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The Spirit of the Holiday

by Emerald

Disclaimers and Warnings: Weiss Kreuz is copyrighted by Koyasu Takehito and Project Weiß and whoever lays claim to them...^^;

Ken sighs. Yet another Christmas Day for this lone assassin. These are the days when he wished that he had a family or even a loved one whom he could spend the holiday with. Omi spent his Christmas at Nagi's. Youji was off to Malibu with his steady girlfriend and Aya...God knows where he went off to. Oh, well...that leaves him on his own...again.

The brown-haired boy shifts a little from his position in the park bench, pulling his jacket more tightly around him. Snow coats the branches of the Sakura tree, and the ends covered with slivers of ice glitters against the sunlight. Oh, yes...the park is so full of life despite the cold and the gloom that winter sometimes represents. The children were skating on the frozen lake, gliding the ice like graceful swans.

A little girl comes running, clasping a melting snowball in her tiny, and squeals as she finds her target --- her father, laughing a few feet away from the bench is soon "splattered" with the cold ball. *Ha! Bull's eye! Right in the face!*, Ken muses. His lips quirks upwards and his gaze falls upon a couple kissing under a mistletoe...*This is not helping.* The young florist groans to himself. He stands up, straightening his jacket. Maybe a cup of coffee would do him good, and he starts for the nearby coffee shop.

***

Wide eyes look up from brown bangs as crimson hair catches his eyes. But what really caught his attention was not his Weiß comrade passing by the coffee shop picture window clad in sexy black shirt and pants --- no. It's the sight of Aya, carrying a gift-wrapped present which suspiciously looked like a stuffed toy. Hidaka Ken almost knocks down his cappuccino in his haste. He dashes out of the shop and silently follows his friend.

*Who could he be giving gifts to? Does he have a girlfriend? Hmm...I wonder what she looks like? How did they meet? Does she know that he's an assassin? Will they be getting married soon? Is she pregnant? What...* His mind formed an endless barrage of questions, but is suddenly cut off when his target reaches his destination. Realization hits Ken.

*Of course it would be the hospital, you idiot!* The assassin scolded himself for not having thought about that earlier. *But still...Aya-chan's still in coma, ne? I wonder...*

***

Ken is staring open-mouthed through the slightly ajar door. *Well, who would've thought there is THIS side of him?* he thought. Aya...rather, Ran had pulled out a box from under a table that revealed ornaments, colored lights, wreaths, and even a small Christmas tree. He scooted over to the nightstand and turned on the radio, switching to a station which played Christmas carols and then he set to work. The famed stone-cold leader of Weiß moved about, putting up the decorations with what seemed like a smile playing on his features.

*Man! I never thought he was a sentimental fool! Hehe!* Ken grins, *I wonder what he'd do if he saw me here now?* As if on cue, the door suddenly opens and Ken stumbles in, almost slamming his face into Ran as the red-haired boy stands in front of him. There he stands, hand on the knob, one eyebrow raised in question and foot tapping impatiently, waiting for an explanation from his chocolate-haired comrade.

"Umm...err...", Ken stutters, "Need any help with those?" He smiles weakly.The other looks at him for what seemed like forever, then sighs in defeat. "Go and untangle those damned lights."

***

After three teeth-baring, limb-twisting and sweat-filled hours, the soccer player turned assassin finally got those "damned lights" in order, and was mighty proud of it, too. Ran, as usual, replied with his usual "Hn!", though with more amusement than coldness in his tone.

Taking a step back, Ken admires the usually dismal hospital room, now turned to something more festive. He staggers towards the redhead to help him put the gifts under the little tree. Apparently, they're all Aya-chan's from the previous Christmases, still-wrapped, of course, and in mint condition. Ken smiles at his friend, though he was too busy finding a place for the large stuffed toy to notice. *So that's what he'd been doing all these years!*

"Aa", Ran mutters, startling the other boy. Ken realizes that he had been thinking out loud.

"Aya-chan is what I live for", Ran says softly, while motioning towards his sister's bed. He stroked the black bangs almost reverently.

Ken nods. "You're lucky."

Ran closes his eyes in reply, one corner of his mouth twists upwards, as if in agreement. He gives his sister a peck on the cheek and straightens up to leave the room.

The two walk through the immaculately white corridors in silence, both seemingly deep in their own thoughts. But then again, it was usual for Ran to be like that...

"What?"

"Huh?" Ken puzzledly looked at his leader's searching face.

"What are you thinking about?" , asks Ran, seemingly nonchalant.

"I...", he was caught off-guard there, and he takes a few seconds to compose his thoughts." I have no family, no loved one," he grins, "Nobody really cares about li'l ol' me. Sometimes I wonder what my purpose in life is --- to kill? He! Guess that's just about it...as I said, you're lucky to have Aya...and I envy you."

Ran stops in his tracks and stares at his "friend" like had just said something totally absurd.

"You envy me?!"

"Umm...yeah. Sort of." Ken is becoming uncomfortable. He flushed slightly at the little outburst of his emotions. And the violet eyes that seemed to bore through him is not making matters any easier.

"I guess we feel the same way then."

"N-Nani?!" Ken questions in shock and bafflement, "W-why?!"

"I see how you are with children. They seem so comfortable around you. They play with you and I could just see the joys in their faces when they're with you. They call you Niisan and...", he trails off, "Aya-chan hasn't called me 'Niisan' since that..." He looks down.

"Yeah, but that's diff..."

"KEN-NIISAN!!!"

A group of little tykes rush towards their "brother" and hug his legs. Ken bends down. "Well, hello there!", he greets, previous thoughts vanishing at the presence of the little angels.

"Merry Christmas, Niisan!"

It was truly a sight to see. Five or so little girls playfully tousling Ken's hair, while the others play with his face. Some boys were even fighting over who would ride on Ken's back this time. Meanwhile, Ken had become quite engrossed with the kids that he almost forgot about his friend who was standing there, watching the scene with slightly concealed interest.

"Hey guys!", Ken calls out, "...and girls." He quickly adds as he received angry looks from his very young female admirers. "Ahem...I'd like you to meet somebody", he points to a surprised redhead.

The little ones approach the tall, crimson-haired guy with curiosity, examining him as if he were...umm...a new robot of some sort.

"What's your name?", a little boy, Yoshi, asks.

"Ran."

Ken watches as the others bombard his fellow assassin with questions. What is his favorite color? What is his favorite food? Does he like ice cream? Does he have a girlfriend? He! THAT one made the Weiß leader blush.

A slight tugging of his shirt breaks Ken out of his trail of thoughts.

"Ne, Meiyou-chan?"

"Ken-niisan...Ran-niisan...umm..." the little black-haired girl in pigtails is flushing furiously.

"Hm?" Ken raises his eyebrow questioningly.

"He's...umm...cute." She then burrows her face in Ken's jacket. "It's a secret, okay?"

Ken nods, smiling. *How cute. She has a crush on him!*, he grins inwardly.

"Hurry up, Ran-niisan!"

Ken looks up and lets out a short laugh, waving to his friend who is helplessly being hauled by the group of children and looking back at him for some sort of rescue.

*But he DOES look happy...*

Ran eeps as his new and *many* "siblings" drag him to the nearest ice cream parlor.

-Owari-

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