Entertaining an idea brought on by a RPG I'm playing with Sailor Mac. Anyhow, this is a songfic. I don't own the song or the Weiss boys, I'm just borrowing 'em for awhile. The idea plays on the fact that Ken and Ran might have met when they were younger. Consider this a rewrite of Bosanova, Casanova.. which will most likely get scrapped and rewritten. o.x;

Notes: Shounen-ai, some angst, sugary sweetness! ^^; The song is I'll Be, by Edwin McCain.


*****
I'll Be
*****

//The strands in your eyes, that color them wonderful
Stop me and steal my breath...
Emeralds from mountains, thrust towards the sky
Never revealing their depth...//

Fujimiya Ran and his imouto, Aya, were walking home from school together. It was a perfect day, not a cloud in the sky and cool with a slight breeze. Ran was in good spirits, because he'd gotten a good grade on a test he'd been afraid he'd fail. Aya was in good spirits because she'd made first chair flute once again in the all-city orchestra.
"Ne, aniki?" Aya asked, swinging around to walk backwards, smiling hugely at him. "The J-League is coming to town next week!"
Ran blinked at her over the book he'd been reading. "And?" he asked, relatively clueless. Aya wasn't much of a sports person, but she adored watching soccer.
She laughed. "And I want to go see the game! Touchan said he'd get us tickets if you'd go with me."
Ran was definately not much of a sports person, but he'd watch a game on TV with Aya and his father every now and then. "Well, I don't see why not," he said slowly. "What day is it?"
"YAY!" she cried happily, jumping up and down a little as she walked backwards. "It's next Friday night. This is gonna be soooo cool! Maybe Yuri-chan and Aka-chan will want to come too!"
The prospect of spending an evening at a soccer game with Aya and her friends was more than a bit daunting. "I guess so," he said, her excitement making him smile. "Maybe we can eat dinner at a resteraunt beforehand, too."
Aya beamed. "Could we?!" she asked. "That's great, Ran-niichan!"
He laughed gently at her. "Hai, we can," he said. "Now turn around and walk right before you run into someone!"
She obeyed him, walking next to him.. until they came to a TV store. She ran to the window and plastered herself to it. "Look! They're talking about the League!"
Ran walked to her and looked at the screen, blinking. "Aa," he replied. "If they're coming here for the exhibition next week, it makes sense.."
A picture of one of the players came on the screen, and Aya squealed, going into fangirl mode. "Ken-kun! Aaaah!!"
Ran laughed at her again. She had pictures and posters of all the members of the team in her room, but her favorite was the young goalie. "What's so great about him?" he teased her.
"He's beautiful!" Aya cried, staring at the screen, enraptured. "What's NOT to like about Ken-kun? Mou, Ran-niichan!"
Shaking his head, Ran chuckled and looked at the screen. The picture was of Ken holding a bottle of water and looking at the camera like he expected it to explode or something. He was obviously not prepared for the picture to be taken. Ran smiled a little, the look on his face was precious.
He blinked, startled for thinking that, then shrugged. He could appreciate beauty in either gender, and had long ago started to wonder if he wasn't bisexual. He'd toyed with the idea, then discarded it as impossible. But the boy -did- have the most vivid, beautiful green eyes he'd ever seen..
"Ran-niichan! Wouldn't it be so cool if we could meet him?" Aya asked, finally tearing her eyes from the screen and gazing up at him.
Ran raised an eyebrow. He happened to know that his father had bought the tickets, plus gotten them locker room passes, so they could wait with the rest of the fan congregation for the players to come out of the locker room. There was a chance Aya's dream could come true. "I guess it would be," he said.
"You GUESS?!" she shrieked. "Nii-chan, don't you want to meet him too?"
Laughing a little, Ran shrugged. "To me, he's just another boy, Aya," he said, smiling. "I don't feel anything special for him."
"Mou!" Aya replied, gazing up at him with laughing eyes. "You know, I think you'd make a cute couple," she said, her voice taking on a mischevious tone.
He blinked. "You think what?!" he exclaimed. Laughing, she started to run. "Oi!" he called laughingly, running after her. "Come back here, Aya!"

//Tell me, that we belong together
Dress it up with the trippings of love...
I'll be captivated, I'll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above...//

Ken Hidaka shook his head to clear his eyes of the sweat that trickled past the sweatband on his forehead. Practice had been just a notch above brutal, and he felt like he was going to keel over. In fact, he wasn't sure if he'd mind if that happened. The other guys had long since gone ahead, but he had stayed behind to get some extra practice in with the auto-shooter thing. He didn't know the name of it, but it shot balls at you and you had to block them. Good thing for goalies when nobody was willing to kick the ball at them.
He stretched, working the kinks out of his back, and looked at his bag on the bench, then longingly at the showers. If he took a shower, he'd be late to the press conference. If he didn't, he'd look terrible while at the press conference. Shrugging, he decided to risk being late and stripped down, getting into one of the shower stalls.
One cool shower later, Ken felt almost human. He dried off and dressed plainly, in jeans and a t-shirt. When he put his watch on and glanced at it, he balked. 4:30. The conference had ended just a few minutes ago. Groaning, he smacked his forehead. "Coach's gonna kill me for this one," he muttered. "Ah well.. I was practicing."
Shrugging again, he picked up his bag and walked out of the locker room, slinging it over his shoulder. He didn't want to go back to the hotel immediately anyway, so he decided to wander around. He hadn't had a lot of time to see Tokyo yet, and he wanted to. The coach had given them free reign and told them to do what they wanted so long as it was legal. Ken fully intended to take advantage of that.
He entered the busy downtown district, swarming with people. Thankfully, nobody looked twice at him. Without his jersey, he supposed he looked like any other person. Even though there -were- posters of him, and all the others, plastered everywhere. He tried to ignore them as he walked along.
After buying himself a couple new CDs of his favorite bands, his spirits were considerably lifted. He couldn't help but smile as he walked along. He saw a girl running through the crowd towards him, laughing, and a redheaded boy following him, also laughing. He blinked at the boy, he'd never seen hair that color in Japan before.. not from a native, anyway.
"A-ya!" the boy called. "Wait for me!"
She laughed. "You'll have to catch me!" she called teasingly, looking over her shoulder. The inevietable happened, and she crashed right into him. Instinctively, he put one foot back and his arms around her to keep her from falling.
"Oh no!" she cried, looking up at him. "Gomen nasai! Are you hurt?"
Ken smiled warmly at her. "No harm done," he said cheerfully. "I'm afraid your friend caught up with you, though."
The boy stopped a few feet away, looking exasperated. "Now see what you've done, Aya," he said in a scolding tone. "We shouldn't have been running in the first place."
"You're no fun, nii-chan," she said, turning to stick her tongue out at him. Ken released her as she did so and returned to a normal stance, smiling at the pair of them. "See, he's not hurt at all."
Smiling faintly but still exasperated, the boy shook his head. "You are too much," he informed her. He looked up at Ken, and their eyes met. Ken reflected that he'd also never seen violet eyes before. "Sorry about that."
"No problem," Ken said again. "Being hit by a pretty girl always brightens a guy's day."
Aya blushed and turned to look up at him again. "Well, I'm still.." her voice trailed off, and Ken blinked. "You're.. you're Hidaka Ken, aren't you?!" she asked him.
He blinked again, then grinned sheepishly. "Dead in the black," he said. "Yes, that's me."
Her jaw dropped, and she looked like she was about to burst into tears. "I ran into YOU? Of all people!"
The boy patted her on the head comfortingly. "Daijobu," he said. "You got to meet him at least, na?"
Ken laughed. "I don't mind," he said again. "I like running into pretty girls." He smiled at her, and she smiled back.
"We're going to your game," she said abruptly, smiling. "Maybe we can see you afterwards!"
Ken nodded, smiling in return. "I'd like that!" he said. "Maybe we could hang out sometime. Today?"
Her brother raised an eyebrow. "Well, we do have to go home first," he said. "You could come with us."
"Oh, yes!" Aya cried, jumping up and down, grabbing his hand. "Come with us!"
Ken laughed. He had taken an instant liking to the boy, who treated him like a real person rather than some kind of idol on a pedistal. "Well, sure, why not?" he said.
The boy smiled. "It's settled, then. Oh, by the way.. I'm Fujimiya Ran, and this is my imouto, Aya."
Ken nodded. "Ran-kun, Aya-chan," he said, smiling. "Lead on!"

//I'll be your crying shoulder,
I'll be love suicide...
I'll be better when I'm older,
I'll be the greatest fan of your life...//

A month later, a comfortable friendship had been established between Ken and the Fujimiya siblings. Ken felt happy and welcome with them, and they were happy to have him. He stayed with them often, much preferring their happy household to a lonely hotel room. Their parents loved Ken on sight and practically adopted him as a second son.
Aya was at orchestra practice, her parents were at work, and so Ran and Ken had the house to theirselves. They lounged in Ran's room, listening to one of the CDs Ken had bought on the day they'd met.
"Na, Ken, don't you have practice soon?" Ran asked, looking at him over a magazine he was reading. He was sprawled on the bed, laying on his stomach with his legs bent at the knee and crossed at the ankle in the air.
"Nope," Ken replied, relaxing on the floor, leaning on Ran's beanbag. "It's Wednesday, remember?"
Ran blinked. "Oh yeah," he said. "Sorry, I forget what day it is when I don't have school."
Ken laughed. "I used to do that all the time," he replied. "Wish I could still be in school sometimes, actually. They got me as soon as I graduated from high school."
Grinning, Ran replied, "That's what happens when you're awesome at something. Someone's gonna want you to do it for them. Look at Aya and her flute, for example. She's already got music schools from all over the world offering her scholarships."
Ken nodded. "Hai, she's great," he said, smiling. "She's such a sweet girl. I know she'll do wonderfully wherever she goes."
Ran laughed. "Are you smitten with my little sister?" he teased. "She certianly is with you."
Ken shook his head, laughing. "Nah," he replied. "I think of her as a little sister, actually."
"Don't tell her that," Ran said, still laughing. "She'd be heartbroken."
Ken chuckled. "I know," he replied. "That's why I haven't!"
They laughed together, and Ken took that time to admire Ran. He'd always known he prefered boys over girls, and the redhead was far and away the most beautiful boy he'd ever seen. If it was either of the Fujimiya siblings he wanted, it was definately Ran.

Ran pretended to read his magazine, but Ken was distracting him beyond the point of concentration on anything but him. He glanced at the younger boy over the top of his magazine every now and then, just to admire him.
He knew he should probably keep his attraction to himself, but it was really hard to do that. Ken was so open and friendly with him, and he felt bad keeping anything from the soccer player. He already knew that Ken's preferences were like his own, mainly just from observing him. The fact that he'd said so helped out quite a bit, too. But still.. he didn't quite know how to admit that he was attracted.
"Ken?" he heard himself ask.
"Hai?" Ken replied, looking up at him and brushing chocolate colored bangs out of his eyes.
Ran hesitated, then put his magazine aside, propping his head on his chin and looking down at him. "I.. wanted to tell you something."
"Yeah?" he asked, interested. "What's up?"
Ran debated how to tell him, and finally decided on his usual direct way. "I'm attracted to you," he said bluntly.
Ken blinked at him, and a slow blush creeped across his face. "Yeah?" he said again, sitting up and moving closer to the bed, gazing up at him. "I like you too, Ran."
Ran lowered his head so that their noses were inches apart. "What do we do now?" he asked softly.
Ken smiled crookedly at him. "I think this is my cue to ask you out," he responded. He reached up and touched his cheek gently, and then his hair.
Smiling, Ran reached out and did the same to Ken. "Then this must be my cue to accept," he said softly.
Blushing, Ken closed the gap between them and kissed Ran gently, letting his eyes fall closed. Taken by surprise, Ran's eyes widened, and then closed of their own accord. He felt his face heat up and knew he was blushing, just like Ken. He felt the younger boy tangle his hand in his hair and he mimicked the action.
After a minute or so, Ken gently broke the kiss, pulling back a fraction of an inch to gaze into Ran's eyes. Their breath mingled, and Ran absently wondered if he was going to die of happiness.
"Ran," Ken murmured, his eyes half closed. Abruptly, he got up and layed down on the bed, next to Ran. He pulled the taller boy close to him in a warm embrace, and they rested together, their eyes closed, just relaxing. Ran was thankful for Ken's presence, and Ken took comfort in Ran's.

//Rain falls angry on the tin roof
As we lie awake in my bed...
You're my survival, you're my living proof
That my love is alive and not dead...//

"Ran," Ken asked quietly, looking at him. Ran - now Aya - looked up from his book and blinked at Ken.
"Hai?" he asked. Ken had a thoughtful look on his face, like he was lost in memories.
He walked over and perched on the arm of the chair next to Ran. "You remember when we first started dating?" he asked.
Ran nodded, looking up at him with clear violet eyes. The change in him since the two had been forced to part for a year was phenomenal, and Ken wanted to cry every time he gazed into those solemn eyes. "Hai," he replied. "Why?"
Ken shrugged. "I was just thinking about it, that's all," he replied.
Ran blinked. "Sou ka," he replied, looking back down at his book. However, he didn't read the words. He just sat there, gazing at the page. "Ken.." He looked up at him again, concerned. "What's wrong?"
Forcing a smile onto his face, Ken shook his head and got up. "Nothing," he replied.
Ran frowned as he walked across the room and stood, walking to him and embracing him from behind. He felt the boy tense, as he hadn't expected it, and then relax. "Ken," he murmured. "I know something's bothering you."
Ken closed his eyes, then tilted his head so he could look up at Ran. "It's just.. you've changed so much.. I hardly know you anymore."
Ran bit his lip, then tightened his grip on Ken and spoke softly. "I love you, Ken," he whispered. "Never forget that. No matter how I act. Never forget it."
Ken trembled a little at the forceful note in Ran's voice. "I won't," he said softly, "Because I love you.."
Ran gently led Ken into his room, shutting the door after him. "I'm sorry," he murmured, pulling Ken with him. Ken caught on and toppled them both onto the bed, getting a squeak of surprise from Ran.
"Just hold me," he whispered. "Let me know you care.."
Tears sprang to his eyes and he obeyed, holding Ken tight and close. Rain pounded on the tin roof of the Koneko's overhang, making a rhythmetic drumming sound. Lightning illuminated the room every now and then.
Just when he thought Ken was asleep, the boy shifted, tilting his face up and pressing his lips to Ran's gently. The redhead tensed a bit, surprised, then relaxed and returned the kiss lightly. Ken pressed closer, deepening the kiss expertly. Ran felt himself melting into the younger boy's embrace and sighed softly through his nose.
When the kiss ended, Ken gazed up at him with luminous green eyes that shone softly in the darkness. "You won't leave me, will you?" he whispered.
"Oh, Ken," Ran murmured, hugging him tightly. "Never. NEVER."

//Tell me, that we belong together
Dress it up with the trippings of love...
I'll be captivated, I'll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above...//

Ken returned the hug fiercely, burying his face in Ran's neck. "I'll always love you," he murmured. "Always."
Ran sealed the promise by tilting Ken's face up and kissing him gently. "I love you," he whispered. "Itsu mo, ai shiteru.."

//I'll be your crying shoulder,
I'll be love suicide...
I'll be better when I'm older,
I'll be the greatest fan of your life...//

Ran stood in front of Ken, his back to the boy and his arms spread out wide. The pouring rain soaked them both, but it made Ran seem even more threatening.
Schuldich cocked a hip and put a hand on it, smirking. "How sweet," he mused. "Protecting your lover, ne?"
The expressions of shock on Youji and Omi's faces confirmed that they hadn't known. Now mistrust shone in Youji's eyes when he looked at Ran, and Omi's lips thinned out as he pressed them together. Schuldich's smile widened. He'd meant to create tension between the group.
"There's nothing you can do," a soft tenor said. A slight boy of about sixteen came up next to Schuldich, regarding them all with cool, midnight-blue eyes. "You'll have to surrender."
Ken knealt on the pavement, one hand on his side, covering a knife wound earned by fighting Farfarello. The insane Irishman was kneeling behind Schuldich in much the same state. The only difference was that Farfarello was actually -enjoying- it. The rain plastered his bangs to his forehead and they hung in his eyes, sending little rivers running down his face, like tears. Seeing anything was impossible.
Ran gritted his teeth and kept his aggressive stance, feet slightly apart. He dropped his arms and drew his katana, holding it in a defensive posture. If anyone so much as dared to -move- in Ken's direction, they'd find themselves battling Death himself, Death with flaming red hair and hard violet eyes.
Omi levelled his bow, aiming at Schuldich. "If you try to hurt any of them, I'll kill you!"
Schuldich ignored him, but Nagi watched him, interested. The two were boyfriends outside of their respective missions, and yet Nagi knew that if Omi killed Schuldich, he wouldn't hesitate to repay the favor.. no matter how much it hurt. They both knew that they would never be able to look at eachother the same if they'd killed a friend. No matter -how- necessary it was.
Nagi mused over this fact and kept a calm exterior. Inside, his heart screamed and begged Omi not to shoot.
A gunshot rang out, and three Weiss members gasped in surprise. Ran's eyes widened, and the katana clattered to the pavement. Omi screamed and fired his bow, hitting the American in the stomach. They'd made the mistake of discounting Crawford from the game, having thought he was unconcious. He should have been, after what Youji did to him.
Both Ran and Crawford crumpled to the ground. Crawford, already drained, sank back into unconciousness. Ran, who'd been at full strength, gritted his teeth and clutched his stomach in agony.
"Ran!" Ken cried, catching him and forcing him to lean back. "Ran!"
"Aya-kun!" Omi called, his crossbow still aiming at Schwarz. "What should we do?!"
Youji gritted his teeth and looked at Ken and Ran, and then at Schwarz. Each team down two members, possibly with fatal wounds. "They need doctors," he said harshly, glaring at Schuldich and Nagi. "We'll lose all four of them if we don't hurry!"
Schuldich gritted his teeth and glared right back. Personally, he didn't give a damn if Farfarello died. Crawford, on the other hand, was an entirely different story.. and he was the one with an arrow lodged in his stomach. "It's a draw, this time," he growled. "Next time you might not be so lucky!"
The two members of Schwarz quickly went to their fallen comrades, as did the two members of Weiß. The rain seemed to fall harder, making a river of blood that flowed away from Ken and Ran as they clung to eachother.
"You're gonna have to get up!" Youji yelled at them over the roar of the thunder. "I can only carry one of you!"
Reluctantly, Ken released Ran. "I'm not as badly hurt," he said. "Take him!"
Youji nodded and lifted Ran into his arms gently. Ran groaned in pain, and Youji started sprinting for the car, parked a block away. "Hang on, Aya," Youji said while running. "You can't die, because you've got a LOT to explain!"

//I've dropped out, burned up, fought my way back from the dead...
Tuned in, turned on, remembered the thing you said...//

Two hours and fourty-six stiches later, Ken sat with Youji and Omi in the hospital waiting room. His skin was a little grey from bloodloss, and therefore he'd been instructed to drink lots of milk. He held a glass in his hand, looking very unhappy.
"I hate milk," he muttered, taking a drink.
Omi smiled faintly at him. "Daijobu, Ken-kun," he replied. "It'll help restore some of the blood you lost."
Youji snorted. "He just objects having his coffee-stream tainted with blood."
Ken growled at him, but he couldn't help but grin. "I don't drink that much coffee."
Their bantering stopped when a surgeon wearing a blood-splattered smock stepped through the doors to the ER. "Friends of Fujimiya Aya?" he asked shortly. "I'm Dr. Naiko, and I was his surgeon."
Ken stood up, looking at him with pleading eyes. "Is he okay?"
The doctor nodded. "Aa," he replied. "We almost lost him. It was closer than I like to call it. However, he'll recover just fine. He's even awake.. and he's asking for Ken."
"That's me," Ken said quickly, walking forward and wincing a bit from the pain in his side.
The doctor nodded to him. "Follow me," he said. He lead Ken through the doors to the ER, and then through a maze of machenery, hallways, patients, and people in scrubs moving around at light speed. At last, they came to the end of the hallway. "This is where we keep patients who're recovering from surgery, or have other major problems," he said. "This is the ICU. Your friend's in there. Excuse me, I have to go now." And with that, the doctor promptly disappeared into the maze again. Ken briefly wondered how he'd find his way out, and then walked into Ran's room.
The redhead was hooked to an IV drip, his skin more pale than usual. He opened his eyes when he sensed someone in the room and looked at Ken, then smiled weakly. "Hey," he said, his voice little more than a whisper.
"Hey," Ken replied, his own voice shaking. He walked to the bedside and took his lover's hand, holding it tightly. "Baka.. you scared us!"
Ran smiled in apology. "Didn't mean to," he murmured. "I was stupid for thinking that Crawford was out of the game."
Ken lowered his head, long bangs obscuring his face. "Baka," he murmured again. Two drops of warm liquid hit Ran's hand, and he realised that Ken was crying.
"Ken," he whispered. "Don't cry.. I'm okay." He lifted his hand and touched Ken's face gently, brushing the tears away. He ignored the pain this sent rippling through him.
The young assassin gazed down at him, then reached up and covered Ran's hand with his own, tilting his face into the caress. "They said they nearly lost you," he said, his voice hoarse from supressing tears. "What would I have done if you'd died?"
Ran sighed softly and closed his eyes, then opened them again. "You'd have gone on," he said simply. "Ken.. this is our job. We have to come to terms with this kind of thing, or else we'll both be sick with worry all the time."
Ken's grip on Ran's hand tightened. "I hate it!" he cried softly, the tears flowing feely now. He glared down at Ran, the redhead's image blurry. "I hate seeing you hurt! Seeing you fall.. it kills me inside, every time!"
"There's nothing either of us can do, Ken," Ran replied, letting his voice have a bit of an edge. "You know that!" His voice softened. "It hurts me to see you cry."
Ken waited until he was sure he could speak again without his voice breaking. "I love you, you idiot," he breathed. "If you ever, EVER do this again, I won't speak to you for a week!"
Ran smiled faintly. "I'll remember that," he murmured. "I love you."

//I'll be your crying shoulder,
I'll be love suicide...
I'll be better when I'm older,
I'll be the greatest fan of your life...//

Ken knealt down by his bedside and pressed his lips to Ran's, closing his eyes. He pressed the older boy's hand to his heart, hoping to show Ran how terrified he was of losing him. Ran kissed him back, trying to reassure him. Ken moved back a centimeter and gazed down at him, then sighed and shifted, crawling onto the bed next to him. The simple action caused pain to shoot through both of them like lightning, but they ignored it. Ken wrapped an arm around Ran's waist lightly, being careful to avoid his wound, and rested his head on the other's chest.
Neither of them said anything as they lay there together. They didn't need to. All they needed was the presence of the one they loved, and that was enough for both of them.

On the other side of the hospital, in a shadowed hallway, two other boys embraced. Enemies, drawn together by a similar past and similar interests. Enemies, destined to always fight. But, at the same time, very in love with eachother.
"Let me know if Ken-kun and Aya-kun end up okay," Nagi murmured, stroking the soft hair of his small lover.
"Hai," Omi replied, closing his eyes and tightening his grip slightly on Nagi. "I'm sorry.. that I had to shoot him."
Nagi smiled a little and shook his head. "It was fair," he replied. "You didn't shoot to kill. Crawford won't die."
Omi looked up at him, sky-blue eyes liquid with emotion. "Are you sure?" he whispered. "You aren't mad at me?"
"A little," the black-haired boy admitted. "Demo, it'll go away really fast." He lowered his lips to Omi's, brushing them gently, and then looked into his eyes again. "Don't worry about it."
The smile Omi gave him was like the sun breaking through the clouds after a hurricane. "I'll try not to," he whispered. He reached up and brushed a lock of black hair out of Nagi's eyes. "I've gotta go now.."
Nagi nodded and released him, pausing briefly to squeeze his hand. "We'll see eachother later tonight, online."
Omi nodded in response and flashed him that beautiful smile again. "Until then, Nagi-kun. Suki da."
"Dai suki," Nagi replied, watching the youngest member of Weiß disappear down the hallway. He leaned against the wall and smiled, resting two fingers on his lips and closing his eyes. "Dai suki," he whispered into the darkness.

Outside, the rain slowly stopped, and the clouds parted, revealing thousands of shining stars in the heavens.

*****
The End
*****

Sap sap sap, mush mush mush! *L* I hope you liked it. Please don't get the idea that I hate Ran or something, I just like beating him up. o.x; ^^;;

-- Cheyne
cheyne@musician.org
http://gluhen.tripod.com/cheyne/index.html