Crazy Times

"..." normal conversation
//...// flashbacks
~...~ inner thoughts/conversation

Youji's jeep speed down the highway through the dark night. The 3 White Hunters burned
silently with various degrees of emotions as they approached the uncertain future of
Weiß. Ken, slightly nervous, glanced at his elder teammates. Youji's eyes wavered with
fear and anger, while Aya's cold amethyst glare was completely unreadable to the soccer
player. Sighing, he balled his fists, staring blankly at the dark sky. If those sick bastards
did so much as TOUCH Omi, he swore to kill them all 1,000 times over. 

"...and then, we'll get him. Ne, Ken?"

The brown-haired assassin wasn't aware of that Youji was talking to him, until a
black-gloved hand whaped him on the back of the head.

"ITAI!!! Temee, why'd you do that for??!!"

"As I was saying," Youji continued, "let's try to avoid fighting Schwartz. Our main goal is
to get Omi back, unhurt and alive..." 

"A--ah..." 

An akward blanket of silence accompained the rest of the drive. Youji went through
about 3 cigarettes in 5 minutes, while Aya continued to look forward, stiff and
unnmovable. A few minutes later, they arrived at the mansion, it's marble columns an
ominous invitation to lord knows what awaited them. From the information Kritiker had
provided them, there was a lab in the basement, where God knows what kind of
experimentation occured down there. The main objective was to rescue Omi, but if
possible, destroy the lab as well, provided they all didn't die trying. Silently, they
approached the immense wooden door. As Youji reached out for a knob, the door slowly
creaked open. 

"Looks like they're expecting us."

"Well, let's not keep them waiting..." Aya replied curtly and walked through the entrance,
Youji and Ken following in suit. The 3 assassins entered the dark room, armed and
expecting to be instantly mauled. To their surprise, the lights came on, a small japanese
boy standing near the stairs.

"This way." He flatly stated as he turned towards a door. The others remained in their
places, weapons still ready. 

"You can choose to follow me or not, although the safety of you or your friend won't be
guaranteed if you choose the latter." 

Well, that was all the 'assurance' Ken needed, as he hastily followed Nagi, stopping as a
black-gloved hand gripped his shoulder. 

"Not so fast!" Youji's surprsingly calm voice reprimanded him. 

"But they'l--!!!" 

"They aren't playing games. If they wanted Omi dead, ANY of us dead, it would have
happened by now..." Aya's stern voice cut in. Another short pause, and then the 3
assassins followed the young telekinetic through the door. 

*****

~I'm tired.~

"It's cold."

~I'm falling...~

"Won't anyone help me?"

~Tasukete...~ [1] 

Wide cerulean eyes gazed distantly around the sterile room. Tears flowed freely from
Omi's eyes, although he wasn't moving or making any noise, save for the occasional sob
or gasp for breath. He was dressed in his own clothes now, sitting on the edge of the bed
and clutching the blanket. The main door clicked open, and Schuldig entered, along with
2 men in suits. Omi didn't move as the German walked over to the bed, leering at the
young Weiß member slightly. 

"Hmm...seems that the kitten isn't feeling well. What a shame. Just when your friends
came for you, too..." Omi remained motionless as the tall German leaned forward, wiping
a few tears off his cheek in a surprisingly gentle manner. The smack across the face that
followed was even more surprising.

"Your tears won't make things right." Schuldig stated flatly before motioning towards the
two men. Omi put his hand to his stinging cheek in response, but said nothing. 

"Take him to the parlor. And be gentle. His friends came all this way after all; we
wouldn't wan't to disappoint them now, would we?" The 2 men bowed slightly and
hoisted the dazed blond out of the room.

*****

Ken paced the floor over for the 58th time. There was a large, comfortable-looking sofa
against in the room, but it remainded empty. Youji and Aya stood rigidly against the soft
white walls. 

"What the hell are they thinking?? Leaving us here.. 'che!"

Youji gave a huff of disdain as the brown-haired assassin continued to pace around and
mumble random strings of curses under his breath. The eldest assassin glanced around
the room, taken aback by the warm feel of the room's arrangement. Aside from the sofa,
there was a small, oak table sitting in the far right corner. On top of it sat a blue vase
filled with various frangrant flowers. Above the table was a bay window, draped with
rich, velvet curtains. The oddest feature, however, were the walls. Pure white. Quite an
irony for a group of black hunters, but were they any different? Sure, they bore the name
"Weiß", but still committed the same dark deeds as Schwartz.

~My, don't we have interesting thoughts...~

Youji jerked up at the sound of the German's nasal voice in his head. Looking up, his jade
green eyes narrowed dangerously upon seeing Schuldig in the room, leaning against a
wall. Just when did he get in here!? The others seemed to be surprised at Schuldig's
sudden appearance as well.

"So sorry for the wait, kittens..." Schuldig bowed slightly, playful mocking tone in his
voice. 
He snapped his fingers, and a man entered, holding a chair and placing it near the
German. Another man followed soon after, ushering in a young boy with blond hair...

"OMI!!!!!!!"

Ken began running towards the youngest Weiß member, but stopped abruptly as the
barrel of a gun was pointed between his eyes.

"No need for that; you'll scare him." The brown-haired assasin slowly backed away and
fumed as Schuldig winked at him. Putting the gun back in his blazer, he turned and
walked to the little table, picking up a Freesia flower and twirling in his hands. 

"So beautiful, and so fragile at the same time. That's why I love them so much..." 

The Weiß members had a feeling that the German was talking about more than the
flowers. Turning back around, he sniffed the flower and smiled. Three pairs of
bloodthirsty eyes glared at him as he crushed the flower in his hand and turned towards
the window, the crumpled petals fluttering to the floor silently. The German waved his
hand to the 2 men standing subserviently in the corner, who rushed to him.
"You may leave. Tell Crawford that we have what we need."

"Hai."

The men bowed, and then exited the room silently, leaving Schuldig and all of Weiß in
the room. Ken moved hesitantly towards the chair Omi was seated in. Noting that
Schuldig made no attempt to stop him, he walked over to Omi, kneeling beside him.

"Omi?? Oi, Omi!!! It's me! Ken! Omi...?!"

Ken gasped silently as dim, tear-stained sapphire eyes gazed back at him. 

"O..mi..?" The youngest Weiß member played with the word uncertainly.

"Yeah, that's you! Don't you remember? We're your friends! We've come to rescue you!"

"R-rescue. . .me. . .?" Omi spoke as if he had no idea what Ken was talking about.

"What's wrong with you Omi??!! What did those bastards do to you???" 

"Omi. Boku wa--" Suddenly, Omi grabbed his head and screamed. 

"IYAAAAAA!!!! Tasukete...dareka...!!!" [2]

"Yarou..." Ken seethed as he readied his bugnuks. Even Youji began to reach for his
wire, but Aya stuck his arm in front of the elder assassin, although his grip on his katana
tightened slightly.

"No. Ken, get Omi and let's go."

Ken hesitated for a moment, before reaching out to the paranoid youth now huddled on
the ground beside him.

"Omi, let's go home."

The young blond said nothing as Ken picked him up, his body racking with violent sobs.
He turned to join his other teammates and leave.

"I don't what you did to him, but touch him EVER again, and die." Aya replied icily and
left.

"You should be asking what he did to himself, White Hunter..." 

Schuldig sighed, absent-mindedly twirling a lock of his fiery hair, and then chuckled
softly. 

*****

"Did the reports check out alright?"

"Aa. All the blood tests read normal."

"So why was he acting like that?? Just what did they d--Hey! He's waking up!"

"W-where am I...?" Sapphire eyes fluttered opened. Omi sat up in bed, slightly
disoreinted. He rubbed at his eyes as the three figures around him began to take on form.

"Are?? Ken-kun! Youji-kun! Aya-kun!? Why are you all here? Is something wrong??"

"Omi. . ." Youji began, "you don't remember?"

Large cerulean eyes blinked at him questiongly.

"Remember what? The last thing I remember was running...then, blackness...What
happened to me?"

". . ."

"Guys, please? I want to know...what happened to me??"

The elder Weiß members looked down, remaining silent as Omi continued to plead for
the truth.

"Well, you we--"

"You were kidnapped by Schwartz." Aya abruptly cut off Youji. "They've had you for
nearly two weeks, and we don't know what they did to you. We had you checked out by
Kritiker, and they couldn't find anything strange in your system." 

"I don't understand. Why didn't they kill me?? Were any of you attacked during that
time?"

"No." 

"True, it does seem that you're unharmed, but with Schwartz, who knows..."

"YOUJI!!" Ken's voice boomed, making the lanky blond wince slightly. 

"What? Lord only knows how twisted those bastards are!! What if they've planted some
weird mind control chip into his brain or something??! Or maybe it's a warning that
they're pla--"

"Youji-kun...!"

Three sets of eyes turned to the now trembling form on the bed, and then back to Youji,
who was inching away from Aya, his amethyst eyes flickering with a predatory gleam. 

"Ah, I'm going to the grocery store...anyone want anything??"

"Um, maybe some strawberry Pocky? [2]" Omi's unsure voice piped in.

"And why don't you get us dinner while you're at it, Youji?" Ken's voice responded, laced
with venom.

"Wakatteru yo! [3] 'Taku...one slip of the tounge and they're out to kill you..." Youji
continued to gripe and complain under his breath as he left.

"Sorry about that Omi. He didn't mean to scare you like that; he's really worried about
you, that's all. We all are..."

"Ken, I'm going to open the shop now. Look after Omi."

"Aa."

"Omi," Ken began as he sat on the bed, "do you REALLY not remember anything?"

The young Weiß member nodded. "Nothing, although I get the feeling that I'll almost
remember something, then it slips back into nothingness once more... why?? What did
they do to me, Ken-kun?? I'm scared..."

"Daijoubu. We won't let ANY of them touch you ever again." 

Ken hugged the younger assassin protectively as a few tears ran down Omi's face. "Why
don't you sleep for awhile? No telling when Youji's coming back, and I'm going to help
Aya down in the shop for a few. Alright?" 

"Arigatou." Omi half-smiled as he rolled onto his side and nodded off slightly. After
being asleep for what felt like a short while, Omi awakened, startled by how quickly it'd
become dark. Wasn't it around sunrise when he'd awakened? Hopping out of bed, he left
his room and headed for the kitchen. He'd regained his appetite, and was starving. 

~I wonder what Youji-kun brought us to eat...I hope he remembered to get my
Pocky!~

Reaching the stairs, he fumbled for the light switch, but no light came on. 

"That's weird...oh well. I'll change it later." 

When he got to the bottom of the stairs, he stalked carefully through the dark room, until
he reached another light switch, which also failed to work. Confused, he began to call the
others while trying all the other light switches. He walked around some more after five
minutes of yelling for the others and getting no replies. Spotting something reflecting in
the city lights, he walked over to a window and picked it up. A Freesia flower. 

"How'd this get here? Oh well, that's not a problem now..." His stomach grumbled, and he
laughed slightly.

"Mou...where is everyone?? I thought they were supposed to be taking care of me after
t--" 

Standing and looking at the window, he nearly froze with shock. His reflection was
dressed in his assassin get-up, gazing at him. The image in the window merely smiled
and pointed towards the front door. Omi turned towards the door, and it flew open with
the force of a gale force wind. A strange mist settled in as his deep-blue eyes clouded
over.

---

end translation notes:
[1] Tasukete - Help
[2] c'mon, it's OMI!! I couldn't resist. ^_^
[3] Wakatteru yo - I understand (with an annoyed air to it)

Part Nine?

Reading Room?