Love Is Life
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Project Weiß. The fanfiction belongs to me! XD
Warning: Yaoi, AU. Please do not proceed if this offends you!
Plot Cockroach: Oh, yeah! I've been busy for these few days, and simply dropped out of the face of the earth for a while, but hey, at least I've gravitated back in orbit! Anyways, I have a story to write now! Incredible, the way things fall in place like that… you know; I never expected it. And as for the flowers, I hunted everywhere for the meaning of flowers. I know I sound desperately stupid, but… Maaaaaa! Don't be mean! Everyone wants to know the message sent to them, especially if there wasn't any attached on the bouquet, other than… you know! So, I'll try to narrate on this, Ken-style. Thanks for your comments! I know where I stand now, and how I could keep him in character!
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Two: Evanescent Blooms
It was Friday. So, what's so great about Friday, you ask? Well, it just happens that this was a Friday about a day after a week since I'd last seen… Mr. Ran. You know, my past date. It's weird, really. I mean; he wasn't even a one-night stand, and I think I've gone bonkers over him. I know, I sure sounded strangely angst-y over it that night, but heck, no one could really brush off a man like Ran, after all.
He hadn't even called.
But then, hey, that isn't new. I'm plain, just plain old Ken, if you please. And then, he was, like I mentioned before, not even a one-night stand. We didn't even have sex. Nope, we just kissed. And it wasn't even that hot, searing kiss I've read in fanfiction, seen in a lot of Yaoi doujinshi; neither was it like that passionate ones I shared with my ex-love-of-Ken's-life.
But that was a week or so ago. I think I got over the angst bit, too. And that's why I sound normal today. Yes, that's right. I got over it. Ken's a big boy now, he doesn't have to go weepy over any angst, like he sometimes does when he reads those addictive death fictions. Nope, he sure wasn't! He spent his time in the kitchen, cranking up crackers, cookies, candies and cakes to be jarred and stored up to fatten any unlucky kid who happened to pass by. Besides, he also spent his time moaning over his fate that disabled him from watching the premier movie of the Lord Of The Rings. Darn. And I planned it so well, too! In fact, I planned it way back a few months ago, and then, I'm deprived of movie-mania.
Right, so I had the right to sulk. No, the cookies turned out fine. I made bunny rabbit crackers, too. Nagi came over as a spy sent by his brother, but I guessed that a few of them could clam his mouth shut. He was so happy over it that he mumbled something that vaguely sounded like 'Kumagoro' with bunny rabbit cracker chunks sticking in between his teeth.
I never knew Nagi had an obsession over rabbits.
Looks like I'd have to scratch my plans to invite him over for some rabbit stew next week. He might just barge in heading the "Bunny Rabbit Protectors Anonymous" mob and smash my house to bits. Then, they'd picket in my garden and set up camps over my newly planted bulbs. That's Nagi for you. He's an extremist when it comes to defending something he loves. Take, for example, his guitar. Schuldig had threatened to dispose of it, because of the entire racket his little brother had caused. Um, okay, so actually, what he said sounded more like "Hurl away that damned stringed piece of junk and get us all some peace", but l prefer to say things in simple English. That's me. Simple.
No, I don't think Schuldig would say things in simple English. He always seems to Germanize things. Some time ago, Schuldig met a guy who was repairing his car in the middle of nowhere. The guy asked if he could help him, and my ex-Schuldig said, "Yah!" Of course, it sounded a lot like an attacking "Yah!", it being a "yeah" Germanized into "Yah!" That poor guy thought that the flamboyant ex of mine was staging an attack on him, and he… poked Schuldig in the stomach, in self-defense. He came home, and told his ma about his plight. His ma told my ma about it, and my ma told everyone about it. That's how I came to know about it. Of course, he wouldn't mind me telling you about it. I mean; he did try to stick me up with Ran.
Ran.
Oh, yeah, Ran. I guess I must have sidetracked, again. Back to Ran, now. You know, Ran's a great guy. That's really so much for saying! Our little peck was a week ago, and already I'm acting like I had jumped into bed with him and didn't get enough. Especially when I got those flowers. They were beautiful. Magnificent. Actually, I don't know how to describe them. I was never one for words, anyway. I liked things simple. So, let's just settle for beautiful. The printed text on the card was beautiful, too. I goggled at it for a moment, and I think I nearly fainted.
Ran had asked me out!
RAN HAD ASKED ME OUT!
Actually, it seemed more like ordered me out. It was stated briefly there: "To Ken. Get ready to go out on Saturday, 5 sharp. –Ran's number- if you can't make it."
Well, I guess that was it. I didn't want to dance, but evidently fate wanted me to… it wanted me to dance, yes, dance with Ran. It wanted me to plant my feet, step by step, to the rhythm in which our hearts beat to. It wanted me to fling myself dramatically into his arms, declaiming poetry in a not-so-simple way. Then, I'd melt into his muscular arms, trembling with anticipation, under the starlit sky. I'd close my eyes, breathlessly waiting… and he'd lean in, and bite my neck ---
Blargh!
That's it. No more Christopher Lee for me. Anyway, at that point when the initial shock wore off, I was aware enough to observe the flowers. They were beautiful. There were white lilies, bunched around with strands of flowering almonds and alternately with white roses, and then there was an array of clovers and fern. Clovers are my favorite. Unfortunately, I didn't spot a single four-petal one. And yet, it was still somehow my lucky day! But I was sure that there was a message encrypted in the bouquet. Therefore, I did what every simple-minded boy would do – hunt for answers. Of course, at one point, I knew some of the language, what with my aunt rattling it into my puny little head. But it wasn't enough. I tried books, but that didn't help much. And so I sought the Internet. There you are! Flower Language.
Lilies, white – Purity and sweetness.
Flowering Almonds – Hope.
Roses, white – "I am worthy of you".
Clover – "Be mine".
Fern – Fascination.
That spelt out a very flattering message, well, for a very simple guy like me. It went all the way to squash that normality I've been so accustomed to all this while. I must have gone really white, because Nagi happened to walk by to the door that morning, intent to spy for his wicked brother, and he said to me, "Ken, you look really white." And so I knew that I had gone really white.
"Ah…" I had said. Nagi looked at me.
"Message from the flowers?" he asked. "Let's see… the lilies… almonds… clovers, fern… roses, those white ribbons…. 'You're pure and sweet. I'm fascinated with you, and as I'm worthy of you, I hope that you'll be mine.'" My jaw dropped. I had evidently wasted so much time on searching when all I had to do was to ask Nagi, the bunny biscuit eater. "From a guy?"
"No other gender but that," my jaw snapped shut to its normal place. Managed a stupid smile too. I think he bought it, though. He smiled back, Nagi style.
"Anybody I know?"
"Hmm. Maybe," I couldn't lie to Nagi. After all he'd done for me? No way!
"Is it Ran?"
"Ah… Um… Err…" I shuffled. "Well…" So much for simplicity! "Look, I'll give you some cookies!"
"Cookies?"
"Uh, huh!" I dragged him to the kitchen. It was warm there, just the way a normal boy next door would love. I decided to show him the bunny cookies first. His eyes literally went round.
"Rabbits?"
"Yes, rabbits. Now have some. I need to prepare myself for some trouble tomorrow."
Nagi complied rather willingly. Soon, he was silently… or more so crunching loudly on the biscuits, with one eye trained on me, what with me being busy arranging the flowers in the large vase I got as a present two years ago. I glanced up, irritated, only to catch a knowing look on his adorable little Nagi face.
"What?"
"Nothing. You've got that look on your face, na-no-da." He held up the rabbit head he hadn't eaten yet and waggled it in a way that seemed relatively like a nod. I guess I had had to bury the urge to pierce through his heart with my cold frozen eyes.
"Oh, really? What does it look like, Dr. Love?" I asked in my most cutting voice. Uh, well, maybe it didn't sound too cutting, but it was certainly my most cutting voice. Nagi didn't seem to notice it, though. His tone was placid even as he spoke, playing with the half eaten bunny head.
"You're love-struck."
"Uh, huh."
"Schu told me," he grinned uncharacteristically and shook his head. "He said that Ran walked you home last week. He also said that he'd bet you guys kissed because Ran came back to his car looking dazed… and red. He didn't think that it was from the cold, and neither do I. Too bad you didn't have mistletoe."
"Nagi, aren't you a little too young for this, na-no-da?" I simply had to pat his cute little head and ruffle his hair. Besides, I wanted to tease him, feeling rather awestruck at that moment. Picking up a rather ugly and ancient Mickey Mouse, I made his head nod. "Kumagoro thinks so too." I think I sounded sagely enough. Nagi gave me The Eye.
"That's not Kumagoro, and no, I'm old enough. I'm almost sixteen."
"Okay, as you say so, little Nagi-kins," with one last pat, I strode away. Tomorrow would be a really busy day!
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It was a great Saturday. The theaters were packed, and I wondered if we could get any seats at all. But of course Ran would've already booked them! He's an organized person, isn't he? I waited for him, glancing around at the people flocking round the area. There were boys, girls, women, children, men and couples. You know, just take this from me – looking at people is a great way to waste time. To save yourself from a spot of trouble, just grin at them if they notice you staring. With luck, the person you grinned at wouldn't be a thug or a sex-deprived rouge.
At five sharp, there was Ran, walking swiftly up the steps in a very composed manner. I guess I couldn't help but to grin, seeing a large bouquet of flowers in his hands as he came up. Peach colored roses. Wow. I mean, wow. One bouquet was already great, but two? Wow. That's enough to describe it. I wasn't empty handed either. I'd gotten him something too – no, I'm not telling you what!
"Do you still remember the number?" he suddenly asked after the brief hellos and gifts were exchanged.
"Uh?" I had sounded stupid, I suppose. "What number?"
"Well, that's fine," he smiled momentarily before moving towards the booth. I followed him, since there wasn't anything else to do but to follow him there. Simplicity. We glanced at the girl in the ticket booth when we got to the front. Quickly, he gave a number for reserved seats and moved off with the tickets. They were already paid for too. Amazing. But Ran hadn't even batted an eyelash. I guess he'd planned for everything, then.
We got in and watched that LOTR movie I'd had wanted to watch since months ago… till I finally did. To tell you the truth, I wasn't all too happy about this particular filming of the second part of the trilogy. I mean, I was a great fan of the book series, but hey, that movie was fine as a movie, for moviegoers who cared nothing for LOTR book-wise. The courageous producer had to make Elrond so bitchily manipulative I wanted to hurl in the middle of the movie, eat pop-corn non-stop and yell holy heck at nobody at particular. Then, they had to make fun of Gimli. Or at least, Legolas had to. Hey, weren't those guys great pals and all? It didn't make sense. He didn't even notice how sexy Gimli was in his too-long corselet. And then, as the last straw, they had to kill Haldir.
They had to KILL HALDIR.
Haldir. They killed Haldir.
Kill Haldir, they did.
I spent the entire movie griping to Ran about this and that. Ran, being the gentleman he is, had listened and nodded gravely. Apparently he had read the books too. Now, I had a supporter. I then decided to enjoy the movie as much as I could. At least I liked the Gollum part. I'd always liked Gollum. He was such a cutie. Reminded me plenty of Nagi. And then, the movie ended.
You know, maybe we should've had dinner instead of a movie.
We got out of the theater chatting as other couples would… we're a couple? Not really. I mean, as a plain guy, I would see that we weren't a couple yet. No, forget the roses. Ran's a great guy. He'd buy roses for any other guy he goes out with. Name me one guy who wouldn't. Oh, okay. So that was his way, anyway. We started to walk out to our opposite directions. I was taking a bus home. But the great gentleman Ran had to stop me, once again. Not that I didn't appreciate it. But I'm a simple guy; see? I'm not used to being treated like a lady.
"Would you like a lift home?"
"…Hmm… You going anywhere else, or live, you know, way out of my way?"
"No."
"Okay, then. Thanks," I had to hop in with him. Can't say no to a gracious man like Ran. The ride itself was uneventful. Ran busied himself talking to his boss through a phone with earphones and they discussed plenty on work, most of which I knew nuts about. I guess I spent time in the car thinking about his boss. What did he look like… talk like? Briefly some images of a blond in a suit sporting a black hat who spoke English with a heavy Japanese accent in a slightly girlish voice graced through my normal little brain, but let's leave this at that. We finally reached my home. Ran leaned over.
"Thank you for asking me out. I enjoyed it."
"Huh?" I was shocked out of my skin. "I didn't ask you out! I thought you did!" Maybe he was kidding.
Ran was silent for a moment. Then he pulled out a small blue note with lacy handwriting on it and handed it to me. Instantly, I felt myself turn red hot. It was a note, stated in NOT my handwriting, with a very bubbly message, "Hey, Ran! Wanna go on a movie? I'm dying to watch that LOTR one but I saved it for us… Uh, meaning, let's watch it together. As pals. Meet me at 5 sharp tomorrow and here's the number in case I forget: -number-. I've got a bad memory. It's paid for, so no worries! Tell me if you can't make it! Byes!"
Great. It was entirely believable. Not that I'm THAT bubbly, but it had held my trademark 'no worries' and 'byes' that I usually reserved for little kids, very close friends, and the Internet. And that was certainly not my handwriting. It wasn't that pretty. Take a look at my self-made FFX doujinshi and tell me how believable that handwriting is.
"That's Omi's handwriting!" I felt angry all of a sudden, and slightly disappointed. So, Ran and I were set up again. Set up! It wasn't that he wanted to go out with me – he never even thought about it! We really weren't meant to be, were we? I guess not, since even Ran looked uneasy then. And then, being the Ken I was, I suddenly laughed.
"Unbelievable! We fell for it like little idiots!" I think I nearly cried then, or maybe even did. My eyes hurt and my face felt wet. But I didn't care. I mean, I'm a hotheaded person, with no feelings to hide from anyone. Being happy to the brink of tears was nothing new to the world. I had had to stop, though, and grin at Ran. To my surprise then, he was smiling slightly.
"We sure did."
"Yeah," I had felt utterly stupid. "Hey, thanks anyway. I had a good time. And I'm sorry for Schu and Omi's meddling. I think they meant for the best. It just… you know. Didn't turn out good."
"Then I thank you, too," Ran nodded solemnly. He was such a handsome man. There was simply no other person in the world that could truly hate Ran for who he was. But at the moment, things wouldn't change between us. We were still just friends. I don't regret it. And I believe, neither does he. I undid the belt, and started to get off…
Before he took hold of my shoulder.
And kissed me. It was very much like the first one we shared – chaste, sweet, unlaced with any desire at all. I had never felt so breathless in my entire life. Then, he pulled away and helped ease me out. He handed me the roses. "They're for you."
Ran drove off, and very soon disappeared down the street. Mentally I got over the excitement and decided that I wanted to kill Schuldig and Omi for planning this entire escapade. I looked down at the roses, which are now perched on top of the table even as I'm typing this story down. They were roses – all of which had no single thorn.
Perhaps there was hope that I might dance again, after all.
~*~ End Part Two ~*~
Note: Sorry for the bad writing! (^^;) I'm such an inconsistent fellow, aren't I? As for the comments I got, they were a wonderful break! Thanks one million for them! Oh, maybe there'll be more! Here are the replies to reviewers, posted just for FF.net.:
Minerva Solo So poignant, so birlliant. Damn, guys really are better at this stuff than us fangirls. Write more! I don't care what you write, be it part two of this or a bloody shopping list, I just want to read it! Please?
Thanks for your kind comment! Me appreciates it, na no da! I write well? o_0 Hoo haa ha ha! (Windy's Manager: OI! You're letting it get to his stupid head!) But seriously, we guys don't really think so romantically as girls do. It's a fact. I didn't even know what a girlfriend was till Grade 3!
Mei Woot! This has to have another part, another chapter, or, something. It would be a great start to a Ranken *HINT HINT*. Continue or I'll... I'll... beat you with spork! Yeah, that's it!
...I don't think the threat was necessary. Please consider continuing though ^-^.
Yesh, this has another part, na no da! I really hope that there really WOULD be a RanKen... well, maybe if stuff don't turn out good for me, I'll make things good for Ken, okays? XD *Runs away from spork*
kami-chan (kamibukurosama@hotmail.com) (http://www.mediaminer.org/user_info.php?id=63389)
heyy, Isa recommended this story and I really liked it! And it's written well, you kept Ken in character too. I hope to see this continued soon ^^
happy holidays
Happy holidays too! I see you're archiving in mediaminder, na no da! Thanks, at least we know Ken's in order. The poor other characters aren't too, though. Sad? ;_;
LittleIsa Awww *HUGS* That was kinda sad but a good story! If you have more to add I would love to read it!
Thank you, and thanks for recommending this ficcie! XD I hope to have more to add too!
Rika-chan (fuzzyhugglebunny@cuteandcuddly.com) Ooooh...a real yaoi boy! *pet pet huggle glomp* ^____^ ...Sorry, it's just really rare to find one. Heh...
Ahhh! o_o No, I don't like the ending that much...but I understand. Real life is like that. (-I'm- like that. ) -_- ;;;;
But I really like your tone of writing in this fic -- it's funny and entertaining. ^_^
Anyway, I hope you continue with a second chapter. ^.^
Is it really so rare? o_0 Hmm, well, I know many, because I simply date them. XD It's a vicious cycle, really, it is! Thanks for understanding, and thanks for your nice comment! XD Oh, I like huggles too! They're great!
Chibigreen Tanuki Hmm... Nice story!!! ^___^ It's interesting to read a shounen-ai/yaoi fic written by a guy instead of a fangirl such as myself. And the writing style was nice, too! ^___^ Great job! Peace,
Chibigreen
Peace to earth too! Thanks, but I like to read fangirl stories - they're funnier, and more in character and more romantic, na no da! Boys are shy now. There are many Yaoi-boys! Look harder! XD
Shavica (too lazy to log in) really nice...nicely done, kudos to ya!
Laziness is evil! *Prods with writer's prod* Get up and wriiiiiite!
Nashi that was pretty good, i got so confused in the beginning tho.... oi!
neway, how can neone refuse someone like Ran??? that's just not rite!! neway, write more!! :)
Thanks! The begining is confusing because it's AU and I'm a horrible writer. XD I don't know how anyone could refuse Ran. I didn't, really! Just got scared that there was really a Ran-like person, na no da! But Ken will still like him! 9_9
Teteiyus You have to write the second part soon ! You must !
I really love your fic ^^
See ya !
Okay! Thanks for reviewing! XD And thanks for loving it too, na no da! Hoo haa ha! (Windy's Manager: Argh! How many comments can actually get into one dumb dude's head, anyway?)
siberian (tonoyoshi@plasa.com) aaaa`~~~~!!!!!! very well written, I tell ya!!! I just *love* the way you write ken's pov... really lovely^^! I love your work, oh I do, honest and really! and boy, was I glad to know that there wll be more of this^^!!
write more please^^! oh, you will make ran and ken together right?? right??? is a massive ranken fan here^^;;;*
really can't wait for more of this^^! really, the pov s just very well done^^!
Siberian? So you're the REAL Ken! *Grovels stupidly* Thanks a lot for the fine praise. Me not used to praise, na no da! I'm glad to know there'll be more, too! Yeah, I'll try my best to get Ken with Ran, as well as myself and my date... (^^;) Wish me luck, na no da! Oh, and by the way... Hoo haa ha ha! (Windy's Manager: Auuuuugh! Stop praising him!)