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"Already he should prepare to move." Fate spoke around a mouthful of sugar coated crumbs. Youji noted once again how her accent and vocabulary shifted rapidly when she actually wanted to be understood. "He did not see me while I stalked him, but he soon will find signs of my passage. If we don't move now, we don't move at all, we will lose the advantage." Fate waved the box of donuts around, "Any takers? No? I eat them all myself!" She stuffed another pastry ring into her mouth, biting down voraciously.
"She still scares me sometimes." Ken whispered into Youji's ear, sandwiched between Omi and Youji on the couch. Aya paced behind them, his leg loosening up as he worked the muscles.
"I say we do it." Aya slammed a gloved fist down on the back of the couch, making Youji jump. Aya was up and ready to go, dressed in full leather and armed to the teeth. This would be his chance then, to prevent the inevitable, to destroy that horrible decision looming before him. He could vent his rage, killing until he reached Ko-Ishi, but no quick death this time. That vile son of a bitch would be begging for release before Aya finished him. He'd earn his sister's worth back at sword point.
"How many men does he have in this sewer hide-out of his? And why can't he operate out of a goddamned building like the rest of the world?" Youji shifted away from the angry fist Aya still ground into the soft material of the sofa.
"He has many, many men, but we will prevail if guns and stealth are used." Fate fingered her own piece thoughtfully before setting it back on the lwo coffe table, so she could keep an eye on it. She sure did like her weapons. "It is today or never. If he moves his base, many minions will scatter on the breeze, implanting evil wherever they fall. They sleep during the day, so we must find them now, unguarded." Fate let that sink in.
"If we do this, it'll be within the next few hours, then." Ken rubbed the back of his head as he spoke, stretched out morning stiff-muscles. "This could be it for us. Thoughts, ideas?"
"There is no if. I will go alone if need be." Aya spoke harshly behind them, standing back, infused with that defeatist energy they all felt so overwhelmingly.
Youji rubbed eyes that positively burned from lack of sleep. "I'm in." He spoke quietly, head lowered.
"Youji?" Omi reached across Ken's lap to place one hand on top of Youji's larger palm, wide-eyed with worry. "Can you do this?"
Flicking hair out of his face, Youji looked up again, chin jutted forward. "Damn straight. This is my second chance to set things right, to even the score. If we can surprise them and get Aya's sister back, all the better for it." He glanced over his shoulder with narrowed eyes, searching for something he didn't see in Aya's face.
"I'm in then," Omi nodded decisively. "I support your decision. We can't live in fear." But he was afraid, of the future and of what would come. He'd been a part of the original bloodbath Youji had missed. He knew how hard Ko-Ishi's men had been to take down. Towards death he might be headed, but he would still stand and support his friends. "Ken?"
"Was there ever a doubt? If you're all in even if I wanted to, I couldn't wimp out now." He wasn't bitter though. That's just how it was.
"All right. Prepare for much danger, prepare to fight and win. Prepare to shed blood!" Fate pumped one fist into the air, the picture of gleeful violence. She was sort of growing on Youji, in a warped and twisted sort of way. "Be prepared. We go in one hour. I will show you all the way." She bounded off towards the kitchen to raid their fridge once again.
"Aya, how's your leg holding out? Are YOU able to do this?" Youji twisted around, propping his arms up on the back of the couch, watching the awkward pacing of his only doubt for this most holy of missions. Youji would act when the time came, he had nothing but faith in himself this time around.
"Tend to your own business." Came the growled reply. That was Aya-speak for 'go teach your granny to suck eggs'. Youji wished Aya could just say that out right, the phrase on Aya's pale, disdainful lips would be too comical to bear.
"I'll take that as a yes then." Smooth, old attitudes firmly grasped in his hands. "Well, excuse me, I go now to arm myself and make peace with my gods."? Mocking an old movie he?d seen eons ago. He left them pensive and philosophical downstairs. Youji managed to keep his face under control until he'd reached the bedroom upstairs, door firmly shut behind him. "Gods. What a way to die." He sank down along the wall, hands coming up to cover his face. He was surprised to find them shaking, fingers clenching to hide the tremors. Not a conscious reaction. Youji had learned early on the best way to beat the world was to maintain an outwardly invulnerable fa�ade at all times. Granted it was slipping more than usual as of late, but the source of the problem would soon be dealt with.
He sat for a few moments, trying to reorder the chaos of his thoughts. This was it, the day that really mattered. The day they hit Ko-Ishi where it hurt. That had to. He had a lot tied up in this venture. Aya wasn't the only one counting on this to work. He had to, or Aya might find out about Ko-Ishi's offer to trade. The outcome of that was so obvious it was painful, twisting in the pit of his stomach.
The knob turned, creaky and in need of sandpaper and some oil. When the door tried to swing inwards, it thumped into the middle of Youji's back. He frowned and scrabbled sideways before leaping to his feet, not liking to be caught brooding.
"Sitting in front of door is stupid place for stupid boy!" Fate slipped around the partially opened door, closing it quickly behind her. She gave the room that same shifty-eyed look she reserved for all things equally before turning her attention to the room's once sole occupant. "Your redhead, suicidal maniac one, he is no good for fighting with his limping and anger?"
"He isn't?" Youji was confused by her phrasing.
"No, I asking you, Stupid!" Fate stomped, frustrated.
"Aya? He?s like the ultimate human weapon. You don't need to worry about him."
"Even with bad leg? What is wrong with? Is healing badly, is crippling, maybe?"
"He was injured the last time we went after Ko-Ishi, over a month ago. It should have been mostly recovered by now, but he won't stay still, and it keeps leveling out at a new low each time he does something stupid. You can still count on him, though. He's good at what he does, we're all professionals."
"Professional human killers. Ko-Ishi is not human. He is the soul of darkness." She was doing that propaganda babble thing again where she tried to fully illustrate Ko-Ishi's inherent evilness while bumping up his conception of her own abilities. He listened with only half an ear as he tried not to let her doubt overtake him. He wanted to have faith in Aya. Aya was a symbol almost, something unbreakable and full of infinite strength, a pillar of dependability. Provided you were on his good side.
Fate stopped after a while, patted him on the shoulder as if to thank him, and then left. Youji supposed even she needed someone to just listen every now and then. If she really had spent all her life tracking down one man (provided she wasn't insane and making up almost all the information they'd received from her) then chances are numerous regrets and lost opportunities littered her wake. Maybe even she needed a chance every now and then to reaffirm her own course of action and the decisions behind it.
Youji hurried now, less time on his hands than before Fate's interruption, not that it was an unwelcome intrusion. Not really paying attention to Fate was much easier on the nerves than over-examining his own mortality. He was glad he'd developed a fondness for automatic weaponry over the past few months, or he'd be in a heap of trouble right now. It's not recommended: attempting to defeat a massive horde of evil-doers with piano wire and flip dexterity.
Humming some random little song with made up words involving gleefully killing Ko-Ishi and his minions, Youji prepared for war. They all had flak jackets, one of the more useful items One Eye had acquired for them. He had pockets enough for ammunition cartridges, guns holstered securely against his ribs, with an extra tucked into his boot, and another carefully concealed in a pocket inside his coat's lining. No accidents this time.
A quick look around the room. Was there anything left he had to do? Anything he'd forget and regret in the heat of battle? Other than going out the door to begin with?
"Youji?" Too soft to immediately recognize the voice. Ken or Omi probably, up to make absolutely sure he wanted to be a part of this.
"Yo?" Turning, he caught himself running tense finger though his hair already, more nervous then he'd ever want to let on. It wasn' who he?d expected, unless one of the two anticipated persons had undergone a drastic dye job in the past twenty minutes. "Aya?"
"Nothing important, just wanted to-" he stopped, shrugging, at a loss verbally. "This is it then." There was something relieved and secret in this statement that Youji wished he understood, knowing an imminent threat when he sensed it. Above all the doubts and whatever that darkness was beneath the violet of Aya's eyes, there remained a streak of loneliness, of despair. Youji could relate to those emotions, but he wouldn't reach out with the olive branch this time. That's what he'd said every time before, but it never worked out that way, it was only a matter of time before the silence got to him.
"Yup. This is it. We five can end it today, if he's where Fate thinks he is, and they're as lax in security as she's implied. Home free, eh?" Youji hooked hands behind his head, arms akimbo in a pose of relaxation. He could at least play act for an audience of one.
"Youji.?" Aya tried again, lips tensed into a thin line.
"That's my name." Ignoring the crisis of confidence Aya was suffering. It was his difficultly with people skills, he could cope with it.
"I just-" Another pause.
"What?!" Harsh as Youji whirled, eyes dark. Aya stumbled forward, and for a moment Youji was afraid he was going to fall forward and hurt himself. Instead, Aya reached up and caught Youji's face in both gloved hands, sliding back around his head, pulling him towards Aya. They folded together into a rough, desperate hug, too angular with concealed weaponry and protective clothing, but full of the human contact they both needed.
Youji closed his eyes, let his face fall forward against the shoulder of Aya's trench coat, tired beyond belief. Suddenly all he wanted was to curl up under a few blankets with Aya skin and scent all around him. He'd be asleep in under sixty seconds if he could just let his head rest, still the commotion of the world around him.
"I'm sorry." Aya was always sorry. He almost never said so, and the few times he did, Youji couldn't ever figure out what the regret expressed was really for.
"What are you sorry about?" Youji gripped harder as Aya attempted to pull away. "Just one minute more." The hilt of Aya's blade was digging into his hip, and the buckles of Aya's jacket dug into his torso in a descending line, but it didn't matter. Aya shook his head, holding tighter for one more moment before forcibly extracting himself from the embrace. He blinked, trying to revert to the correct state of mind.
"I have to go now, and talk with Fate. I can't do this right now. I have to concentrate on seeing this through, on getting Aya back." He squeezed Youji's upper arm and backed towards the door.
Alone again, with his doubts. Youji wasn't sure if the sudden, forced expression of affection was reassuring, or disappointing. It ended with Aya stating again that all his intentions pointed towards rescuing his sister, the truly important one to him. Bit of a let down, but still better than if he'd not come at all. Another glance around the room, an implacable feeling of disquiet. If he had forgotten something, it would be too damned bad. Ammunition cartridges; check. Guns; check. Garroting wire; check. Body armor; check.
All the majors were in place, maybe it was something silly and little. He still had his house keys, his cell phone, shoes were tied, switch blade in his pocket. He didn't have to use the restroom or anything. Nothing. Nothing came to mind. "Gods, I'm not looking forward to this now."
Rubbing his eyes and talking to himself, Youji tromped back down the stairs, steps heavy with a calculated lack of grace. He had to save up all his stealth luck for the next few hours. Back to the couch, to wait. Ken rejoined him first, eyes hollow and despairing, a mirror for Youji's slipping mask of lackadaisical joviality. He slumped on the overstuffed, striped sofa, shoulder touching Youji's, clad in the garments of war they hadn't donned for quite some time.
"This feels weird, doesn't it?" he asked after a moment.. "Just sitting here, in this house, like this, waiting to go after someone again." He fidgeted slightly, drumming his feet on the hardwood flooring, fingers twitching the once-familiar restraint of goggles across the top of his head, bangs pulled back from his eyes to prevent accidents.
"Fate was sleeping on this couch for a while. This is almost like sitting on Fate's bed." Youji opened his mouth and let out one of those trivial, random thoughts that frequented his jumbled brain. Ken blinked.
"That's really weird. She doesn'?t have fleas or anything, does she?" He pretended to scratch his head.
"Fuck you too, brown head, stupid fuck!" Fate stomped into the room, through hovering on the threshold once the conversation topic turned to her. She too wedged herself onto the couch, putting Youji between herself and her adversary. "Where is blondie? I though was your boy? Maybe you want to go make kisses with him, is a big trial coming up!" Badinage to the second degree. With her limited vocabulary, first degree teasing simply wasn't attainable.
"Hey, leave him alone." Youji slung one arm around her diminutive shoulders and squeezed. "You should be a bit nicer, we're helping you out after all, beating up on your Ko-Ishi and all of that."
Fate hmphed and sank lower into the cushions, glowering at the arm invading her personal space. "Ko-ishi is your adversary now, not mine. I not holding first place on his list of people needing killed. You especially, need be careful. He gives attention and you be scared. He not someone you wanting to stalk you! Keep in mind that I helping YOU!"
"You could at least speak properly if you want to talk about things like that." Youji flung his arms across the back of the couch now, trying to rapidly reel back into his old state of being, carefree, apathetic. He didn't have much time, and he needed those indifferent shields against the world firmly in place. The old Youji Kudou was already well versed in sleepless nights of dream terrors, and surfacing memories. The old Youji Kudou functioned all the same, and quite well at that, he liked to add.
"Where is blondie boy for real? Is upstairs? Why? We go soon, in few minutes. We all ready, red head, suicide man is in kitchen, skulking. You ready, for blood, for dying, right? Where is?"
"You're impossible." Youji shook his head. "He'll be down soon, I'm sure. A minute or two either way won't make too much of a difference. Either we'll persevere or we won't. Thems the breaks." He looked, down, eyelids feeling tight and stretched all of a sudden. He sure could use a smoke, but not with Aya at stake. Had to keep on his good behavior.
A few awkward minutes before Omi joined them, pale and young looking. It made Youji feel guilty all over again, selfish for being afraid of death, with one so young and seemingly untouched up for the same fate as a group of soulless killers for lesser reasons. Of all of them, Omi had received the least attention. If he bailed now, chances were he'd escape unscathed. Selfish still, Youji didn't bring that up and double-check Omi's resolve. He couldn't take it right now if he were the straw that tipped the balance, leaving them down by one.
"Okay!" Fate shot up, electric enthusiasm. "Red head in kitchen, everyone in room. Let's do it!" Showing a distinct lack of excitement, the four originals shuffled towards the front door, led by the bundle of expectation that was Fate.
"She can't be human." Youji spoke to the air, trying to keep his mind off worries.
"We're all going to die." Ken too spoke to everything and no one, less amused.
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Yeah, I KNOW not much happened! I wrote the damned thing after all! The world isn't all flashing lights and chase scenes! Boring things and conversations occasionally transpire whether we want to fast forward through them or not! Keep in mind I tend to first-draft with dozens and dozens of short chapters, and combine to make fewer longer ones when I'm all finished. Oi! Bumhead! Drop me a line or something! [email protected] or [email protected] Oh, and as a side note, those who know me, know I'm not usually big on original characters being added to fan fictions, most often because said original characters are nothing but idealized, glorified versions of the authoress herself. Fate, unfortunately, is not someone I can take credit for as being similar to myself. I felt she was a necessary part of the story, the comic relief, and the one in the know. I apologize for diluting the wonder that is Weiss Kreuz with the taint of some random bizatch I pulled from the depth of my mind thinking to kill off in a chapter or two and then winding up stuck with because of a certain weakness for insane people. Fate is pretty fun though, you have to admit! -threatens all with a stick when shouts of "Aye, Aye, Hear, Hear!" aren't quickly forthcoming- Yay for insanity!