Paradise Lost

Takatori Hirofumi's eyes brimmed with tears which shone like gems from
behind his officious glasses and Omi froze, speechless. "I knew that
somewhere you had to be alive... Oh, God, Mamoru! You're alive!" 

Unable to restrain his emotions any longer, the middle Takatori brother,
threw his arms around his little brother as he'd wanted to so badly for
so long, simultaneously risking his life to lunge at the armed assassin
in such a way. Omi couldn't move, but stared forward, wide-eyed. He
could hardly feel the desperate embrace of his closest of kin, he felt
so far away... The crossbow dropped to the ground from numb fingers with
a soft clatter that went unnoticed by either of the men. 

"B-- Brother..." Omi heard himself stammer as if in a dream. He'd been
so sure that he was of no relation to the infamous Takotori family when
he'd come to the chateau. He just wanted to be sure that he wasn't so he
could alleviate his guilt before killing the man who know clutched him
to his breast, weeping. 

"Don't leave me again, Mamoru," the graceful man whispered, his soft
breath rustling his brother's hair, "Let's stay together and help each
other!" He stood up with resolve, face still streaked with tears. "We
can make father's dream come true together!" 

Only then did Omi feel sensation of new tears which burned his eyes and
a pain in his throat so bad it felt as if he were trying to swallow an
apple whole. He felt so wanted, so loved by this man... He was asking
him to stay with him, to live with him, maybe start to heal the wounds
which had been so freshly opened in the poor boy's heart... With his
father... 

The word carried a twisted double-meaning for the young hunter. It was
the thing he'd wanted most his whole life, and also the one who had
taken it all away from him. But that's what he wanted so badly...
"Father...? Father..." Omi choked from around his silent tears and
returned his brother's embrace. 

"Mm." Hirofumi nodded firmly when suddenly there was a loud door slam
and daylight was cast on the strange but beautiful scene, blinding both
of them. Two of the other Weiss men stood in the doorway, doubtlessly
confounded by the sight of their ally in a loving embrace with a
heartless murderer of innocents. /Oh, no!/ Omi suddenly thought with a
shocking sense of dread. 

"Omi! Are you all right?" Ken called out urgently. 

/no... No! NO! Not now! Don't take him from me!!/ Omi felt a powerful
surge of adrenaline as the desperate urgency of the situation clashed
against his torn mind and he channeled the pent-up energy in giving his
brother a huge shove towards the back door. 
"RUN!!" he screamed desperately. He couldn't let his brother die! He'd
waited his whole life to find someone he could call brother, it couldn't
end like this! Omi would sooner risk his own life. "GO! Hurry!" The
youth whirled around with trained speed and precision and had picked up
the .44 Magnum from the desk and had it aimed at his friends in the
blink of an eye. 

Aya's stern expression darkened at the betrayal. This had shaken even
the swordsman's nerves of steel. "Omi, what's going on?" he said
stiffly. 

Hirofumi hesitated for a moment in the doorway, and regarded his
brother's back as the boy risked everything to cover his escape. It
broke his heart to leave the boy that everyone but he had left for dead,
he'd waited so long to see his nii-chan again, only to have to flee a
moment later. "Mamoru, can I see you again? Are you sure?" The man only
dared linger for a moment longer, looking at the trembling back of his
brother as Mamoru drew hitching breaths through his tears before he dove
from the room. 

"You...!" Ken said angrily and began to run after the target as he'd
been instructed, not understanding what was going on, but not about to
let his quarry escape. 

Omi braced himself and aimed the gun straight at Ken's head with the
deadly accuracy of one who was trained in long-range weapons. "Omi?" Ken
said softly, baffled by the severe actions of his turncoat teammate. 

Omi's whole body trembled with shock and adrenaline and he knew he was a
hair-trigger at that moment. Acid tears blurred his vision, so he could
only see his friend's outline; Omi wouldn't' be able to tell if a move
Ken made was just a step forward to help him or a step forward again to
kill the fleeing brother. Omi's mind reeled as he realized in that
terrifying moment, he really wasn't bluffing. Fear and confusion swirled
with love and shock like paints mixing on an artist's pallet to form a
new and ugly color, and Omi's finger trembled, as tight on the trigger
as he dared without it firing. He knew in that instant that if he was
given cause he would reflexively pump a bullet into his best friend,
someone who had been the most comforting when his horrible memories
started coming back, someone at whom Omi had playfully flung a piece of
sushi the day before and everyone was laughing, the one whom Omi had
regarded as the closest thing he had to a brother until five minutes
ago... /Don't move... Don't make me do it... I can't help it... Don't
kill my brother.../ 

Aya and Ken stood still, shock turning into anger, then concern. As they
were motionless a moment longer, Omi knew that they were going to wait
for him to explain things or put the gun down before trying anything.
Tears sprang up anew in the boy's eyes, this time of relief, and he
lowered the gun to the ground. He began to cry, not silently this time,
as the adrenaline of panic turned to hopeless sorrow in his veins. 

"B--" he choked out hoarsely, "Boku no niisan... nan da..." He's my
brother... 

Aya and Ken both started, in shock. Neither would ever have suspected,
and in Aya's eyes another dark feeling, something else, stirred as he
knew his teammate was a Takatori... 

Omi dropped the gun and joined it on the ground a moment later as he
dropped to his knees, knowing the danger was past but the suffering just
beginning... It was too much, too sudden, all at once! Images swirled
and raced through his mind... Finding out he had been kidnapped, that
his father had left him to die, dancing passionately with Ouka, being
hunted for his life, finding a family, being ready to kill his own
friends... 

The two other WeiB members stood in mute reflection as they saw their
friend curl up into the fetal position on the floor as if trying to hide
from the world, dreading what life would throw at him next. Omi hugged
his arms to his chest and put his face to his knees, and he trembled and
sobbed and felt the moan build up inside of him. He didn't even attempt
to hold it back, knowing it would be as futile as holding back the ocean
behind a tiny dam. The groan tore through and out of him, loud and long,
and laced with beautiful anguish. It was a sound unbearable to hear,
that no soul could ever deserve to be forced to make... It was the
anguish of a life found to be a pretty glass lie and the torment of a
soul whose life and dreams were torn assunder, rendering the tender mind
underneath nothing but a wounded bird whose wings had been broken and
now had not even legs on which to stand... 

Omi's cries resounded through the chateau until Ken felt his own eyes
brimming with tears with empathy for a spirit which made such a noise of
utter loss. Aya drew his breath in, forced to close his eyes solemnly
against the sound, and turned away. Omi drew in a ragged breath and
couldn't help but continue his wail of lament again, shattering peace
and his world. 

Nothing could be the same again.