Sweet Nothing
[Chapter 2]
Ran pressed the bell again and heard it echoed softly inside. He turned and peered inside the window to the right of the door, only to find it covered by curtains. He rang the bell again.
"Ran-niichan?" Keisuke looked up at him. "Why isn't anyone answering the door?"
"Eh…" Ran checked his watch for the second time. "He said to bring you back at 6:30 and it's already 6:50."
"O~I!!!" Ran whirled around to find Ken waving his left hand frantically, all the while running towards them.
Hands on hips, Ran pulled on his most deadly glare. "You're LATE."
"Practice went late. Gomen," Ken grinned sheepishly as he headed past Ran and Keisuke to unlock the door.
"We're gonna be late for that study group over at Ryu's place," Ran reminded.
"I know, I know…" Ken dropped the soccer ball and bag he was holding onto the floor carelessly. "Wait a second, will ya?" The brunette ran up the stairs and a door opening can be heard.
Keisuke plopped himself onto the couch as he grabbed the TV remote control from the coffee table. Ran continued standing by the door, waiting for the older boy to reappear.
"Keisuke!" Ken popped out from his room and ran down the stairs, pulling his younger brother from the couch.
"What are you gonna do with him?" Ran nodded his head towards Keisuke, who was currently fumbling with his shoelaces.
"I'm taking him next door, over to Fujitaka-san's place," Ken explained as he pulled his bookbag over his shoulder. "She always watch him when no one else could."
"Aa."
"Now come on, we'll be late!" Ken pushed the redhead out the door, while Keisuke had already gone on ahead towards the Fujitaka house.
"Shouldn't I be telling you that?" Ran rose an eyebrow as Ken fumbled with getting his keys into the lock.
~+~+~
"You're late," the boy scolded. "I'd expect that out of Ken, not you, Ran."
"Oi! What's that supposed to mean?!" Ken scowled.
"Ignore him," Ran slid past Ken and got into the awaiting house. Ken grumbled something incoherently before following the redhead.
"You guys want something to drink?" the boy asked.
"Soda is fine with me," Ken replied.
"And you, Ran?"
"Anything's fine. Thanks, Ryu," the redhead smiled, as he shifted the weight of his bookbag to the other shoulder.
"Sure thing. Just wait in my room," Ryu disappeared for a moment. The other two trekked their way upstairs to the boy's room. As soon as they arrived, Ken dumped his bookbag onto the floor with a grunt and watched his textbooks spilled out onto the carpeted floor.
"Ugh…I hate history," Ken groaned as he stared at his textbooks in disgust.
"You hate all subjects, save for gym," Ran stated. "And that's only because you have soccer for gym."
"Tch. I don't understand how you can stand English class!"
"I manage."
"Drinks are here," Ryu appeared at the door, with the mentioned beverages in both hands. He handed it over to the two boys, before flopping down onto his bed.
"Now…can someone read this essay of mine?" Ryu held up a stack of paper that was nearly half an inch thick.
"Is that in any readable format?" Ken eyed the stack warily.
"English."
"Never mind then. Get Ran, though, he's pretty good in English."
"No, I'm not," the redhead protested, burying his face into a book and trying to ignore everything else.
"Aww, come on!! Please?" Ryu gave his best puppy face at Ran. The latter, however, simply ignored him. "What's the point of a study group if you won't help the others study?"
"Eh?" Ken tilted his head to a side, a smile playing on his lips. "I thought you said you were so 'good' in all your subjects that you won't need help, rather, you'd be helping US."
"Oh…I said that, didn't I…?" Ryu pulled at his collar and chuckled weakly, before giving his undivided attention to the papers.
~+~+~
"What time is it…?" Ken took a glance at his watch. "Ugh…it's only 8. We still have an hour left of this hideous thing…"
"You could leave early…" Ran stated, absent-mindedly, while his fingers worked quickly on a sheet of lined paper.
"I guess I could, eh?" Ken, however, made no move to leave and only continued his reading on Joan of Arc.
Somewhere downstairs, a door closed. Ken sat up straight on the floor, while Ran continued lounging around on his stomach. Footsteps were heard going up the stairs and soon, the door to the room open. A middle-aged woman stood there, a smile on her lips.
"Okaeri, oka-san," Ryu greeted.
"Konbawa, Shinohara-san," Ken and Ran said in unison. Ran blinked up at the woman. She only winked back.
"Konbawa, boys," Mrs. Shinohara smiled. "Would you like some snack?"
"Sure," Ryu replied. His mother nodded then disappeared downstairs again. The room dropped back into silence before Ran spoke up.
"That's your mother?" Ran asked.
"Yeah. Come to think of it, you never met her."
"No, I didn't. Anyway, I saw her today at the restaurant."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, she was with some man."
"Oh."
"What?" Ken piped up. "Is it something juicy that you're keeping from us?"
"Huh?" Ryu blinked at Ken, confused.
"I swear to God…" Ken threw his hand up in defeat, and returned to his textbook. "You're so goddamn ignorant that it's unhealthy."
"So I've heard." Ryu rolled his eyes.
"Oh, yeah," Ran reached into his bookbag and withdrew a manila envelope. "I'm supposed to give this to your dad."
"Huh?" Ryu looked up. "Oh, sure. He's usually back at 9 o'clock. You can give it to him then or something."
"What's that?" Ken nodded his head towards the envelope in the redhead's hands.
"Some business stuff," Ran shrugged, before putting the envelope back into his bookbag.
~+~+~
"Have a safe trip home," Mrs. Shinohara called from the front door.
"Why do they always have to say such a thing?" Ken asked, as he and Ran walked down the block.
"It's called courtesy," Ran said, matter-of-factly. "You should learn it sometime."
"Tch." The two continued their walk in silence. About three and a half blocks down, Ran let out a yelp as he froze in his tracks.
"What?" Ken looked over at him, alarmed.
"I forgot to give the envelope to Shinohara-san!"
"Well, then, go back!" Ken replied with an implied 'duh' in his tone.
"Yeah, I guess I will," Ran turned back towards the direction of the Shinohara house. "You could leave. I'll go back alone."
"You sure?"
"I'm not a baby, you know. I don't need an escort."
"Fine, fine," Ken grinned and then waved. "I'll see you tomorrow then. Ja!"
"See you tomorrow then!" Ran waved back as he watched the brunette disappear into the night. Shifting his bookbag, Ran trudged back up the block.
~+~+~
Ran gave the doorbell another ring. He turned away from the house and walked a few steps forward. Stopping, he turned back to look up at the house. All the lights were out and it appeared as if no one is home.
Sighing softly, Ran prepared to head through the front gate only to stop again.
"Oto-san said to make sure this was given today…" Ran looked at the house again. "Maybe I can just slip this into the door…"
Finally, Ran stepped up to the front door again and knelt down before it. He began to slip the first corner of the envelope through the gap between the bottom of the door and the floor. As he slipped more and more of the envelope through, the door cracked open slightly.
Blinking, Ran pushed the door open slowly with a finger. It gave way without protest, leaving the redhead still kneeling before the dark hallway.
"Um…hello? Is anyone home?" Ran stood and peered inside the house. "It's Ran, from before…" Silence was his only response.
"This is ridiculous. I'm talking to an empty house," Ran mumbled under his breath as he bent to pick up the envelope. He placed it onto the table he managed to find in the darkness. "I guess I'll just leave this here…"
Ran whipped his head upwards as he heard a rather loud thud rang out. He moved to stand in front of the stairway and strained his ears. Soon enough, he could hear a few hushed voices. It ended as quickly as it had started.
"Maybe I'm hearing things…" Ran muttered softly then turned, in preparation to leave. However, he was halted by something soft.
Well, this was surely out of place… Ran thought to himself as he looked up. A pair of amethyst eyes widened as they stare into a pair of brown orbs.
Uh… Ran barely had time to register anything before he felt something solid against his head and found himself tumbling towards unconsciousness.
~+~+~
"Look what the cat dragged in," Mrs. Shinohara said, dryly, as she watched the man maneuvered the boy into his arms. "What are you going to do with him?"
"Kill him," Crawford said, calmly.
"Wait!" Both woman and man looked up at the young boy standing on the top floor. "Don't kill him. Please. He's my friend."
"Do as you wish," Mrs. Shinohara said, ignoring her son's pleas. The American nodded without a word then turned to leave, with the still unconscious Japanese boy in his arms.
~~ To Be Continued