The Birthday Gift
[Chapter I]
By: Raiha-chan
Spoilers: End of Weiß, episode 24.
Warnings: Contains shounen ai, and may be a bit OOC in some parts.
Pairings: RanxYoji, hints of SchuxRan, NagixOmi. That's all for now. ^^;;;
Disclaimers: Weiß Kreuz and its character do not belong to me. Please do not sue me. My wallet is called "The Fly House" for a reason. ~.~;;
[July 1, mid-morning]
Ah...beautiful lovely July. What made Kudou Yoji so stressed this time of year? It sure ain't PMS. It was July. That time of the year, when a certain redhead celebrates his birthday.
And if this was like every other year, there won't be a huge celebration. The redhead loathed such things. But that was an "if" statement.
This year was different. How so? Because his sister is here. She even had a surprise party planned for him since the last week of June.
In just 3 more days, Fujimiya Ran will turn 22. Everyone already bought gifts for the redhead. Everyone but Yoji. The older man has been racking his brain recently trying to figure out what to get the redhead. He wanted the gift to be something special.
Two years ago, he would just grab the nearest decent-looking thing, wrap it up and shove it in the redhead's hands. So why is he being so picky two years later, in the present day?
Because he recently found out that he has a special liking towards the redhead. He doesn't know if the object of his affection returns the affection or not but he was willing to find out. Yoji knows he might be risking the friendship they shared but he'd rather die knowing the answer than to never know at all.
+++++
"Oy, Omi," Ken walked over to the said boy.
"Nani?" the younger boy turned cerulean eyes up towards the brunette.
"Yoji spaced out again," settling the flowerpot onto the floor, Ken leaned against the counter. His head was tilted towards the older man.
"Ah," Omi smiled slightly, understanding dawning. "Three more days, ne?"
"I wonder what that man would decide to give Ran?"
"Something useful, I hope. He got Ran-kun a book on the you-know-what last year."
"That wasn't useful? I thought that was useful…"
"Ken-kun!"
"Kidding, kidding." Ken's smile grew into a frown. "I saw our redhead throw it away when the night was over."
"I know. I found it in the garbage can," Omi sighed.
"Anou…" a short brown-haired girl came up to the register.
"Hmm?" Ken turned around and cracked a smile. "Sakura-chan! What brings you here this time of day?"
"Aya-chan and I are meeting up to go to the park today," the brunette replied.
"Aa, sou ka," Ken nodded, attentively. "So that's why she came to the flower shop this morning to help out. I think she's in the backroom."
"Thanks!" Sakura gave a small wave then ran off into the backroom.
"What do you think she's getting him?" Omi asked, as he watched the young girl's retreating back.
"I don't know," Ken shrugged then pulled at his apron. "Ah, well, let's hope Yoji gets something good. Until then, want some breakfast? I'll buy."
"Ha~ai!"
+++++
"Ne, Sakura-chan," Aya took a careful lick of her vanilla-flavored ice cream. "What did you get for oniisan's birthday?"
"Ehh?" Sakura tilted her head towards the older girl. She then broke into a wide grin and placed a finger over her pink lips. "Sore wa…himitsu desu!"
"Mou, Sakura-chan! Hidoi!" Aya pouted. "Can't you give a little hint?"
"Iie," Sakura shook her hand firmly. "You'll find out soon enough, though. But, enough about me. What did YOU get?"
"A sweater," the older girl replied, as the two continued their strolling in the park. "Knitted by yours truly!"
"Sugoi! I didn't know you know how to knit."
"I just started learning so I don't think the sweater looks the best," Aya smiled sheepishly.
"I'm sure Ran-san will love it, since it came from you. Someday, I'm going to ask you to teach me."
"So you can make him one, too, ne?" Aya winked.
"Mou!" Sakura blushed a pale red color, while the older girl giggled endlessly. The younger one became thoughtful suddenly. "Ne, Aya? What do you think of Yoji?"
"Ehh?" Aya blinked. "You're not going after Yoji-kun, are you? I thought you liked oniisan."
"I do! But…well, this is just a hunch so don't take me seriously. But, I have a feeling that Yoji-san might like Ran-san."
"Of course he does! They're friends!"
"No, no! I don't mean 'like' as friends…I meant it as…"
"Nani?" Aya licked the drops of ice cream from her finger. "You meant as in 'love'? Mou, I don't think Yoji-kun likes oniisan in that kind of way. Everyone knows he's strictly a ladies' man."
The young brunette shrugged lightly. "Like I said, it was just a hunch."
"Why would you think that anyway?"
"I don't know…"
[July 1, early afternoon]
The bell on the door chimed sweetly, signaling the entrance of someone. Ken turned around and was about to welcome the customer before seeing that it was the redhead.
"Ran! You're here!" Ken beamed and took off his apron. The redhead nodded back at him, in response. "Well, I'm off. I'll be back during closing time. Ja!" With a final wave, the soccer player ran off.
"He sure was in a hurry," Yoji came back in from his cigarette break and watched the brunette run down the block with a slight amusement. He broke into a laugh when the younger boy had nearly tripped over his own feet.
"I think he had soccer practice with the kids," Omi said, as he tended to the flowers. "Ne, Yoji-kun? Help me get a pot, will ya?"
"Sure thing, kiddo." The blond sauntered towards the backroom, and mumbled a 'hello' to the redhead as he was passing by. The redhead simply nodded back in acknowledgement.
"Good afternoon, everyone!" a cheery nasal voice announced as the shop's door was slammed open. "Everyone's most loveable and most favorite guy is here. Let's not all jump him at once now."
Omi let out a frustrated groan. "Sometimes, you're even worse than Yoji-kun."
"I am very hurt that you compared me to that man," the German pouted playfully. He then strolled over towards the silent redhead and planted a big one on the latter's cheek. "Hey, Red! How ya doing?"
"Something tells me you want something," Ran fixed the German a look, while his hand went to wipe at the wet cheek.
"Ack! Busted! But honestly, though, I don't need anything. Just saying 'hello' to my bestest buddy!"
"Don't believe a word he says, Ran-kun," a soft voice came from behind them. "He probably just wants money."
"Nagi! How can you say such a thing??" the German redhead placed a hand above his heart. "I'm wounded!" Suddenly, his head snapped to the left. Omi and Ran both turned and looked at him, while Nagi was trying to suppress his giggles.
Growling, the German proceeded to chase the teenager outside, cursing in German the entire while.
+++++
Yoji could hear all the commotion outside. Schuldich and Nagi were here, it seems. Yes, those two had been their rivals a couple of months back but now, they were friends.
After their last fight in the Estet building, Schwarz have been missing. Everyone had assumed they were dead, until they showed up again nearly two months later. When Weiss and Schwarz met head on again, the latter did not want to fight. A truce, they had called.
Ever since then, the two teams worked together when necessarily. Aside from meeting for missions, they also tend to waltzed by the shop every now and then. It wasn't easy for Weiss to trust those four and it took about a month before Schwarz was accepted. But, they weren't as bad as they were viewed to be many months ago.
Yoji stood and stretched, before picking up the forgotten pot and headed back outside.
[July 1, night]
He rammed the blade deep into the nameless man's guts, twisting it slightly, before pulling it back out. The man dropped into an unconscious heap before him, having a second or so to spat out a commonly used profanity before his fall.
Suddenly, he felt pain sear up his leg like fire. Amethyst eyes fell towards the wound located right below the knee.
He'd been shot. Strange how he didn't even noticed it.
"Yo, let's go," Yoji broke through his thoughts. The redhead looked up at the blond, as the latter's face broke into shock. "Shit, what the hell happened?!"
"I don't know," Ran shrugged.
"What do you mean you don't know? You ran around with a bullet in your leg and you didn't feel it?!"
The redhead didn't answer.
"Come on, we'll patch it up back at the apartment."
+++++
"Oniisan, you should really be careful from now on," Aya scolded as she tied the knot on the cloth tightly. "There! All done!"
"Arigato," Ran smiled slightly at his sister. He had told her how he had earned the money during the time when she was comatose. Truthfully, he was expecting the young girl to stare at him in disgust then turn away and walk out of his life forever. Surely, he was not expecting her to be entirely understanding. But she was and Ran was grateful for that.
"Hey, what about me?" Yoji pouted playfully, as he pointed at the black and blue bruise on his left cheek. "Will no one tend to this old man? He's very hurt."
"Oh, shut it," Ken rolled his eyes and he dabbed at the bruise with a wet cotton ball, causing a yelp from the other at the sudden pain.
"Try to be a bit more gentle, ne, Kenken?" Yoji winced at the pain. "Yoji is a very fragile person."
"Ri~ght," Ken rolled his eyes once again while Omi hid his laughter behind a white pillow.
[Ende]
Ending Commentary: I do believe this was the crappiest thing I've written thus far. ~.~;;; For future references, I will skip around with the dates so don't expect Chapter II to be July 2nd. ^.^
