Experienced Weiss Kreuz fans and authors:

Forgive me, I beg of you. I am among the unfortunate, uninitiated people, who have never really seen or read the series, but I've formulated an idea of what happens, from the marvelous fanfictions out there that I've read.

This story is an extremely *sappy*, *angsty*, and undoubtedly *horribly* out-of-character pairing between Brad, my favorite clairvoyant, and Ken, a fellow soccer-player. And I mean SAP, SAP, *SAP*, okay?

I understand that this is one of those "rare" pairings, but, well... I kinda like it!

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Disclaimer: I own nothing except the pictures in my head

Warning: Sap, angst, and shonein-ai situations. Brad+Ken, plus a few other pairs mentioned along the way...

Author: Kasey

Archive: Not unless I send it to you.

Status: Complete, self-edited.

Key: /italics/ and *emphasis*

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"Lavender"
-Part One-

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I waved to Brad as I jogged around the field. I got a rather warm feeling in my stomach when he glanced up from his laptop and waved back. I couldn't help it--I grinned, happy for myself, happy for life, and especially happy that I was wearing warm-up sweats instead of freezing shorts.

"What'd you do?" Kase asked, catching up to me as we jogged around the track. "Follow him home?"

"Nope. He gave me a ride home, last week, when it started raining."

"And you *accepted* him?!"

I glanced at my friend. "Yeah..."

"What did your *mom* say?"
"Nothing."

"You didn't tell her."

"I'm not *stupid*, Kase," I huffed. "I can take care of myself."

"Sure," Kase said. "That's what they all say."

"Well, I can..."

"Hey! Ken, Kase!!" We looked in to the field. Our coach was hailing us. "C'mon in! We're gonna run some drops and sprints." Ah, well. That was it, for talking. Now, it was time for soccer.

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"Would you like to get something warm, to drink?"

I'm so easily embarrassed. As soon as Brad asked, I must have turned red from my nose to my ears. "S-sure!" I'd gotten to practice early, because it was cold and I had jogged to keep warm, again. Brad was there, too. The only change about him, compared to the first day I saw him, was that he was wearing a long, black coat to keep away the cold. I wondered if he always wore the same suit. I asked him to stay after practice, so we could talk, and he did. And now, he asked me if I'd like to get a drink.

"Good." Brad gathered his belongings--the coffee mug and the laptop--and stood up. He was so tall! I had to look up to look into his face. Not that that was a bad thing...

We walked from the soccer field, and I could feel Kase's eyes on my back. I tried to ignore him, though. After all, I was going to get a drink with a handsome businessman who braved bad and cold weather to watch *me* practice soccer.

The coffee shop was nice, warm, and quiet. Brad ordered a latte, and I ordered a hot chocolate. We sat there in silence, for a few moments. Brad was the first to speak.

"Would you like something to eat?" I blinked, mostly because I was expecting a more creative ice-breaker. Brad smiled slightly. "It will be a few minutes before the hot chocolate is ready, but they have some nice pastries, here." He flagged down a waitress, and within a minute, we each had a steaming apple tart in front of us.

I was considering the best way to eat the tart, when Brad picked up a cake-fork, and set to with that. Not wanting to embarrass myself by eating with my fingers, I copied him.

We still hadn't really spoken when the waitress returned, five minutes later, with our drinks. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "The cocoa machine quit, and it took us a while to get the milk hot enough again." I smiled, and accepted the steaming mug from her. She set down Brad's latte, he nodded, and she walked away.

"How'd you know the hot chocolate was going to be late?" I asked Brad.

Brad shrugged, and took a sip of his latte. After a moment, he spoke. "Ken..."

"Yeah?"

He seemed to be weighing things in his head. Options. Lots of options. What was he considering?

"I think you're beautiful."

Mom told me that decorum meant not spraying your host or friends with lemonade at birthday parties. Of course, that had been a long time back. That was then, this was now. Now, decorum meant not spraying the hot businessman with just-as-hot chocolate. I was glad for my success. Mom would have been proud of me. I think.

I swallowed. "...You...do?"

"Yes."

I think I already mentioned that I embarrass easily. I blushed, again. I couldn't help it! Brad was being so nice, and this felt almost like... a date. A date. A date. Oh. Shit.

Brad must have seen that I was uncomfortable. "Why did you whistle at me?"

I looked down into my mug. "I saw you walking by... I thought you were kind of hot... I-I didn't really think about it..."

"I thought about you for the rest of the day."

My head shot up, and I met Brad's eyes. "You did?"

"Yes."

I could feel my foot tapping, under the table. I was so tense! And for some reason, I did *not* want to say the wrong thing...

"I... I was hoping I didn't offend you," I said, somewhat stupidly.

"You didn't."

"Ah." I sighed. "Good."

"On the contrary, you..." Brad paused. "You interest me."

"I do?" Hidaka Ken, the Master of the Two-Word Rhetorical Question. Slap some smarts into your head, man!

"I'd... I'd like to see you, again."

Maybe... maybe Brad *was* thinking of this as a date... I know *I* didn't know *what* to think... Except that I was sitting nice and cozy in a corner of a coffee shop with a businessman who said he liked me. Ah, yes, being a teenager...

"You would?"

Brad gave me that soft smile again. I must have looked like a girl, because I *felt* like I was going to melt all over the floor. "Yes," he said.

Now my other foot was tapping, too. I had my napkin wrapped around my hands, and was close to tearing it in half. I composed myself. Sort of. "I... I'd like that," I replied shakily. "Yeah."

"Good." He didn't talk very much, but when he did... Oh, Mommy...

I sipped the last of my hot chocolate. "So... what would you like to do?"

He finished off his latte. "What do you like to do?"

I really hoped this wouldn't turn into a what-do-you-want-to-do, no,-tell-me-what-you-want-to-do kind of discussion. That would get *really* boring, and *very* annoying.

"I like to play soccer," I said. Brad nodded. He knew that one. "I like kids... um. I like to go down to the park, or the seaside..."

"The park?" Brad asked. "To walk?" I nodded. He smiled. I melted. "Let's do that, then."

"When?"

"Next Saturday." Perfect. He'd picked a day when I had absolutely *nothing* planned. Somebody up there liked me.

"Great!" I was so ecstatic, and I didn't really even understand why.

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Brad and I met, off and on, for months. There came a point when he started missing my soccer practices, but he explained that his boss was tired of his extended coffee breaks, and I understood. The park became our meeting-ground. Rain, snow, and slush did nothing to stop us from getting together and walking through the trees.

We talked a lot. Brad told me that he was the head of a small section of a larger firm, called Estet, that was not based locally. They had moved him to Japan from America, and put him to work with Shu. He had other business partners, but he never talked about them.

Brad loved to hear about my life, even though he was reluctant to talk about his. He would laugh at what I did in school and in soccer, and he offered me advice for some of my classes. It got to the point where my first thought, waking up in the morning, was whether or not I would get to see Brad that day. I was falling in love, hard, and I knew it. Brad knew it, too.

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"Ken..."

"...Yeah?"

"What do you think?"

I looked up at the full moon, feeling delightfully romantic, and *knowing* that this was why Brad had insisted that I meet him, late, in the park. "It's beautiful."

"Yes."

We stared up at the shining white disk that the moon presented to us. I sighed as I felt Brad's arm around me.

"Ken..."

"...Yeah?"

"I'm bad with words, Ken."

I closed my eyes, and an image of Brad superimposed itself over the memory of the moon. "I don't care." Just keep holding me like this...

"I'm in love with you, Ken."

I knew it. I knew he was going to say it, and I felt my insides turning like a mixer as he tightened his arm around me. I put my arm around his waist.

"Brad..."

"Ah." Brad turned and looked down into my eyes. I'd grown a bit over the last five months, but Brad was still almost a head taller than me. "Yes, Ken?"

I pressed my cheek against his chest. "Brad... I'm in love with you, too," I murmured into his shirt.

"Ah." He pulled me even closer, and we held each other. I didn't know what to think about the feelings surrounding me, only that I knew I'd never been happier, and that I would never want anyone who wasn't Brad. My Brad. I laughed softly as I realized how possessive I had grown.

"My Ken," I heard Brad whisper. I laughed. "Hm?"

I shook my head. "Nothing!" I looked up into his eyes. "You mean it?"

"Yes..." He put a finger under my chin. "Would you let me kiss you, to prove it?"

I blushed. "Y-yes!" My first kiss... my first kiss... oh, *Brad*...

I didn't want it to end. I wanted it to last... I wanted to suffocate, because it felt so good, pressing my lips softly against his. He smelled like lavender soap and coffee, and I loved it.

He pulled away for just a moment. He was smiling. "Mm... Ken?"

I didn't realize I had closed my eyes until I had to open them again. "...Y-yeah?"

"First kiss?"

"Yes!"

"Are you happy?"

I gaped. My Brad was acting unusually romantic, but, oh, Heaven and Hell, I was going to take advantage of it.

"Not as happy as I would be..." Brad's face fell. "...If you were still kissing me," I finished. I managed to fit a bit of coyness into my voice, an invitation. And so help me, Brad took the bait.

I'm not sure when I actually got home that night. I do remember climbing the tree outside my window, so that I wouldn't wake Mom and Pop. Mostly, I remember Brad's kisses and soft words of love, and the feeling of pure content that washed me through my window and into my bed.

This had to be true love.

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