Fic: Reunion, Part Two
Part One: America
II. Japan
Before they board the plane, Crawford accesses an email account from a public terminal. He hesitates over which address to send to, but decides that any will do. They will all feed into the real account quickly enough. He enters two words, and the mail is sent.
This is what he writes: pepper artichoke.
This is what it means: team inbound, backup required.
They have a series of such random codes. He remembers Nagi trying not to giggle at the names of vegetables, and knows he won't have forgotten.
The flight is dull, but comfortable. None of them could face another long cramped journey. He spends the first hour talking with Aya, then when both his companions are asleep goes over plan after plan in his mind.
In Narita they are crossing the crowded concourse when the announcement comes.
"Passenger Crawford, recently arrived from Honolulu, please pick up a courtesy telephone."
He finds one. He picks it up. His voice is calm and controlled.
"Crawford," he says.
"Why are you here?"
"This isn't the place. Where can we meet?"
"Explain now."
He hesitates. This isn't quite the boy he remembers. But it's someone with the resources he needs.
He explains.
* * *
The hotel is luxurious and expensive. Aya is not impressed. He has killed in rooms like these, and Crawford's room in New York was better.
He feels unsettled and unsure of himself. Tokyo looks as it always did, and smaller than he remembers. He wants the world to be full of possibility and mystery as it was when he was a boy, as it was in Crawford's arms. Instead he sees the city he has known all his life, the signs offering him long-known items and amusements.
He should go to Aya-chan. He imagines her face, he imagines holding her, keeping her safe forever. She does not need his protection now, he thinks, and does not go. She is under Takatori protection. He puts his hands flat against the glass, looking down on the city. He owes Takatori a debt. What will Omi ask of him?
He stares down at the cars below. Something terrible is following them, he knows. Crawford hasn't told him the whole truth. He cannot pretend otherwise, here in this city he knows, watching Schwarz run back to their old masters. He owes Crawford a debt. He'll repay it, and Crawford will tell him the truth.
* * *
"He won't meet with us?"
Schuldig cannot believe what he's hearing.
"Not yet."
"Nagi's really a fucking Kritiker."
It's funny, all at once.
"Can we be Kritiker too?"
"Don't leave," Crawford says.
"Does it pay well? Do we have to believe in good, right and justice?"
"Don't leave."
Schuldig looks at him, shaking his head.
"Is this your plan? Is this necessary?"
"Schuldig," Crawford says, and his voice is thin, "please, don't leave."
Even the silence is expensive in this hotel. Schuldig looks away.
"I came back," he says.
He doesn't like being the one with this sort of power.
* * *
Aya follows the woman into a large room. It is richly, tastefully furnished. Omi stands in the centre, looking more at home than he should. There are lines under his eyes, and he looks far older than Aya remembers.
"Hello," he says, and the voice is the same.
"Hello, Omi," Aya says, and watches him hide some change of expression. "It's good to see you."
"Aya," Omi says, and he isn't Takatori at all. "Are you well?"
"Yes," Aya says. "I have something to ask you, Omi. A favour."
He tells Omi almost everything. He would keep nothing back, but he sees Omi's face go still and closed when he hears Schwarz have returned. Omi can never forget Ouka, he thinks, and speaks only of Crawford as someone who wants to build bridges, who showed good-will to him.
"Omi, please," he says. "I can't explain it, but I know Crawford wants to see Nagi like I want to see Aya-chan."
Omi looks at him in pity.
"Naoe Nagi is not like Aya-chan," he says finally.
"Of course," Aya says, "but --"
"Aya --" Omi pauses, shakes his head. "I'll speak with Crawford," he says. "I'll speak with Nagi too."
Aya breathes again.
* * *
It feels like he has never left Tokyo. Crawford keeps a respectful look on his face as Takatori Mamoru looks at him in distrust and calculation, no longer an innocent.
"I'm advised you do not break contracts. Yet you didn't protect Takatori Reiji from Weiß," Takatori says.
"He had already removed Schwarz from our position as bodyguards, we were no longer under obligation to keep him safe," Crawford says. He wonders if Nagi told Takatori how much he enjoyed holding down the guards for Farfarello.
"I'm advised only you and Schuldig are seeking employment," Takatori says, his voice chill.
"Yes." The boy should learn to hide his emotions better. "Farfarello won't come to Japan."
"Hn. Why should I employ Eszett personnel?"
"We're not Eszett." Crawford drops the act and leans over the desk. "And we're far superior to your people. I'm sure you've been advised of that, Mr Takatori. False modesty has never been one of Naoe Nagi's failings."
The boy tries to stare him down. "You'd be subordinate to Naoe-san."
"Acceptable." He can handle Nagi.
"What did you do to Fujimiya Aya?" Takatori asks softly.
"I've shown Mr Fujimiya that we're not enemies," Crawford says.
Takatori nods. They're in.
* * *
Schuldig isn't amused to be told that Nagi will co-ordinate Schwarz's first job for Takatori.
"I'm going to kick him from one end of Japan to the other," he mutters, frowning as Crawford takes a painfully-indrawn breath.
"Are you seeing anything?" Schuldig asks.
"Death. Fire."
"I won't get myself roasted," Schuldig says, offhand.
Crawford looks aside. When he speaks, it's in his calm professional voice.
"Nagi says Rosenkreuz is after us. Berger's team is what's following us."
Schuldig looks at him and pretends he's calm. He thinks he himself hears the flames. Berger always has a pyrokinetic on his team.
* * *
Crawford's headache hasn't lifted since coming to Japan, the shifting futures jostling for space in his mind. He has a prescription he could fill, but he uses Schuldig's instead. Telepaths' headaches make his look like an excuse, and Schuldig's pills mean he still gets the visions, but now they are cushioned and merely interesting.
You'll fucking melt your brain.
So don't give them to me.
Schuldig's long-suffering sigh reverberates in his mind.
Right now, Crawford can see absolutely nothing important happening this evening. So he's in Aya's room, drinking imported whisky. The muted lighting makes Aya's hair seem an even richer colour. There's a mental hiss of irritation, and he knows Schuldig is gone.
"I'm seeing Nagi," he says. "Thank you, Ran."
Aya smiles at him, wide and honest. His pleasure is real, Crawford knows, and makes him look even lovelier. Far too much whisky, Crawford thinks. He wants to make Aya happy. He's always believed in giving value for value, even if Schuldig laughs at him as a failed Calvinist.
"Ran. Go see your sister. Just go."
Aya takes his hand and pulls him close for a kiss. Crawford holds him tight, burying his hands in Aya's beautiful hair.
* * *
Aya stands outside the flower shop for almost an hour, until he's sure he looks like a madman or a pervert. People come and go, and he sees that business is not as brisk as he remembers. Shortly before the shop will close he rushes forward, one step ahead of his fear, and throws open the door.
"Good afterno--"
Her voice fades away. They stand in silence, staring at each other, then they're both running. A flowerpot falls and shatters, then Aya-chan slams into him, throws her arms tight about him as he clings on to her as if he will never let go. Her hair smells sweet against his face as he sobs.
"Aya," he says at last, his voice hoarse. "Aya." He is glad he can cry. It is something he could not have done only a few months ago. For a few brief moments the world is as it should be, and he is home at last. She touches his hair with hands dirty from re-potting plants.
"Brother," she says, "oh, Ran."
Only one other person calls him that. He hears a murderer's voice, feels a murderer's arms wrapped tight about him.
He is cold as ice.
* * *
Crawford sits patiently. Finally the door opens.
"Crawford," Nagi says.
He is taller, looks older. A year should not have changed him so much.
"Nagi."
Nagi's gaze is steady, he seems as quiet as ever. Like all the best lies - like Crawford and Aya - it has a measure of truth, but Crawford knows what can happen if the quiet breaks.
"Schuldig was eager to come."
"Did you think it more courteous not to involve telepathy in this meeting?" Nagi asks. "No matter. Takatori thinks we can't work together."
"We worked together long enough," Crawford says.
"In the past, Team Leader. This is not your team."
"We have a common goal," Crawford says. Nagi's still Schwarz, even if he wants to pretend otherwise.
Nagi seems suddenly almost agitated.
"Crawford, listen to me. We can make something new for ourselves. We don't have to be locked in by the past. If Farfarello can have a normal life so can we."
"Whatever Farfarello has isn't normal," Crawford says wryly. "The current situation -- why are Rosenkreuz hunting their alumnae?"
"Someone killed several of their agents recently."
"Who?" Crawford asks.
Nagi smiles in a way no one outside of Schwarz has ever seen.
"Me."
* * *
"So Nagi's a Kritiker and we get to back up Weiß?"
Crawford looks conciliatory. In Schuldig's opinion it's not a look he can pull off.
"Takatori will see our use."
"We should have stayed in America."
"Rosenkreuz," Crawford says. "Berger's team of hunters."
Schuldig picks at a spot on the table irritably. This is so stupid. Next Crawford will tell him they have nine-to-five jobs and should take up golf.
"After we kill Berger, do we still work for Takatori?"
"For now."
Schuldig looks up quickly. Crawford is smiling.
"Nagi won't want to stay a salaryman forever," he says.
Schuldig grins.
* * *
Omi wants Aya to stand with Weiß. He doesn't want to, but can hardly refuse. At least he is not team leader. Neither Ken nor Yohji look well, and the new member has a bruised look in his eyes.
"It's been a while," Ken says, and ignores him.
"Yohji," Aya says, "Omi said you were in Germany."
"Yeah," Yohji says. "Killing girls. It's something I've a real talent for."
"Yohji," Aya says in horror.
"Ah, leave him be," Ken says from the couch. "He's just tired."
"Yeah," Yohji says. "I'll be OK."
None of them ask what he's been doing in America, how he's been living. None of them ask about Aya-chan. He finds himself taking up his old position by reflex, leaning against the wall, arms defensively crossed. It doesn't feel good to be back.
It's a relief when the woman who showed him into Omi's office enters and begins the mission briefing. It's more of a relief when Omi shows up. Looking at the others' blank faces, Aya realises that he is the only one who knew who controlled Weiß. The atmosphere feels strained, hostile.
"This is the last time," Aya says, afterwards.
"Yes," Omi says. "It is."
* * *
Crawford stands beside Schuldig, looking down at the scene from a high roof. Schuldig is sulking, glaring down at Weiß and the Eszett enemies they face.
"It's insulting, us being left as back up," he says.
"Things will change," Crawford says absently. It looks like Eszett's experiments have borne fruit. The creatures fighting Weiß are inhuman in their movements despite their childish appearance. He's glad he was taken to Rosenkreuz years ago rather than now. He stiffens as the future chases across his vision.
"What was that? What did you see?" Schuldig says, turning to him.
"Nothing. Stay out of my mind."
"Excuse me for being interested."
It's difficult to hear him over the flames and the coming storm. Crawford regrets not taking the painkillers. He gets a quick flash of Aya, strangling. He doesn't pause before speaking.
"Schuldig, tell Aya to watch out for Kudou."
"Trouble in the ranks?" Schuldig asks. "Right, he's warned. Shouldn't we get down there? Go inside?"
"Wait, wait," Crawford says, and the visions clear to show him clear skies after a storm, the rumble of thunder fading. "He's coming."
Schuldig leans out over the edge, grinning.
"Now this really is a reunion," he says.
* * *
The bullets hang in mid-air before Aya's face, then fall to the ground. He hears footsteps coming closer and spins round.
Fujimiya. Watch out for Kudou, he's planning something.
He spares a quick glance back up towards where Crawford said he'd be.
Who did you think was speaking to you?
Nagi stands, unarmed, facing the Eszett children. He seems coldly indifferent to his surroundings.
"Don't move," he says, "you'll live if you don't."
The children throw themselves at him, and Aya watches, appalled, as their limbs distort and break, leaving them helpless on the ground.
"I'd really advise you to stop," Nagi says. He steps casually over the bodies and Weiß form up to meet him. His eyes are blank and cold. Aya remembers the thin, small child who came unarmed and fearless to tell him to exchange Aya-chan for Sakura. He has never looked at Nagi's eyes till now. This is what Crawford came to Tokyo to meet. This was never a child, he thinks. He has his sword half-drawn when Nagi looks straight at him.
"Fujimiya Aya," he says as Omi runs between them.
"Nagi-kun is our partner!" Omi yells.
This isn't Omi, Aya thinks.
Nagi walks on.
* * *
It's time. Schuldig rolls his shoulders and grins in excitement.
"Ready?" he asks.
"Yes," Crawford says.
He sounds like his old self. It takes someone who knows him really well to hear the strain. Fujimiya would be fooled outright.
"I suppose this city's not so bad," Schuldig says. "Good seafood, anyway."
Crawford looks at him with that exasperated expression that means he's trying not to laugh.
"I'll buy you sushi later," he says.
"Good," Schuldig says. He wants to say more, but they never have, and to do so now would be to say too much.
They can talk later.
* * *
Aya sees Yohji step behind him, and tenses for attack. The wire loops around his neck, but Yohji doesn't seem to want to kill him just yet.
"Don't go in there!" Yohji says. "Leave them be. They'll make me someone new, someone who doesn't have to remember."
"You're talking about Eszett," Aya says, as the others stop and look at them in horror. "Is that what you want? The people who made those things, you want them touching your mind?"
Yohji doesn't look back at the fallen children.
"I just want to forget," he says, and yells at the others, "If you go in there, I swear I'll kill him!"
"Aya!" Omi yells, and he sounds so much like his old self that Aya wants to cry.
"Don't worry about me! Get in there and complete the mission!" Aya shouts, and brings his sword round fast. It severs the wire, which snaps back at Yohji. Aya should use the brief moment of surprise to his advantage, should run forward while Yohji staggers back. This is his friend he is facing, a friend who goes into combat stance with an angry, unhappy look on his face.
Aya does not run forward.
* * *
Crawford watches Berger confuse and torment the little Weiß fools. If it goes on much longer they'll kill each other and never know what happened. Berger stands to one side, a thoughtful look on his face as if he really has better things to be doing, but will allow his enemies the courtesy of waiting around till they're all dead. Berger's hair is green, precisely the colour Crawford always hated when Schuldig used to dye his hair. It must be a telepath thing, Crawford thinks.
"He's to your left," he says loudly, and the three Weiß agents jump and turn.
"Crawford," Berger says. "I've been looking for you."
"Here I am," Crawford says, and to the others, "get out of here, quick! I'll take care of him."
They run, and Berger faces him, calm.
Crawford rushes him in an attack he knows Berger isn't expecting. Berger expects to be shot, to have the rest of Schwarz attack while Crawford distracts him. These futures are clear to him. Berger flings up a hand and grasps his, and Crawford feels claws sink deep into his mind. Something wrenches inside and he feels blood running down his face.
Fortune teller, Berger thinks scornfully.
* * *
Schuldig tracks his quarry down by the sharp tang of fear in the minds of Weiß. Hidaka and some kid Schuldig doesn't know are facing, oh fuck, Giesl.
Schuldig looks at what's left of the door. The bastard has melted through metal. Well, maybe he's tired himself out and will only be able to blow smoke-rings.
Inside Schuldig hears a harsh German accent calling Schwarz failures. This is it. This is Crawford's vision, he thinks. He takes a deep, hot metal-scented breath. Time to make a good entrance.
Hey! Who are you calling a failure?
He steps into the flames.
* * *
Aya and Yohji have been fighting forever. Yohji always annoyed him in the flower shop, with his lax attitude to timekeeping and his disturbing remarks about young girls. Yohji is really annoying him now he's trying to kill Aya, but not so much that Aya wants to kill him in return. It's with relief that Aya manages to manoeuvre him round, and to run into the building.
It's even better to meet up with the others, and have Yohji confronted with the truth about his new allies. Even for Eszett they're crazy, Aya thinks. Yohji's face clears and something like his old sense of humour comes back into his eyes as he squares off against his Eszett girlfriend.
"Go on!" he yells. "I can deal with her!"
Aya looks at him and pauses. He shouts, "Are you sure?"
"Yeah," Yohji grins. "I told you, I've got a real talent for this kind of thing."
Aya doesn't hesitate. He acts on trust that this really is the old Yohji, that this really is his friend. He turns and runs, determined to find the heart and brains of this Eszett operation and to finish this.
Once it's over, he can go home.
* * *
Crawford is dying. He's angry and scared and can't do a damn thing. Berger is killing him, slowly and thoroughly.
Crawford. Hold him down.
Nagi?
Crawford can't see the future. It is completely shut off to him. So he acts on trust that he really does hear Nagi, and that Nagi is still in some form his ally. He imagines flinging himself on Berger, and feels Nagi all around. Another painful wrenching and he is free of Berger's mind and safe in his own again. Berger looks disoriented, then Berger looks very dead as the force that rolls through Crawford's mind takes form and pierces him through the heart. It looks like Farfarello, but it feels purely like Nagi. Something new, Crawford.
Crawford opens his eyes and collapses. He's soaked in his own blood and has the worst headache of his life. He doesn't mind. It proves he's still alive. Something new, he thinks. Thank God, you little bastard.
The future skates across his mind and his eyes widen. Bombs, and neither Schuldig nor Aya know about them. Aya has Weiß to get him out, he tells himself. Schuldig only has him. He struggles up and staggers towards the door.
* * *
Schuldig backs up against hot metal. Flames are all around him; it's getting harder to breathe. Giesl is really pissing him off with his superciliousness and his fucking more-German-than-thou accent. The bastard plays with a ball of fire, ready to incinerate him.
Schuldig. Do as I say.
Nagi?
He doesn't waste time on the whys and wherefores, just throws his jacket as instructed, and Giesl distractedly watches it. With the last bit of speed he has left, he's across the room and behind the bastard.
"Surprise," Schuldig says, and snaps his neck.
Nagi's giving him pointers?
"Smart-ass kid," he mutters.
* * *
"Yohji!" Aya screams as the explosions rock the building.
He watches the masonry falling and runs forward. His mind is a white blank as he pulls Yohji up and looks around for a safe exit. Omi has already dragged Ken away. Aya drapes one of Yohji's arms across his shoulders and makes him take step after unsteady step. He has no thought except to keep them moving. If he starts to think, his confusion over the friends who are enemies and the enemies who are friends will make him falter.
"M'head hurts," Yohji slurs. "Drank too much."
There is blood running down his face, blood darkening his hair. His steps are getting less and less steady. Aya refuses to think about it.
"Yeah," he says, as they take step after step after step. He's almost dragging Yohji along bodily now. "Ken's had to cover your shift. He says he's going to kill you."
"Don't think -- don't think he'll have to," Yohji whispers. "Get the hell out, Aya."
Aya doesn't bother answering.
This way.
The dust swirls apart and he gets a glimpse of a thin, dark boy. Aya blinks, and the figure is gone.
He drags Yohji in that direction.
* * *
Crawford!
He gets a response at last and grabs onto Crawford's mind, running down the corridors till he sees him.
"Bomb," Crawford says as Schuldig stops him falling. He looks like shit, and Schuldig knows that he himself looks no better.
They run but it's too late. As they fall someone catches Crawford. Schuldig looks up at Nagi, who makes the Schwarz look shit count three for three.
"About time," he says.
"I'm too tired to do this again," Nagi says, a familiar complaint, taking Schuldig's wrist in a wiry grip.
"Do what?" Schuldig says.
Their surroundings twist and distort.
* * *
Aya turns away from Ken's bedside. The doctors say he'll live, but he looks too pale, too much like Aya-chan did for Aya to be easy. Yohji's sleeping, and looks peaceful. He'll be all right, Aya thinks, Yohji has a hard head.
He lets himself begin to think about things, remembering the familiar weight of his sword in his hands, the feeling of having his team around him. It had felt right, but he doesn't want to be a killer any more. He doesn't want his friends to be killers either.
"Aya," Omi says.
"I thought Weiß was finished," Aya says quietly.
"It is now. What do you want, Aya?"
He wants to go home. He wants Omi's eyes to be young again. He wants Crawford's arms about him. He wants it to be the morning of Aya-chan's sixteenth birthday and to persuade his parents to come with them to the fair. He wants to work in the flower shop with the others. He wants not to know anyone who has ever killed another human being.
"Omi," he begins.
"Mamoru."
Omi looks ashamed.
"Thank you for looking after my sister, Takatori Mamoru-san," Aya says, and turns away.
Everything is over.
* * *
Crawford lies in a hospital bed, giving thanks for the Takatori medical plan. Schuldig is pacing up and down, to the nurses' disgust. He has a burn mark on his face and has lost a lot of his hair and is in a foul mood. Nagi is watching him, a distant, supercilious expression on his face, the one that never fails to make Schuldig furious.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Schuldig says, "refusing to meet us, ordering us round on the fucking phone, refusing to meet me --"
"I'm meeting you now, aren't I?" Nagi says, and his voice is so familiarly sulky that Crawford begins to laugh weakly.
They both look at him like he's lost his mind.
"We have to talk," Nagi says.
"Damn right we have to talk," Schuldig says. "Telepathy? Teleportation? How the hell --"
"My Eszett file said I showed potential," Nagi says. "They were right." He looks down at the floor shyly, letting his hair fall over his face. He looks like a particularly filthy twelve-year-old.
"Come off it," Schuldig says. "That act never worked on us."
"Gentlemen," Crawford says warningly as Nagi scowls. They both shut up, deferring to him automatically.
Good.
* * *
Aya is a stubborn man, who refuses help. Ran wants to be a different person. He humbly accepts the help Omi offers, the equivalent of the insurance that he and Aya-chan would have received if their parents' death had not been judged a suicide. Aya-chan can finish her schooling, even go to college if she wants. He tells himself he will think about that for himself too. Right now it's enough to be with Aya-chan.
He says his goodbyes. Omi is unreachable, enclosed behind walls of secretaries and assistants. Ken is troubled, vainly trying to hide his break-down. Yohji has never woken up. Weiß is gone at last.
He has a phone number he should ring. Days after he first meant to, he calls Crawford and asks to see him.
"I want a normal life," he says. "My sister -- I need to take care of her. Weiß -- the others -- Omi should never have brought them back together. None of us are who we should be."
Crawford looks at him steadily.
"You want something new," he says.
"Yes."
"You're saying goodbye."
"Yes."
"Ran," Crawford says after a pause. "I don't --" He stops. "Never mind."
They look at each other in silence.
* * *
Crawford knows this moment had to come. He has got what he wanted from Aya and it's right that the ties should be cut. He has most of his team, he has a backer who wants the remnants of Eszett stamped out and who doesn't see how bored Nagi will be once that's accomplished. It's right that this should come to an end.
He's just surprised by his emotional reaction, that's all. For this to work he had to get involved. The best lies don't stray too far from the truth, but Crawford has always prided himself on his clear-headedness. He has never before preferred the lie. He hears himself about to plead, and stops. He wants to, but can't. Pleading with Schuldig, pleading with Aya -- he doesn't know how he came to be this person. He wants to seize Aya, wants to keep him close, wants to make him somehow Schwarz, wants on some level to see Schuldig's look of disgust. He wants to tell Aya that even Schwarz are something new, that he doesn't have to go. He wants to say in words the things he doesn't have to say to Schuldig.
He does none of these things.
* * *
III. One Year Later
Aya doesn't want to go to the film premiere, but Omi's sent tickets, and Aya-chan is overjoyed at the idea of seeing Brad Pitt in person. She likes the film, although Aya isn't convinced by any character's skill with a sword. At the reception he shepherds Aya-chan through the crowd, telling her she can't have anything alcoholic.
"I'm almost twenty-one, Brother," she laughs.
"You're still my little sister," he says as Omi appears before them.
"Let me save you from this tyrant, Aya-chan," he says. "Come and meet the stars."
"Oh, Mamoru-san!" she squeals. "Come on, Brother!"
"You go," he says. He wanders round for a time, scanning the crowd. It's a large gathering, there's a Takatori present, therefore -- he doesn't let himself finish the thought.
The sudden laughter in his head is particularly mocking.
Hey, Fujimiya. Crawford says hi.
He sees them, watching him. Crawford lifts a hand and waves, smiling slightly. He looks well. As Aya waves back, Aya-chan rushes over, clutching her autograph-book.
"Do you know those gaijin?" she asks, curious.
"I used to," he smiles.
He looks back, but they're gone. It's all right. He kisses the top of Aya-chan's head. He has everything he needs.
* * * * * * * * * *
II. Japan
Before they board the plane, Crawford accesses an email account from a public terminal. He hesitates over which address to send to, but decides that any will do. They will all feed into the real account quickly enough. He enters two words, and the mail is sent.
This is what he writes: pepper artichoke.
This is what it means: team inbound, backup required.
They have a series of such random codes. He remembers Nagi trying not to giggle at the names of vegetables, and knows he won't have forgotten.
The flight is dull, but comfortable. None of them could face another long cramped journey. He spends the first hour talking with Aya, then when both his companions are asleep goes over plan after plan in his mind.
In Narita they are crossing the crowded concourse when the announcement comes.
"Passenger Crawford, recently arrived from Honolulu, please pick up a courtesy telephone."
He finds one. He picks it up. His voice is calm and controlled.
"Crawford," he says.
"Why are you here?"
"This isn't the place. Where can we meet?"
"Explain now."
He hesitates. This isn't quite the boy he remembers. But it's someone with the resources he needs.
He explains.
* * *
The hotel is luxurious and expensive. Aya is not impressed. He has killed in rooms like these, and Crawford's room in New York was better.
He feels unsettled and unsure of himself. Tokyo looks as it always did, and smaller than he remembers. He wants the world to be full of possibility and mystery as it was when he was a boy, as it was in Crawford's arms. Instead he sees the city he has known all his life, the signs offering him long-known items and amusements.
He should go to Aya-chan. He imagines her face, he imagines holding her, keeping her safe forever. She does not need his protection now, he thinks, and does not go. She is under Takatori protection. He puts his hands flat against the glass, looking down on the city. He owes Takatori a debt. What will Omi ask of him?
He stares down at the cars below. Something terrible is following them, he knows. Crawford hasn't told him the whole truth. He cannot pretend otherwise, here in this city he knows, watching Schwarz run back to their old masters. He owes Crawford a debt. He'll repay it, and Crawford will tell him the truth.
* * *
"He won't meet with us?"
Schuldig cannot believe what he's hearing.
"Not yet."
"Nagi's really a fucking Kritiker."
It's funny, all at once.
"Can we be Kritiker too?"
"Don't leave," Crawford says.
"Does it pay well? Do we have to believe in good, right and justice?"
"Don't leave."
Schuldig looks at him, shaking his head.
"Is this your plan? Is this necessary?"
"Schuldig," Crawford says, and his voice is thin, "please, don't leave."
Even the silence is expensive in this hotel. Schuldig looks away.
"I came back," he says.
He doesn't like being the one with this sort of power.
* * *
Aya follows the woman into a large room. It is richly, tastefully furnished. Omi stands in the centre, looking more at home than he should. There are lines under his eyes, and he looks far older than Aya remembers.
"Hello," he says, and the voice is the same.
"Hello, Omi," Aya says, and watches him hide some change of expression. "It's good to see you."
"Aya," Omi says, and he isn't Takatori at all. "Are you well?"
"Yes," Aya says. "I have something to ask you, Omi. A favour."
He tells Omi almost everything. He would keep nothing back, but he sees Omi's face go still and closed when he hears Schwarz have returned. Omi can never forget Ouka, he thinks, and speaks only of Crawford as someone who wants to build bridges, who showed good-will to him.
"Omi, please," he says. "I can't explain it, but I know Crawford wants to see Nagi like I want to see Aya-chan."
Omi looks at him in pity.
"Naoe Nagi is not like Aya-chan," he says finally.
"Of course," Aya says, "but --"
"Aya --" Omi pauses, shakes his head. "I'll speak with Crawford," he says. "I'll speak with Nagi too."
Aya breathes again.
* * *
It feels like he has never left Tokyo. Crawford keeps a respectful look on his face as Takatori Mamoru looks at him in distrust and calculation, no longer an innocent.
"I'm advised you do not break contracts. Yet you didn't protect Takatori Reiji from Weiß," Takatori says.
"He had already removed Schwarz from our position as bodyguards, we were no longer under obligation to keep him safe," Crawford says. He wonders if Nagi told Takatori how much he enjoyed holding down the guards for Farfarello.
"I'm advised only you and Schuldig are seeking employment," Takatori says, his voice chill.
"Yes." The boy should learn to hide his emotions better. "Farfarello won't come to Japan."
"Hn. Why should I employ Eszett personnel?"
"We're not Eszett." Crawford drops the act and leans over the desk. "And we're far superior to your people. I'm sure you've been advised of that, Mr Takatori. False modesty has never been one of Naoe Nagi's failings."
The boy tries to stare him down. "You'd be subordinate to Naoe-san."
"Acceptable." He can handle Nagi.
"What did you do to Fujimiya Aya?" Takatori asks softly.
"I've shown Mr Fujimiya that we're not enemies," Crawford says.
Takatori nods. They're in.
* * *
Schuldig isn't amused to be told that Nagi will co-ordinate Schwarz's first job for Takatori.
"I'm going to kick him from one end of Japan to the other," he mutters, frowning as Crawford takes a painfully-indrawn breath.
"Are you seeing anything?" Schuldig asks.
"Death. Fire."
"I won't get myself roasted," Schuldig says, offhand.
Crawford looks aside. When he speaks, it's in his calm professional voice.
"Nagi says Rosenkreuz is after us. Berger's team is what's following us."
Schuldig looks at him and pretends he's calm. He thinks he himself hears the flames. Berger always has a pyrokinetic on his team.
* * *
Crawford's headache hasn't lifted since coming to Japan, the shifting futures jostling for space in his mind. He has a prescription he could fill, but he uses Schuldig's instead. Telepaths' headaches make his look like an excuse, and Schuldig's pills mean he still gets the visions, but now they are cushioned and merely interesting.
You'll fucking melt your brain.
So don't give them to me.
Schuldig's long-suffering sigh reverberates in his mind.
Right now, Crawford can see absolutely nothing important happening this evening. So he's in Aya's room, drinking imported whisky. The muted lighting makes Aya's hair seem an even richer colour. There's a mental hiss of irritation, and he knows Schuldig is gone.
"I'm seeing Nagi," he says. "Thank you, Ran."
Aya smiles at him, wide and honest. His pleasure is real, Crawford knows, and makes him look even lovelier. Far too much whisky, Crawford thinks. He wants to make Aya happy. He's always believed in giving value for value, even if Schuldig laughs at him as a failed Calvinist.
"Ran. Go see your sister. Just go."
Aya takes his hand and pulls him close for a kiss. Crawford holds him tight, burying his hands in Aya's beautiful hair.
* * *
Aya stands outside the flower shop for almost an hour, until he's sure he looks like a madman or a pervert. People come and go, and he sees that business is not as brisk as he remembers. Shortly before the shop will close he rushes forward, one step ahead of his fear, and throws open the door.
"Good afterno--"
Her voice fades away. They stand in silence, staring at each other, then they're both running. A flowerpot falls and shatters, then Aya-chan slams into him, throws her arms tight about him as he clings on to her as if he will never let go. Her hair smells sweet against his face as he sobs.
"Aya," he says at last, his voice hoarse. "Aya." He is glad he can cry. It is something he could not have done only a few months ago. For a few brief moments the world is as it should be, and he is home at last. She touches his hair with hands dirty from re-potting plants.
"Brother," she says, "oh, Ran."
Only one other person calls him that. He hears a murderer's voice, feels a murderer's arms wrapped tight about him.
He is cold as ice.
* * *
Crawford sits patiently. Finally the door opens.
"Crawford," Nagi says.
He is taller, looks older. A year should not have changed him so much.
"Nagi."
Nagi's gaze is steady, he seems as quiet as ever. Like all the best lies - like Crawford and Aya - it has a measure of truth, but Crawford knows what can happen if the quiet breaks.
"Schuldig was eager to come."
"Did you think it more courteous not to involve telepathy in this meeting?" Nagi asks. "No matter. Takatori thinks we can't work together."
"We worked together long enough," Crawford says.
"In the past, Team Leader. This is not your team."
"We have a common goal," Crawford says. Nagi's still Schwarz, even if he wants to pretend otherwise.
Nagi seems suddenly almost agitated.
"Crawford, listen to me. We can make something new for ourselves. We don't have to be locked in by the past. If Farfarello can have a normal life so can we."
"Whatever Farfarello has isn't normal," Crawford says wryly. "The current situation -- why are Rosenkreuz hunting their alumnae?"
"Someone killed several of their agents recently."
"Who?" Crawford asks.
Nagi smiles in a way no one outside of Schwarz has ever seen.
"Me."
* * *
"So Nagi's a Kritiker and we get to back up Weiß?"
Crawford looks conciliatory. In Schuldig's opinion it's not a look he can pull off.
"Takatori will see our use."
"We should have stayed in America."
"Rosenkreuz," Crawford says. "Berger's team of hunters."
Schuldig picks at a spot on the table irritably. This is so stupid. Next Crawford will tell him they have nine-to-five jobs and should take up golf.
"After we kill Berger, do we still work for Takatori?"
"For now."
Schuldig looks up quickly. Crawford is smiling.
"Nagi won't want to stay a salaryman forever," he says.
Schuldig grins.
* * *
Omi wants Aya to stand with Weiß. He doesn't want to, but can hardly refuse. At least he is not team leader. Neither Ken nor Yohji look well, and the new member has a bruised look in his eyes.
"It's been a while," Ken says, and ignores him.
"Yohji," Aya says, "Omi said you were in Germany."
"Yeah," Yohji says. "Killing girls. It's something I've a real talent for."
"Yohji," Aya says in horror.
"Ah, leave him be," Ken says from the couch. "He's just tired."
"Yeah," Yohji says. "I'll be OK."
None of them ask what he's been doing in America, how he's been living. None of them ask about Aya-chan. He finds himself taking up his old position by reflex, leaning against the wall, arms defensively crossed. It doesn't feel good to be back.
It's a relief when the woman who showed him into Omi's office enters and begins the mission briefing. It's more of a relief when Omi shows up. Looking at the others' blank faces, Aya realises that he is the only one who knew who controlled Weiß. The atmosphere feels strained, hostile.
"This is the last time," Aya says, afterwards.
"Yes," Omi says. "It is."
* * *
Crawford stands beside Schuldig, looking down at the scene from a high roof. Schuldig is sulking, glaring down at Weiß and the Eszett enemies they face.
"It's insulting, us being left as back up," he says.
"Things will change," Crawford says absently. It looks like Eszett's experiments have borne fruit. The creatures fighting Weiß are inhuman in their movements despite their childish appearance. He's glad he was taken to Rosenkreuz years ago rather than now. He stiffens as the future chases across his vision.
"What was that? What did you see?" Schuldig says, turning to him.
"Nothing. Stay out of my mind."
"Excuse me for being interested."
It's difficult to hear him over the flames and the coming storm. Crawford regrets not taking the painkillers. He gets a quick flash of Aya, strangling. He doesn't pause before speaking.
"Schuldig, tell Aya to watch out for Kudou."
"Trouble in the ranks?" Schuldig asks. "Right, he's warned. Shouldn't we get down there? Go inside?"
"Wait, wait," Crawford says, and the visions clear to show him clear skies after a storm, the rumble of thunder fading. "He's coming."
Schuldig leans out over the edge, grinning.
"Now this really is a reunion," he says.
* * *
The bullets hang in mid-air before Aya's face, then fall to the ground. He hears footsteps coming closer and spins round.
Fujimiya. Watch out for Kudou, he's planning something.
He spares a quick glance back up towards where Crawford said he'd be.
Who did you think was speaking to you?
Nagi stands, unarmed, facing the Eszett children. He seems coldly indifferent to his surroundings.
"Don't move," he says, "you'll live if you don't."
The children throw themselves at him, and Aya watches, appalled, as their limbs distort and break, leaving them helpless on the ground.
"I'd really advise you to stop," Nagi says. He steps casually over the bodies and Weiß form up to meet him. His eyes are blank and cold. Aya remembers the thin, small child who came unarmed and fearless to tell him to exchange Aya-chan for Sakura. He has never looked at Nagi's eyes till now. This is what Crawford came to Tokyo to meet. This was never a child, he thinks. He has his sword half-drawn when Nagi looks straight at him.
"Fujimiya Aya," he says as Omi runs between them.
"Nagi-kun is our partner!" Omi yells.
This isn't Omi, Aya thinks.
Nagi walks on.
* * *
It's time. Schuldig rolls his shoulders and grins in excitement.
"Ready?" he asks.
"Yes," Crawford says.
He sounds like his old self. It takes someone who knows him really well to hear the strain. Fujimiya would be fooled outright.
"I suppose this city's not so bad," Schuldig says. "Good seafood, anyway."
Crawford looks at him with that exasperated expression that means he's trying not to laugh.
"I'll buy you sushi later," he says.
"Good," Schuldig says. He wants to say more, but they never have, and to do so now would be to say too much.
They can talk later.
* * *
Aya sees Yohji step behind him, and tenses for attack. The wire loops around his neck, but Yohji doesn't seem to want to kill him just yet.
"Don't go in there!" Yohji says. "Leave them be. They'll make me someone new, someone who doesn't have to remember."
"You're talking about Eszett," Aya says, as the others stop and look at them in horror. "Is that what you want? The people who made those things, you want them touching your mind?"
Yohji doesn't look back at the fallen children.
"I just want to forget," he says, and yells at the others, "If you go in there, I swear I'll kill him!"
"Aya!" Omi yells, and he sounds so much like his old self that Aya wants to cry.
"Don't worry about me! Get in there and complete the mission!" Aya shouts, and brings his sword round fast. It severs the wire, which snaps back at Yohji. Aya should use the brief moment of surprise to his advantage, should run forward while Yohji staggers back. This is his friend he is facing, a friend who goes into combat stance with an angry, unhappy look on his face.
Aya does not run forward.
* * *
Crawford watches Berger confuse and torment the little Weiß fools. If it goes on much longer they'll kill each other and never know what happened. Berger stands to one side, a thoughtful look on his face as if he really has better things to be doing, but will allow his enemies the courtesy of waiting around till they're all dead. Berger's hair is green, precisely the colour Crawford always hated when Schuldig used to dye his hair. It must be a telepath thing, Crawford thinks.
"He's to your left," he says loudly, and the three Weiß agents jump and turn.
"Crawford," Berger says. "I've been looking for you."
"Here I am," Crawford says, and to the others, "get out of here, quick! I'll take care of him."
They run, and Berger faces him, calm.
Crawford rushes him in an attack he knows Berger isn't expecting. Berger expects to be shot, to have the rest of Schwarz attack while Crawford distracts him. These futures are clear to him. Berger flings up a hand and grasps his, and Crawford feels claws sink deep into his mind. Something wrenches inside and he feels blood running down his face.
Fortune teller, Berger thinks scornfully.
* * *
Schuldig tracks his quarry down by the sharp tang of fear in the minds of Weiß. Hidaka and some kid Schuldig doesn't know are facing, oh fuck, Giesl.
Schuldig looks at what's left of the door. The bastard has melted through metal. Well, maybe he's tired himself out and will only be able to blow smoke-rings.
Inside Schuldig hears a harsh German accent calling Schwarz failures. This is it. This is Crawford's vision, he thinks. He takes a deep, hot metal-scented breath. Time to make a good entrance.
Hey! Who are you calling a failure?
He steps into the flames.
* * *
Aya and Yohji have been fighting forever. Yohji always annoyed him in the flower shop, with his lax attitude to timekeeping and his disturbing remarks about young girls. Yohji is really annoying him now he's trying to kill Aya, but not so much that Aya wants to kill him in return. It's with relief that Aya manages to manoeuvre him round, and to run into the building.
It's even better to meet up with the others, and have Yohji confronted with the truth about his new allies. Even for Eszett they're crazy, Aya thinks. Yohji's face clears and something like his old sense of humour comes back into his eyes as he squares off against his Eszett girlfriend.
"Go on!" he yells. "I can deal with her!"
Aya looks at him and pauses. He shouts, "Are you sure?"
"Yeah," Yohji grins. "I told you, I've got a real talent for this kind of thing."
Aya doesn't hesitate. He acts on trust that this really is the old Yohji, that this really is his friend. He turns and runs, determined to find the heart and brains of this Eszett operation and to finish this.
Once it's over, he can go home.
* * *
Crawford is dying. He's angry and scared and can't do a damn thing. Berger is killing him, slowly and thoroughly.
Crawford. Hold him down.
Nagi?
Crawford can't see the future. It is completely shut off to him. So he acts on trust that he really does hear Nagi, and that Nagi is still in some form his ally. He imagines flinging himself on Berger, and feels Nagi all around. Another painful wrenching and he is free of Berger's mind and safe in his own again. Berger looks disoriented, then Berger looks very dead as the force that rolls through Crawford's mind takes form and pierces him through the heart. It looks like Farfarello, but it feels purely like Nagi. Something new, Crawford.
Crawford opens his eyes and collapses. He's soaked in his own blood and has the worst headache of his life. He doesn't mind. It proves he's still alive. Something new, he thinks. Thank God, you little bastard.
The future skates across his mind and his eyes widen. Bombs, and neither Schuldig nor Aya know about them. Aya has Weiß to get him out, he tells himself. Schuldig only has him. He struggles up and staggers towards the door.
* * *
Schuldig backs up against hot metal. Flames are all around him; it's getting harder to breathe. Giesl is really pissing him off with his superciliousness and his fucking more-German-than-thou accent. The bastard plays with a ball of fire, ready to incinerate him.
Schuldig. Do as I say.
Nagi?
He doesn't waste time on the whys and wherefores, just throws his jacket as instructed, and Giesl distractedly watches it. With the last bit of speed he has left, he's across the room and behind the bastard.
"Surprise," Schuldig says, and snaps his neck.
Nagi's giving him pointers?
"Smart-ass kid," he mutters.
* * *
"Yohji!" Aya screams as the explosions rock the building.
He watches the masonry falling and runs forward. His mind is a white blank as he pulls Yohji up and looks around for a safe exit. Omi has already dragged Ken away. Aya drapes one of Yohji's arms across his shoulders and makes him take step after unsteady step. He has no thought except to keep them moving. If he starts to think, his confusion over the friends who are enemies and the enemies who are friends will make him falter.
"M'head hurts," Yohji slurs. "Drank too much."
There is blood running down his face, blood darkening his hair. His steps are getting less and less steady. Aya refuses to think about it.
"Yeah," he says, as they take step after step after step. He's almost dragging Yohji along bodily now. "Ken's had to cover your shift. He says he's going to kill you."
"Don't think -- don't think he'll have to," Yohji whispers. "Get the hell out, Aya."
Aya doesn't bother answering.
This way.
The dust swirls apart and he gets a glimpse of a thin, dark boy. Aya blinks, and the figure is gone.
He drags Yohji in that direction.
* * *
Crawford!
He gets a response at last and grabs onto Crawford's mind, running down the corridors till he sees him.
"Bomb," Crawford says as Schuldig stops him falling. He looks like shit, and Schuldig knows that he himself looks no better.
They run but it's too late. As they fall someone catches Crawford. Schuldig looks up at Nagi, who makes the Schwarz look shit count three for three.
"About time," he says.
"I'm too tired to do this again," Nagi says, a familiar complaint, taking Schuldig's wrist in a wiry grip.
"Do what?" Schuldig says.
Their surroundings twist and distort.
* * *
Aya turns away from Ken's bedside. The doctors say he'll live, but he looks too pale, too much like Aya-chan did for Aya to be easy. Yohji's sleeping, and looks peaceful. He'll be all right, Aya thinks, Yohji has a hard head.
He lets himself begin to think about things, remembering the familiar weight of his sword in his hands, the feeling of having his team around him. It had felt right, but he doesn't want to be a killer any more. He doesn't want his friends to be killers either.
"Aya," Omi says.
"I thought Weiß was finished," Aya says quietly.
"It is now. What do you want, Aya?"
He wants to go home. He wants Omi's eyes to be young again. He wants Crawford's arms about him. He wants it to be the morning of Aya-chan's sixteenth birthday and to persuade his parents to come with them to the fair. He wants to work in the flower shop with the others. He wants not to know anyone who has ever killed another human being.
"Omi," he begins.
"Mamoru."
Omi looks ashamed.
"Thank you for looking after my sister, Takatori Mamoru-san," Aya says, and turns away.
Everything is over.
* * *
Crawford lies in a hospital bed, giving thanks for the Takatori medical plan. Schuldig is pacing up and down, to the nurses' disgust. He has a burn mark on his face and has lost a lot of his hair and is in a foul mood. Nagi is watching him, a distant, supercilious expression on his face, the one that never fails to make Schuldig furious.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Schuldig says, "refusing to meet us, ordering us round on the fucking phone, refusing to meet me --"
"I'm meeting you now, aren't I?" Nagi says, and his voice is so familiarly sulky that Crawford begins to laugh weakly.
They both look at him like he's lost his mind.
"We have to talk," Nagi says.
"Damn right we have to talk," Schuldig says. "Telepathy? Teleportation? How the hell --"
"My Eszett file said I showed potential," Nagi says. "They were right." He looks down at the floor shyly, letting his hair fall over his face. He looks like a particularly filthy twelve-year-old.
"Come off it," Schuldig says. "That act never worked on us."
"Gentlemen," Crawford says warningly as Nagi scowls. They both shut up, deferring to him automatically.
Good.
* * *
Aya is a stubborn man, who refuses help. Ran wants to be a different person. He humbly accepts the help Omi offers, the equivalent of the insurance that he and Aya-chan would have received if their parents' death had not been judged a suicide. Aya-chan can finish her schooling, even go to college if she wants. He tells himself he will think about that for himself too. Right now it's enough to be with Aya-chan.
He says his goodbyes. Omi is unreachable, enclosed behind walls of secretaries and assistants. Ken is troubled, vainly trying to hide his break-down. Yohji has never woken up. Weiß is gone at last.
He has a phone number he should ring. Days after he first meant to, he calls Crawford and asks to see him.
"I want a normal life," he says. "My sister -- I need to take care of her. Weiß -- the others -- Omi should never have brought them back together. None of us are who we should be."
Crawford looks at him steadily.
"You want something new," he says.
"Yes."
"You're saying goodbye."
"Yes."
"Ran," Crawford says after a pause. "I don't --" He stops. "Never mind."
They look at each other in silence.
* * *
Crawford knows this moment had to come. He has got what he wanted from Aya and it's right that the ties should be cut. He has most of his team, he has a backer who wants the remnants of Eszett stamped out and who doesn't see how bored Nagi will be once that's accomplished. It's right that this should come to an end.
He's just surprised by his emotional reaction, that's all. For this to work he had to get involved. The best lies don't stray too far from the truth, but Crawford has always prided himself on his clear-headedness. He has never before preferred the lie. He hears himself about to plead, and stops. He wants to, but can't. Pleading with Schuldig, pleading with Aya -- he doesn't know how he came to be this person. He wants to seize Aya, wants to keep him close, wants to make him somehow Schwarz, wants on some level to see Schuldig's look of disgust. He wants to tell Aya that even Schwarz are something new, that he doesn't have to go. He wants to say in words the things he doesn't have to say to Schuldig.
He does none of these things.
* * *
III. One Year Later
Aya doesn't want to go to the film premiere, but Omi's sent tickets, and Aya-chan is overjoyed at the idea of seeing Brad Pitt in person. She likes the film, although Aya isn't convinced by any character's skill with a sword. At the reception he shepherds Aya-chan through the crowd, telling her she can't have anything alcoholic.
"I'm almost twenty-one, Brother," she laughs.
"You're still my little sister," he says as Omi appears before them.
"Let me save you from this tyrant, Aya-chan," he says. "Come and meet the stars."
"Oh, Mamoru-san!" she squeals. "Come on, Brother!"
"You go," he says. He wanders round for a time, scanning the crowd. It's a large gathering, there's a Takatori present, therefore -- he doesn't let himself finish the thought.
The sudden laughter in his head is particularly mocking.
Hey, Fujimiya. Crawford says hi.
He sees them, watching him. Crawford lifts a hand and waves, smiling slightly. He looks well. As Aya waves back, Aya-chan rushes over, clutching her autograph-book.
"Do you know those gaijin?" she asks, curious.
"I used to," he smiles.
He looks back, but they're gone. It's all right. He kisses the top of Aya-chan's head. He has everything he needs.
* * * * * * * * * *