Title: Encoded
Content: shonen ai/yaoi…um…yeah. Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention that Hajime means 'Beginning', so the name does bear some significance. "Our Hajime," "Our beginning,"…yeah.
Disclaimer: *pulls out some pocket lint* This is all that I own…
Pinku: Liar.
Lorelei: *raspberry*
~Chapter Four~
The day was significantly clear and enjoyable as summer practically stood on the heels of spring. Schuldig strode casually beside Crawford, the former dressed in a light green short-sleeved dress shirt unbuttoned to reveal the white chest hugging t-shirt he wore underneath, accompanied by a pair of off-white dress pants. Brad was dressed nicely in a blue dress shirt under a navy blue jacket of a light material with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a pair of navy dress pants.
Both men walked towards a shop which had a large crowd of young girls hovering around its entrance. The two slipped through the crowd with almost too much ease, maneuvering their way into the store without a second thought. Once inside, they hid themselves amongst the crowd. The redheaded German looked about him, slightly impatient.
"Eh, you say they have the kid now, right Brad?" he asked with some annoyance. Brad raised a hand to quiet him.
"Yes, Schuldig. Just be patient." Schuldig scowled, but obeyed, knowing there wasn't much else for him to do. He began to wonder just how it was possible for some many people to fit in one place, and a flower shop no less! He'd sooner throw himself off a cliff before listening to a day of this senseless din. He strained his senses to hear over the useless noise to find something more helpful to their cause.
That was when he heard it.
His head snapped up as soon as he'd heard the unmistakable wail of an infant child, and his green eyes locked on to the suspect. The child squirmed about in irritation in the arms of Ken, obviously fussy about having so many girls fluttering about him, cooing nonsensically in his face. Schuldig even felt bad for the kid. The German glanced at his impassive companion, who also had his eyes on the baby.
"That's it, right?" he questioned, slight anxiousness twitching within him. Brad nodded slowly. Schuldig wondered how the man could be so calm all of the time. It bothered him to the point he wanted purposely to make Brad angry, or anything besides stoic aloofness. Schuldig's head snapped up again when he heard the familiar voice growling impatiently at the girls.
"The baby doesn't like large crowds," Ran told them stiffly. He then took the child from Ken, instantly changing into a completely different person altogether. He carefully held the child, in a way that was completely unexpected of a once ruthless assassin. The German smirked ruefully, noticing just how much people could change with time. He cast a fleeting glance at the silent, calculating Brad.
And also how they could stay the same.
Following Ran's reprimand, the girls figured they should give the boys their space, and headed out of the store. Schuldig and Brad made sure to merge themselves with the crowd, to be unnoticed by the store owner's. Once outside, Schuldig gave Brad a confused look.
"So? That's it? How's that help us? What are we gonna do now that they actually have the kid?" Schuldig noticed how impatient he sounded, and hoped Brad wouldn't pay attention to that fact. The dark haired American didn't even look at Schuldig as he answered.
"We wait." He replied, as if those two words were the answer to everything. Which of course, they weren't.
"Wait? Wait for what?" the red head continued querying the older man. Brad shot a look at him with annoyed golden-hazel eyes, quieting the German down.
"When the baby is about six months old, then we'll get him." Brad turned and walked in the direction towards home, Schuldig staring after him. Brad wasn't making much sense about this whole thing, and he'd been talking in circles a great deal about it now. At first he'd said they'd make sure they knew where the child was being kept, and now…
"We'll get him…?"
With a genuine glowing smile, Ken put a small pair of paints onto Hajime, as the child looked around curiously from his position on his back. The baby smiled as Ken stood him up, reaching out with a small hand to bat at Ken's face. The brunette pretended to bite at the tiny fingers and grinned. He pulled a small soccer jersey over the child's head. Once dressed, Hajime shoved his stubby arms into the air as a request to be lifted up by Ken. With a chuckle, Ken swooped the child up into his arms, turning to face Ran, who'd been watching them from behind.
"I think you should take him out today," Ken stated. He smiled at the baby. "I know he'd like that." The baby cooed at him, and giggled as Ken made a face. Ran smiled.
"You won't be joining us?" he asked with a small inclination of his eyebrow. Ken swayed the baby in his arms.
"I though you might want to bond…" Suddenly, the child was caught between both men as Ran embraced them. Hajime giggled, latching his arms around Ran's neck.
"And I think we all could use some bonding time." Ran stated. He pulled away, taking the child into his arms, giving the baby a questioning look. "So? You'd like to go to the park, Jime-chan?" The baby squealed in excitement, and Ran smiled. "Then it's settled." Ken sighed with a smile.
"Omi and Yoji have been handling a lot by themselves lately," Ken began. Ran sighed, placing the child on their bed to dress him in his coat.
"Omi doesn't mind, and Yoji never works, so he's had this coming." Ran argued, lifting up the baby once he was dressed. "Besides, I think they'd rather be working than babysitting," He smiled at Hajime. "Not that I would want to work when I could be raising my son," Ken smiled. Ever since Hajime had entered their lives, Ran had changed so much. When he was around the child, he was gentle, caring and protective, everything Ken had suspected he was deep down anyway. The brunette pulled on his own coat with a grin.
"Well, I'll go anywhere you two are going," Ken complied. He wrapped an arm around Ran's shoulders, running the other over Hajime's bit of brown hair that was coming in. The three of them walked to the park, which was only down the street from where they lived. Casting an excited glance over his shoulder at Ken, Ran smiled warmly.
"Follow me. There's something I want to show you," Ken looked confused, but followed as Ran's pace quickened. When he stopped, they were in the middle of a big grassy clearing. Ran kneeled down in the grass, setting the child down. Hajime sat there for a few moments, wide violet eyes searching from Ran to Ken, and then falling on a lady bug crawling through the grass. With a childish grin, he reached out to grab the insect, only to watch it fly away in dismay. He blinked away at tears in his eyes, then felt Ran ruffle his hair softly. "Jime-chan, show Ken what you can do," he whispered to the baby. Ran lifted his head to Ken. "Ken, call him," Ken raised an eyebrow, but smiled at the baby in grass.
"Jime-chan!" the brunette exclaimed. The baby looked up, wide eyes searching, and smiled widely at Ken. Hajime pushed himself off the ground with his hands, so that he was in a standing position. Ken's eyes widened, and he grinned wildly. "Hajime! Come here!" he called out in excitement, crouching down in the grass. The baby timidly stepped forward, and with each step he took, became more determined. Once the baby was within a few feet of Ken, the brunette flung out his arms, and the baby walked right into them. Ken lifted the child up, laughing in utter amazement. Holding the child high above his head, he grinned even more. "Hajime! That was…wonderful!" The baby giggled, and clapped his hands together. Ken shot an overjoyed glance at Ran. "You…you taught him that?!" Ran smiled smugly, walking over to the two.
"I helped. It was mostly his doing, though." The redhead smiled. "He's very determined to make you proud, Ken," he stated softly, looking into Ken's eyes.
"And you too, you know," Ken replied evenly. Ran wrapped his arms around the brunette's shoulders, and looked at the baby.
"Well, you make us both proud, no matter what," he told Hajime, who looked at him curiously, and then smiled, as if he understood.
And he probably did.
The child, not much older than ten years old, cowered in the corner of the room, cradling his badly bruised arm. His face was shocking; three long, thin scars ran down his left cheek. Not so deep as to leave a permanent mark, but looked painful enough for any child to brandish. His golden-hazel eyes were wide and solemn, that of a broken innocence. He kept his head down, his black hair creating a veil in front of his face.
From the other side of the room, sitting at a table with a bottle of some sort of alcohol clutched in her hand a woman glared at him, between taking long sips of the drink. He slowly raised his head to meet her gaze, and her eyes narrowed at him. She stood, and the boy jumped at the sound of the chair scraping across the floor. She stalked over to him angrily, grabbing a fistful of his hair yanking his head towards her. Tears began to run down the child's face.
"Stop looking at me that way! Every time you do, it reminds me of…him," her voice became filled with sadness, and she noticed his tears. Instantly, her mood shifted. She let go of his hair, and raised a shaking hand to the boy's cheek. "You're crying…I've hurt you…" Her hand trembled, and, she quickly pulled it away. She began to cry. "I wouldn't have to…I wouldn't have to hurt you if you didn't look at me that way!" The alcohol bottle fell from her hand, with a clunk to the floor, and she grabbed his shoulders forcefully, shaking him. "Why?! Why don't you stop looking at me?!" The boy stared at her, tears spilling onto his cheeks soundlessly. She pulled her hand back, slapping the child across the face. Immediately after the act, she gasped. She stared at the guilty hand for a good moment, and let out a choked sob. She scrambled up from her position on the floor, grabbing her car keys from the table. The boy reached out to her retreating figure.
"Mom," his quiet voice was hardly above a whisper. The door slammed. The child sat there, too scared to move, too scared to breath. The sound of a care starting, and pulling away with squealing tires proved that she was gone. Slowly, propping himself against the wall to stand, the boy lifted himself from the ground.
Suddenly, he felt a burning pressure behind his eyes, and he gasped in pain, squeezing them shut. The vision, just as well as if it was playing before him, of a car flipped over on its side in the middle of the road. Inside was his mother, her body pale from shock, yet unmoving. A trickle of blood ran down the side of her head, and her eyes were shut. She was dead.
The sound of quiet, muffled sobbing could be heard through the walls. Schuldig raised his head and listened, in case the sound wasn't just his imagination. The sound persisted, and the German slid out of bed to find its source. It was coming from Brad's bedroom. Silently, Schuldig opened the door to his leader's room, to find the older man asleep; but crying. At first, the red-head simply stood there in shock, watching as Brad continued to cry, murmuring things that couldn't be understood. Schuldig shook his head, and felt an odd wave of compassion pass over him. Quietly, he sat down on Brad's bed, and carefully took the crying man into his arms, soothingly stroking his hair and back until the crying stopped. Schuldig smirked to himself when he realized how entwined the two had become, Brad still asleep in his arms. In fact, Schuldig actually liked it this way.
Brad's hand clenched tighter around Schuldig's waist, a sign that he was waking up. A sudden bout of fear washed over the German, but he was too late to react. Brad lifted his head hazily, letting his mind adjust to the situation. And then his eyes hardened on Schuldig. Angrily, he pushed the red-head away.
"Schuldig! What do you think you're doing?!" Brad snarled at the somewhat hurt looking German. Schuldig looked away, not wanting Brad to see his disappointment.
"You were crying…" Brad suddenly calmed at this, looking almost sad. Then his face hardened again.
"I don't cry." He stated firmly. Schuldig's head whirled to face him, his jade eyes burning.
"Well, you were! And whatever it was about, I don't care! I hope it hurts you!" The German stood abruptly, stalking out of Brad's room with a slam of the door. Brad stared after him, his eyes becoming tearful, though no drops spilled forth.
"Sch…Schuldig…I'm sorry…"
Nagi sighed, a light breeze tossing his mused brown hair. He raised his wrist to glance at his watch, and sighed again. Already, Omi was ten minutes late. Normally, this wouldn't have bothered him, but Omi wasn't the kind to break schedules…
"Nagi!" The light haired boy was jogging down the sidewalk, obviously in a rush. He skidded to a halt when he reached Nagi, and smiled shyly. "I'm sorry I'm late. I had to change…I had to change the flower arrangements in the shop." Omi sighed. He was forced to keep Hajime a secret, by Ran's orders. Not that he didn't trust Nagi with his entire being, but if anything ever happened…It was just safer this way. Nagi smiled.
"It's all right. So, where was it you wanted to go?" Omi smiled brightly, grabbing Nagi's hand to pull him along.
"I'm gonna show you how to have fun!" Nagi raised an eyebrow at the excited youth.
"What do you mean?" He asked skeptically. Omi grinned and winked at the younger boy. This left Nagi fairly uneasy about Omi's plans. "Omi?"
"You'll see! It's half the fun when it's left a surprise!" Omi pulled encouragingly at Nagi's arm, and Japanese boy couldn't help but smile. It was Omi's childish and generally caring nature that had first drawn him to the boy. At first, it was hard for them. Being enemies, they had to fake their hatred towards each other, and fight against one another, sometimes inflicting pain to make it seem real. And meeting each other alone was even worse. Things were much easier now, but still…
"Omi! You're going to pull off my arm!" Nagi laughed, and Omi blushed lightly. Nagi laughed harder at this, causing Omi too blush deeper.
"I'm sorry, but I'm just so happy we finally get a whole day to ourselves!" Nagi smiled, giving Omi's hand a squeeze.
"As am I, Omi-chan, as am I."
Never before had Farfello actually felt like wandering about the streets during the daytime; without the intention to cause anyone immense bodily harm. For some unexplainable reason, that pass-time seemed so empty now. And also, the sun actually felt nice, and he liked the fact that there was no smell of blood in the air.
Wait, was that even possible?
Nevertheless, that was how the insane Irishman was feeling. Maybe it was because he'd gone so long without killing. For awhile now, Brad, Nagi, and Schuldig had been telling him there was no need for him to kill anymore, and had made sure he didn't. At first, Farfello didn't understand why. After all, they'd been killing up until then; what difference did it make if they suddenly stopped? That would in no way atone for all the wrongs they'd done, and Farfello was convinced they were all going to hell. And he knew, with a childish glee, that from there, he'd be able to taunt God.
But now, it was different. Now, he felt that wasn't what he wanted anymore. As good as it had sounded before, it sounded…meaningless now. His old ways were slowly beginning to fade, and there were definitely changes rising within him.
Couldn't say he didn't like it.
Couldn't say he loved it either.
Farfello came upon a pair he recognized well, and with them was a stroller, with a baby inside. He watched them with intense curiosity, as they talked, and laughed, and sometimes reached down to reassure the baby of their love. Even the red-head, who was known for his cold personality, was alight with authentic love and happiness. A happiness for life he didn't have not only a few years before.
Maybe now was Farfello's time to adopt happiness for life.
Yoji sighed, loud and exasperated. The only way he could get off from work was if he played babysitter to Hajime. This was Ran's brilliant new rule. While he was stuck at home being 'the nanny', the two lovebirds were out buying everything they could to spoil the kid. Yoji snickered. He himself never would've guessed Ran to be the all-out parent.
The golden haired man walked over to the baby's crib, and leaned over, to watch the child as he slept. One violet eye cracked open, and Yoji tensed. The other eye opened.
"Hey there," Yoji whispered tentatively, desperately hoping Hajime wouldn't…
A loud sob came forth from the child. Yoji groaned, but reached into the crib to lift the child, cradling the baby against his shoulder and rubbing his back. He'd bounce the child every once in awhile and the crying ebbed.
"There ya go; I knew I'd be a good uncle, eh?" Hajime looked at Yoji with a puzzled expression, and grabbed at the pair of sunglasses perched at the end of Yoji's nose. "Now—hey! Those are mine!" Hajime squealed as he snatched the glasses off of Yoji face. Then he threw them to the ground, and giggled. Yoji sighed. "Someday, I'd like to see you pull out Ran's ear tails," he stated flatly in defeat. The baby squealed again, but this time as he saw Ran and Ken enter the house.
"He already has; many times." Ran replied. The red-head smiled as he looked at Hajime. "So, you think those sunglasses are tacky too, hm?"
"Hey! My sunglasses aren't tacky!" Yoji exclaimed in defense. Ken chuckled, plucking the baby from Yoji's arms. The taller man bent down to retrieve his cast off sunglasses from the floor.
"Thanks for watching him, Yoji," Ken balanced the baby on his hip, digging through one of the bags they'd brought home with his free hand. He grinned as he pulled out a little soccer ball. "Look! Now you can start practicing!" Hajime stared at the ball inquisitively, and reached for it. He puzzled it over for no more than five seconds, and then tossed it to the ground, making a gurgling sound. Ken sighed. "Oh fine. Maybe not today, then." Ran chuckled, leaning over Ken's shoulder to run a hand along the baby's cheek.
"You know, it's not too long now until he's six months old," Ran observed thoughtfully.
"Mm, that's right." Ken lifted Hajime up. "My, they grow so fast!" he declared melodramatically. Yoji smirked.
"What a lovely little family we have here," he observed as he watched the three. "I think I should get the camera." Ran frowned.
"Kuduo, I…"
"Relax. You two make great parents, in my opinion." Ken smiled. He hugged Hajime to him, as Ran wrapped his arms around Ken.
"That's good to hear." The baby cooed, and closed his eyes.
A week was left until his half birthday arrived.
Author's Note: Ok, this was, in short, a filler chapter. Not too much of importance happened, but it's still an important chapter! I know the ending kinda was…well…flat, but oh well. *sigh* I hate multi-tasking. I hate it 'cause I can't do it. But I try. Also, please, forgive my typos. I'm too lazy to proofread, and I notice I have a TON of 'em when I look it over after I've posted. ^ ^; Thanks for waiting this out.
Pinku: So shameless…
Lorelei: *glares* *smiles* Please, hang tight for the next chapter! I promise to try and write it soon.
Pinku: You always promise that.
Lorelei: *sweatdrop*