Chosen

Chosen (chapter two)
By: Shukujo Kurai
Series: Weiß Kreuz
Warnings: slight shounen-ai, OOC, …supernatural (for lack of better terms)
Rating: NR yet
Disclaimer: *sighs* I do not own Weiß Kreuz and I really wouldn\'t want to either. Why not? Too much responsibility. But it\'s nice to borrow them for this fic.
Author\'s Notes: This chapter has literally haunted my dreams...well, the end of this one and the next one, if you want to get technical with it. But at least I now know how to make it pretty traumatizing! *sweatdrop*
Dedication: To MD-neechan. This fic was supposed to be finished by Christmas...and it\'s already January 6th...*sighs again* Gomen. Thanks for being my editor! *huggles*

============

I sigh softly as I creep back into the Koneko. What an utter waste of my time. I hate finding out information on targets, I really do. That\'s Omi\'s job for a reason. Although that vampire guy was pretty funny...

I never got the chance to investigate the downstairs of that particular club since Mr. High-and-Mighty ordered me on to the next goth club. I really wish Aya\'d get his skinny ass out there and investigate these insane people if he wants the mission completed so badly.

I can already hear Ken complaining and I\'m only half-way up the stairs. He\'s whining about how boring stakeouts are and how he gets so fidgety during them.

I ease the door open, the wooden barrier betraying me by screeching loudly as if to announce my arrival.

\"Youji! Where on Earth have you been? We\'ve been waiting on your report for hours!\" Ken again.

I stop where I am and just stare at him from behind the safety of my sunglasses. What gives him the right to demand things from me? HE hasn\'t been wading through pools of goth-wannabes for nearly eight hours! I scowl as I turn around and walk back out the door, lingering after I shut it.

I hear Aya\'s soft whisper. \"It\'s my fault...I had him check out all the clubs in one night.\" Wow...Aya\'s taking the blame for me? I walk downstairs and look around. Nope, hell hasn\'t frozen over just yet.

I look around and sigh. Looks like I\'ll be getting an early start today...

----------

Overly-devoted fangirls and deaf old ladies are really not what I need right now. Nevertheless, the shop is full of them, or at least it seems full to me, but the swirling vision might be affecting that judgement a bit.

I look over toward Aya, who\'s methodically making an arrangement for a church ceremony. Ghott, how I wish that I rated ABOVE pond scum to him. He turns and looks at me incredulously. \"What about pond scum?\" He asks before changing his mind. \"Nevermind, I don\'t care.\" With that flippant remark, he goes back to the arrangement.

Why did he look over here? Did I say that out loud or something equally as embarrassing?

\"Oh, Youji-kun, I\'m sure you\'re better than pond scum in Aya-san\'s book.\" Some random old lady tells me as she pats my hand in consolation. She leans closer and I have to fight the instinct to flinch away. \"In fact, I think he cares more for you than either of you would like to admit.\" She winks and nods in place of me.

I blink behind my sunglasses. What the hell? I don\'t have time to think about it because Aya\'s shoving the arrangement at me. \"Here you are, ma\'am.\" I say politely as I hand her the flowers. If it gets her out of here as soon as humanly possible, I\'m all for it.

I watch her slowly leave, occasionally looking back at us.

Speaking of \'us\', Aya\'s still standing near me, which has got to be a record of some kind. To my surprise, Aya faces me and stares at me before tilting my sunglasses up. His mouth goes slightly to one side, a gesture denoting serious contemplation. Did I mention that I watch Aya a lot?

\"You should get some sleep.\" He says before walking away. \"I don\'t want to have you strangling yourself with your wire.\"

I don\'t bother to contemplate this remark. \"Nice to know that you care, Aya...\" I whisper to the air before turning around and tidying up the register area.

The ever-mysterious redhead walks back over and for a minute I wonder if he\'s going to apologize, but instead he just reaches for the hand-held broom.

The chimes on the door jingle obnoxiously, signaling the arrival of yet another personal hell.

I look up and am surprised to see the bartender from last night walking in, slightly bewildered. I walk over to him, purposefully ignoring the confused looks I\'m getting from Aya. \"Josh-san?\" I ask, laying a gentle hand on his slender shoulder.

He turns and breaks into a broad grin. \"Youji-san!\" He shouts as he lunges forward to glomp me. \"I didn\'t know you worked here!\"

I nod. \"Yeah...so what brings you here?\" I ask, clumsily changing the subject.

\"My brother...\" He grumbles unhappily. \"He wants some arrangement done, but he\'s too chicken to come in here himself so he sent me.\"

I chuckle in spite of myself. \"Well, what does he want?\"

-----------------

I sigh softly as I take a step backward to critique the arrangement. Yes, I got stuck with the god-awful task. I tried to hand the complex order to Aya, but he just snorted haughtily and walked off.

Spider orchids are so hard to work with. They just don\'t look right with anything. You can\'t hide them behind some random flower because their \'petals\' stick out. The whole arrangement always ends up looking dead. Well, the entire arrangement IS rather gloomy, if you ask me.

Aya walks by and eyes the monstrosity in horror.

\"Hey, HE wanted it like this...\" I murmur in a pathetic attempt to defend my flower-arranging skills.

I vaguely register the annoying jingle as I glare at a particularly ugly orchid. \"Josh, did you get distracted by something shiny again?\"

I have to look up at that one. Another man walks in, apparently looking for my preoccupied friend. The first thing I notice is that he\'s Japanese while Josh is American. Rich brown eyes greet me as he comes closer. \"Have you seen a boy with dark blue hair?\"

I stand up. \"He was right there just a second ago.\" I look around for the boy in question.

\"Woo-hoo! Eat \'em up, there, little buddy!\"

I turn toward the sound of the excited exclamation. Josh is busy watching a plant, his eyes wide and fascinated.

\"Um....nevermind him....he never got out much as a child.\"

\"Niichan! You\'ve gotta come see this!\" The other boy happily bounces, pointing to the plant.

Josh\'s older brother stares in embarrassment before shaking his head. \"Did I mention that he\'s adopted?\" He asks softly before going over to whatever Josh is pointing at.

What an odd family. I shake my head before picking up the arrangement and setting it on the counter. I glare balefully at it before noticing Aya\'s presence near me.

\"Who is that?\" He asks, reaching his word quota for the day.

I sigh. \"That\'s Josh, he\'s a bartender in one of the goth clubs...that should explain the oddness...\"

Aya nods in agreement.

\"You write term papers on Philosophy and Religion in the Twenty-first century and you\'re astounded by a Venus Fly Trap?!\" Josh\'s brother yells rather loudly.

\"But niichan, it\'s a flesh-eating PLANT. How can that NOT be cool?\"

I lower my head and sigh in defeat. Why can\'t I attract smart people?

The taller man drags Josh away from the plant and up to the counter at last.

\"Well, at least it wasn\'t something shiny...\" I say sleepily as I hand them their order.

The elder man eyes it carefully, those honey-brown eyes entranced by the flowers before him, a smile growing on his lips. \"It\'s perfect...just like from my dream.\" He looks back and forth between me and Aya, the awe-struck look still fresh in those brown eyes. His gaze finally rests on Aya. \"Did you make this?\"

Aya just casually looks up and is about to give some sort of answer when Josh interrupts.

\"Youji-kun made it. I watched him.\" Hm...I have been magically updated to the -kun status.

\"It\'s perfect.\" The raven-haired man whispers softly before surprising me by embracing me from the other side of the counter.

When he finally releases me, Josh smiles that innocent smile of his and explains. \"That\'s Hideo\'s way of saying \'thank you\'.\"

\"Um...you\'re welcome...\" I mumble hesitantly, slightly embarrassed over being hugged by another guy in front of Aya.

Josh\'s face then turns somewhat serious. \"Are you going to be able to come Tuesday night?\" His blue eyes widen to an advanced form of Omi\'s chihuahua eyes.

\"You\'re busy.\" Aya snaps from across the room.

I can feel the rage building up... \"I\'ll be there. No worries.\" I assure the wide-eyed boy with a wink.

Hideo pays for his arrangement and drags a protesting Josh from the shop, leaving me alone with a seemingly enraged Aya, who stares at me, one eye beginning to twitch.

I give a lopsided grin and shrug. \"Never said I attract smart people.\"

Frustrated, Aya extends a stiff arm and points to a nearby calendar, landing on this coming Tuesday.

\"Don\'t worry, I\'ll get everything done in time.\"

Aya\'s jaw clenches surreptitiously.

I sigh. \"Aya, he offered to take me to a class on theology. I thought it would help with the mission.\" This is getting me nowhere fast. Damn Aya and his stubbornness.

\"How is a class on theology going to help with a mission involving kidnappings?\" He bites out, obviously unhappy with my suspicions.

\"Just a wild hunch.\" I tell him just before heading to clean up, not wanting to hear whatever retort he\'d undoubtedly come up with.

--------------

I never thought that Aya could be quite this childish. He has apparently come to the conclusion that I am not worth the breath it takes to acknowledge a person\'s presence. Don\'t I feel loved?

I sigh softly and rest my head against the window in my room that I\'m currently using as a seat. I glance down at the case files in my lap and find myself growling softly. It\'s not my fault that Kritiker feels that I can handle the darker side of this particular crime better than the others can. I honestly don\'t know where they came to that conclusion at. Kudou Youji and satanic crimes usually don\'t coincide.

The phone rings and I ignore it, as per usual.

Seventeen people kidnapped so far. Only two of the bodies have been recovered.

\"Kudou! Phone!\" Aya. So the little bastard finally decided to talk to me, eh? Probably not his choice.

I hop off my windowsill and place the files in some semblance of order before quickly heading downstairs. No need to give Aya another reason to bitch at me.

I take the phone from an angry redhead who thrusts the plastic receiver at me the second I come within an arm\'s length. \"Hm?\" I ask, not feeling up to my usual perky greeting.

\"Balinese, pack your references and the files into a nondescript backpack and meet me at the harbor. You know which one.\" Manx informs me just before she hangs up. I sigh softly before running upstairs and doing as she ordered.

As I sprint back downstairs I am met with an angry Abyssinian blocking my way. \"Aya, move now.\" I try to convey the fact that this is urgent, but he doesn\'t seem to be getting the hint.

\"Who said that you can just leave whenever you feel like it? You have a double shift tomorrow because of Omi\'s exams, so I suggest that you haul your lazy ass back upstairs and stay there.\"

I blink in astonishment. The most Aya\'s ever said to me had to be when he\'s criticizing me and giving me orders. Plus...did he not recognize the voice? \"Aya, I don\'t have time for this...\"

\"Neither do I, so do as I say.\"

What a prickly bastard he is. \"Not. Now. Aya.\" I bite out, forcing myself to hold back from strangling him with my wire.

\"What is more important than this mission? Whoring yourself out to anyone who gives you a second glance certainly isn\'t.\"

I lose my control and backhand him sharply across his right cheek. \"Stay the hell out of my life, Fujimiya.\" I hiss before trying to pass him, only to be blocked once again. \"God dammit, Aya!\"

The phone rings again, saving the redhead from impending death by strangulation. I hit the talk button and make some sort of noise.

\"Balinese? What the hell are you doing still at the Koneko?! This is an emergency involving time-sensitive evidence!\" Birman this time. For both of them to be on the scene, it must be important.

\"Sorry sweetie, I was just delayed. I\'m on my way.\" Best to play it off as a date, that way Aya won\'t be able to draw conclusions other than those he already has. I hang up and try to leave once again only to find my \'superior\' blocking my way again.

\"There\'s no way I\'m letting you leave this building.\" He whispers.

I scowl at him, unable to contain my rage any longer. In a matter of seconds, I have him up against a wall, hands pinned with one of mine, the other arm pressing against his throat and one knee pressing firmly against his groin. It\'s all I can do to keep from killing him. In a desperate move, my other knee shoots up and connects firmly with Aya\'s stomach, making him sputter and gasp for the air that my arm\'s not allowing him to obtain. Somehow I gather the strength to throw my leader across the room, making him land on the coffee table, effectively breaking it into many pieces. Omi\'s not going to be happy. I take the few necessary strides over to the window, open it, and step out onto the ledge. I no longer have time to get my car or to even go through the hassle of walking downstairs. I look around and see a tractor-trailer rolling down the street at a quick pace and I decide to go for it. I throw my wire toward a nearby lamppost and am relieved when it wraps around the horizontal part. I jump, ignoring Aya\'s yelled curses, and swing to the street below. My wire slips off the post as I had expected it to and I grab onto the locked hatch of the passing tractor-trailer. I release the breath that I didn\'t realize I\'d been holding and risk a look back. Aya\'s glaring at me from the window. Hn. Fuck him.

----------------

I arrive at the scene only to be met by very angry versions of Manx and Birman. They\'re obviously not happy with my being tardy, so I decide not to say anything to them.

\"I believe that you owe us an explanation.\" Manx. At least she\'s trying to be polite; I know Birman wouldn\'t.

A scowl makes itself known on my face as I recall the earlier events. \"Abyssinian.\" I say shortly before spotting two detectives talking to a hysterical woman.

\"That\'s Hiketora Yuri, the victim\'s mother.\" Birman informs me, looking at the woman with an expression vaguely resembling sympathy.

Manx shifts next to me. \"We were wondering if you would be the one to take her statement. The police aren\'t getting anywhere and, quite frankly, we\'d rather not let them know any specifics of this crime.\"

I nod.

\"We would also like you to examine the body.\" Birman. I can always expect her to be the authoritative one.

Again, I nod and start to move forward toward the flailing woman, frustrated detectives, and the lifeless body. Forgetting my manners, I go straight for the cold corpse. Make that a cold WET corpse.
Immediately I put the time of death, or at least the time that the body has been immersed in water, anywhere between five and fourteen days. Maybe less if the fish are REALLY hungry.

One of the detectives spins me around shouting something at me. I start to reply, but Birman cuts me off with her best bitch tone. \"THIS is Dr. Iyasu Satoshi.\" Immediately he repents and moves for me to do my \'job\' while the other one hands me a pair of latex gloves.

I take them and put them on as I look over the body of what could have once been a very attractive boy. Any signs of trauma have been hidden by the green-ish color that the skin has taken on, making it difficult for me to determine the exact cause of death on my own. From what I can tell by his clothes, he was probably an outsider, wearing neither the popular fashions nor the usual goth garb. Before I can look any further, the boy\'s mother latches onto my arm and starts babbling.

I immediately attempt to get her quiet by reassuring her as best I can. I try to convey to Manx that the body needs to be examined as quickly as possible, but she\'s engaged in conversation with a uniformed man. I manage to convince the woman that the detectives would like to hear her comprehensive statement and I turn my attention back to the body. I sigh and pull out a piece of paper and a pen from deep inside the bowels of my trenchcoat. Quickly, I make note of the tests I want done. MRI, full-body X-rays, drug testing, and the like. In the sloppiest handwriting that I can muster, I sign my assigned name at the bottom and then hand it to the paramedic to be given to the coroner or whoever handles those sorts of things in these parts of Tokyo.

Birman approaches me and informs me in a surprisingly quiet voice that we need to take Hiketora-san to a Kritiker-approved location and interrogate her as soon as possible. She hands me the address of the location and motions for me to go rescue the detectives.

\"Hiketora-san?\" My voice is scratchy and deep, but I manage to sound rather professional without alarming anyone. She turns to me and glares. Maybe professional isn\'t what I should be going for at the moment. \"Would you please come with me? There are some questions that I\'d like you to help me with, that is, if you don\'t mind being in the company of a boring young doctor.\" I tease, hoping that it will lighten her mood.

It does, thankfully, and she follows me to a car where Birman\'s waiting for us. I sigh. Why couldn\'t Manx have come instead of cranky-old Birman? The three of us pile into the car, Birman driving with me and the now-crying woman in the back.

I try to break the ice by commenting on Hiketora-san\'s clothes, casually mentioning the designer, which catches her ear.

\"Now why would a dashing young doctor know anything about women\'s clothing?\" She asks teasingly with a soft sniffle.

I smile as best I can. \"I try to be a well-cultured individual.\" I answer with an underlying chuckle.

She smiles back, but soon turns her attention to Birman. \"Um....miss?\" She asks in fairly hideous English.

\"Murasaki Sara.\" Birman replies cooly, surprising me with her careful, yet speedy driving.

\"Murasaki-san, would it be a problem to run by my house and pick up my glasses and medication?\"

I can see Birman wince in the mirror, but thankfully Hiketora-san can\'t see the reflection of my frustrated companion. \"Not at all, Hiketora-san.\" She replies sweetly, \"Would you be so kind as to direct me to your house?\"

She does and we arrive at her house in no time. She gets out and I follow her in, my naturally suspicious nature surfacing. To my relief, she heads directly to the kitchen and gets her medication, which I note consists of an anti-depressant and heart medication. She then walks back out and grabs her glasses which are lying on a table in the main room before opening the door to leave.

----------------

I haven\'t been this bored since having to listen to Ken drone on for nearly half an hour about the dynamics of soccer. What really threw me was that Aya kept glaring at me every time I opened my mouth to shut Ken up. I tried my best not to think about it at the time, but it\'s really been boggling me lately. Could it be that our cranky leader has -gasp- feelings for Kenken? Now THAT is a subject that I\'d prefer not to linger on.

In response to my depressing thought pattern, I turn my attention back to Yuri, who is now up to the point where her son turned seven. Only twelve more years to go...

From what I\'ve gathered so far, the boy\'s name was Lanh, Vietnamese meaning quick-minded; smart; street-smart; peaceful. Yuri couldn\'t have children due to some odd childhood disease, so she and her late husband decided to adopt. They heard about four-year-old Lanh from the adoption agency and immediately fell in love with the slender, timid youth. Apparently Lanh\'s real parents had been killed when he was just an infant and his uncle wasn\'t very adept at caring for small children. Yuri wouldn\'t tell me everything she knew, maybe I\'ll weasel it out of her soon. Anyway, it took Yuri and her husband about a year to earn Lanh\'s trust. From everything I\'ve heard, I probably would have gotten along with the kid. Sordid pasts and all...

\"When he was twelve, his uncle came to our house.\" She pauses.

Finally something that I can actually USE, well, hopefully. \"Did he threaten any of you?\" I ask in an attempt to urge her on.

She nods. \"He wanted Lanh back. He pulled a gun on Kenji and threatened to kill him if I didn\'t hand Lanh over.\"

\"Kenji was your husband?\"

\"Oh, yes. Hiketora Kenji.\"

Why does that sound so familiar?

\"Lanh came home from school then and saw his uncle with a gun to his new father\'s head. I didn\'t know if he could handle it or not.\"

I pause, waiting for her to continue. \"What did Lanh do, Yuri-san?\"

\"He handed me his backpack and extra books, then told his uncle that he\'d go with him.\" She pauses for a moment. \"Kenji and I were shocked. Lanh walked his uncle over to his uncle\'s car and opened the driver\'s door for him. We didn\'t think anything of that because he did that for us all the time. His uncle was surprised, but smiled and got in the car. Lanh slammed the door on his uncle\'s head. Knocked him cold. Lanh got us inside and called the authorities. We ended up getting a restraining order against the uncle. Never bothered us in person again.\"

That catches my ear. \"In person? What do you mean, he sent out hired thugs?\"

\"I think so...so did Lanh. Four years later, Kenji \'killed himself\'.\" She informs me, adding the quotation marks with her fingers. \"It stuck out as odd to Lanh and I. Other than the subconscious fear of Lanh\'s uncle, we had a wonderful life. He had no reason to want to kill himself.\"

\"Did you not tell the authorities this?\" For some reason, I think I already know the answer to this.

\"Of course, they\'re the ones that helped rule it as suicide. We did manage to contact a detective, or at least his office. They said that he was the best they had ever had.\"

My eyes widen and I think she notices this, but ignores it and goes on.

\"But before he could ever look at our case, he was in an accident and his partner was killed. He quit after that.\"

I choke on the breath of air I was trying to take. No...

Yuri\'s at my side in less than a minute. \"Are you okay, Doctor?\"

I grab at the pitcher of water on the table and pour myself a glass, still coughing. I chug half of it down before finding the strength to look at her.

\"Did you know him?\" She asks, laying a gentle hand on my arm.

\"Yes.\" I manage to choke out before clearing my throat as discretely as humanly possible. \"He was....He was afraid that by quitting he was letting everyone down. I told him that he wasn\'t...that he wouldn\'t be able to perform at his best...that he should take the time to mourn for his partner.\" I pause, losing touch with reality. \"If I had known...that this would happen...\"

\"Doctor Satoshi,\" She starts, surprising me with her strong tone of voice, \"that investigation and Lanh\'s death are completely unrelated. Do not badger yourself with it.\"

I look at her for a minute, completely stunned by the strong tone of her voice. Until this point, I had thought her to be a frail and helpless woman. Only now do I see the strength inside her. Now if only she\'d use it for HER benefit instead of mine. \"One decision, one choice, can single-handedly change the future. If I hadn\'t suggested that Detective Kudou take a few weeks off, if he hadn\'t decided to just quit, then the present events probably wouldn\'t have happened.\" I babble, my words not really registering in my own head.

Hiketora-san slaps the back of my head. \"Stop that! You\'ll start to wallow in self-pity if you don\'t, and that is certainly not what either of us need...it\'s not what Lanh needs...\" Her voice trails off, reminding me of her own sorrow that she so cleverly hid from me in the past few minutes.

\"I apologize, Hiketora-san, you\'re right.\"

She snorts. \"Call me YURI.\" She orders before sitting back down. \"Okay...other than having to deal with Kenji\'s death, Lanh and I did pretty well. The same year as Kenji\'s death, Lanh started coming home late after school, usually three to five hours late. I was afraid that he\'d joined a gang or gotten into drugs.\" She pauses here, looking down at her petite hands. \"I confronted him about it...and found out that he had gotten an after school job to help me out.\" She starts to cry. \"Lanh was the best child a mother could ever ask for! I want the bastards that did this to him to DIE!\"

I blink, caught mildly off-guard by her outburst. Instinctively, I hand her a handkerchief. \"I intend to do just that, Yuri-san, don\'t worry.\"

She sniffles and looks up at me, apparently as surprised as I am.

\"You go about your life and leave this to me and the authorities, okay?\"

She nods and asks for a glass of water, which I happily pour for her.

\"Now, Yuri-san, was there anyone that would want your son dead?\" I ask, hoping that she\'ll give me a Reader\'s Digest version of whatever she would have said.

\"Just his uncle, and he actually wanted Lanh alive.\" She replies after taking a sip of the surprisingly still-cool water.

A knock resonates throughout the room. I sigh and get up to answer it.

Birman yanks me halfway out of the room. \"There\'s something you ought to see...\" She whispers carefully. \"Manx will sit with Hiketora-san.\"

I look over toward the redhead, who nods in agreement to Birman\'s statement. \"Okay, just let me excuse myself.\" I say before turning back around to the tiny woman in the makeshift interrogation room. \"Yuri-san, I need to check on something for a minute and my associate would like to sit with you, if that\'s alright with you, that is.\"

She nods and smiles at me, but I can see the dark circles beneath her eyes.

After picking up my backpack, I step out for the first time in nearly five hours and sigh softly.

Birman notices this and attempts to make conversation, or a reasonable facsimile thereof.

\"Abyssinian\'s been calling my cell phone.\"

Oh, that\'s SO not what I needed to hear.

\"He\'s suggesting that you be temporarily taken off the team.\" She calmly states as I gape openly at her. \"Unfortunately for him, he caught me while I was being swamped by authorities and medical examiners.\" She chuckles softly, unconsciously reminding me that she is human. \"I told him to, quote-unquote, \'fuck off\'.\" She seems proud of herself.

After the initial shock of hearing your female superior openly curse wears off, I chuckle at her proud look. \"At least I\'m not the only one that tells him that.\"

The smile doesn\'t fully leave her face, apparently making her look more desirable to the guard we just passed. \"He mentioned that you had \'run off and abandoned your shift at the Koneko\'. I told him that Kritiker would look into it.\" She turns to me. \"Persia, Manx, and I would feel more comfortable if there were someone else on this case with you, Kudou.\" She informs me, using my surname for once.

I sigh and look down before looking her straight in the eyes, trying to convey to her just how serious I am about what I\'m about to tell her. \"Birman, I respect the opinions and suggestions of Kritiker, you know that, but I don\'t want ANY of Weiß involved in this. Omi\'s too young,\" She moves to interrupt me, \"yes, I know that he\'s seen more than his share of bad, but I\'d like to shield him from the darker side of humanity just this once.\"

She nods, defeated.

\"Ken\'s too...how do I put this...\"

\"Clueless?\" She offers blandly.

\"That works.\" I state quickly. \"I don\'t trust him to be observant enough with this.\"

\"And why not Abyssinian?\" She asks, gaining back some of her unwanted bitchiness.

\"Ab--Aya\'s got a lot to deal with, Birman. I\'d prefer not to add to his nightmares.\" I sigh softly. \"Plus, he and I don\'t always get along.\" I state as I look guiltily at the floor. \"He\'d only be a distraction and a point of irritation to me.\"

She stops walking and I eventually realize this and stop as well. She\'s got a soft concerned look to her face, catching me completely off-guard. \"Youji, you can\'t feel that way toward Abyssinian...all the time, at least...\"

I take a few steps backward. She\'s really starting to scare me. \"I don\'t...always feel that way about him, Birman. Usually only when he\'s glaring or yelling at me, which is the majority of the time.\"

Her brows furrow at this new bit of information. \"He....Kudou, he...he cares about you, about your welfare.\"

I blink. \"The only thing he cares about is whether or not Weiß can function as a unit. Well, that and his sister.\"

She snaps. \"If that were the case, he wouldn\'t be calling me at all hours of the night asking if we\'d heard from you or whether or not you\'re out on a solo mission!\"

I take a few more steps backward, eventually hitting the wall.

Birman, in turn, strides forward until she\'s right up against me, blocking my exit. \"He does NOT hate you! If you both could get over whatever the hell is keeping you from getting along, Weiß could function properly and there\'d be fewer missions for you all!\" She suddenly snatches my sunglasses off my face and throws them down the thankfully deserted hallway until I hear them shatter against an unyielding wall. \"What the hell is wrong with you two?!\"

Okay...Birman\'s gone psycho...and I\'m alone with her. Shit.

Instead of continuing her bitching, she collapses in a heap against me.

Thankfully, my reflexes are still functional. \"Birman?\" I ask as I catch her and gently lower her to the ground.

\"I\'m...just tired, Balinese.\" She breathes out softly, her eyes reflecting her exhaustion.

\"Can I get you anything?\" I ask gently, hoping that I won\'t provoke her somehow.

\"No. I\'m fine.\" She whispers before trying to regain some semblance of control.

I watch her for a few seconds, taking in her decidedly pale skin tone and slightly shaking hands. \"If it makes you feel any better, I haven\'t been to sleep since ten AM Saturday.\" I offer, hoping that she\'d cheer up.

She regards me softly. \"I\'m sorry, Balinese, for keeping you out so much.\"

I shake my head immediately. \"No, Abyssinian had me check out all those clubs in one night, I had a shift in the Koneko, then this happened.\" I explain. Well, I was supposed to cover Ken\'s shift as well so he could play soccer with his brats...but oh well. \"It\'s not your fault.\"

She sighs and silently asks me to help her up off the cold tile floor. \"What time is it?\"

I look down at my watch. \"Almost eleven PM Sunday night.\" I reply softly as I offer my arm to steady her wobbling form.

She takes my arm gratefully and we continue down the hallway, my sunglasses forgotten. They\'re ruined anyway.

--------------

\"Doctor Satoshi, I presume?\" A rather mousy looking man asks me, getting right up in my face with his obnoxiously huge glasses.

Birman looks at this exchange and sighs to herself. I wouldn\'t have been able to tell had she not still been holding my arm to keep her balance. \"It\'s okay, Balinese.\"

\"Oh!\" The rodent-man squeaks rather loudly. \"A thousand apologies, sir.\" He continues as he bows deeply.

I really don\'t want to hear this...the less this man talks, the better. \"Yeeaah...All\'s forgiven, or whatever. Now what was I supposed to look at?\"

He readjusts his glasses before speaking. \"Oh yes...I was looking at the X-rays you ordered, sir, and I found something rather odd. I wanted your permission before examining the actual...\" He flounders around for words, \"...thing.\"

If this man WEREN\'T so scatterbrained, I\'d believe he was an imposter, but from my experience, only medical examiners are naturally this...strange. \"May I see the X-ray in question?\" I don\'t know why I\'m being polite. Maybe he\'ll talk less if I do.

He scurries over and grabs the X-ray before motioning for Birman and I to follow him. He clips said X-ray to the lighted board on the wall and stands back triumphantly.

I look up and tilt my head to one side. There\'s definitely something metallic and possibly glass lodged inside Lanh\'s throat. I mentally scold myself. Never, EVER start calling corpses by their former names. You get attached that way and attachments are bad. After a few more seconds of staring at the decidedly inconclusive X-ray, I turn to the doctor.

\"I was going to proceed by making an incision in the throat of the deceased--\"

\"May I have a pair of gloves, doctor?\" I cut him off. I really HATE this man\'s voice. So nasal...

\"O-of course.\" He stumbles before handing me the box of latex gloves. Apparently he\'s not used to people interrupting him.

I yank out a pair and move over toward the body. I hate looking at drowning victims. It\'s so disgusting. I start to lean over said disgusting body when the mouse-man somehow manages to put one of those masks on me. I decide to ignore this and instead look back at the X-ray for confirmation. Okay...no going back now... I open the deceased\'s mouth with a slight degree of hesitance. Ew. I probe around in the back of its mouth, trying to keep a semi-straight face.

\"No! You\'ll tear the surrounding tissue!\" Mouse-man yells, that awful voice grating on my every nerve.

I turn to him, fully disgusted with his air of superiority. I, believe it or not, have spent enough time in medical examiner\'s offices to know what I\'m doing. \"Actually, I won\'t. When Lanh died, the gag reflex was keeping it wedged in his throat. Then the body was bloated from being immersed in water for so long, so the throat constricted and kept the object in place. Now that the swelling has gone down,\" I explain, using the haughtiest voice I can muster while striding over to the X-ray, \"the muscles of the esophagus have relaxed. See?\" I ask, pointing out the faint lines that indicate the throat.

The doctor turns his face to the floor as an extremely obvious blush creeps across his features.

I look to Birman, who has taken up residence in one of the chairs with wheels, and she smiles smugly at me and nods. Wow...I\'ve made my superiors happy. I can now die a happy death. Well, not really, but still...

I stride back over to the body and resume my rather nauseating task. If you had asked me a month ago what I would be doing, digging around in dead people\'s throats would not have been on the top of my list. Hell, it wouldn\'t have even been on the bottom. That\'s just not something I think about in my spare time. Abruptly, a thought occurs to me. Would Asuka have been proud of me those few seconds ago? Would Aya have been proud? Probably not. To both of them. Arg.

My fingers grasp the metal part of the object and, complete with revolted face, I gently pull it out of Lanh\'s throat. Aside from the obvious moisture...I pull it apart and let it dangle. Crimson glass beads form a Y-shaped necklace with a silver crucifix at the end. \"A rosary?\" I ask, looking toward Birman for confirmation.

She nods, her brows furrowed in deep thought.

The door bursts open, causing the mousy doctor to squeak and shout, but Birman silences him with a vulgar shout. She\'s really on a rampage today. A very shaken Manx strides in. \"It\'s Hiketora-san, she\'s gone into cardiac arrest.\"

Birman and I immediately follow her as people in medical gear wheel Yuri-san away on a stretcher.

\"Where are they taking her?\" I ask frantically.

\"Our hospital.\" Manx informs me as we follow the stretcher down the hallway.

\"How did this happen?\" Birman asks, taking many small strides to keep up with my long ones and Manx\'s medium ones. That\'s why business skirts are impractical.

Manx shrugs. \"I don\'t know. We were talking about gardening and the meanings of flowers when...that,\" She gestures ahead of us in the direction the stretcher was taken, \"happened.\"

\"She was taking anti-depressants and a heart medication.\" I announce for no real reason other than to fill in the silence.

\"Alright,\" Manx stops Birman and I in mid-stride, \"the doctors will do what they can at the hospital. Why don\'t you two go back to what you were doing and I\'ll go on ahead. No sense in all of us being in one place doing nothing.\"

Birman nods and Manx immediately walks off. \"She\'s right.\"

I nod. \"I know. Come on, back to mouse-man.\"

She rolls her eyes at my comment, but follows nevertheless.

==================

Well, was that more suspenseful? ^.^
Comments/Reviews are always welcome!