Keywords: Aya, Ran, Ken, RanxKen
No, don't kill
me for adding yet another ficcie to my unfinished ones mournful look>the
plot bunnies just didn't want to leave me alone. cries and burns
plot bunnies>
And Yes, I'm
Ken-centric, damnit! I can't help it. My muse seems to have taken a liking
to Ken. Whee! Whee! Now all you have to decide is whether Ran or Youji
is my muse lol> Or maybe Brad ahohoho!
Wai! blinks>I
promise Gott will come out soon…and Despite Everything too…geh! I forgot
Elan Vital falls over>. Oh and I forgot to thank everyone who commented
on Elan Vital….domo, domo!
Phenomenal, Noumenal
Part 1
"Ohayo, Ran-niisan!"
A raven haired beauty burst into the
kitchen with a brilliant smile, throwing herself at the stoic redhead puttering
about it, busy with breakfast.
Ran looked up from the eggs he had
been frying to look at the beaming girl wrapped around his waist. He bestowed
her with a slight smile, the kind that made his face light up.
"Ohayo, Aya."
Seeing that smile, everyone could tell
just how happy Ran was now that Aya had at last woken up from her coma.
"Ohayo, Omi-kun, Youji-kun, Ken-kun!"
Aya loosened her hold on her brother
and waved at the three boys seated on the table. And everyone smiled back
at her. Youji shook his head and sighed. The kid had obviously been hanging
around Omi too much. The –kun appended to each of their names was a dead
giveaway.
Ken grinned. He had heard Youji's sigh
and knew why. The tall blond didn't exactly hate being called Youji-kun
but at 9 AM, it was too early in the morning (for Youji that is) for him
to stand for any kind of cuteness.
Ken stood up and pulled back a chair
from the table and bowed towards Aya.
"My lady? Will you join us for a spot
of breakfast?"
Aya chuckled appreciatively and sat
down in the chair Ken offered, smiling up at her "knight".
"Why thank you, good sir. Its nice
to know that chivalry hadn't died altogether while I was asleep."
It was Aya's way of joking about her
sickness the last few years. She had completely accepted the fact that
years of her life had gone by without her being aware of it and moved on.
Ran had thought that some ranting would have been in order but it had never
been Aya's way.
She had been shocked of course and
her eyes had flashed angrily after Ran had told her about Takatori but
after having a little go at a gym's punching bag, she had returned, clear-headed
and calm.
She had no use for rants and anger,
especially when it would not be able to bring back what she had lost. She
would make the best of what she had. After all, she still had her oniisan
with her. *And* she had gained 3 other "oniisans" who were as sweet in
their own way as Ran was. They never made her feel out of place. Each trying
to make her feel at home.
With Youji, Aya felt like a girl, a
very desirable girl. Youji outrageously flirted and teased her. As if trying
to make up for the lost times Aya should have had at school, with boys
her age. Aya knew enough not to take it all seriously though because she
knew Youji hadn't meant it to be serious in the first place. But she did
enjoy the attention and the banter. She wouldn't be a woman if she didn't.
Omi was her partner-in-crime. Omi always
helped her with her assignments and talked to her more often than most
of them, making her laugh with his antics. He would also indulge her, more
often than not, with her caprices. He was the best friend she never had.
Even now that she was quickly gaining friends in school, she still liked
Omi best.
With Ken, Aya was completely at ease.
The brunette was completely open and guileless. Sometimes Aya felt like
she was older than Ken. Years older. Especially when the brunette would
clown around or trip in the flower shop. But there were times that she
accidentally looked at Ken and found a different Ken in front of her. She
then understood that Ken did the things he did for everyone's sake. She
had learned not to underestimate him again.
And her oniisan? He was….different,
far different from the laughing, open Ran that she had known before she
went under. Gone were the trusting eyes, replaced by wariness that would
only shift to tenderness when he looked at her. He had gone through many
things while she slept, all for her. She was grateful, and she had told
him so.
Her personal mission now was to find
some way to make her oniisan happy. Because he deserved it.
And maybe, she could also find a way
to make the others happy. They were too endearing. Never mind that they
were assassins. Yes, she knew what they were. And she didn't care. They
had their reasons for doing it and Aya was not going to argue about it.
"Here, Aya. Eat up. You still have
to go to school ne?"
Ran's deep voice intruded into Aya's
thoughts as he put in a healthy plate of bacon and eggs in front of her.
"Domo, Oniisan!" She beamed.
/You deserve so many things, Ran-niisan./
***
"Goodbye, Ran-niisan! See you tonight!"
Aya waved her bag around in an arc
as she walked away with Omi in the direction of the school.
"Is she gone?"
Ken looked at Ran from the kitchen,
bangs falling into his face as he peered out into the hallway. Ran shut
the door and turned to face him, quirking an eyebrow at Ken as he nodded
once. He held out a hand and Ken half-walked, half-ran to twine his hand
with Ran's.
As their hands met, Ran tugged at their
entwined hands, pulling the other into the shelter of his arm. He engulfed
the smaller boy in a tight hug, resting his chin on top of the chestnut
locks, breathing in the fresh scent of his lover.
They stayed like this for a time, enjoying
the quietness of just being together. It was Ken who broke the comfortable
silence first, stirring in Ran's arms. He raised troubled eyes to the redhead.
"I dislike doing this, Ran. I hate
sneaking around behind Aya-chan's back."
Ran couldn't say a word. He knew where
Ken was leading to. In truth, he hated sneaking behind Aya's back too.
But how did one tell one's own sister that he was homosexual? That he loved
another man? What if she did not understand?
"Ran?"
He looked down into the cinnamon eyes
he had found himself drowning in, not so long ago and tried to reassure
Ken.
"I hate it too Ken. Aya has a right
to know as well. Soon, we'll tell her soon."
"She'll understand, Ran. I know she
will. In the short time that I've known her, she's been very open-minded
and mature."
Even as Ken voiced the reassuring words,
there was still some doubt in Ran's mind. No matter how much strength and
open-mindedness they might attribute to his sister, she was still human.
No matter how much he might love her, he also knew how capricious she could
be at times too…
But that was a thought best left unsaid.
Ken didn't have to know or he'd worry it to death. Ken was good at worrying
things to death. Ran smiled at the image of a worrying Ken, amused. It
was an irritating trait, worrying, but in Ken, he found it endearing. Endearing…like
most of Ken's foibles were to him.
He looked down at the said worrywart
in his arms fondly and reassured him.
"Yes, Ken, she'll understand."
/She will have to. I don't want
to give you up./
TBC
^_~ And as always, I hope you all like
it. cute look at lovely people>Comments onegai?
Whee! A little plugging before I go...there's
a Ranken mailing list already so ranken fans, go subscribe to yahoo groups
ne?
Title Explanation:
Like Elan Vital, the title has been
taken from a philosophy book. ^o^ Wai! This time this has been extracted
from Kant's philosophy. Phenomenal reality refers to the world as we experience
it and noumenal realtiy as the purely intelligible or nonsensual reality.
If you want a lengthier explanation, email me privately and we can grimace>discuss
this. How it relates to the fic? Well, read it to find out. It may have
connections or maybe I have just taken a fancy to using the title lol>
yes, I'm evil. ^-^v