Castle Down

But would you tear my castle down

Stone by stone

And let the wind run through my windows

'Til there is nothing left but a battered rose



--



Ken woke up early the next morning, and started on his daily three cups of coffee. Without them, he wasn't fit for company, and he tended to wander while he absorbed the first cup and a half.



It wasn't until he was reaching up to knock on Omi's door that he even realized where his morning wanderings had taken him. There was no immediate response from within, and for a moment, he wondered if the younger teen had gone out jogging.



Memory kicked him in the head, and he threw the door open.



They'd set the alarms, but something had gone wrong. "Someone's going to have to stay behind," Omi said. "We can't just leave it, not like this."



"I'll do it," Ran said immediately. Ken and Omi shook their heads. "No, Ay-...Ran-kun," Omi said vehemently. "You've got Aya-chan to look out for."



"It should be me," Yohji said. "I don't have anyone to stick around for."



Ken couldn't stand the thought of any of them sacrificing themselves. "Draw straws," he suggested suddenly. Omi disagreed suddenly.



"Wait, I just remembered. I have this detonator. I'd been keeping it for something special, but I just remembered, I can program it to the explosives we set. We'll just take it outside, and set them off from there." He settled down for a moment, taking apart the small device and fidgeting with the wires. The other three breathed a collective sigh of relief.



"Trust Omi to save the day at the last second," Ken joked, trying to bring levity to the end of what had been a miserable excuse for a mission. Omi flashed a grin at him, then handed him the detonator.



"I know how much you like to push buttons, Ken-kun," he said wryly. Ken made a perfunctory protest as the others laughed.



They were on their way out; it wasn't until they'd reached the door that he even realized that they'd been reduced to three.



"Omi?" He stopped and looked around for the youngest. It was sheer luck that he happened to see the storm doors closing behind them, Omi disappearing in the crack of light as it slammed shut.



"OMI!" Ken banged on the door, but it had locked when closed, and he didn't make so much as a dent. "OMI!"



His shouting brought the other two, and they quickly realized that Omi had handed them a dead detonator; he was going to blow the bombs manually.



Ran and Yohji dragged Ken out of the building by his arms, determined to not let two of them suicide in the explosion.



The radio crackled once. "Sorry guys," Omi whispered. "I can't let any of you do it, and the detonator's just a lucky charm. It's been useless since I first got it. Keep it safe for me, okay?"



The last 'ay' of his okay was almost overpowered by the sonic rip of the explosion as it burned oxygen, sucking air into the void created.



By this time, the three remaining members of Weiss had gotten far enough away that the burning building was just a bonfire at their backs. All three were silent, tears flowing freely down each face.



Ken looked into the empty room that only yesterday, Omi had smiled out at him from. He heard a sharp breath behind him, and turned; Yohji stood there in his pajamas, bare feet and shirtless.



"I heard... I thought..." He shook his head. "I thought maybe he'd come back," he finished quietly. An unlit cigarette dangled from his fingers.



"What ... could have made that seem like a good idea?" Ken whispered.



"He's been doing it a long time," Yohji said. "He's been in this longer than any of us. I'm sick of killing people, and I've only been doing it for three years. He's been part of Kritiker for nearly ten."



Ken gaped at him, the door frame digging into his shoulder painfully. "How can you rationalize it so calmly!?" he demanded. Yohji turned back to him, and Ken saw his green eyes were bright with unshed tears.



"I understand, I think," Yohji said. "But it doesn't make it easy."



---



They'd closed the shop that day; none of them were in any shape to be working. Instead, they sat silently in the mission room, trying to ignore the fact that it was so quiet because there was no typing from the corner.



Ken wrapped his hands around his coffee mug, and said the first thing that came to his mind. "What will we tell the girls?"



Ran frowned sharply at him, but Yohji looked speculative. "They'll ask," he said.



"We can't tell the truth," Ran pointed out, and Ken shook his head.



"But ... we can't lie. If we tell them... he's... gone away, they'll... always be asking about when he's coming back."



Yohji nodded. "Tell them... ... car accident."



"We're holding a funeral for him in two days time," came a female voice from the stairs. The three men turned to look, and Ken was taken off guard by her lack of colour. She looked pale and drawn, nothing like the vibrant woman who used to visit. She wore black slacks and a black blazer, her hair pulled into a tight bun at the nape of her neck rather than the riotous curls it usually fell into.



"The girls are... of course, invited, if you wish," she added. "My... condolences. For your loss. A replacement computer technician will be supplied to the team in a weeks time."



Ken nearly protested, but a look from Ran silenced him. After a moments thought, he realized that remaining professional was her way of dealing with it, just like the three of them crowded onto the couch in silence was theirs.



--



"Where's Omi? Is he sick?" The girls had been asking all morning, and it was all Ken could do not to yell at them. Ran stood up straighter, and went to the door, locking it behind him. The girls all watched curiously, wondering what was going on.



"I have something to say," he said, and they quieted. "Last night... Omi was involved in a car accident. He... He was... killed."



Immediately most of them burst into tears. Some appeared to be taking the shock better than others, and still more simply rushed out of the shop as soon as Ran re-opened the door.



Seeing so many people crying, Ken felt his own eyes filling up. Kariko wandered up to him, her eyes bright. "Ken... tell me it's not true. It's just a joke... right?"



He shook his head. "It's... not a joke, Kari-chan," he said. "I'm sorry." She hugged him tightly, and he held onto her while she cried.



When the girls left for school, Yohji set up a picture of Omi with freesia flowers on the counter as a sort of memorial. The shop closed early that night, when Manx came in with funeral details.



"His body... wasn't recovered," she said. "The casket will be closed, and... empty."



--



TBC

Lyrics are Castle Down, by Emilie Autumn

This chapter (short as it was) is dedicated to memorietrail, for reviewing the prologue about thirty seconds after it was posted.