Red Shaman

Tazzy: As always, thanks for the review.



*sigh* Do I have to say this again? I don't own Weiss, I don't own Yami no Matsuei, I don't own Harry Potter. I DO, however, own the tee shirt Star is wearing in this chapter and the socks. Making no money from anything. Good grief.

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“Psst! Sei!” came Watari's voice from the bedroom doorway.



Tatsumi looked up from his paperwork spread out on the coffee table. “Hai? What is it, Yutaka?”



“Did you get the tuxes pressed?”



“Of course I did. And be quiet or you'll wake her up.”



“The her is already awake,” Blaze said. “What are you two up to? What's this about getting your tuxes pressed?”



“Nothing, love. Just a boring work party,” Tatsumi said, smiling.



Watari nodded vigorously. Blaze looked suspiciously from one to the other of them.



“You both realize you're terrible liars, don't you? And that I can feel you're up to something sneaky.”



Watari put one hand over his heart and looked at her aghast. “Darling, you wound us. Why would we lie to you about something so mundane as a work party?”



“Because I'm on mission at a black tie event tonight. You two are nosy and protective as all hell.”



“That certainly goes without saying,” Tatsumi said.



“Not to mention, Hisoka would have told me if there was a work party for the simple fact of needing help wrestling Tsu into a tux for it.”



“There is that,” Watari said thoughtfully.



“Now hear this, you two. You are not going on this mission with me. I nearly lost one of you the last time you went with me. I refuse to go through that again.”



Watari sighed and put his hands in her hair, forcing her to look at him.



“Babe, I'm okay. I'm here, I'm safe,” he said, leaning forward and kissing the top of her head.



“But you weren't, Honey. For seventy two hours Chiro and I didn't know if we were going to lose you or not. It nearly killed me again and I don't think I can stand being that scared for at least another couple of millennia.”



“I know, sweetheart. But . . .”



“No buts. No coercion. No wheedling. Neither one of you are going on this mission with me. Is that clear? You are not to interfere in any way. Understand?”



Watari sighed. “Hai, hai, koiishi.”



“I'm glad we understand each other,” she said before turning and walking back into the bedroom.



Tatsumi waited a few minutes and when he heard the shower go on he smiled.



“What are you grinning for?” Watari asked, puzzled. “We have to think of another plan now.”



A wicked little sparkle lit Tatsumi's blue eyes. “She only said we couldn't interfere in this mission.”



“What's your point?”



He smiled wider. “She didn't say we couldn't go watch her on this mission.”



Watari sprinted the length of the room and pounced on Tatsumi, sending paperwork flying all over the room. Winding long arms and legs around the other man and kissing him soundly.



“My gods I just love you!”



“After that, I certainly hope so.”







Schuldig woke by slow degrees to the early morning sunlight barely peeking through the curtains. He'd been dreaming of Crawford coming to get him. Dreaming of being wrapped around the warm, solid body of someone he loved. He smiled a little to himself. The body he was wrapped around was definitely warm and solid but it was also softer in certain places. Made up of curves rather than angles and planes. Fortunately, it was most certainly someone he loved, though not in the same way.



“Gods, why do you put up with me, Skye?” he said sleepily, winding her hair around his fingers.



“Because you're my friend,” she answered with a yawn. “Time is it?”



“Still early. Go back to sleep,” he said, wrapping himself around her again. “You smell good. Like cinnamon.”



She chuckled a little and he looked at her in surprise. “You've got to be kidding.”



“Sadly, no. Mama had a thing for spices and flowers so Star and I both got stuck since we were the only girls in the family.”



Schu started to snicker.



“Keep it up and I'll tell Oracle what your middle name is.”



“You wouldn't!”



“Try me.”



“That's not fair to pull on someone's last day.”



Skye propped herself up on an elbow. “It won't be your last day, Schu. I swear to the gods, I will not let them take you.”



***************************************************************** ********************



Yohji stuck his head out the door of the bedroom he and Aya shared. He had woken up to find Aya's side of the bed empty but not cold. He had been a detective before joining Weiss so he had quickly surmised that he hadn't been gone all that long. He had rolled over intending to go back to sleep when he heard Aya's voice outside. Not the quiet, sweet voice he used when they were alone, but the level, clipped tones when he was livid about something. When he looked out he realized who Aya was talking to.



Star stood in front of Aya wearing an over sized tee shirt that said “Don't Make Me Get My Flying Monkeys”, argyle Harry Potter socks and nothing else. She had one hand on her hip, head cocked to one side, listening intently to him rant on about respecting other people's privacy and manners.



“Reeeaaallly? Are y'all tryin' to tell me how to behave in my own house?”



At that moment, Sunny, who had been headed down the hallway and must have heard the last part of the conversation, snagged Aya by the collar as he was walking past. And dragged him off, protesting the whole way.



Star smiled a little and watched Aya being literally thrown into another room by Sunny. She smiled at Yohji and shrugged.



“Didn't seem like you were all that upset about it last night,” she said, wandering off. Presumably to unlock either Ken or Farf from whatever torture device she happened to have them in.



Yohji shook his head. “I'm going back to bed.”





“What the fuck are you doing, Sunny?” Aya asked, glaring at the older man.



“Saving your life, actually. Or at very least saving you from a case of temporary insanity.”



“Saving my . . . what?”



Sunny sighed. “I swear, for an assassin, you are remarkably unobservant. When either one of those sweet, genteel southern ladies suddenly gets the drawl during an argumentative situation it's best to back off. Actually, it's best to take several steps back, apologize for whatever stupid thing it was you just said and then run like hell. Trust me, being attracted to ducks for three days is not a pretty sight.”



“I don't think I want to know.”



“Believe me, you don't.”



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An hour or so later Crawford was looking for a way to talk to Skye without having Schu attached to her hip. He presumed that Schuldig, as was his wont was still in bed so he went looking for her. He found her in the training room. Three teenagers were launching various attacks at her from physical to mental, none of which were coming close to touching her. The psychic attacks seemed to bounce off of some kind of shield. Omi fired six crossbow bolts at her in rapid succession and all of them stopped in mid air and fell to the ground without ever getting near her.



“Why isn't this working like it should?” Ghost said, sounding exasperated. “Skye, it isn't fair for you to use your full power.”



“I'm not. Baby, do you think anything will go easy on you because you're young? You know better than that. Now, think. What are you not doing that you should be?”



One could almost see the cognitive processes working in three minds simultaneously.



Crawford watched intently as the younger ones tried their attack again, this time working as a unit rather than individually. The strikes came much closer this time but still didn't touch Skye.



“Much better!” Skye said, going to hug all three of them. “I'm so proud of you all.”



She alters sound, came Star's voice into his head.



What do you mean?



I'm sure you've studied the ability to use sonic waves as weaponry. With Nagi's gifts it would have been something you naturally would have looked into.



Yes. There have been several articles in the last few years concerning that. Everything that is mobile in any way emits a sonic wavelength. In a living thing it can be anything from breath to blood running through the veins.



Exactly. Sunny and I can do it as well for shielding but neither of us can even come close to her ability. She initially started working with it as a healing method. She can repair damaged or nearly destroyed organs given enough time. The other way works faster.



Meaning?



Think internal sonic boom and all of your internal organs exploding simultaneously. It had felt like she'd said that with a smile.



“Okay, we'll work on this more when I get home from school,” Ghost said.



“I didn't think you were going to school today,” Skye said.



“I'm only going for a couple of hours. Plus I'm taking the guys with me,” she said with a small smile.



“You know it will only make them worse if you take the boys,” Skye pointed out.



“I know. But it will be worth it to see the expressions on their faces. No one they've ever even seen can match the boys,” Ghost said and bounced out of the room with Omi and Nagi following at a slower pace.



Skye turned to find Crawford staring at her from the doorway.



“I think we need to talk, Skye.”



“About time you figured that out.”