Disclaimer: I do not own any of the RK/SM/WK characters.

Tenshi’s Notes: My word, I’m actually giving another chapter of this fic! To be honest, I really can’t write at this point. This stuff’s actually fairly old, and I’ll try to update this semi-regularly until I put up all that I’ve written for it. At this point, I have no intentions of continuing this fic since my creative urges have all but fizzled out. But feedback might motivate me to continue again. And oh yeah, Omi fans, this chapter is for you ^_^

********************

He frowned, trying to get his concentration back. For once, his normally deft fingers were failing him abysmally. Staring at the arrangements of freesia, his hands began trembling. It was only five in the morning, but he was already up. The nightmares had taken over his world once again, as it had since… she had died. It didn’t bear thinking about. He didn’t want to think about how he had always lost someone he loved. He didn’t want to confront all the sins he had committed. It felt like punishment for everything he had done wrong in his life.

Falling back against his chair, he leaned his head back, and stared at the ceiling emptily. He wished that he only had emptiness in his heart instead of this mind-numbing pain. For appearance’s sake, he had pretended that everything was normal and that everything was all right. It was only until that yesterday afternoon that he had realised how far from the truth that truly was.

With Usagi by his side, they had stood on the rooftop, allowing the stronger breeze to stir up the buried emotions he hadn’t allowed himself to feel. She had given him a curious stare, and with uncanny insight asked him if he was okay. A simple question that could’ve been taken at face value, but he had known better. She knew that something was wrong within him. The grief rose up without warning, and it had taken everything he had in him to shove it back down. Iie. Not now. He didn’t want to face it. He didn’t want to understand all the cruel jokes played on him in life. Not so soon. He had remembered her sweet face, and despite her demanding nature, she had such spirit. It was his first glimpse of that liveliness that had drawn him to her. He had remembered every moment spent with her, and how a mere touch from her would cause his heart to stop beating. She was his everything, and now, the Gods above had seen it fit to punish him for all the bloodshed he had wrought in his young life. He had taken so many lives, and sometimes it seemed easier to smear them all into one bloody mess. It was better than living with the guilt that ate away at him each day.

Without sunshine to balance him, he had found himself plagued with melancholy. He knew realistically that what he felt for Usagi wasn’t the same as what Ouka had made him feel. No matter how wrong it was between him and Ouka, he couldn’t change what he loved most about her. She had made him feel as if he weren’t alone anymore. The memories of the past had resurfaced suddenly, and remembering the kidnappings, the tragedies that came with his identity as Takatori Mamoru, he had felt so lonely, and unwanted. With Ouka, there was someone by his side, be it friend, or half-sister. In his mind, it didn’t matter. If she hadn’t been taken away from him so cruelly, he could’ve settled for just being her sibling, because it meant he didn’t have to face another day by himself. With her, he felt… needed. All his life, he had been used as a pawn in someone else’s game. Takatori Reiji hadn’t wanted him, and never even bothered to pay for his ransom when he had been kidnapped as a child.

Takatori Reiji. He was an evil force, whose sole purpose was to gain the most amount of power to further his own selfish goals. He didn’t care whose lives he destroyed, how many families he shattered, or how many innocents got caught along the way. He had claimed it was for the good of Japan, but Omi knew better. It wasn’t for Japan. It was for him, as it always had been. The heartless bastard had sacrificed everyone on his quest, even his own sons.

Exhaling a deep sigh, he grabbed a few buckets of flowers, preparing to set up the outside. Though he knew it was too early, he needed something to take his mind off his current thoughts. As he juggled with his heavy burden, he felt the initial drops of rain that began spraying upon his skin. Setting them down carefully, he took a step out from beneath the awning. He lifted his face to the sky, allowing the rain to splash upon him, wishing it were as easy to wash away the blood from his hands, or the loneliness in his heart.

Suddenly, he froze, feeling another presence nearby as a figured dashed for cover. Turning around, he found himself confronted by a pair of beautiful blue eyes. She gave him a charming smile, and pointed upwards at the shelter, before giving him a quizzical look as if asking what he was doing outside in the rain.

"It’s refreshing," he replied softly, unable to stop his pulses from racing.

Scrunching her brow, she tried to remember where she had seen his face before. Then, she observed the store’s name. Koneko no sumu le. Her eyes brightened as she recalled snatches of conversation she had heard about four extremely cute guys working there.

"Omi-san, right? I think we’re in the same grade," she said with a slight tinge of red covering her cheeks.

Omi found her looking familiar as well before a piece of the puzzle finally fell in.

"You were in my computer classes, ne?" At her nod, he continued. "Your grades were pretty good, and you finished top of the class, didn’t you?"

Her blush deepened, and he thought she looked adorable. Grabbing a hold of himself, he wondered where that thought had come from. He was still trying to get over his love for Ouka, not to mention his slight crush on Usagi. Hadn’t he learned his lesson anyway? Those who got involved with him invariably got hurt… Ouka… he had lost Ouka because she had found out about him. His eyes darkened in anger as he thought about Schuldig and Farfarello, the assassins responsible for her death. Schuldig had told her the truth about their relationship, and Ouka had avoided him because she hadn’t been able deal with it. She had fallen in love with her own half-brother. (AN: Remember, as far as Ouka and Omi were concerned, that was their relation. Only Reiji and Schuichi knew the truth.) Bittersweet tears threatened to blur his vision as he recalled his own confusion. He hadn’t known what she had. And that night… when they had found out the truth, Farfarello had wound up accidentally shooting her. He could still remember the warmth of her nature flowing out as blood upon his hands. He could almost swear he had died with her that day. Knowing Ouka, she would not have wanted this for him. He choked back the emotions, swallowing them down once again.

"Omi-san? Omi-san?"

He felt her gentle fingers upon his shoulders, shaking him lightly. Through his thoughts he could feel the sensation slowly spreading, the warmth of her nature filling him. He shook his head, disoriented for the moment as he observed concern shining from her eyes.

"Huh? Daijoubu Ami-san. Daijoubu." He absently gave her hand a little pat before he froze, realising what he had just done. His hand lay above her smaller one, and he couldn’t explain the conflicting emotions that had appeared without warning. A wave of protectiveness rose within him, and he felt the strangest urge to safeguard her against someone like him. He was not meant to be with anyone. So after a lifetime of loneliness, why did it all of a sudden feel like a terrible thing?

Because you were never meant to be alone… the voice within him whispered, sounding strangely like Ouka’s. He knew in his heart that she would never want him to grieve. Theirs was a love never meant to happen, not in this life anyway.

In his line of vision, Ami’s face peered at him in concern, and he found himself blushing. Moving away slightly, he was astounded to find that the rain had stopped. From beneath the heavy gray clouds, the slightest hint of sunshine peeked through. All around him, everything sparkled and shone, having been washed clean. He caught his breath, wondering if that were possible for him.

"It stopped raining," he said in awe, with a note of reverence in his voice at the beautiful skies above him.

She gave him a smile, turning his insides into a churning mess, nearly robbing him of speech. Had the gods decided to take mercy upon him for once in his life?

Turning around him and reaching for a lily, he turned around and gave it to her.

"For you," he spoke, shyness overcoming him momentarily.

She flushed, and simply stared at the flower. Nobody had given her flowers. Ever. There was a purity about lilies, and the delicate scent that teased her nose as she reached for it. Tsukiyono Omi. She would’ve never thought it were possible that he would be as nice to a nobody like her. He wasn’t much taller than she was, and his boyish good looks were only enhanced by his sunny personality. His light brown hair was more unruly than usual, and his deep blue eyes reflected a grief that she would’ve never thought possible. There was a loneliness to his soul that she couldn’t quite explain how she knew, but she just did. And she wanted to do something about it, though what exactly she didn’t know either.

Furrowing her brow in concentration, she struggled to come up with something that might cheer him up. Then her face relaxed as she remembered. Reaching around her neck, she unclasped the chain that had always hung there. He stared at her in confusion, wondering what she was doing.

"Give me your hand, onegai?"

Omi was puzzled as to what she was doing, and hesitantly he offered his hand. Placing her palm gently over his, she released the slim chain. He could still feel her warmth upon it, and he felt familiar waves of sensation spread through him once again. So much like his reaction towards Ouka, there was a gentleness to the surf this time that promised never to hurt. He looked blindly at the chain with the dull silver cross standing out sharply, appearing almost white.

"Ami-san…"

"My mother gave it to me when I was a young girl. I’m not a religious person but it seemed to give me comfort when I needed it the most."

He was completely dumbfounded, momentarily taken aback by the sweetness of such an action. Then, another thought struck him. How was it that she could see and sense what he was feeling so easily? All his classmates had seen was a happy seventeen-year-old in front of them. Yet she could so easily tear apart his façade and know what lay beneath, even when he didn’t even know himself?

"Demo… demo, I can’t take something like this from you. It obviously means a lot to you."

She shook her head and gave him a look of understanding.

"It’s just something to tide you over. When you don’t need it anymore, just give it back okay? Oh no! I need to go to practice now! Ja ne, Omi-san!"

Staring at the chain in his hand, it was almost as if her body’s heat and essence were still somehow contained there. He couldn’t explain why he felt that way, or why his heart felt like it was being assaulted by a barrage of warm sensations he had no right in experiencing. Yet he couldn’t resist the sweet nature singing its siren call as he clenched the cross tightly, feeling it sear his skin. Forgiveness. And Love. It was all he ever wanted in his young life.