Beautiful Alone
By: Raiha-chan
Warning: Shounen ai, death and kind of semi-AU.
Pairing: I'll let you guess for now. Shouldn't be too hard. ^-^
Teaser: Two separated souls must now find ways to return to one another.
Spoilers: None for now.
Disclaimers: Weiß Kreuz and all its characters belong to Koyasu Takehito and Project Weiß. "Beautiful Alone", the first ED song, does not belong to me either. Do not sue me for I have nothing. Sad, really.
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--- Chapter One ---
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"To every life, there's always an end,
But I close my eyes, I still see your face; beautiful...
And I throw a rose as they now lower you down
But I still believe I'll see you again
I wait for the day that I can once more hold you tight
Until then, I can't cry this pain away
Until then, memories are all I have..."
I've always wondered what it takes to love someone. Take my great-grandfather for example. From the stories that grandma always tells me, he once fell in love with someone. But in the end, he ended up letting that person go anyway.
Grandma always said that if you truly love someone, all you would ever want for them is to be happy. Just because you love them, it doesn't mean you have to be with them. And I guess that makes sense, in a way.
So what happened with my great-grandfather? He married my great-grandmother, of course. Grandma used to say that her parents hardly had anything in common and never speaks to each other much, nor were they ever in the same room at the same time. But she knows that deep down inside, they cared for one another.
Grandma used to show me pictures of my great-grandfather. She always mentioned how much I resembled him. I never really believed her until I saw a picture of him. Of course, in terms of personality, we're two completely different people. Grandma said her father was more of a cold, anti-social "jerk" (yes, Grandma did call her own father a jerk), and she said he was rather manipulative, too. I, on the other hand, am your average overactive teenage boy.
…Okay, so maybe overactive isn't the best term to describe me but whatever!
Hmm? It seems like I've been talking so much about my great-grandfather that I neglected to talk about myself.
My name is Brad Crawford II. I was named after my great-grandfather, though I never understand why my parents must add the II. It feels like those kings from the Middle Ages (or somewhere around there…hey, I never said history was my strong point) who all have the same names. Like Louis V, Louis XIV, Louis the…you get the point.
Anyway, back to me. I'm a 17 year old Japanese-American, who's been born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. My dad is American, and my mom is Japanese. I never met my grandfather, because as far as I know, I never had one. I guess it explains why grandma continued using her father's surname, rather than her husband's, as most women usually do after they got married.
I currently attend Tokyo High School as a 2nd year student[1]. You could say I'm a pretty friendly guy. I make friends easily and with just about anyone. But then, I also tend to make enemies even easier.
My best friend in the whole world is the girl who lives right next door to me. We've known each other since we were literally babies, and grew up together. Her name was Hanemura Akiko. Aki (as I like to call her) is a really nice girl, but she can be a big bully sometimes, too. When we were kids, we would always get into various kinds of mischief together.
I guess, in a nutshell, I'm just your typical adolescent who leads a somewhat boring but okay life. Eh? You're still here. Ah, I have nothing more to say…
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"BRAD!" That's my mean, older sister, Maki. I could hear her footsteps as she all but ran up the stairs and threw my door open. I gave her a leveled glare. That woman always finds something to scream at me for. I wonder what it is now…
"I spent literally a YEAR tutoring your dumb ass on math and you give me THIS?!" Maki waved a piece of paper around. I reached over and snatched the paper from her hands, giving it a good look-over.
…Ah, yes. My math test. The one where I got a…does the grade really matter to you?
"I never claimed to be smart," I replied, shrugging nonchalantly.
"I spent every waking moment helping you with your math problems! I even cancelled DATES to help you!"
"Great God, Maki! It's only ONE lousy test! Stop acting like it's the end of the world."
"That's 'onee-chan' for you!" Maki glared, as she knocked me a good one. I pouted up at her, rubbing my sore head with one hand. You can't exactly say my sister doesn't have a soft spot for cute puppy faces.
Of course, I'm a master at them.
"You better get a damn higher grade than that on your next test!" was all she said before she stomped back out. Score one for the little brother!
"Oh, by the way," Maki poked her head back in, smiling smugly. "Grandma wants to know how you're doing in your classes. I left you the honor of answering her yourself."
My jaw hit the floor as the black-haired woman finally left, cackling like a maniac. Did I mention my Grandma has this thing for utter perfection? Last time I got a 90 and she still kicked my ass!
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If my great-grandfather wasn't dead, I'd blame everything on him. But since he is, it's rude to do that to a dead person. From what I've been told, he was a perfectionist, too. No doubt, he raised grandma the same way.
And now Grandma is trying to raise me the same way.
I wonder what I did to deserve this?
"Are you listening, Brad?" Grandma asked, sternly. I snapped my attention back to her and nodded. "Then what did I just say?"
"Uh…" I racked my brain for a good answer but before I could utter even one word, there was a knock on the door. Save!
"Who is it?" my grandmother gave me a look that clearly said that we will continue with this later. I swallowed audibly at her rather scary look.
"Ms. Crawford, the Yoshida's are here," the maid said. Grandma nodded once, stood and left the room, after giving me yet another look. I left shortly as well, heading into the opposite direction.
There are things I must do before my Grandma finds me again.
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"Brad, come here for a moment."
Damn! I was hoping that Grandma wouldn't catch me in the hall. Why does an old woman like her manage to salvage so much of her sense of hearing and sight anyway?
"Yes, Grandma?" I poked my head into the room hesitantly. Grandma was sitting around a squared table with three other guests -- the Yoshida's most probably.
"Sit down," my grandmother ordered silently. I obeyed and sat down next to her. I studied the guests sitting in front of me. There was a black-haired boy sitting between one woman and one man.
"Allow me to introduce you all," Grandma said as soon as I was seated. "This is my grandson, Brad. Brad, this is Mr. and Mrs. Yoshida, with their son Hikaru."
"Nice to meet you," I smiled slightly.
"Oh, what a darling boy you are!" Mrs. Yoshida nodded back. "So polite." Mr. Yoshida nodded at me without a word. I looked at the other boy, Hikaru. He stared right back at me, then finally, he turned his eyes away.
What a rude person.
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Great God, how boring can the conversation be?? I swear, God must be up there somewhere laughing at me. And as an added bonus, that guy keeps looking at me weirdly. I almost snapped at him one time but suddenly remembered that Grandma was in the room as well, so I kept quiet.
So when the guests finally decided to leave, I was nearly jumping for joy. Of course, Grandma just had to invite them to stay for dinner. Which, of course, the Yoshida's just had to accept.
Wonderful. More staring.
Though, for some strange reason, I feel as if I've seen the guy somewhere before. I can't seem to figure out why but I know I've met this person before. I just…know.
He had the strangest eye color I've ever seen on a Japanese-born male. They were the color of amethysts. It stood out against the long black hair that frames his pale face. They made him somewhat…attractive, yet mysterious at the same time.
He turned and looked at me again. He tilted his head to a side quizzically. I suddenly felt my face grow hot, though I can't for the life of me know why, and immediately turn the other way.
The wrong way.
I took a step backwards, out of instinct alone, as my Grandma gave me a look. Again. But this time, it was a different look. Grandma looked almost…confused? And maybe it was just me but was that…fear?
Next thing I know, Grandma was chatting away as if nothing has happened and the boy has also disappeared from the room.
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--- End Chapter One ---
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[1] I'm not exactly very sure how the school system works in Japan. So I'm assuming that your average 17-year-old would be in the second year of high school. Correct me on this if I'm wrong. ^^;
On another note, I must say now that I will be switching the time frames a lot. If it gets confusing, sorry. ^^;; And of course, feedback is always welcome! =)