The Scars Remind Us

This chapter is a little Schwarz heavy, but I don\'t care. I like Schwarz. If you can figure out all the connections thus far, I really applaud you. Another warning, this story\'s gonna get even more complex and confusing before it all finally comes together and makes sense again.

And to the reviewers, you guys rock.

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\"Do you think you\'ve learned your lesson?\" Schuldig grinned, placing his hands on his hips and shifting his weight.

\"I never learn.\" Farfarello closed his eyes, savoring the feeling of the blood rushing into his head. It was simply excrutiating.

Schuldig laughed. The Irishman would never learn, so long as his suffering hurt God, as he liked to say. \"They told me to let you down.\" He put a hand back and sifted through locks of brilliant red hair. \"Ready?\"

The Irishman did not reply, but the redhead loosened his straps, anyway, letting him fall to the floor with a loud thud. Farfarello stood up, slowly, brushing bits of dust off his arm. The pressure on his skull was already starting to fade, leaving nothing but the faint remnant of a headache. What a shame. \"This pain was pathetic. Rozenkreuz knows nothing of torture.\"

\"Leaving you upside down for days on end doesn\'t seem to be doing much good anymore. Maybe you should give them some pointers.\" Schuldig turned, motioning for Berserker to follow.

\"Any word from Oracle?\"

\"No. Nothing.\" Schuldig\'s smile distorted into a disgusted sneer. \"Bastard\'s been too quiet, it\'s really starting to piss me off.\"

\"Do you want me to track him?\" Farfarello\'s head rolled unnaturally on his neck.

\"No. I don\'t think he\'s hiding anything. I\'ll hear from him any time now. He\'s knows we won\'t hesitate to kill him if he betrays us.\"

Farfarello laughed, one golden eye focusing on the back of Schuldig\'s head. \"He thinks he\'s untouchable.\"

\"He\'s a god amongst dolls, Farfarello, he knows there are still beings higher than he who pull his strings.\"

Farfarello frowned, unwrapping the gauze from around his left hand and gazing intently at the bone deep gash beneath. \"A god amongst dolls...\"

~~~~~~
Omi grabbed his books, stuffing them into his bookbag without a moment\'s thought, completely oblivious to the unsightly and crumpled pages of notebook paper that stuck out this way and that.

He knew he shouldn\'t have taken Yohji\'s advice and stayed for breakfast. He was late enough as it was.

By the time he reached class, the bells had already rung. The hallways were barren, as though ages had gone by since their use. Any essence of human existence had been wiped away by a janitor\'s sturdy hand. He was in for a lot of trouble, that much was certain, but he couldn\'t call in sick, not today. He\'d used up more than his given allotment of sick days on missions. He flung open the door to his classroom and shut his eyes.

He felt rows and rows of eyes fall on him as he entered, scanning him and passing whatever absurd judgement they willed. This was killing his school track record. Lucky he didn\'t expect to get into a great college after high school. By the look on his teacher\'s face, he was looking several days detention straight in the mouth. He sat down at his desk, trying to look as calm and ignorant as possible.

\"As I was saying, before the rude interruption, some of you may notice a new student in the classroom. Let me introduce Ishida Kaouru, a transfer student from Germany, apparently.\"

Omi let his eyes wander toward the boy under the spotlight. The boy was nothing special. Sure he was attractive, but nothing about him really stood out at first glance... except that he seemed a little familiar. Omi wondered where he\'d seen the boy before. The name didn\'t ring a bell, but...

Naoe Nagi.

The name just suddenly popped into his head. Then it all clicked. But why? Why was the youngest member of Schwarz here in his classroom? He pulled a torn piece of lined paper from his bag and started to write.

Moments later, there was a nudge in Nagi\'s side. He turned, facing the student beside him with his usual blank expression. \"Hey, Omi wanted me to give you this.\"

He unfolded the piece of paper carefully. \'Your name is not Ishida Kaouru.\'

Nagi glanced over at the blonde who had passed him the note. He had recognized the boy as a member of Weiss, one of his past enemies, but he had hoped the assassin would just leave him alone. He sighed. He should have done more research before enrolling in this class.

~~~~

Much to Omi\'s surprise, the teacher said nothing about a detention when the final bells rang. He gathered his books, glancing every now and then at the teacher, wondering if he was just waiting for the opportune moment. When nothing arose, Omi walked out the door into the hallway and sighed. He\'d lucked out for once. But then he stopped. Waiting there in the hallway was Nagi, books under one arm, staring in Omi\'s direction with that blank look. Omi frowned. He hated people who gave him that look. You could never tell when people like that were lying, or even what they are feeling on the inside. Part of him doubted Nagi felt anything at all.

\"A moment of your time, Tsukiono?\"

Omi slid his fingers into the corner of his bookbag, making sure he still had a few emergency darts stowed away. \"Make it quick.\"

\"There\'s no need for violence, I assure you.\" That same blank look. Omi was beginning to feel sick. \"I would like to ask for your help.\"

Omi snarled. \"Why would I help you? You\'re a member of Schwarz!\"

\"I do not work for them anymore. I haven\'t since the temple crumbled.\" Nagi blinked, once. \"I\'m looking for someone. Do you remember a girl named Tot?\"

\"Tot? From Shreient?\"

\"Yes.\"

\"She\'s dead! You saw her die yourself!\" Omi carefully wrapped his fingers around his darts.

Much to Omi\'s surprise, there was a sudden flinch in Nagi\'s exterior, his nose wrinkling ever so slightly. \"She is NOT dead! She can\'t be dead! I WILL find her, she\'s all I care about!\"

\"If you\'re so damned sure, why are you asking for my help?\"

Nagi cooled, glancing down at the floor momentarily. \"Because... I can\'t find her on my own, and I don\'t want to go back to Schwarz.\"

\"How do I know I can trust you?\" Omi glared at the boy.

\"You don\'t, but I\'m not asking you to trust me. I\'m asking for your help because I know the kind of person you are.\"

~~~~~~

Ken rolled onto his stomach once he realized his arm was going numb. He sighed heavily, wondering how long he could lay here before he just stopped breathing. That\'s what it always felt like when he laid on his stomach. He had to keep rolling, keep doing something, since he didn\'t quite want to get up. He figured he\'d get up as soon as Ran came out of the bathroom from doing whatever it was he did in there, but Ran had been in the bathroom for close to an hour... kind of like a woman. He laughed to himself. Ran was no lady, that was for sure.

The whole room smelled like Ran, and it was relaxing, but he wondered if he\'d ever sleep in his own room again at this rate. The other guys had promised him a new mattress, since his old one had been thrown away immediately following \'the incident\', but it hadn\'t really been set in motion. At least not that he\'d been informed of. But Yohji rarely told anyone what he was up to until it was too late.

Some of his things had already managed to migrate into Ran\'s room. There was a soccer ball rolling across the floor, a stack of his clothes in the corner, a video game console hooked up to Ran\'s T.V. If he hadn\'t been imposing before, he certainly was now. As much as he liked it, he kind of felt like it might be too early in their relationship for this, but Ran hadn\'t said a thing. Sometimes he still wondered what was going through the redhead\'s mind.

Finally he heard the door click open as Ran entered the room. He shifted his head over and caught glimpse of Ran ruffling his red locks with a towel, beads of water still dripping down his chest down to a pair of very...very low rising pajama pants. How sexy was that.

\"Yohji just left.\" Ran sat down on the edge of the bed, scanning the tanned figure of the brunette unconsiously. It passed his mind momentarily that he wished the boy were wearing less, shirtless, at least. \"He\'s going to pick up the mattress he bought you. He\'ll probably be back in...\" He gazed over at the clock on his nightstand. \"well, only ten or twenty minutes, now.\"

Ken smiled. \"You take waaaay too long in the bathroom for a guy, Ranran. What do you do in there, anyway?\"

Ran raised an eyebrow. \"That\'s my business, isn\'t it?\" His expression was broken by a smile. He\'d made the mistake of looking Ken in the eyes. He choked back a laugh. Ken was just too precious, looking at him trustingly with those big honey brown eyes.

Ken bit his lip, devilishly. \"I knew it! You masturbate!\"

Ran nearly burst out laughing, but managed to hold most of it back. \"Riiiight.\" He smiled wide. He just felt so free around Ken. He\'d never felt this way before around anyone, not even his sister. This boy was like a drug. Just his presence made him feel high, and he knew the more he was around him, the more of him he\'d want. And, for some reason, he didn\'t mind the thought of becoming absolutely addicted, absolutely dependant on this boy. He felt so out of character... and it was perfect.

Suddenly Ken broke the silence. \"Has anyone ever told you that everything about you is just painfully sexy?\"

\"Actually, I get that a lot.\"

Ken frowned. \"Now I don\'t feel so special.\"

Ran brushed a few chocolate locks from Ken\'s face. \"But it only means something coming from you.\" He felt warmed by the smile that then crossed his love\'s face. \"Has anyone ever told you that...\" Ran paused. He couldn\'t think of anything. He\'d never been great with words. \"I want to see you standing naked in the sunlight so that the sun would reflect a perfect golden hue on every curve of your already perfect physique.\"

\"This is soooo corny!\" Ken laughed and shifted onto his side, oblivious of the light pink that had already crept onto his cheeks.

\"Isn\'t it perfect?\" Ran leaned in and gently placed a kiss on Ken\'s lips, his thumb softly teasing the lobe of the younger boy\'s ear. \"But you should shower before Yohji gets back. You\'re a dirty boy.\"

Ken groaned, stuffing his face into the pillow. \"I don\'t wanna.\"

\"But you\'re gonna.\"

\"I know.\" Ken sat up, iritably, the sharp pinch far less painful than it had been the day before. \"But I bet there\'s no hot water left, you hog.\"

Ran smiled ever so slighly. \"Then you should have joined me when you had the chance.\"

Ken gathered up some clothes and bolted out the room as fast as he could, trying to hide the blush from the redhead. Unfortunately, he knew he\'d failed. Ran left the room only moments after Ken, heading back to the living room to wait for Yohji\'s return. After all, he\'d probably need help getting the mattress through the front door and into Ken\'s room. He frowned. He almost didn\'t want Yohji to return with the mattress. That would mean he\'d once again be deprived of that warmth he\'d never known he\'d needed until so very recently.

A little over five minutes had passed before Ran finally heard Yohji\'s car pull up in the driveway. Ran stood up, catching the doorknob when he heard the oldest assassin approach. Yohji had a shit eating grin on his face when he opened the door, but no mattress in hand. Ran shot him a questioning look.

\"Ran, I\'m gonna need your help with this guy.\" He slid sideways, allowing Ran a first glance at the monster atop his car. Ran\'s jaw dropped. And it wasn\'t just the mattress. It was a full king sized bed set, a boxspring, a frame, the whole deal. Ran\'s eyes shifted over to the blonde man. \"They must\'ve ordered the wrong size, ne?\" However, Yohji\'s smile told him otherwise.

\"Aren\'t you going overboard, Yohji?\" Ran half glared at his companion.

\"You guys are gonna have one of the biggest beds in Japan. Ken\'s gonna shit a brick when he sees this. So, I can have your bed now, right?\"

~~~~~~

The first thing Ken did once he saw the enormous bed was vault onto it, letting himself bounce several times before grinning excitedly at the other two men in the room. \"Wow, you guys! I\'ve never SEEN a bed this big before!\"

Yohji laughed. \"You might wanna put some sheets on before you get too comfortable, they\'re still out in the car if you want to go get them.\" Ken\'s childish enthusiasm was acutally quite charming.

\"Ran you gotta feeeel this, it\'s so soft... and huge, look, I can spread all the way out and still not touch the sides!\"

Yohji bit his lip to keep from laughing too hard. \"I could\'ve just made about a million jokes with that sentence, Ken-kun!\"

\"Yotan, you perv!\" Ken glared at the other boy, but it was really more cute than anything else.

Yohji smiled, flipping his hair. \"Let\'s go get these sheets so you two can break this bad boy in.\" He winked. \"If ya know what I mean.\"

~~~~~~

Omi shuffled home slower than usual, kicking rocks and scraping his heels against the pavement. He knew everyone was going to be furious with him. Especially Ran, who never had patience in any sort of the word. While not even close to the worst day of his life, today was bad.

Occasionally he gazed up at the creepy brunette kid walking three feet ahead of him, wondering just why in the hell he\'d agreed to anything. The kid had\'nt used any of his powers on him, he knew that much, but he was just so damn smart, almost as smart as Omi himself. It was kind of scary how alike they were.

Nagi stopped, turning toward the blonde. \"You\'re having regrets?\"

\"I still don\'t trust you, Prodigy. I\'m gonna make sure you\'re under surveillence twenty four seven, even if I have to do it myself.\"

The brunette\'s expression did not falter. \"That\'s perfectly fine. I assure you, I have no ill intentions. I only want to find Tot.\"

He stopped at the bus station and began to wonder why... why of all the things he could have agreed to... he had agreed to take him to his home.