Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Painting You Gold ❯ 07 Venture ( Chapter 7 )

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Disclaimer: I don't own Schu and his friends; that's for Tsuchiya-sensei and Koyappi/Project Weiß/TV Tokyo to work out. Or not.

Warning: This fic in its entirety involves explicitly implicit yaoi (shounen ai) in conjunction with character death, feelings, nonconsensual sex, original characters, shota, soap operatic/supernatural-type twists, spoilers, unpardoned French, Weiß, and yakuza. Squick factor is probably obvious here. ;)

Post-it: As always, thanks for your time.

/…/ = communicative thoughts and the like
[…] = memories, stuff remembered, and the like

Painting You Gold

By Koyuki Aode

7 ~ Venture

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In the morning we anticipated that Shinzui would assign to us the task of "retrieving" some information from a group of "associates;" accordingly we prepared to fulfill the task the same day. Nagi expressed some curiosity concerning the assignment, but Crawford kept tight about it (and advised Farf and I to do the same).

Nagi didn't push the matter. Instead, he said that he needed to return some books and asked if he could go to the library. Crawford complied, though still wary.

The day had begun with a mere sprinkle; by the time we were loaded in the car it was dreary enough to match Crawford's outlook and my own troubled thoughts. I diagnosed that the heavens were having plumbing problems when we had almost reached the library. Then Farf suddenly took hold of my shoulder, gripping it eagerly.

/What is it?/ I asked him, looking up from a mystery novel to watch him gnaw curiously at a small blade with his front teeth. His hand slipped off as he nodded towards the front seat. Crawford was driving, and Nagi was sitting patiently in the passenger seat. Normal enough. /What?/

/How'd you do it?/

I blinked.

He raised his eyebrows expectantly. /Nagi./

"Oh," I murmured, peering more closely at Nagi, who sat in the same sullen position. His reflection in the glass opposite his face held the image of a tragic doll, frozen in suffering. He regarded the drops which clung to the window as his own tears, and stared into the gray fog as if it were his own sorrow to drown in. /You noticed the angst in his step?/ I smirked.

/--I'm not a moron. And Crawford isn't either./ He learned toward me. /So what's kept him from ripping your appendages off?/

I shrugged. /He's got other problems./ Farf frowned to my response, so I gave him a snatch of my conversation with Crawford from the early morning before.

[memory]

"Schuldich, I know."

"About…?"

"The emotions," he whispered. You would have thought the word was illegal in our home, the way we treated it.

Yes, Crawford knew and all of my extremities were still attached to my body. "You're not angry?" I replied as casually as I could muster.

"I'm amazed that you managed it without extinguishing anyone's sanity," he explained, giving a sardonic smile.

"It'd be difficult to replicate, you know. Brad's death. For one thing my father would have to be there."

Crawford nodded, absently pondering. "And my uncle."

"And…"

"Estet," we said together.

"Otherwise," Crawford continued, "It's down to someone I trust, someone I don't know, and someone I'd die for."

I shook my head. "I think it's something else. Maybe seeing the blood on Nagi caused the dream. If anything, I think it's telling you something about him. Not his death."

"He's vulnerable now, and his loyalty lies with me. Even if he's not going to die, they will kill us if they find out about him."

[end]

Farf gave a look of alarm. /You haven't told him?!/

/Do we ever?/

/Nagi's different./

/We need to figure out what it means first. And it was a dream, not exactly a vision./

I glanced into the mirror. Crawford's eyes had grown dark; there was conspiracy in them now as Nagi gathered his books.

The average passerby could misinterpret this demon I saw within him as his capacity for evil. But this was only his desire to control what he wasn't meant to control. It was his drive to challenge the God that Farf wanted to hurt, and to protect what was his by natural right. What was his, and what had been taken from him thrice before.

"Don't forget this," said Crawford, handing Nagi a small black umbrella.

Nagi, fully broken out of his sullen trance, took the object and regarded Crawford with hope in his eyes. Crawford hadn't looked at him during the whole ride.

Crawford continued slowly, keeping his eyes trained on the steady rhythm of the windshield wipers. "We may be held up by the rain, but we will definitely be here before the library closes. Don't go anywhere else."

"'Kay," Nagi replied.

"You're sure you won't be hungry or thirsty?"

"I'm fine."

"That coat, it's warm enough?"

"Yeah."

"All right. Good-bye."

Nagi gave in to disappointment, but still wore good intention when he glanced back to wave at us. With one last look at Crawford, he mumbled "Ki o tsukete," jumped into the rain, and slammed the door behind him. The umbrella blossomed above his head and, through the haze, it seemed as if some cloud were leading him to the library's front walk.

I groaned. "Crawford."

"..."

Impossible man!! "'Good-bye'?! 'Take care'?!" I said through my teeth.

"He means," Farf interjected, having taken the blade from his mouth, "That you can't just try to shut it off. It definitely ain't going to work like that."

This made Crawford turn in his seat to look back at Farf. He blinked in amazement, then looked to me.

I shrugged helplessly, supporting the fact. "The man speaks the truth."

Crawford turned back in his seat, shaking his head and muttering something akin to "Love advice. These two..." But it worked. He opened the door and leaped out, calling to Nagi.

"So... how did you manage it? The both of them?" Farf said suspiciously.

"It was all them. I just nudged them in the right direction... Sort of."

"Towards each other?" Farf asked in disbelief. "And you're sure there isn't something wrong with you too?"

"Of course not." I smiled mysteriously. "They've always been like that." I nodded to where the pair stood.

Nagi'd been walking slowly, so he wasn't too far from the vehicle. He turned around as Crawford approached him, not knowing what to expect. "Did I forget something?"

Farf watched them eagerly and demanded to know: "Like what?!"

-Crawford leaned down beneath the umbrella, and spoke as he gently held Nagi's chin so that their eyes would meet. "No." Nagi blinked nervously. "I…" He fumbled with the words, shook his head, then abruptly crushed his lips against Nagi's.

Nagi eyes had widened considerably by the time the kiss ended. He tried to speak, but all that made it through was air as he stared into Crawford's eyes.

Though Crawford's expression was more urgent than affectionate, there was a smile that lingered behind his mask. He rubbed his palm against Nagi's neck, and whispered "Take care," before turning away.-

/In love./ Plain as light, when the sun's out.

"In public. Crawford," Farf stuttered. "The whole world's gone mad. How..?"

"Shinzui, simply. And, that was a mere coincidence."

"He's jealous?"

"Totally."

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With Nagi safely tucked away, and a straightforward mission ahead of us, Farf decided during our commute that he wanted to deal with more pressing issues.

Like my pants.

When my shoulder hit the window, I could only laugh into Farf's mouth. "You're-" I gasped as his cold hands reached beneath my boxers "--In a good mood."

"So are you," he growled into my ear.

The car swerved a bit, and I looked up to see Crawford peeking at us in the rear-view mirror. "You're blocking my view," he grunted.

"Oh--!!!" I couldn't help moaning as Farf pushed himself harder against me. This went on for a little while (not long enough), before finally the brakes screeched and I had to brace myself against the passenger seat to keep from flying into it. Crawford sighed, and looked back at us.

/Problem?/ I raised my eyebrows in question.

He shook his head, nodding to the building across the street. "We're up."

/I've been up./ I climbed out of the car. The rain had halted for the moment.

"You can continue inside.-" Crawford stated as I worked at straightening my clothes "-After we've taken care of security." He gave Farf a pointed look.

Farf nodded. "Got it." Then he sauntered across the street.

Crawford stayed with me as I zipped my pants back up.

Despite the lack of blood in my brain, it didn't take a moron to know why he did. He didn't say anything, because - of course - he wasn't the type who would if something was bothering him internally. Anything he couldn't fight with a weapon or fist was so different that he didn't know how to face it. That's the problem with going too long trying to bury old feelings.

"He is engaged to be married," I said, working at my belt.

"That doesn't mean he's outgrown his fetish for young boys. You said yourself--"

"--Even Nagi said it doesn't matter."

"If Shinzui looked at me that way, I'd be trying very hard to convince myself the same," Crawford muttered. I looked up at him as I buttoned my jacket. I couldn't read his face. "It's supposed to be coincidence that we were assigned to him? It's not like they don't have the resources to know what would happen."

"Sure, but what would life be without coincidence?" I replied.

He took a deep breath before answering; "A hell of a lot harder for some people."

tbc

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