Wednesday 1.32 -

[kuchren.livejournal.com]

"Ken-kun and Ran-kun are back, and need help."

Aya-Chan died a little inside at Omi's words. During the entire phone conversation, she'd just sat and stared. It didn't sound like things were good. Didn't sound like Yohji was back.

... Need help...

Didn't sound like Ken and Ran were okay.

Omi was already up the stairs. Aya-Chan had to force her legs to move, but they still felt heavy. Panic quickened her steps, and before she knew it, she was outside. Ran... didn't seem to be moving.

She felt sick.

Comments

[celtic-kitsune.livejournal.com]

Omi was already over by the car with the door open. He was able to glance at Ran's leg but knew he'd be able to look at it better once they were inside. "Why did he do something stupid like that?" Omi said mostly to himself. Sure it was impotent to get Yohji away from Schwartz, it was hard enough to keep up with the other team when they weren't injured. But with a serious wound like that. Omi sighed and decided not to think to much about it now.

"Let's get him inside quickly." He glanced behind him at Aya-chan and could only guess how much of a shock this was for her. It was turning into one thing right after another, and she'd only found out about Weiss the night before.

[celtic-kitsune.livejournal.com]

Not waiting for anyone to help Omi was already pulling Ran out of the car and lifting him so he could carry the red head inside. He might not have looked it, but Omi was fairly strong. It took more mussel then people thought to use the bow and arrow like he did. Omi turned and started heading back inside with Ran.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran jerked, and struck out.

He had alternated states between out cold and barely registered consciousness in the car. In his mind, it had seemed like they were speeding toward their goal. Where else would they go? They had to find Yohji. He would wake up when they got there.

He shot fully awake when he felt someone heft him up bodily. Ken would have woken him up, surely, so this meant that he was being taken by the enemy.

Luckily for Omi, Ran did not have the right angle to do more than cuff him, and flail his legs. "Put me down."

His ears were ringing, he was dizzy beyond belief. Did they drug him? He focused on his abductor. Abnormally short, for brute force...

[kuchren.livejournal.com]

Aya-chan's first reaction was relief. Relief that Ran seemed to be relatively okay. Alive, at the least.

The relief was short-lived and replaced with an unexplainable anger. How dare he scare her like that. How dare he just dash off without so much as a word and come back in such a condition. How dare he be so absolutely careless.

And before she knew what she was doing, her hand had made contact with Ran's face, resulting in a loud, harsh slap.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran's head snapped sideways, burning suddenly from a harsh connection with someone's palm. He struggled out of his assailant's grip in the same movement, and promptly fell on his ass as his legs refused to support him.

Before the embarrassment and indignity came a sharp awareness. It caused him to focus on the people before him. Dazed, he took in Omi and his sister. Behind her, Ken was taking care of the car. He refocused on Aya, and the expression on her face. She appeared furious.

Coming back to himself, he gained the presence of mind to twist his pantleg - don't focus on the pain and apply as much pressure as he could to the wound.

They all seemed somewhat fuzzy to him, and he couldn't quite shake the feeling like the world was rocking. To add to it all, the scene didn't seem to make sense. "Why are we here?" He steadfastly ignored the fact that he was still sitting on the ground. Ken had driven them to the wrong place!

[kuchren.livejournal.com]

He was obviously in pain. And part of Aya-Chan wanted so badly to help him. But there was another part that just wanted to beat the crap out of him...

So she settled for something in between: a short bought of angry screaming - and perhaps adding some non-damaging injuries... - and then setting off to heal the entire thing.

"We're here because you're reckless! Did you actually think you could save anyone in that condition? Suppose you'd have actually made it to wherever the hell Yohji-Kun was taken. Could you actually have done anything? Because it's so easy to beat down enemies when you're passed out!"

... she'd kind of gone overboard with that one... and she could tell it had bruised him more than she intended.

She sighed, composing herself. Then, she offered out a hand. "C'mon... we need to get you cleaned up..."

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

...wherever the hell Yohji-kun was taken... If he'd been in his proper mind, he would have noticed his little sister swearing. As it was, her words just twisted something already hurting.

If it had been one of his teammates and not Aya, it would have been easier for him to retaliate. Would have managed. But she was right, and the knowledge made itself known through the expression in his eyes. He stayed silent and took it, though he was painfully aware Ken and Omi were listening. Perhaps he should have sent Omi instead. If he had paused to think, maybe Yohji would have been saved.

Why had he gone after him like that? It wasn't like him to act on impulse, and he knew it. He would have reamed anyone else for acting like that on a mission. Decisions like that, based on emotion rather than rationality, got teammates killed.

Lips pressed into a thin, white line, he took hold of her hand and struggled unsteadily to his feet.

[celtic-kitsune.livejournal.com]

Omi let Aya-chan help Ran, but Omi staid on the other side of him just in case, only leaving to open the door. He didn't say anything, mainly because Aya-chan had already said it, even if it was phrased differently then he would have said it.

"I'll go get the first aid kit and some bandages. Aya-chan, can you take him to the kitchen? I'll be in there shortly."

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran was grateful that Omi, for whatever reason, chose to spare him a second lecture. He remained silent and allowed Aya to help him, although he put as much weight on his leg rather than on her as he could bear.

He avoided Ken's presence by the car, knowing full well that the soccer player would be blaming him for losing Schwartz' trail. If he had let Ken drive, this wouldn't have happened, and Ran was cuttingly aware of it.

Perhaps Yohji wouldn't be lost at this moment.

[kuchren.livejournal.com]

Aya-Chan glanced up at Ran as they entered the house. He seemed so... lost. She helped him into the kitchen and into a chair. "It's going to be okay..."

There really wasn't much she could say. She'd gone a little too far previously.

... Was it like this every time...?

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran fixed an intent look on her. "Yes," he breathed, firmly. Whether or not he believed it, it would have to be okay for her. To make his sister want to reassure him, that was a different sort of pain. The lie and the smile he mustered were both counter to his nature. "It's going to be okay, Aya."

[celtic-kitsune.livejournal.com]

Omi came hurrying into the kitchen with his version of a first aid box, which was about twice the size of one you'd find in any normal house. He set it on the table and looked at Ran.

"Can you roll up your pant leg?" He asked as he was opening the box. "If not." He took out a pair of scissors, Aya-chan can you cut the pant leg for me?"

[kuchren.livejournal.com]

Aya-Chan didn't waste any time; she took the scissors and made a few quick cuts to open up the pant leg. Ran had no place to complain about his pants messing up... there was no way that stain was going to get out anyways.

She shrunk away a little at the wound. It was the first time she'd actually been faced head-on with an actual, open, bleeding wound. She'd caught a few glimpses of Yohji's the night before, but not enough to have gotten the impression she was getting now.

She sucked in breath. Focus... Focus on helping Ran. Turning away at this moment wasn't going to do anyone any good.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran unhappily considered the pants. He'd worn a pair he'd actually liked, since it was an off-day for missions. But they were shot to hell anyway.

He looked at his sister. The wound wasn't pretty, and she'd been too fast for him to shield her from it. She was already staring at a lot of his blood. "Aya, I'm okay. You don't have to be involved."

His voice sounded more strained than he would have liked. Aya was cringing, and he was furious with himself for allowing her to see it.

His voice also sounded weaker than it should. It was just a gunshot. If it didn't get infected, it would be a pain in the ass - he wouldn't be able to do missions for a couple days - but it would heal. He should be able to fight on it with enough painkillers and reinforcement if they found Yohji.

He had entered this lifestyle to give his sister her life, and instead dragged her into this non-life with him. The irony was enough to make him nauseous. He held out a hand, asking her with it to back away.

[celtic-kitsune.livejournal.com]

Omi pulled out the bandages, and the disinfectant. He knelt and looked at Ran's wound before looking at Aya-chan. "I got it from here, thank you." He turned his attention back to Ran's leg before taking a towel and putting some disinfectant on it mopping up the blood as carefully as he could trying not to hurt Ran.

"There's a strong chance this will become infected, Ran-kun. Because you ignored it." Omi spoke as he concentrated on cleaning the wound. He glanced up at Ran. "Is the bullet still in there?" He asked, he could have found out himself, but it would have one caused Ran more pain in his leg, and two, it probably would have grossed Aya-chan out, even the thought of possibly digging out the bullet made Omi a bit grossed out himself, but he would do it if he had to. But with all the bleeding Omi was sure the bullet was long gone.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran blanched. The bullet was still in his leg, he could feel it. It was why the damned wound hurt so much. A wave of irritation washed over him at Omi's suggestion that chances were good he'd caused it to become worse, mainly because Omi was right.

He was going to destroy Schwartz when they met again.

He would try.

Ran's eyes slid toward his sister; she was coping well, perhaps far better than he would have liked. He did not want to admit that the injury was bad in front of her.

Was it her choice to watch this? She wanted to be included in his life. She deserved to know him for what he was.

Maybe you want to push her away. In order to protect her. Although it would kill him.

...maybe that was what he had done to Yohji.

A wall of denial slammed into place at that.

After a minute at war with himself, he gave a short nod at Omi.

[celtic-kitsune.livejournal.com]

Omi let out a long sigh when Ran nodded. He stood up once again and grabbed a pair of long tweezers from the first aid kit before kneeling down again. He looked at Aya-chan.

"Could you grab me some more towels?" He didn't think Aya-chan would want to see him dig the bullet out of Ran's leg.

[kuchren.livejournal.com]

Aya-Chan nodded, and wordlessly turned towards the bathrooms to find some towels.

It almost felt good to be leaving the whole bloody scene behind... She wished that she could just do that. Just walk away from all of this.

But that'd mean leaving Ran behind... and that just wasn't a possibility.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

The ache in Ran's chest was sharp. He was almost grateful for the mess of his leg, it was a distraction. He wanted to hug Aya, to protect her from anyone able to hurt her. He was the one hurting her now, though, and he couldn't escape his actions.

His fingers curled over the rim of the chair and tilted his chin down, blood-colored hair shielding his face from Omi's examination. He wished he could do this himself; he didn't want to risk fainting again.

"Just do it!" Ran snapped.

[celtic-kitsune.livejournal.com]

Omi nodded. "Brace yourself." He said a second before he pushed the tweezers into the wound. He pinched the wound together making more blood flow out until he felt the bullet, getting as good a hold on it as he could then pulled it out letting it drop to the floor with the tweezers he pressed the towel hard on Ran's leg to stop the fresh bleeding that he had inflicted.

He looked up at Ran to see if he had passed out again.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran couldn't keep from yelling, though he bit it off immediately. A metallic taste was in the back of his mouth. The pain was keeping him barely holding on to consciousness - damn, Omi had been right. It was careless of him. He should have tended it, let Ken drive. Let Omi go. Ran should have stayed behind. He had been rash, illogical, thoughtless. And now Yohji was paying for it. Paying with his blood? Or his mind? Or was he already dead? And Ran had only just realized - he had never told him - it didn't matter. No, that's why he never saw it. It did matter. Because feelings like that were a distraction, they would be the downfall of Weiss. It was already Ran's fault their teammate was gone. He should have attacked Schwartz, kept them from taking Yohji to begin with.

Ran's thoughts rambled into incoherency, his eyes fell shut. He shivered, it was fucking cold. The trained part of his mind said that was a bad sign, and one that he should communicate to Omi. His leg hurt so overwhelmingly that his thoughts scattered again.

[celtic-kitsune.livejournal.com]

Omi kept the pressure on Ran's leg and looked up at the red head. "Ran-kun." He said trying to get his attention. "Don't go to sleep Ran-kun. Not yet." Omi said a bit louder. He wanted to make sure the wound was going to stop bleeding before Ran fell asleep.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran jerked awake at Omi's voice, and shot him a violet glare from beneath his bangs. It was mostly because of the pain rather than anything Omi had done. He softened the look when he realized his intensity and gave a short nod. He was rewarded with a wave of dizziness that made him close his eyes for a moment and swallow around sudden nausea. When he opened them again he mustered an expression close to grateful but tinged with pain. "Thank you, Omi. You did a good job with that."

His frustration was with himself, not with his teammate.

[celtic-kitsune.livejournal.com]

Omi sighed in relief when he saw Ran wake up again. He turned his attention back to his leg and cleaning the wound so he could wrap it.

"You're welcome..." Omi said wrapping the wound tightly. "Sorry it hurt so much. I didn't want to take the chance giving you something after all the blood you lost." Omi slowly stood up being careful not to touch much of anything since he had some blood on his hands. He went over to the sink, washed his hands and then came back with a cup of water for Ran.

"Here." He said holding it for him.

[kuchren.livejournal.com]

She'd realized that Omi never told her how many towels to get... Aya-Chan ended up just grabbing the entire bundle of towels.

She arrived back just in time to see Omi handing a freshly bandaged Ran a cup of water. She clutched the bundle of towels to her chest. There was the strange suspicion that Omi never needed any towels in the first place.

Aya-Chan wasn't really sure what to do now. She felt rather out of place. And unwanted.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran took the cup of water from Omi, and was alarmed at how much his hand was shaking.

"It was just a gunshot," he muttered, unaware that he had spoken aloud. It hadn't hit anything important, Omi would have told him.

Again, the sharp pang at his failure to find Yohji. He drank the water. He held the empty cup in his hands for a moment, staring at it as his emotions roiled.

Suddenly, he threw the glass with all his might at the far wall, where it hit a cabinet and shattered. "Goddammit, Yohji!"

He ran fingers through his hair angrily. He stared at the broken glass, most of it had fallen on the counter and sink. It wasn't close to the explosive destruction he wanted to cause Schwartz. "Fuck!" He added. He pushed himself unsteadily to his feet, though he hadn't decided yet whether it was to find Schwartz or a broom.

[celtic-kitsune.livejournal.com]

Omi heard Aya-chan come back into the kitchen and looked over his shoulder at her. He had been about to tell her to put them on the table for him when Ran threw the glass. Omi jumped when he heard it shatter turning to stare at the broken glass then look at Ran.

"You shouldn't be getting up yet." He said then looked back at Aya-chan. "Can you keep him from walking around? I need to clean up this mess. Blood tends to stain if you leave it." Omi said motioning to where he had let the bullet land.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran turned to face his sister. "I'm fine, Aya," he countered Omi's instructions. There wasn't any time for the apologies he knew he owed her. "I'm going to go with Ken to find Yohji." He turned back to Omi. "We'll do word of mouth. We'll go back to where we last saw the car, ask pedestrians...someone has to have seen Schwartz and know where they live..."

It was a ridiculous proposition, there was nothing even to tell them that Schwartz lived in Tokyo. But the other team were all foreigners, except for the little one, and not inconspicuous. It was a long shot, but maybe...

The sinking feeling in Ran's gut told him that they were simply at Schwartz' mercy. Again.

[kuchren.livejournal.com]

Aya-Chan had been frozen completely by Ran's throwing of the cup. But his next words reanimated her. "You can't!" She looked desperately towards Omi for help and support. "You can't..." it was all she could manage to say.

He was going to go out again. And... who knows how he'd come back this time. If even at all.

[celtic-kitsune.livejournal.com]

"Aya-chan's right. You can't go out again." Omi said. "I know we've got to get Yohji-kun back, but this is SCHWARTZ we're talking about here! Even if you went back and started asking around we have no clue if that is even the area they live in, and if it's not then that leaves all of Tokyo for us to be searching." Omi knew he was making it sound like it was impossible that they would ever be able to find Yohji. But if Omi had to choose between loosing one, or two team mates...

"If they wanted Yohji-kun dead they would have killed him instead of kidnapping him. We still have time to find him. But you won't be much help if you keep passing out from blood loss."

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

His fists clenched at his sides, Ran looked first from Omi, then to his sister.

Omi is right. And Ran knew despite it all, he would not be able to do anything but provide added liability if they did manage to find Schwartz. He was unsteady on his feet, though he didn't want to acknowledge it, even to himself.

Omi's second statement was true as well.

...but why would Schwartz take Yohji? What was the meaning behind it?

"They could be torturing him." Ran stated flatly, turning back to Omi.

[celtic-kitsune.livejournal.com]

"I know very well what they could be doing to him. And I also know what could happen to you if you decide to go back out there and look for him! I do NOT want to risk loosing both of you!" Omi took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh.

"Please, just try to rest? Even if it's just for a little while. I can still try and find something on my computer."

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran was taken aback for a moment. It hadn't occurred to him that Omi would be worried for him. It meant that if something did happen, it would place the remaining members in the position of doing something that could cost them their lives as well.

He wanted to argue, but Omi's logic was sound. He felt like breaking more than just a water cup. He looked back to his sister, then back at Omi. Both who would need help here if Schwartz returned.

"Fine." He bit out. He ran a hand through his bangs again, blood-red strands standing out against his pale fingers. "Fine." It sounded weary.

He tested his leg. It grated to admit that Omi was right on the other count as well. Ran wouldn't have been able to get far.

Ran stood in the middle of the room, looking lost. There truly wasn't anything he could do to save Yohji.

After a moment, he limped to the sink and brought out the dust pan from the cupboard beneath it to clean up the shards of glass.

[kuchren.livejournal.com]

Aya-Chan breathed a sigh of relief. Omi had managed to talk some sense into Ran. Still... the angered look on his face when he had thrown that cup... it was something that she wanted so desperately to forget but could not.

Ran was limping towards the sink. Aya-Chan rushed towards him with a chair and took - grabbed forcefully, rather... she hadn't meant it, but it had just come out as such - the dust pan from his hands. Without giving him another glance, she bent down to clean the remains of the broken cup.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran stared in surprise at his sister, his hands falling to his sides. "Aya..."

She was still there. She had faced the wound in his leg without so much as pausing. It was obvious she didn't understand, and yet she was still here, helping him.

She had even faced Schwartz. She had attacked Schwartz.

"Aya." His voice was low. "Please promise me. If you ever see those men again...even if I'm in danger...don't come. Hide. Run if you can. But stay away from them."

[celtic-kitsune.livejournal.com]

Omi sighed allowing himself to relax a little knowing that Ran wasn't going to try and do something on his own. He watched Aya-chan take the dust pan from Ran, since she was cleaning up the glass he decided he would clean up the blood that was still on the floor. He grabbed a couple of the towels Aya-chan had brought him and cleaned up the mess.

[kuchren.livejournal.com]

"I can't..." Aya-Chan dumped the shards of glass into the trashcan and straighted to face Ran. "You're my brother. I can't just walk away when you're..."

What was the word? Hurt? In distress...? Dying...?

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

"Aya," Ran was almost whispering, keenly aware that Omi was still in the room with them. "It's not worth it if it puts you in danger." He made a sweeping gesture with a hand. Nothing was worth it. "We're trained, and we can't even do enough against those people." He looked out the window, lips pressed thin, then turned back to her, voice still low. "I'm here to protect you, Aya. Nothing I've done will have been worth it if you risk yourself for me."

[kuchren.livejournal.com]

(moved to Wed 1.33!)