The Birthday Gift

[Chapter III]

By: Raiha-chan

Warnings: Shounen ai, may be a bit OOC in some areas.

Pairings: RanxYoji, hints of SchuxRan, NagixOmi.

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. ~.~;;

// denotes thoughts.

% denotes mental communication.


[July 4, mid-afternoon]

Yoji knocked on the door again, for what seemed to be the tenth time. No one seemed to be coming to open the door anytime soon. Noticing that the door wasn't lock, the blond let himself inside quietly.

There was a figure on the bed, covered completely by the white linen comforter. Yoji blinked when he saw that the lump was too big to be one person.

//Unless Ran suddenly grew fat without us noticing…// Yoji thought. Stepping closer to the bed, the blond realized there was not one, but two, people sleeping on the bed.

%Kudou%

Yoji jumped slightly as a pair of jade orbs peered at him over the hem of the comforter.

%What the fuck are YOU doing HERE?!%

%H~o, cool down a bit, Kudou. We're just sleeping. And if you must know, we're not naked nor did we bed each other.%

Yoji managed not to laugh at that.

%Why don't you people EVER believe a word I say?%

%Because you're an unbelievable person.%

%Haha, very funny.%

%Odd, I didn't meant that to be funny.%

%Fuck off, Kudou. Back to what I was saying. I may like Ran as something more than a friend but I'm better than to mess with my buddy's object of lust.%

The blond blinked.

%You don't believe me!% Schuldich gave a mental sigh.

%Was I supposed to?%

%No, but that's beside the point! Oh, don't look but I have reasons to believe our kitten here has awoken. He seems grouchy, too…%

%He's always grouchy.%

%True%

"Good afternoon, Ran," Schuldich switched back to normal speaking mode. "We have company."

The redhead pulled the comforter down slightly and looked at the blond standing at the foot of the bed. "What is it?"

"Ken asked if you wanted food," Yoji replied.

"No," came the response, followed by a small growl.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," the blond ignored the answer Ran had given him and retreated from the room.

"I think I should go home now," Schuldich stood and stretched lazily. "There's a mess I need to clean up. Although, I wouldn't be too surprised to find the place sparkling clean by the time I get back. Your sister does that sometimes."

"It's called being tidy. You should learned that sometimes, too."

"Very funny."

"I wasn't punching for anything funny."

"God, sometimes you are so like Kudou."


[July 4, night]

Grabbing the green blazer from the passenger seat, Ran stepped out of his Porsche and headed towards the building. Schuldich called about an hour ago saying that he left his jacket in Ran's room, and had asked the latter to bring it over to his house. With nothing better to do and no one at his own home, Ran set off for Schwarz's penthouse.

He rang the doorbell and heard it echo inside. When no one answered, he rang it again. He was about to leave after the third try when the door suddenly creaked open. Ran stared at the small opening, at the darkness inside.

He rolled his eyes. //I'll be damned if that guy rented another scary movie again.//

Placing a pale hand on the smooth surface of the door, Ran pushed it open and walked inside, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dark.

//Why on Earth is the place so dark?// Ran's train of thoughts was halted when the lights suddenly opened and his friends jumped at him.

"Surprise!"

Ran blinked.

"Happy birthday, Red!" Schuldich waltzed over to the stunned redhead. He took his jacket from the younger redhead. "Thanks for bringing this over by the way. We didn't really think it would be a good enough excuse to get you over. But Mr. Crawford here had other thoughts."

"It's so nice to see into the future sometimes," Brad pushed his glasses up.

"…" Ran looked around the room. Everyone was there -- Ken, Omi, Nagi, Yoji, Sakura, his imouto, even that insane Irishman.

"Don't just stand there!" Ken scolded.

"First things first, let's open some gifts!" Schuldich rubbed his hands together gleefully. He then pulled the silent redhead towards the center of the room, where a bunch of nicely wrapped gifts laid, waiting to be open.

"This one is from me," the German shoved a shoebox-sized box into the birthday boy's hands.

"Why is it wrapped in Christmas wrappings?" Aya sweatdropped.

"'Cause I couldn't find anything else."

"You could have just went out to buy some wrapping paper."

"Too lazy. Now, shut it."

Ran peeled the cheerful wrappings away at a steady pace. Opening the lid of the box, he pulled out a teddy bear, holding a small balloon in one hand that read 'happy birthday'.

"…Cute," Ran blinked. "And I would like this because…?"

"Oh, shut up."

"Here's mine! I made it myself so I hope you like it!" Aya beamed at her older brother.

"He'd like anything coming from you," Schuldich mumbled, while Ran gave him a look. The redhead opened the second gift with a slight haste and pulled out a black turtleneck sweater. On the collar was a word.

'Ran'.

"He's not like Yoji-kun, Aya-chan," Omi giggled. "He doesn't put his own name on his clothing, like Yoji-kun did with his…mmpfrhh!!" The rest of the sentence was silenced by Yoji's palm over Omi's mouth.

"Next present!" Ken pulled out a small, rectangular-shaped box. "It's a watch."

"You got him a watch?" Schuldich rose an eyebrow.

"Shut up."

"Here's mine," Farfarello pushed a sloppily wrapped box into the redhead's hands.

"Yeah, Farfie got you a present, too," Schuldich said, as a brief look of surprise crossed Ran's face. "Wonder what he got you."

It was a dagger.

"Well, go figure," Brad commented.

"That was one of my favorite ones, too," Farfarello smiled rather evilly. "I polish it every day and night. You must take good care of it."

"I thought he gets sane after you put him on his medication," Ken said.

"He is," Nagi looked at the brunette. "This is how he acts when he's on his medication. Don't you think it's better than when he was off the medication?"

"Yeah…whatever."

"Anyway, here's mine and Omi's," Nagi placed a box on top of the coffee table. The two youngest boys had gotten the redhead a poetry book.

"I'm beginning to think they are the only ones in here who got Red useful gifts," Schuldich said. "By the way, Bradley got you one, too."

"Here," Brad tossed a manila folder at the redhead. Opening it, Ran took out a few sheets of paper. Schuldich looked at it over Ran's shoulder and promptly fell down laughing.

"Figures you'd get him something like that."

"I don't get people presents. I don't do birthdays, period."

"True…"

"What is it?" Sakura asked, with a slight interest.

"Stocks," Ran replied with a dull tone. "Tell me there's no more."

"Here's mine," Yoji placed a small velvet bag onto the table. Looking at it with true interest, Ran picked the bag up and pulled the knot apart. Reaching inside, he grasped something smooth and pulled it out.

It was the choker that Yoji had been working on earlier but now, it's been decorated with a rose pendant. The ruby etched in the pendant gleam brightly.

"Thanks," Ran managed a small smile at the older man, a true smile.

"And don't forget Sakura-chan's present!" Aya reminded. Sakura, who had remained hidden behind the couch for most part of the gift-giving process, now stood and walked over to the redhead. She held out a hand, palm facing up.

Ran blinked up at her. She had a red bowstring tied neatly around her neck. The string's ends draped around her shoulders, falling back behind her.

"My present for Ran-san is…" Sakura blushed slightly. "…myself."

[Ende]