As You See Me.. (13).
Disclaimer: Same as in previous
Pairing: Yohji x Aya/Ran
Warnings: Yaoi, Shounen-ai, Violence, Angst, Language, AU
Ken lay in the bed, a shaking huddled mass of blankets and pain. Schuldig's visit the day before had not even been in pretense of gentleness. The slave had been thoroughly used and abused in ways he'd not even imagined. Such was the way of life in the unwilling service of the crime lord.
His delirium sank down, to a new level, and he found himself thinking more and more of Nagi. That sweet, innocent boy who he happened to stumble upon as the youth had been trying to lift his motorcycle. Ken still, to this day, didn't know what had prompted the offer of a meal and a safe haven from cold night air. He just did.
Seemed like things like that were in his nature.
Somehow, through the haze of pain and agony, Ken Hidaka had managed to keep from spilling the details about the phone call. He prayed that the singer could find Nagi. He prayed that the boy would be kept safe.
'Nagi… stay out of this… please… I don't want to see you suffer anymore…'
That was the parting thought as Ken fell into unconsciousness.
The gun man gave a jerk of the muzzle at Nagi. "Get away from the redhead, kid… You're not a part of this."
Ran looked at the younger boy sharply. "Go on… get out of here."
"Not a chance," Nagi said solemnly in Japanese. "I vowed that Schuldig would never take another's life away from them. I won't go back on that… ever." He closed his eyes for a brief moment, centering himself, and when his blue eyes opened again - they were glowing slightly.
"NEVER AGAIN!"
The words were not Nagi's. They were timed with the door opening and all three looked to see Yohji standing in the doorway. He held a gun trained on the would be kidnapper and his jade eyes were as hard as steel. "You *will* get the fuck away from BOTH of them… understood? I don't have time for lackeys and middle men."
Looking a little shaken, the gun man wavered. He wasn't sure how to handle the armed ex-assassin. "My orders were-"
"Do I look like I give a shit what your orders were, asshole?" Yohji snapped. His grip never moved. "If you don't turn around, right now, I'm going to put a bullet between your eyes." He pointed between his own. "Right there… and I will NOT have any problems sleeping tonight if you die."
Nagi didn't wait for another second. He tapped down, into the part of himself that could reach out, and knocked the man back. When the gun flew from the man's hand, he pushed it away. "Tell Schuldig that I stand with Kudou-san… And that I *will* find him… I will not stop until his body lies at my feet, growing cold."
The musician didn't even blink at the display of Nagi's powers. "If I were you, I would run - fast." Yohji watched as the man did that. After the gun man's car had lain tracks in the parking lot, he handed Manx back her pistol. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it." The woman said lowly and replaced the weapon in her purse. She turned to the younger men. "Are you both alright?"
Ran nodded, his eyes glazed over. That was too close. When Yohji's arms went around him, he sank into the embrace, melted against the body of his lover like a candle wax to flame. "What are we going to do? He's everywhere!"
One hand stroked the back of the redhead's hair. "I know… I know… Shhhh. He won't get you, Ran. I promise. I'll stop him…" Yohji's eyes closed as his thoughts turned inward. 'Somehow…'
The dark haired Japanese boy moved towards them. "I can protect him."
"After what I just saw, I believe you," Yohji said honestly. He stared hard at the boy. "That would mean that I face Schuldig alone, you realize."
Nagi nodded. "I know. But, unless we all go together, there's no other way." He looked at how the other teen was shaking and then back to Yohji's eyes. "Just promise me you'll save Ken."
"If he's still alive," Yohji said softly, "I'll bring him back to you."
"That's good enough." Nagi studied the musician and gave a rare smile.
Threat factor - extremely high… to Schuldig.
*ring*ring*ring*ring*
Omi blinked his eyes wearily and lifted his head. Who the hell was calling at this hour? He stared at the telephone, eyes glazed still from sleep, and sat up on the couch. One tired hand picked up the receiver.
"Hello?"
He didn't notice the shadowy figure sinking back, away from where he was.
"Omi! Need another favor from you." Yohji's voice sounded strained.
"Did Nagi get there all right?" The teen got up from the couch and moved to his bedroom, where the computer was. He sat down in front of it, moving it off standby, getting it primed and ready for action.
"Nagi got here fine. I need you to look up all property Schuldig has here in Los Angeles."
Slim fingers flew over the keyboard. "Got it. Shouldn't take but a few minutes."
"Good. I'll wait."
Carefully, Omi set about searching. Then, he started hacking into a few private realtor groups. It wasn't long until he had the answers he was looking for.
"Got it!"
Yohji's voice was pleased. "Good… Lemme have it."
"He's got a large plot outside of L.A. Looks like it used to be a farm. It still has the rustic wood fence and all." Omi's voice was smug. "Crappy security system too. I could have broken into it when I was seven…"
"Excellent." Yohji went quiet for a few minutes. "I'll be calling back in a while. I want you to break into the system so I can get in. I'm going to take care of this once and for all."
"You got it, Mr. Kudou!" Omi hung up his phone and turned around, ready to get to work and earn his next paycheck. That was when he sensed that something was off. He couldn't, for the life of him, remember leaving the window open.
That was when he was bowled over from the side, his body rolling under a much longer one. "Hi, pretty, pretty…"
Omi squashed the surge of panic that went through him. He knew that he was no match for most trained assassins because of his smaller body size. Instead of using brute strength, he set his legs against the stomach of his attacker. "Good bye!" Greater leverage was the key as he threw the other man off to the side.
The assailant came up, weapons bared. "Pretty boys shouldn't poke their noses where they don't belong."
"It's a free country, last time I checked," Omi said as he rose to his feet. "I'll do what I want in my home." He studied his attacker. White hair, eyepatch, one gold eye, lean build, and scars. He recognized him from some of the files he'd hacked into in the past. This man, Farfarello - he was sure - was Schuldig's favorite assassin. A psychotic Irishman who would do anything for money… even kill his own mother.
The assassin was fast, but then, so was the boy. When Farfarello moved in close, Omi backed off and tried to find something with which to defend himself. The maniac had something that resembled an extremely nasty icepick that the teenager didn't want to get stuck by.
One small, scrabbling hand, happened upon his archery trophy, and he used that to smack the white haired man on the side of his head. When that glittering gold eye gazed at him in a mixture of pain and contentment, Omi started to worry. He threw the heavy object at his attacker and watched, with dismay, as it was batted out of the air.
He decided then that discretion was probably the better part of valor and made a break for the door. Omi couldn't quite get there before he was knocked against the wall and held there. A one-handed grip on his shirt kept him up in the air, two feet above the floor, and no matter how hard he kicked out he couldn't get away.
'Sorry, Yohji… I'm done for…'
Farfarello looked at the boy and licked his lips as he held the weapon pointed at the boy's face. "You got in a little too deep, boy."
Clawing at the hand on his shirt, the youth's voice rose in volume. "Let me go!" From off to the side there was a crashing sound that startled Omi. He didn't even get a chance to look before he was suddenly deaf from a loud sound that was most definitely a gunshot.
*BOOM*