass it...? I...wish I didn't have to feel like this, though.....pained.....when I've lived without it......lived with joy in hurting others.....in hurting *You*......I should......still hate You.......but......I'm so confused.......)
Troubled and aching, Farfarello turns his head to look up at Aiko from his place on the floor. He can make out her profile, so serene and beautifully pale in the moonlight shining in through the window, and her hand is dangling off the side of the mattress. Such a small hand - delicate fingers - and yet what a powerful weapon they can become once filled with the light of a flame burning above the palm.
With his eye fixed on those still, tempting digits, the Irishman absently reaches a hand up to kiss her fingertips with his own. She doesn't stir in the slightest, but he abruptly pulls away the moment their skin touches. Every pleasure he takes, every good-natured thought he tries to have, is injected with the shadows of guilt tailing him so relentlessly. Which is exactly why he cannot sleep. When a person is fighting a difficult, inner battle of demons and guardian angels, nightmares and haunting dreams surely lie ahead. Farfarello had long ago believed his guardian angel was dead, covered in acid and blood from his many victims, but now he believes he was mistaken.
If someone else had been able to keep faith after committing the same horrifying crimes as he, then perhaps it was not God who abandoned him, but he who abandoned God. Despite these revelations, Farfie is still afraid to fall asleep. Even more so......
......he is afraid to face tomorrow.
*****A/N*****
Alright!! Two down, and two to go. Schwartz wise, anyway. I bet you weren't expecting Aiko's dark secret, were ya? I'm just full of surprises! Keep REVIEWING peoples. Love ya!