Author's Note: Recently needed a small break from my other fic placed in a different fandom. I need to recharge and reorganize my ideas for that fic. Of course, this doesn't mean I'm abandoning that fic, I just needed a slight change of scenery. I wanted to leave the happy stuff for a bit of angst a while, so I can balance things out. Truly hope you enjoy!
Reviews, especially constructive ones are wholly appreciated! When I have the time, I'll definitely send a 'thank you' response in return.
Disclaimer: I do not own Weiss or the boys. If I did, the artist would be my slave…hahaha. I'd have all the characters drawn for me personally ten times over.
Pairings: SchuKen in the beginning, then YoKen, and ends with RanKen. For those of you familiar with my mess of pairings in my other fics, once again I ask that you give the fic a chance. I hope you will agree with my choice of pairings as well. If not, feel free to comment on that as well in your review! Thanks!
Warnings: The rating for this fic was mostly for some language, drug and sexual references, and its overall dark nature. The characters might also be a bit ooc...this is how I see them, not to mention I haven't refreshed myself on the anime in a while. No time anymore! Gah!
Fic Note: This is a bit of an alternate universe in which there is no real rivalry between Weiss and Schwarz. In fact, I decided not to place much of the actual story plot in here, save for the fact that all my favorite characters (including ones I'm only partially fond of) are included here. They're all very human, meaning Schuldich won't have his usual mental breakdown powers. The only part of the Weiss story I included here mostly was the fact that the boys are all friends and they work at a flower shop. Hope no one finds that sacrilegious or anything.
The following information is used for this fic: First things first, I will be using Ran's sister in this fic, so Ran will be Ran and Aya will be Aya. For this chapter and the next few chapters (until I mention a time shift), Ken is 19, Schuldich is 22. During that same time frame, the following information is assumed: Aya is 15, Omi is 17, Yoji is 22, and Ran is 20. There will be a time shift after that, but that will be mentioned in the fic. I guess in the end that information is not really necessary, but it's just something I visualized while writing this piece. Anyways, I do hope everyone enjoys this mini-project!
Finding the Light Amongst the Darkness
Practice
Summer fever was settling in. It was only the month of May, but the smell of school ending was strong as ever. The children were leaving their preset roles of obedience and were starting to give way into the natural habits of rebellion against authority figures, as was the usual case in fifth graders about to graduate from grade school and about to step into their junior high uniforms for a shift in responsibility and scenery. In Ken's eyes, however, the fact that there was only about four weeks left of school was no reasonable excuse to allow the children to slack or break rules while playing soccer. In fact, he expected these children to be more fired up for the end of the year game.
Ken's whistle let out a shriek as he tried to get the young boys and girls in order. He ran a hand through his hair, frustratingly whistling in different patterns and strengths, trying to obtain the attention of his students.
"Kyo! You can't just switch back and forth from offense to defense whenever you feel like it! You confuse the players!" Ken said to a young brunette exasperatedly.
The little one named Kyo turned his head and shot Ken a confused look, "But you do it a lot, sensei! Sometimes you even play the goal!"
"No I---" Ken had been about to say he never played all positions when he realized something and broke into a big grin, "That's different, Kyo. I have to play all positions to show each player what they're doing right and what they're doing wrong, that's all. I'm not really playing."
"But you look like you're playing!"
"No, I'm not playing, I'm just teaching."
"Teaching is playing too!"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Is---oh, never mind. I guess my teaching is a sort of playing," Ken admitted.
Little Kyo's face broke into one filled with great pride and accomplishment. Ken couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "All right!" he said to the kids, clapping his hands together, "That's it for today's practice, time to go home!"
"Awwwww!" came the expected whines.
Ken grinned, "Hey! Don't worry, there's always tomorrow, I promise."
"Yeah!" Ken watched the kids run off to meet their parents' cars parked on the side of the road at the top of a hill. His gaze followed them just up to the bleachers when something stopped him.
There was a single man sitting there, watching him with his arms crossed over his chest and one leg over the other. Ken felt a small blush rise to his cheeks from the awkward situation and rubbed the back of his neck, averting his gaze from the mysterious man. He bent down to pack his equipment and head for him. By the time he looked up again, the man was gone. Deciding that the man was just simply a passerby interested in the junior league's soccer game, he paid no extra mind and headed for his motorcycle, bag slung over his chest.
The ride home was mostly uneventful. For some reason Ken's thoughts wandered to that man on the bleachers, just out of curiosity. He wondered how long the man had been there, what had drawn him there, and if he'd ever come before and Ken just never noticed him. An eerie feeling ran up his spine when the last thought crossed his mind. He wondered if maybe the man was a stalker.
He got home within twenty minutes, just like any other day. He went up to his third floor apartment and walked in, took a shower, made himself some eggs and rice for a quick dinner since he didn't feel like cooking, and went straight to bed soon afterwards. He fell asleep as soon as he hit the pillow, immediately comfortable with the familiarity of his home, and wandered into the realm of blissful sleep, strange man and the bleachers long forgotten.
The next day was no different. "Hey!" Ken shouted as he ran across the field to reach a little girl crying and holding her leg. He bent down and asked, "What happened?"
One of the boys tried to explain what had occurred, "Well, Kyo was making us all race and then---"
Ken groaned, "Kyo again? Where is he?"
"Waaaah!" the girl's wails brought Ken back to focus on the situation at hand. He would deal with Kyo later.
He was just about to turn and get the first aid kid when his face almost ran into just what he was looking for. "Need this…?" came a rich and heavily accented voice.
He froze and so did the children. They gathered behind him and observed this new person with curiosity. Ken's gaze slowly rose from the hand holding the box up to the face and he was stunned by what he saw. It was the man from yesterday, wearing a nice and fitted white shirt, black pants, and a blue hat that looked like something only a cop would wear. The feature that caught his greatest attention was the man's red hair, which had a pair of sunglasses tucked into the mess, and striking green eyes. He took in a sharp intake of breath, a bit shocked at how close the man was.
The man squatted down to his level and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You're not going to treat it? She's going to get infected…"
Ken blinked and then shook his head furiously, as if trying to clear it. "R-right!" he took the kit from the other and turned to give the young girl his full attention. When Ken turned to thank the man, the other was already walking past the bleachers heading for wherever his destination might be. Ken felt a slight trace of disappointment; there was more he wanted to know about this person.
"Sensei, who was that…?" came a familiar voice.
"Not sure…" Ken trailed off a moment and then a frown came to his face when he recognized the voice, "Kyo! You have a lot of explaining to do!"
"Ahhh!" came Kyo's scream as Ken chased the boy around the field, the other kids watching and laughing at the funny scene they made.
Soon it was time to go home. "All right guys," Ken said to them, "Time to head on home. Be sure to play safe over the weekend and be ready for our final few practices next week!"
Ken smiled and once again watched the children run past the bleachers and up the hill to their parents' cars. He was half-expecting to see the man sitting where he had been the past few days, but felt slight disappointment when there was no one there. "Of course he isn't there…" Ken muttered to himself, "You saw him leave after helping you just a while ago…"
He went home straight, as usual, lost in his own flurry of thoughts about the game, about the man, and finally how he would have to punish Kyo to get through to the young boy's mind that he couldn't get away with everything in this world. No matter how many other thoughts ran through his mind, however, he just couldn't get the stunning image from that day from his thoughts. The man was slowly breaking into his daily thought processes with his air of mystery. Somehow, in the midst of all that thinking, Ken managed to get some sleep that night. Soon after, he woke up to a beautiful Saturday morning.
Saturday was his free day. As much as Ken loved children, he needed moments to himself as well. Of course, his place of choice didn't change. Immediately he got changed into more casual clothing and went as quickly as possible to the practice field, this time with only his ball and water bottle.
The sun was shining brightly on his back and warming his face as he began his typical drills. He closed his eyes and felt a tinge of nostalgia at the feeling; he could almost hear the cheers of the crowd and the offers he could have pursued to go pro. Those dreams were long over. He was nineteen and still had no real future in mind, teaching young children to play the sport he loved was enough.
"Even on the weekends, he plays the game. He's married to the sport," the amused voice of his narrator shattered the peaceful moment.
Ken opened his eyes and blinked when he saw the mysterious man once again standing before him, just as attractive as ever. Ken flashed a goofy smile. "Yeah…can't imagine my life without playing the game."
"I see."
It was a slightly awkward silence between them a moment. Ken kicked the ball up to his waist and caught it, letting his hand rest at his side. "So…who are you, anyway? You come by our practices a lot."
The man chuckled at Ken's blunt question. "Just a passerby."
"You sure pass by a lot…"
"Only recently."
"Oh?"
"I only recently took interest in walking about this side of town," the redhead said honestly, his eyes seemed a bit distant for a moment, but they returned his attention to Ken quickly, "I was captivated by a beautiful brunette with a lovely smile."
Ken felt a flush rise in his cheeks as he realized what the man was saying. This hadn't been the first time he had been hit on by members of either sex. In fact, he didn't mind holding relationships with either one, but normally he was used to the casualness of each experience. He never got too emotionally or even physically involved. Each relationship was filled with just simple companionship---a shoulder to cry on and a person to rely on or talk to.
Realizing the man wanted him to say something, he smiled. "I…never got your name."
The other man laughed. "Oh, how silly of me. Schuldich. You?"
Ken felt a pleasurable shiver run through him upon hearing the German's accent. "Ken. Ken Hidaka."
The man, now known as Schuldich, grinned. "Well then, Ken Hidaka. You've been working hard all week. May I treat you to a drink?"
Ken was just about to protest since he had a water bottle, but his eyes trailed down from Schuldich's smug look down to the man's right hand. He was holding Ken's bottle, with nothing left inside it. "I tried to bring this over to you, but it seems that it has a leak."
Ken snatched the bottle from the German and inspected it carefully. Sure enough, there was a hole punctured near the bottom. Ken frowned; he hadn't noticed the hole when he had taken the bottle out of his fridge that morning. Eyeing the hole even more carefully, he noticed that there was a tint around the hole. It was no accident. He looked up at Schuldich, who merely shrugged and pretended not to know anything. There was no way that the hole had been made naturally. Schuldich had used some kind of pencil or pen to incision the hole.
Forgiving him, however, Ken sighed and allowed himself a small smile. Thinking on the brighter side of the situation, now would be a great time to get to know this Schuldich. "All right," Ken said and started walking away from Schuldich, "You may treat me."
"Then where are you going?"
Ken turned and raised an eyebrow. "I'm going to follow you, of course."
"I have a ride."
Ken smiled, "Don't worry, I'll follow you." He pointed over towards his bike, "There's no way in heck I'm going to risk leaving my baby out in the open for however long we're going to take."
Schuldich took one look at the bike, then at Ken, then back at the bike again and nodded. "All right, I'll give you that. I wouldn't leave my car alone and out of my sight either, but you will promise to come the whole way?"
Ken hesitated a moment, for the request confused him. "Yeah, that was the plan...?"
"Excellent," came the pleased reply.
Never once did Ken wonder or think to question where in the world Schuldich was going to lead him for this 'drink'. Never once did he feel a rising suspicion when they drove several miles out to the middle of nowhere, into a shady part of the city. The only thought on Ken's mind was how curious this Schuldich was and how he wanted to know more about the man. After all, this was Ken.
All the warning signals blared in his mind only after parking behind Schuldich in front of a shady looking run down building. Schuldich got out of his car and took an appreciative look at Ken. There was a mixture of amazement that Ken actually kept his word and a sense of victory that he had managed to drag the young boy this far.
It was about to get a lot more interesting. Ken's life was going to change forever---in more ways than one.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Saikenyuu- So what do you all think? This fic was inspired after looking through my old Weiss stuff…I realized I always shift between the SchuKen, YoKen, RanKen pairings. I can't seem to decide which one. Since I have a fic where SchuKen wins and one with YoKen…I thought…why not just try a RanKen? But yeah, in the end, I just adore Ken! Anyone have a specific preference from those three? Just curious. Well! Onto the next chapter!
Btw, I'm kind of unsure about this fic, so all reviews would be quite helpful! Le sigh. Although since it's only the first chapter, it might be a little hard to make some concrete reviews...must...work...harder!But I'm definietly having fun. Hope this works out!