Survival Skills 2

"You've decided to go get him?"

"The time is right."

"But it's only been a few months. He's still only eight years old. Do you really think an eight year old can live up to our expectations? Do you think he can even survive Rosenkrus?"

"He will. He's special."

"Why are you so dead set on him anyway?"

"I need him. He'll be the fourth member of Schwarz."

"...Crawford, you bastard! Schwarz is classified information. How did you break the security codes?"

"I didn't need to. You know trying to hide "classified" information from a pre-cog is like trying to teach a fish how to run a marathon."

"Hmph. Well I'll have you know, the Farblos has their bets on Sphinx becoming the fourth member of Schwarz. You've heard of Sphinx, right? You think your boy can compete with that?"

"Nagi will be our fourth. I saw it."

"Maybe you're wrong."

"I'm never wrong. Sphinx doesn't have the survival instincts needed for Schwarz."

"And this boy does?"

"I'll make sure he finds it."

========== 

Nagi hadn't had anything to eat for two days. It had been raining those two days and not many people went out in the streets in the rain, so it was virtually impossible for him to find any targets. He had managed to swipe a bag of oranges that tumbled from a woman's shopping cart while she wheeled it to her car, but the bigger kids had taken it. They were desperate too.

It had stopped raining that morning and Nagi had dragged himself up and off the floor that he called a bed and hit the streets looking for victims. He had been out for only half an hour when it suddenly started pouring again. All the brightly dressed carriers of purses and gold watches and silver chains that he had his eyes on scattered like a flock of birds. He cursed his bad luck and started running home, getting completely drenched before he had even ran a dozen steps.

There was a man in front of him.

His face marked him as a young man, maybe about twenty. His clothes made him look older; a charcoal business suit that fit too well to be anything but custom tailored, white shirt, dark tie knotted at his throat. He was holding an umbrella and Nagi could see the glitter of a Rolex on his wrist. He looked like the perfect target, but he made Nagi uneasy. There was something weird about him, something that stirred that special power in Nagi. Maybe it was the way the man just stared at him like he had been waiting for him all along, or the way his glasses glinted and hid his eyes even though the sun wasn't strong enough to provide a glare, or maybe it was just the way he was holding himself, like the hunter instead of the prey.

"I've been waiting for you, Nagi," the man smiled at him and Nagi felt a shiver running up his spine. The man was a gaijin, but his Japanese was flawless.

"I don't know you."

The man walked towards him and Nagi found himself unable to move, "But I know you. And I know about your special talent." He was standing next to Nagi now, his umbrella shielding both of them from the rain. There was no use in playing stupid. The man knew about his power and he could be childish and deny it, but that wouldn't fool this guy. He was...special.

"So what?"

They started walking aimlessly down the street, "So...life doesn't treat special people very well, Nagi. People are afraid of you. And when people are afraid, they do bad things to you; mean hurtful things."

"You're breaking my heart." Nagi wasn't looking for a sob story. He already had his own.

"You don't have to suffer what people inflict on you. There's a special place for people like us. IF you have the courage to go to it."

Nagi felt himself shaking and not all of it was from the cold rain seeping into his skin, "People like...us?"

The man nodded, "Us."

"You're special, too?"

"Yes, but my gift is a little bit different from yours. I can see things, little glimpses of the future."

They walked in silence for a while as Nagi tried to process what the man had just told him. There were others like him. He wasn't alone. There was a place where he could belong. But that was the same thing that couple had told him when they adopted him, and in the end even they abandoned him. It was all a lie, lifting him up high just so that he could fall. Nagi didn't want to be adopted again.

"Well, that's great. I'm going home now." Nagi walked out from beneath the umbrella's shelter and started in the direction towards home.

A hand gripped his shoulder from behind and the umbrella was suddenly hovering above him again, "Rosenkrus is home, Nagi."

"Iie. Rosenkrus is a strange foreign word without meaning. Now let go of me,"

Nagi grabbed the man's hand and tried to pry it off his shoulder. It wouldn't budge.

"Why are you living here among these people, Nagi? They're all so weak when you're so strong. They're afraid of you and your strength so they try to push down into the dirt. You can crush all of them, you know."

Nagi clawed at the man's hand, annoyed, "I don't want to crush anything. Just leave me alone!"

And then the hand was off his shoulder and Nagi started running. He could hear the man's voice behind him, as loud as if he was hovering by Nagi's ear, "My name is Crawford. We'll meet again. Count on it."

Nagi's heart was pounding by the time he got home, but he had a smile on his face. He wondered how long it would take Crawford to realize that his Rolex was gone.

==========

The missing watch didn't bother Crawford. The unsuccessful recruitment attempt didn't bother Crawford; if the boy had been so easily swayed, he wouldn't interest Crawford the way he did. There really wasn't much that had bothered Bradley James Crawford Jr. in a long, long time. But the task that laid before him bothered him. It didn't bother him a lot, not in that can't eat, can't sleep kind of way. It was more like an insistent uneasiness that followed him around. Crawford ignored it the way he ignored Schuldig when the German got to be a nuisance, but it was still there. He didn't like what he had to do to Nagi. Of course, that wouldn't stop him from doing it.

The uneven drag-thump footsteps announced Brother Gimp's arrival to Crawford. The other man eyed him suspiciously for a moment, then dragged himself forward and flopped ungracefully down onto the tatami mat across from Crawford, regarding him with dark squinty eyes. Rat eyes.

"You want something from me, nii-san?"

Crawford smiled politely and called for sake to be brought in. It had been a simple matter of pulling a few strings to find Gimp. The Yakuza bosses were out for Gimp's blood and were all too happy to provide Crawford with information about the man. Actually, man was a stretch. Gimp was more of a kid, his face still scattered with rows of acne.

Gimp had been kicked out of one of the Yakuza-clan for disrespecting the oyabun's daughter. The price for his disrespect had been the pinky finger of his left hand. The beating that cost him his leg was just an added bonus.

Gimp knew how to get around in the world, though. He couldn't be in a Yakuza clan anymore, so he decided to be a freelance Yakuza, bullying the little kids on the streets into paying him protection money and working for him. Gimp was scum. He was a womanizer, a bully, a drug addict, and most importantly of all, a gambler. Crawford counted on that last one the most.

The sake came and Gimp slurped a steaming cup down greedily, keeping his beady rat eyes on Crawford. Crawford smiled pleasantly at him, "I hear you're a gambling man."

Gimp relaxed visibly, "Yeah. What of it?"

Crawford pulled a thick wad of bills from his jacket and tossed it onto the tatami mat between the two of them, "Well, what do you say we play a game of dice?"

The shine in the kid's eyes told Crawford all he needed to know, "S-Sounds good."

"I have one special requirement, though."

Gimp growled softly and narrowed his eyes at Crawford suspiciously, "What's that?"

"There's a boy in your group named Nagi Naoe."

Gimp frowned as if he was trying to remember if that was true. Crawford could tell he wouldn't recognize Nagi if the boy was in the very same room, "Oh yeah sure. Nagi huh...sure I know Nagi. What do you want with him?"

Crawford leaned forward and pushed the wad of bills towards Gimp, "Well, Nagi is a very special boy. He brings me good luck, so I'd like you to let him stand by me while we play this game. I know that wouldn't be fair, me having good luck on my side, so I'm willing to pay you this $1500 as compensation. How does that sound?"

Gimp pounced on the money and nodded so hard and fast Crawford was sure his head would come flying off, "Sounds good, nii-san. Sounds reaaaaal fair." Gimp grinned at him and told one of his lackeys to fetch Nagi. The two of them drank sake while they waited and by the way Gimp looked at him, Crawford could tell the kid thought he was easy prey. One of those weird superstitious fools who were just begging to have their pockets picked clean.

A young boy brought over a black bamboo cup and two dice while they waited. The game would be cho ka han ka, a simple game of odds or evens. Nagi was led in by an older boy a few minutes later. The surprised look on the boy's face was priceless.

Gimp told Nagi what his role would be in the game and Crawford smiled at the way Nagi's eyes narrowed slightly. He understood what Crawford's plans for him were. He was a very smart boy.

"Alright! Let's play!" Gimp grinned and rubbed his hands together eagerly as Nagi took his place by Crawford's side. "Bring luck to the gaijin, Nagi-kun."

Nagi said nothing, just kept his eyes focused on the tatami mat below him. Crawford smiled and pulled another thick roll of bills from his jacket. He could almost see the drool oozing from Gimp's mouth.

The game started.

Crawford closed his eyes and focused on the sound of the dice rattling around in the bamboo cup. The images were fuzzy at first but they cleared out to crystal clarity after a few seconds. Two dice; four and one. Crawford opened his eyes and looked at Nagi with a smile. The boy gave him a withering look. Crawford straightened his glasses and waited for the boy in the middle to set the bamboo cup down. Gimp looked at him expectantly.

"I think this one is odd. Don't you think this one is odd too, Nagi?"

Nagi didn't answer him.

Crawford smiled again and put the thick roll of bills down on the tatami mat,

"Odd. For $20,000."

Gimp's eyes bugged from their sockets, "$20,000 nii-san? You sure about that?

There's no taking back in this sort of thing you know." Crawford laughed good naturedly, "Oh I'm quite sure Nagi wouldn't lead me wrong."

Gimp snickered and shrugged, "Whatever you say, man. I say it's even."

It was odd.

Crawford almost felt a moment of pity for Gimp when he saw the devastated look on the kid's face. But he couldn't stop now. "How about we play a few more games? Let you try to win back what you've lost."

Gimp nodded eagerly. The first win had to be a coincidence.

After winning five consecutive games and $100,000 of Gimp's money, Crawford stopped playing. He had accomplished what needed to be done. After winning each game, Crawford made sure to lavish Nagi with praise and give the boy full credit for his win. As the game progressed, the looks Gimp was giving Nagi were absolutely murderous.

The stupid fool actually thought Nagi had something to do with Crawford's wins. The whispered rumors among the children that Nagi was a weird kid with some special powers didn't help the boy's case any. Gimp was sure that Nagi had cooperated with Crawford to cheat him out of his money and there was no way he'd let that go. Nagi would have to face Gimp one on one and prove once and for all if he had the survival skills that Crawford was looking for.

Crawford went out to a cafe nearby for a cup of coffee. He would check back on Nagi once he finished, giving the boy plenty of time to succeed or fail. He still felt uneasy. He hadn't liked doing what he did, but that hadn't stopped him from doing it.

==========

"You little bastard!" Brother Gimp smacked him hard enough to send him crashing across the room into a wall. Nagi tasted blood in his mouth and wondered if something had broken. He checked his teeth with his tongue. Nothing had broken.

Amazing.

Brother Gimp had been working on him for about fifteen minutes now and Nagi hadn't felt this bad in all his eight years of life. Everything ached. Bruises were built upon bruises, a rainbow of pink and yellow and purple on his body. Brother Gimp hit him again and pain exploded across the back of his eyes in shades of red and black. He was still conscious. He was hurting so bad, but for some reason his body wouldn't let him black out and escape from the pain. It just kept hurting more and more, so much that he felt as if every one of his pore was screaming in pain, but he was still conscious.

"I'm going to kill you, you little bastard!" Brother Gimp screamed and ran at him, murder in his eyes. Nagi suddenly realized that he was serious. He wasn't just angry and shouting out empty threats and beating up Nagi so that he could feel better. He really wanted to kill Nagi. He wanted to watch the life fade out of Nagi's midnight eyes. The knowledge terrified Nagi.

Crawford did this on purpose. It was some sort of test that Nagi didn't want to take. He didn't care about passing any of Crawford's stupid goddamned test. He just didn't want to die. Crawford could have his stupid Rolex back. He just didn't want to die. He didn't want to die.

Ironically enough, it was Crawford's words that pulled him back. It was the memory of Crawford saying, "They're so weak and you're so strong. You could crush them if you wanted to."

Nagi knew that it was true. He could crush Brother Gimp if he wanted to, and that was the only way he would get out of this alive because if he didn't act now, Brother Gimp would be on him and crush the life out of him and he didn't want to he really didn't want to but he didn't want to die he didn't want to die he didn't want to die--

He used the special power. It came from him like a giant hand that lifted Brother Gimp off of his feet and slammed him into the wall, holding him on there like a big that's been pinned down. Brother Gimp's eyes got wide and the fury subsided a little bit to let in some of his fear,

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, you little freak? Let me down!"

Nagi got to his feet. It hurt him to even stand, raw nerves running through his body like miniature shooting stars. Gimp thrashed against the wall and screamed at him,

"Let me down you little fuck! I'm going to kill you! I'm going to choke the life out of your puny little body and break your neck between my fingers. I'm going to feed your little dick to the dogs, you little bastard!"

Everything hurt. Everything hurt so much and it had been Brother Gimp who had hurt him. There was only one way to deal with bullies like Brother Gimp. It didn't work to just hurt them once, because then when they recovered their pride would get the best of them and they'd come back to hurt you again, and worse this time for hurting them. The only way to deal with bullies like Brother Gimp is if you hurt them bad the first time, hurt them so bad they learn their lesson and they're afraid and they'll never ever dare to mess with you again. Nagi didn't like hurting people, but that was the only way. That was the way he had dealt with the bully in the orphanage, and that was the way he would deal with it now.

He reached out for Brother Gimp with his power and it felt like his whole body had turned into a giant hand, a giant hand that was squeezing Brother Gimp and making him scream in pain. He kept on squeezing with his power because it wasn't enough, this wasn't enough to teach Brother Gimp the lesson that needed to be learned. He kept squeezing and squeezing and then, suddenly, he felt something give under the pressure. It was like holding a ripe grape between your fingers and squeezing it until it burst, the sticky juices running down your fingers.

Nagi let his eyes focused on Brother Gimp again. He was slumped against the wall, staring at Nagi but not really looking at Nagi, his hands and face twitching by his side. Nagi saw tears running down his cheeks, pink tears. That wasn't right. Tears are supposed to be clear, not pink. There was no reason why Brother Gimp should be crying pink tears damn it, because tears are supposed to be clear and it just wasn't right!

There was a loud bang and Brother Gimp's face exploded in a shower of blood and bits of bone and flesh. Nagi looked to the doorway and saw Crawford standing there, holstering his gun. Crawford walked over to him and told him to stand up. He obeyed.

"You did good, Nagi. Ready to go to Rosenkrus?"

Nagi nodded. He was so tired and glad that he didn't have to see Brother Gimp and his pink tears anymore, and it didn't matter anymore what happened to him. He would listen to Crawford and go to Rosenkrus, because Crawford was right the first time so he must be right this time.

"You were ready to let me die."

Crawford smirked at him, "If you can't stay alive, then you deserve to be dead." Nagi nodded. Crawford was right about that too, of course.

EXPLANATORY NOTES:

- When Gimp calls Crawford "nii-san" for the first time, he's not saying it to show respect. Oniisan is what you call your older brother or most guys older than you. Nii-san is commonly used by Yakuza to address the guy they're going to beat up.

-The head of the Yakuza is called the "Oyabun"

-Gimp's punishment of losing his right pinkie is common among Yakuza. When a lower Yakuza member has insulted his superior, he asks for forgiveness by cutting off the pinkie finger of his left(I think it's left) hand and giving it to the person he is apologizing to, wrapped in paper or a hankerchief. >.> A nice Christmas gift.

-Freelance Yakuza are often hunted down by Yakuza-clans if they make too much money. That's why the Yakuza-clan gave Crawford the info on Gimp so willingly. That's about it. I really don't know much about the Yakuza, just a few things I've read here or there, so forgive me if the portrayal is unrealistic.