I'll Share Hell With You
Chapter 3: Stuffed animals and Snow angels
Disclaimer: To copyright infringe or not to copyright infringe, that is the question…No, but really, Weiss Kreuz doesn't belong to me, if it did, I could snap my fingers and have Koyasu Takehito pop up, and we all know he's not reaaallyyy married…Yeah, keep dreaming K-chan..
Tiny Disclaimer on the Songs: Okay, okay, I know this has noothinnnggg to do with this chapter or this story for that matter, but I have to represent for my Korean family again, and stick in a few Drunken Tiger lyrics. DT is a Korean rap group that is made up of two Koreans, one mixed white/Korean, and one mixed black/Korean. I loooove their music to death, and I kinda get the techno/rap vibe from Yoji, so go look for Drunken Tiger, too!
Thank You's, Gracias, Arigatoos, Dankes, Merci beacoup's:
I'm just going to say thank you to everyone who reviewed, and everyone who reviewed multiple times gets a smiley face because I'm not sick anymore and I feel happy today. ^^
Naza
LeoAngel
Lark57
Queennothing ^^
Lilas ^^
Ariadna
Gnine
Kyri
Siberian ^^
Daemonchan
Bishie
Adakie ^^
Eeyore (I love Tigger, myself, but Eeyore gets lots of luv too)
Ladyicecubes ^^
Solaris
Toumatachi (connie, u so lazy, where's your stories??)
And a big thank you to Long for wearing a tanktop yesterday after tennis practice, because it gave me inspiration to write the second chapter. ^^ -faints-
And, to the reader who asked for more Yotan, here's a chapter chock-full of some hinted shonen-ai between our favorite blonde bishies! If anyone objects and doesn't want Kudou corrupting the young, please tell me in the reviews. ^^
-revives- Happy reading…
…The king plus the ransom now,
follow the movement from africa to canton,
stomp ya feet say drunken for the kingdom,
tiger for your soul now throw your fist
we the champion buck buck buck buck a yo,
how many mc's must I run through before they figure out,
there ain't no freakin with my crew one two,
i break it down and set it off for all peoples…
Yoji opened one crusted jade eye, then the other, as Tiger JK came blaring through his alarm clock radio, quickly followed by Roscoe's not-so appropriate chorus lines. Rather than face a lecture on his taste in music from Aya, he threw his pillow at the clock just as he heard the starting of "Nig-
Ah, sweet silence. Wait a minute…Yoji picked up the now buzzing clock and focused his fuzzy gaze on the digital numbers.
"Aw, man…"
He was supposed to have been watching Ken an hour ago! Omi had graciously given him half an hour to catch up on z's while they opened the shop, but he must have set his alarm at the wrong time.
"Hope Kenken's not awake yet," he muttered to himself as he pulled on socks and a t-shirt. The sun was filtering through the closed blinds, giving him sufficient light in the dim room. After all the events of the past night, it was still yet 7:00 in the morning. Yawning, Yoji stumbled out the door and crept catlike into Ken's room, easing the door softly shut behind him.
Adjusting his eyes to the darkness inside, he carefully padded over to the window and lifted the shade. It was easier to watch someone when they were sleeping, but if he had no one to talk to, he might fall asleep himself. Better to have Ken wake up so at least Yoji would know how he was feeling.
No sign of motion from the bed. Yoji sat for a few minutes on the chair from the desk, seriously tempted to peel back Ken's eyelids and shine a flashlight in them. Would it work? Probably not. Would Aya kill him? Duh.
As Yoji waited for his friend to rise and shine, figuratively speaking, his thoughts turned to the relationship between Aya and Ken. Was there a relationship between Fujimiya and Hidaka? They seemed like the most oddball couple to be together, but when seriously contemplated, it began to make sense. Ken was impulsive, Aya was there to pick him up when he fell. Aya was moody, Ken was there to lighten the atmosphere. They even looked good when they stood next to each other, which, granted, wasn't often. And, even if both parties involved didn't realize it, they definitely had feelings for each other.
Yoji was no stranger to love. He had dated more women in a year than most men dated in a decade; more men in a week than most men dated in a liftetime. His teammates knew he was bi, too, which helped whenever he brought someone of the same sex home. So to say he hadn't noticed the mutual attraction growing between the two would be a boldfaced lie.
But had Aya and Ken noticed? Yoji looked down at the dozing soccer player, wondering what he would do if asked about his feelings for the cold bishonen. Probably blush and splutter and go off on a tangent.
Hmm…that sounded like fun.
"Damnit Ken, wakey wakey, I'm getting bored here," he said, poking him lightly with his index finger. Ken stirred and Yoji felt a little guilty, but not guilty enough to stop him from poking Ken again.
"Mmph…go 'way…"
"Come on, Cinderella, time to wake up and smell the coffee…" Yoji prodded.
Twin brown eyes peered at the lanky assassin, glaring in response to his grin. "First of all, it's Sleeping Beauty, and second of all, cyanide is preferable to coffee right now."
But Yoji's cheerful demeanor now that Ken was awake was not to be diminished. "Fresh out of cyanide, but we got some Tylenol with codeine if you're sore."
Ken nodded sleepily, swallowing the medicine and struggling to pull himself upright. Yoji helped him to a sitting position, tucking a pillow behind his back. Ken still looked slightly dazed as Yoji relayed the doctor's information to him, rubbing his eyes and letting his sweaty bangs flop over his hands.
"2 days to a week? But I feel better now," he protested, lowering his fisted hands into his lap.
"You may feel hunky-dory now, but you won't tonight. Are you hungry?"
Ken blinked at Yoji's change of topics and admitted that he was starving. Yoji gave him a lopsided grin and helped him out of the bed, the pair making their way towards the bedroom door and into the hallway.
"OOF!"
Yoji bumped into something shorter and harder than him, sending the aforementioned object backwards to the ground. Ken tripped and fell on top of the something, which turned out to be Aya in his "Shi-ne" mode.
"G-gomen nasai, Aya!" Ken muttered hasty apologies as he struggled to get off the furious man. Yoji pulled him up and set him on his feet while Aya got to his knees and glared at the taller assassin.
"What is he doing out of bed?" he hissed as he stood upright.
Yoji shrugged amicably and slung an arm around Aya's shoulders. "Well, he said he was hungry, so I figured I'd take him downstairs to eat something."
Aya pushed his arm away and held his hand out to Ken. "I'll take him, but next time, Kudou, bring up a tray so he doesn't have to use his legs. Kritiker said-
"Hai, hai, Kritiker said put your left hand in and shake it all about, now do the hokey pokey and go away, I need to take a shower."
Aya could only send beams of resentment through his narrowed eyes at the blonde playboy as he sauntered down the hallway and into the bathroom. A few seconds later they heard the tap squeak and Yoji's off-key singing floated through the sounds of running water.
"1, 2, Bobby's coming for you, 3,4, better lock your door…"
Ken grinned at the familiar Drunken Tiger lyrics and looked at Aya, who appeared to be debating whether or not to just throw Yoji off the roof once and for all.
Aya still had his glare on when he turned his head and met Ken's grin, his anger melting away to shock. Unable to think of anything to say, he looped an arm around the brunette's waist and guided him down the flight of carpeted stairs. Unseen by Aya, Ken was blushing the entire time, pleasantly surprised by the sensation of the older man's cool bare arm around his too-hot skin.
"Um, thanks," he stammered nervously as Aya pulled out a chair for him. With a soft groan, he lowered himself into the seat and stretched his aching legs out underneath the table. Looking up, he met Aya's sharp amethyst gaze and lowered his eyes, pretending to be examining the front-page headlines. New tax cuts? Ew, that was boring.
"Where are the comics?" he muttered to himself absently as Aya slid bread into the toaster. Business section, stocks, realty, where the hell were the funnies?
"Aha!" he cried as he held up the section triumphantly. Aya raised an eyebrow at his exclamation but said nothing. Ken blushed again, and Aya's mouth quirked at the familiar red staining his cheeks. Setting down a plate of toast, he put the jam on the table and wiped his hands on a paper towel.
"I have to check on Omi, Yoji should be out of the shower soon so you won't be alone." Ken nodded, absorbed in the task of spreading grape jam on his piece of toast. Aya fixed hawk eyes on him and asked,
"O genki desu ka?"
Ken looked up and nodded, forcing a smile on his face for Aya. "Hai hai, genki desu!"
Satisfied, Aya donned his apron and headed towards the Koneko.
Once he heard the sound of the door closing, Ken dropped his toast on the plate and heaved a sigh. The room always seemed a bit too warm when Aya was in the vicinity. Which, he reflected, was something of an oxymoron since Aya was the original ice man cometh.
Perhaps not an ice man, he mused. More like an angel…A snow angel.
Yes, Aya was a snow angel. Beautiful, flawless, cold and pristine…Something to admire but never to keep. Something he could touch but never hold. Why was Aya so unreachable? What on earth could possibly make the snow angel melt? Ken had an idea, but he would never dare to let Aya know of his affections for him.
"This is just a crush," he told himself, but his voice was so small in the airy kitchen that it sounded quite unconvincing.
"This is just a crush," he repeated, "a stupid, ambivalent crush!" His last statement was shouted to the ceiling while Ken waved his toast for emphasis. A splotch of jam flew in the air and hit Yoji's white long-sleeve t-shirt.
"K'so…Ken, could you deliver your speeches without the visual aids next time?" he complained, wiping at the purple spot with a napkin.
Ken turned a deep shade of crimson, fervently hoping that Yoji did not know who he had been talking about.
"So, you have a stupid, ambivalent crush on Aya, eh?"
Well, so much for that hope.
Ken kept his eyes glued to the comics as Yoji took a seat across from him. "Hai," he mumbled.
Yoji reached over and swiped his uneaten toast, munching thoughtfully. "Sooo…."
"So what?"
"So tell him."
"Nani?!!"
"Tell Fujimiya your feelings."
He stared at Yoji in openmouthed shock. "I thought I'm supposed to be the sick one around here, are you out of your mind??"
Yoji couldn't contain a grin as Ken turned an interesting shade of mottled red and purple. "Calm down, Kenken, all I'm saying is that he'll never know unless you tell him…Isn't that right, Aya?"
"Isn't that right, Aya?"
"right, Aya?"
"Aya…"
Yoji's words banged around in his brain as horror filled him with an icy sensation. The aforementioned playboy winked cheerily at Aya, who had just returned and was standing behind Ken. In a sudden regaining of his motor skills, Ken leapt out of the chair and sprinted into the den, slamming the door shut behind him as his legs turned into wet noodles and he slid to the floor.
He could hear the scrape of Yoji pushing back his chair, and then two pairs of footsteps making their way towards the den. Struggling upright, he pushed the lock on the doorknob in and rocked back on his palms, fingers digging into the soft green carpet. Shimatta…he was going to kill Yoji…
Groaning in complete embarrassment, Ken dragged his sore body over to the couch and sank down into the cushions, wishing he had Floppy with him. Unknown to most, Floppy was a ragged brown dog that he had kept since before Weiss, before he could remember… Sometimes, after a particularly grueling mission, he would reach under his bed and pull out the dusty childhood remnant, holding it tightly and wishing he could wash away the blood on his hands with his tears. He knew it was dumb, but stuffed animals didn't judge; they gave comfort and expected nothing in return.
In a way, they were everything Aya was not. In a way, Ken was everything Aya was not. They were polar opposites, so why did the red-haired bishonen still manage to throw his senses out of whack and his entire consciousness into overdrive?
Grabbing a large, slightly lumpy pillow, he hugged it to his bare chest and shivered.
"Why am I not wearing a sweater? Gods, it's 30 degrees outside, and about 22 in here…" he muttered. A knock at the door interrupted his vocal ruminations and he pulled the pillow closer, calling out,
"Nobody's home!"
Yoji sounded exasperated as he yelled through the door, "I have to go in for my shift now, but you better come out of there eventually!" The hollow sound of his footsteps receded down the hallway and back into the kitchen, where Ken could hear him exiting through the back. He listened carefully for a minute, waiting for any other noises. From the silence that reached his ears, he figured Aya was gone as well. Which, of course, made him totally unprepared for the body that burst through the door two seconds later, sending him diving for cover under the afghan on the couch.
Terrified, Ken tensed underneath the heavy blanket and nearly fell off the couch when someone sat down on the wide cushions next to him. For a long time, neither person moved until Ken felt the afghan being gently tugged away from his head, and his face gradually appeared over top of the fuzzy quilt. Iridescent violet eyes bored holes into his, freezing him in place while a cool hand smoothed away the long coffee bangs that fell across his forehead. Ken gave an involuntary shiver and a frown crossed the porcelain of Aya's face. Lifting Ken's shoulderblades free of the couch, he felt the back of the younger boy's neck.
"You're fever is rising," he informed him, but all Ken could recognize was the word 'fever.' He was drowning in Aya's smooth, deep voice, rational thought slipping out of his grasp as the sickness crept up on him.
Ken tried to say something but Aya couldn't catch it. Bending his head over the soccer player's, he heard,
"I'm fine."
Aya narrowed his eyes and pressed Ken back down into the pillows.
"You can stay here for now, it's warmer in the den than upstairs." Ken was about to argue that heat rose from the bottom up, but found himself wanting to stay on that couch forever, sandwiched between the cushions and Aya's body bent over top of him.
Hearing no more protests out of Ken, Aya began to stand up. Two long arms latched onto his, trying feebly to pull him back onto the couch. Aya looked into glassy brown eyes and sat down once more, tucking the blanket more firmly around Ken's upper body. Ken could only close his eyes and surrender to sleep, hoping Aya would be there when he woke up.
It was all Aya could do to watch him slip into slumber and restrain himself from cradling the lean body in his arms, hoping his dreams would be sweet.
A/N: Yayy!! I wrote this purdy darn fast, too! But, I must confess, while I was –cough- skipping band –cough- I went to the library to check my reviews, and I only got 6 more for the second chapter! Plleaasee remember to review, because I honestly want to know what you guys think! I worked hard to get the third chapter out, and it's getting good (well, I think it is, at least ^^) so peeeeezzzz just write a few words in a review and help me out. ^^ I really do love you all.
Aya: Greedy.
K-chan: Whaa??
Omi: Please, minna, no fighting today!
K-chan: Hai, but you better watch your back tomorrow, Fujimiya! The lemon cometh!
Aya: I'll bring tissues for your nosebleed.
K-chan: Quiet, you.
Ja ne,
K-chan ^^
More A/N: Here's a Japanese dictionary for the terms I used in this story so far, because a reviewer asked for them, so this is for you, Lark57 ^___^
Shi-ne: Die! (often said by Aya during the anime)
Gomen nasai: I'm very sorry.
Hai: Yes
O genki desu ka?: Are you allright?
Genki desu: I'm allright.
K'so/Kuso: Shit!
Ja ne: See ya!
Nani: What
Ne: Emphatic, used before or after sentences for emphasis
-kun: honorific used for people you are familiar with who are either your own age or a few years older
-chan: suffix used for close friends or very young children
-san: honorific used by adults when speaking of each other or by people for those they respect, like Mr. and Mrs. in English
Ohayo: Good morning!
Daijobu desu ka?: You're allright?
Daijobu: I'm allright.
Chotto matte: Hey, wait.
Iie: No.
Shimimasen: I don't know.
Aa: Yes.