Authors Note: Well, I'm officially making this story a 'general'. It was suppose to be just humor, with a hint of shounen-ai, but it's becoming kindof angsty. I'll make it lighter in the next chapters hopefully. I know this took a while, but with the end of school, (busy) and then I got into kindof a not-wanting-to-do-anything kind of mood…. Then I had vacation. I found time to write then. ^_^ Perhaps it turned out angsty because I just finished The Last Herald-Mage trilogy by Mercedes Lackey. I suggest to anyone to read that series. (Especially shounen-ai/yaoi fans) Alright. Enough Rambling. ~UP
"Well, I'm done." Yohji said as he flopped on his bed. They had put the kittens in Yohji's room because Ken's was too messy.
"For a few hours, anyway." Ken said, smiling as he put the last kitten back in the box. He knew what Yohji's reaction to that would be.
"What?!" Yohji sat up quickly with a look of shock on his face.
"They gotta be fed every three to four hours, ya know. That's what the vet said. Normally they'd just feed off the mother whenever they get hungry."
Yohji sighed and let his upper body land back on his mattress with a quiet thump. "Well, you can play mother cat, Kenken. I'll just be the tom cat that takes no part in the upbringing." The comment was meant to be a joke, but it took Ken by surprise. He fell silent, staring into the box which contained the kittens.
The playboy found the silence coming from Ken more than a little unnerving, so he sat up again to find out what was bothering his friend. "What is it, Ken?" The brunette appeared to be in some sort of a trance. Yohji relaxed a bit after remembering that they all went into a trance like this every now and then. Usually when they were reliving past memories, friends, or lovers.
He didn't think Ken had many lovers; in fact, he could only think of two people Ken was close to. Yuriko, but she had moved to Australia, and Ken hadn't gotten terribly serious with her. Then there was Kase. Ken had talked to Yohji a little bit about Kase, and he was sure he wasn't a lover. They had been close friends - almost like brothers. Kase's betrayal must have been like a sword being stabbed in Ken's gut, and twisted.
Yohji continued wondering what Ken was thinking about so deeply, when he remembered an earlier conversation.
~~~~~
"They'll kill them. I won't do it." Ken matched Aya's death glare with one of his
own. Yohji had to admit, Ken had a pretty convincing glare. But it was the brunette who backed down first. He looked down at the kittens, avoiding Aya's icy
stare.
"Aya, let me do this. I know what it's like to be neglected, all too well. And I know they're only kittens, and really don't take precedence over anything,
b-but…" Ken struggled with the words. He felt his eyes water up. He shut them, refusing to let any tears flow.
~~~~~
Wait a second, Neglect? The blonde looked over at his friend, who seemed to have come out of his trance, and seemed to be trying to remember who's room he was in and why.
"I-I guess I'd better get back... Is it okay if I leave them in here? I'll set an alarm in my room so I don't wake-"
"Ken," Yohji interrupted. "Why don't you just pester Omi into letting you borrow his sleeping bag and just sleep in here? That way you won't have to go from your room to mine every three hours. We could even just stay up all night. It'll be like a sleep-over. C'mon. It'll be fun."
"Really?" Ken's face brightened at Yohji's friendly-ness. "All right, I'll just go get-"
"If, that is, you will talk to me about something." Yohji said.
"Sure! I'll be right back." Ken hopped up and left the room. He had no idea it was him that Yohji wanted to talk about. Ken was sometimes the therapist of the four. He would be someone everyone could come to talk to - even Aya on occasion. Often times, he would be the vent for Yohji when he needed to blow some steam. Not physically, but just with the words. He thought of it as a way he helped everyone stay sane.
So of course, he figured this time was no different. He actually thought Yohji wanted some advice on another of his "woman problems".
He reached Omi's door, and lightly knocked. When he didn't get an answer, he quietly opened the door and stepped inside. He glanced at the clock; it was a lot later than he had expected. I'm sure Omi won't mind. He stole a glance at the young assassin. He looks so innocent, he thought and quietly went to the closet and opened it up. He grabbed the dark blue roll of cloth and sneaked back out of the room, thanking the gods that his clumsy-ness didn't kick in. He really didn't want to wake Omi up. The poor kid had school in the morning.
On the way back up the stairs, however, he tripped three times. Grrrrrr.... he thought angrily.
Once he made it back to Yohji's room, he felt better. He unrolled the sleeping bag and stretched out on it. "All right, what did you want to talk about? Didja make someone cry? Feeling guilty about two-timing someone?" Ken said the latter bit with a grin, knowing the playboy would not feel guilty about something like that.
"No, actually I want to talk about you."
That took Ken by surprise. "What?"
"You went into one of our little 'Trances' a little bit ago. What were you thinking about?"
Ken thought Yohji was crazy. He wants to talk about me? My problems? Nobody's ever asked about me.... It must be a joke, he thought. But when he glanced at Yohji, he saw concern in the blonde's eyes. That shocked him more than anything. He decided to try it.
"I-I was thinking about my parents." He dropped his gaze to the floor. "my mom hadn't wanted to have a kid, I was an accident, and she make sure I knew that. By the time I was ten, I had to go out and buy myself food if I wanted to eat."
"Where'd you get the money?" Yohji asked, surprised at how easily Ken opened up.
"Little things. I collected pop cans and turned them in, did little jobs for neighbors, borrow money from my friends... Anyway, after I got on the J-league, it was no problem. I don't even know if my mother knows where I went. I just left one day, when I was 14..." Ken trailed off, deep in thought.
"Where was your father?" Yohji asked, his voice quiet. He wasn't sure he would get an answer, but he was pretty sure what it would be.
Ken snorted. "Hell if I know. He was just he sperm donator. As soon as he found out she was pregnant, he ran off. Guess that's why she didn't want me." Ken paused. "Sometimes I wonder why she didn't get rid of me. An abortion or something... you hear of people killing their kids after their born-"
"Ken! Don't think like that!"
"If she didn't want me so bad, why-" The brunette choked on a sob.
Ken had been there for Yohji after that meeting with Auska, whether it was Auska or not, so he figured turns about fair play. He got up off of the bed and pulled Ken into an embrace. That's when Ken broke. He let it all go, and Yohji felt the need for a dry shirt. To his supurise, Ken fell asleep in his arms. Yohji carefully laid him down and set his alarm to go off in three hours. He climbed back into his bed, and fell asleep.
