The Undeserving Love
Chapter 9
By Kaden Cegali
A/N: Yay! Two chapters to this story! And say good-bye to writer's block! lol. Anyways, enjoy this chapter. Please Read and Review. Thanks to all those who do that anyways.
Disclaimer: Don't own Weiss, even though I'd really like to. But I'll get over it.
Ken was practically shaking in his proverbial shoes. The sight of Aya made his knees get weak, but he managed to stay standing. He resisted the urge to lower his eyes.
"Aya. Um, I thought you were downstairs with Yotan?"
The redhead continued to glare at him through slit violet eyes. Ken shifted uneasily in his position, raising his chin a fraction. Aya walked right up to him, not breaking their eye contact the entire time.
"What are you doing here, Hidaka?" he asked again, completely ignoring anything Ken might have said.
The brunette raised his chin another fraction, his defiance and stubbornness returning. "I was walking around. What does it look like I'm doing, Aya? I got bored in the room and Omi left."
Aya closed his eyes as if stopping himself from doing anything rash to Ken. When he opened them, the glare was gone, replaced by something that he couldn't place. "You should be in bed now. You've been hurt badly, Ken."
"And I've been recovering in that bed for ten days!" he exclaimed.
Aya stepped back, surprised. He had been happy to see the brunette alive and well, though he had known from Omi and Yohji that he would live that he hadn't thought about what he was saying. But, to see him up close, to see with his own eyes that he was okay. It soothed the anger that had been gradually spreading throughout his body ever since Omi and he had found that message on the computer. Even since he had found out that Ken had been set up and he had encouraged him to face his death.
He didn't want Ken to be mad. But he didn't know how else to deal with the brunette than in his normal fashion. Which he knew pissed him off to no end.
"Well, what do you expect, Hidaka? You were hurt so badly that Omi wasn't even sure if you were going to make it through the night," he snapped.
Ken shifted uncomfortably. "I know that I caused a lot of trouble, Aya, but I didn't know that there were so many guards, and I could have sworn that I set the bombs to go off thirty minutes after they did. I swear to you that I made sure, Aya. Nothing could have set those off…except…" he trailed off and his eyes widened.
No. He wouldn't have, would he? Then again, this is Mastermind I'm thinking about here.
/Ah, little kitten. I wouldn't say anything about me if I were you. I don't think that it would be good for you to speculate. I just suggest you forgot I was even there./
Ken's eyes were saucers as he heard Schuldig's voice in his mind. 'Why the hell would I keep such obviously crucial information to myself? For all I know, you might be working for Kritiker.'
/Oh, we would never work with bastards such as them. They'd turn on us just like they have you. No, we have nothing to do with it. As to why I'm telling you to keep silent, well, just remember that you are exposed. Or should I say that a certain blonde is very exposed at the front of your store right now. Think about that before you say anything. I'll know if you tell./
Ken growled, knowing that he couldn't say anything now. Not with Yohji's life in danger. The playboy might be an assassin, but he would never see anything that Schuldig could throw at him in time. Dammit.
He turned his attention back to Aya, whose glare was slowly dissipating once more. He sighed. Now he couldn't tell the redhead the one thing that might give them a lead.
"Except, Ken?" Aya asked slowly.
His jaw clenched. He didn't know what to say. He was one of the worst at lying to the members of Weiss. He had known them too long for them not to see the spark that left his eye when he lied. And looking away was a dead giveaway that he was lying. Aya would never let him get away with it.
"Nothing. A stupid thought just crossed my mind." he said, not completely lying. Thinking of lying to Aya was a stupid idea.
The redhead's eyes bore into his skull as if trying to see if he was telling the truth, but after a few moments, he must have decided to accept it. He shrugged. "Right now I'm open to any suggestions. You don't have to tell me about the bombs. After we saw that letter, we figured that you were set up, and the bombs were part of that."
Ken scratched the back of his head. He moved it a bit out of the way when he felt something there, and a slight pain made him wince. But, he didn't remember getting hit back there. Not even the hulk of a guard had managed to touch the back of his neck.
"Hey, Aya? Do you know where I could have possibly hit my head? I don't really remember much about it."
Aya bit his lip. He knew perfectly well where that pain had come from. Yet, he saw no reason to lie, though he didn't want to tell the brunette that he had hit him and caused him even more pain. He shrugged. "You hit your head when I carried you in the car. Your head hit the side of the car. And I think you might have hit it when you fell down after you passed out before I came." he added, not wanting complete blame laid on him.
Ken nodded as if accepting it. "You aren't forgiven, and I'll get you back, but I'll get you back later. I'm too tired right now to chase you around with a bat or sword or anything."
Aya wasn't sure how to respond to that not-so-veiled threat, so he didn't. There was silence between them for a couple of beats. Ken's mind went back to the day before he had gotten the mission from hell.
"Aya?"
The redhead looked up from his study of the floor. Curiosity colored his eyes. "Yes?"
Ken turned his head away, not wanting to look into his face. "About the night I got the mission from Kritiker," he didn't see Aya stiffen ever so slightly. "I was going to ask you…." he paused and took a deep breath. "Why were you the one who volunteered to take care of me?"
The redhead replied immediately. "Because Yohji and Omi were arguing about it and I figured that I was just as good as any of them. Also, I wanted to make sure that you didn't get into trouble, which Omi has proven correct."
"So what changed this time? What happened in the time from when you thought that to when you brought me back from the mission. As you've said, obviously you were the best one, so what changed?"
Aya looked away. It was when I figured out that I love you. He said silently. I didn't want to look at you while you were so hurt for fear that I would rush out and confront Kritiker myself for what they did to you. But he would never tell the brunette that.
Aloud, he said, "Omi was the best qualified. He had bandaged you up and knew more about taking care of the seriously wounded than me," he explained, even though he knew that that wasn't the real reason. But he would stick by it until the end. No matter how much he wanted to tell him, he had a feeling the brunette wouldn't take his declaration well.
Ken nodded, his mind already seeming to be preoccupied. He switched from foot to foot as if nervous. "Aya, there's something that I should have told you."
His eyebrows scrunched together. Ken was being very submissive, and he seemed worried about something. "What is it, Ken?"
The brunette opened his mouth. "You kno-"
"Hey, Kenken! Are you gonna want me to make any soup for you?" Yohji's voice interrupted him. The blonde was standing at the front of the hallway, grinning up at the two of them.
Aya almost cursed when Ken turned towards him, not continuing what he was going to say. "Uh, no, thanks, Yotan. I almost had a heart attack and food poisoning from your last soup. I think I'd rather face starvation."
Yohji pouted and shook his head. "I did no such thing, and that's harsh, Kenken. I just wanted to make sure you get better quickly and that solid food that Omiitchi gave you isn't good for you. I think he was too intent on talking to his little online buddy than what is good for you."
Ken laughed. "Don't worry about it, Yotan. I didn't eat it anyways. Just go do whatever it was you're supposed to be doing."
The blonde nodded absently, turning and walking away. They both heard the footsteps as he descended the steps. Aya turned back to Ken, and raised an eyebrow. "That was odd. Now, you were saying."
All the humor immediately left the brunette's face, making Aya briefly regret that he had said anything. But only briefly. He wanted to know what the younger man was going to say. It may help with the investigation.
"Well, I was going to tell you. I've been meaning to tell you since I woke up today. See, the thing is, there w-"
"Ken-kun! I am so sorry for interrupting, but you didn't eat that sandwich did you?" Omi asked, coming into the hallway, a concerned expression on his face when he saw Aya standing there as well. "Yohji-kun just told me about giving you solid foods. I am so sorry. I completely forgot about that! Please tell me you didn't eat it," he begged.
Ken stopped again and smiled kindly at the youngest assassin. "No Omi. I didn't eat it. It's still on the tray in my room. Don't worry about it."
Aya looked at them both. Then he noticed something. Ken was clenching one hand behind his back. Obviously, the interruptions were getting to him. He probably really wanted to get out whatever it was that he wanted to say, but didn't want to say anything around the others. Which made him even more curious as to what it was.
"Oh thank God." Omi didn't seem to sense the tension in the air. Instead, he put his hands on his hips. "Speaking of your room, why aren't you in it, Ken-kun? I thought we had an agreement."
Ken grinned despite his rising agitation. "But I stayed by it, Omi. See? I told Aya where I was."
The younger blonde sighed and shook his head. "You are incorrigible, Ken-kun. Well, I'll be downstairs since I know someone reliable is making sure that you don't hurt yourself trying to walk."
With that, he left. The tension seemed to thicken despite the fact that he was gone. Ken turned back to Aya slowly, taking another deep breath, as if that would bolster his courage. Aya was getting impatient to hear what he was going to say. It was almost painful just for the wait.
"Ok, now that that's over, I can finish what I was saying. I was going to tell you this, and I've been meaning to. I've been thinking, and I think it's best if I tell you instead of letting it get out and you getting surprised and possibly angry later on. I mean, I'm sure that you'll be surprised anyways, but at least this way you'll hear it from me and not from some person who finds out," he rambled on. "Aya, I wanted to tell yo-"
"Kenken!" Yohji interrupted once more. He appeared in the hallway once more.
Ken was shaking. Aya's left eye twitched. Badly. This was just plain frustrating. And obviously Ken thought so, too. His fists were both clenched now, and his knuckles were white.
"What, Yotan?" he asked through clenched teeth.
The blonde seemed to ignore the anger emanating from Ken. Even Aya resisted the urge to take a step back. "Well, I was thinking. Do you think I should make something for Omiitchi? I mean, he hasn't really eaten really well since he's been taking care of you, so I figured that he would need something. What do you think I should give him?"
Ken didn't answer for a few seconds. Then, he said, "I. Don't. Care. Yohji. Just make him something. I'm sure he'll eat it out of courtesy whether its poison or not."
Yohji looked only mildly insulted, but he took it in stride and walked out, muttering about Ken being rude and just like Aya and something about a stick and pulling it out of somewhere. He turned a corner and disappeared. Both turned back to each other and Ken gave him a strained smile.
He opened his mouth to speak again, but it wasn't meant to be.
"Oh, and Kenken?"
Both of Aya's eyes twitched and he developed a tic in his jaw. Ken had a more violent reaction.
"CAN'T YOU TELL THAT I'M TRYING TO TELL AYA SOMETHING? WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN ME TELLING HIM THAT I LOVE HIM?"
