Letters Of Black

By: Atsureki

Disclaimers : Wiess ain't mine!

Warnings : AU, Yaoi, OCC, angst, druguse, blood and stuff.

Notes : Stuff written in Italic are thoughts, the little voice you sometimes hear in your head, letters, lyrics, rhymes.

This is AU so some stuff is a bit diffrent but should still be familier. Pasts have been change to fit the story though.

Chapter 9. Grey Sky

A scream woke up Ken with a start. Rubbing his sleepfilled eyes the brunette looked around. The bedroom was empty and it was quiet again but he was sure he had heard a scream.

"Ran?" he called out and waited for his bodyguard to appear. There was no answer, not a sound. Scared Ken got to his feet and winced in pain. He was terribly sore and stiff due to his rough actions earlier. Growling at his own stupidity the brunette slowly walked out from the bedroom and checked the hall.

Swallowing he approached a form lying on the floor. His hand fumbled over the wall in search for the light-switch. Sighing with relief Ken found it and the place bathed in light. Something crimson was forming a puddle under a pale body. The sight brought back too many horrible memories.

"RAN!" the brunette screamed in fear and rushed over to his bodyguard. The redhead was still alive but the knife that was firmly planted in his side didn't make any promises that he would stay that way.

Shaking like a leaf in a storm Ken pulled Ran's head into his lap. His thoughts were a mess and he didn't know what to do. On a whim he stuck his hand into the right pocket of the redhead's slacks and pulled out his cellphone. Who to call? Think Hidaka! Think! But he wasn't exactly clear enough to think.

Panicking he just pushed a few buttons and managed to redial the last number Ran had called. Impatiently he waited for an answer.

"Moshimoshi, Omi desu," an energetic voice answered.

"OMI!" Ken cried out in relief. "Help me!"

"Who is this?" the small blonde asked in confusion.

"Ran… Help me!"

"Ken-san?"

"Omi help me, please, I think he's dying," Ken sobbed and hugged one of Ran's hands.

"What happened? Who's hurt?" the blonde asked with concern.

"Ran's been stabbed, he's bleeding all over the floor."

"Did you call an ambulance?" Ken gritted his teeth. Why hadn't he thought of that?

"No I…"

"Good! Don't!" Omi interrupted him. "You can't take Ran-kun to the hospital, do you understand me?"

"Why? He's bleeding badly for Christ's sake!" Why the hell was Omi telling him not to take Ran to the hospital? He could hear the blonde talking to someone else.

"Yoji is on his way over, he'll take care of it. Can you stop the bleeding?"

"No the knife… it's… it's still in him," the brunette studdered and tried not to look at all the blood.

"Okay, calm down Ken-san. Don't try to move him and don't touch the knife. It'll be okay. Yoji can handle it," Omi said. "Are you hurt too?"

"Me? No, I was asleep."

"Where is Ran-kun?"

"Just inside the door," Ken answered and looked up. He froze completely when he saw a black envelope that was wedge in the letter slit. "It was him."

"Him who?"

"He told me to get rid of Ran but I…" The brunette hugged Ran's hand tighter. "This is my fault."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A very grumpy looking doctor greeted Ken and Yoji at his house. The lanky blonde carried the bodyguard and had a grim expression on his face. During the ride there neither one of them had said a word.

"Put him on the table over there Balinese," the doctor growled and pulled on a pair of gloves. "He's lost a lot of blood ne?" Ken nodded since he didn't trust his voice. Why was that man calling Yoji Balinese?

"Can you fix him Doc?" Yoji muttered and searched his pockets for a smoke.

"Too early to tell yet. Dammit I thought I had seen the last of you kittens!" The brunette swayed. He was going to pass out if he stayed there. "You better take your friend outside while I take care of Abyssinian here." Nodding the lanky blonde lead Ken outside.

"You okay Ken?" he asked and took a drag from his cigarette.

"I… I… yes."

"Don't worry about Ran, he's been through worse. He's too stubborn to die," Yoji grinned but his eyes showed his concern.

"Why did he call you Balinese?" Ken asked desperatly wanting something else to think about.

"Ran will probably kill me for telling you but what the hell. We used to work for this guy who gave us code-names. I was Balinese, Ran was Abyssinian and Omi was called Bombay," the blonde answered with a shrug. "Takatori called us his kittens."

"Takatori?" Ken's eyes widened. That name was well-known and not in a good way.

"Yeah. We worked for that bastard for years before we managed to get out."

"He died about two years ago didn't he?" Ken asked and saw how Yoji stiffened.

"Um yes. Listen Ken… Our pasts have been under lock and keep for two years but I think you should know this much. Whoever it is that's after you has managed to dig up something or everything about us and that's dangerous. Ran, Omi and I are suppose to be dead. That's why you couldn't take Ran to the hospital."

"I don't understand," Ken admitted and stared at the blonde man.

"I can't give you any details but let's just say that the three of us did a lot of things that the public can't be allowed to know about," Yoji said with his voice deadly serious. Ken was hot-headed, a bit clumsy but he wasn't stupid. The lanky blonde was talking about killing others that much he understood. That Ran had taken lives he could grasp and Yoji too but Omi?

"You're talking about killing people aren't you?" he asked with his voice surprisingly calm.

"Yes. We were his bodyguards and our job was to remove anyone who threatened Takatori's life. But in the end we had to fight for our own lives and Ran… Ran wasn't always like he is now. Takatori took his sister from him, put her in a coma." Ken sighed. He was no stranger to how cruel life could be.

"Ran killed Takatori," the brunette stated without a doubt in his voice.

"Yeah and it wasn't pretty. Aya-chan is still in a coma and no one knows if she'll ever wake up again. It's because of her he's a bodyguard, it's the only job that pays well enough," Yoji said and dropped his cigarette to the ground. "Would you mind if I asked you what the deal with that Kase-guy was?" It was Ken's turn to stiffen. He did not want to talk about that but somehow he felt like he owned the lanky blonde the truth.

"He was my best friend, we grew up together," Ken sighed and almost smiled at the happy memories of his childhood together with Kase. "When we got older we…" His voice trailed off.

"Kase and you were lovers, weren't you?" Yoji asked softly.

"I thought so," the brunette answered bitterly. "Turned out I was just too naïve and stupid to see what was really going on." Brown eyes met green. "Kase used me and I never had a clue until he told me. He hated me all his life, his only wish was that I was dead."

"So that's why he tried to kill you?" Ken nodded slowly.

"He wanted into the J-league so he used me to get there but he wasn't good enough so they kept on trying to kick him out but I forced them to keep him. I loved him, I would have done anything for him but it wasn't enough I guess." Yoji frowned deeply at that.

"There will always be people who are jealous of others and it will never matter how much you care for them or love them. In my opinion Kase was a sick fuck and whoever killed him did the world a favour," the blonde shrugged. "Don't dwell on the past Ken, it'll just kill you inside. Take that from one who knows."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was a very pale Ran that greeted Ken's eyes. His stomach was covered with bandages and his left arm was bruised by a needle. The doctor had said that the knife hadn't hit anything important and that the redhead was going to be just fine even though he had lost a lot of blood.

Whoever it was that had stabbed Ran had either known exactly what he was doing or had been very sloppy. Ken sat down by the redhead's bed and pulled out the black envelope the psycho had left. He really didn't want to open it but he had to.

Slowly he ripped the paper and pulled out yet another photo. Sighing deeply the brunette looked at it. It was taken as he and Ran went into the building where the redhead lived. Underneath it were two white eyes drawn and four words in english beside them.

"I'm still watching you"

Ken sighed again. It felt like he could move to the moon and that damn psycho would still track him down and torment him. Unwillingly he took a look at the other side of the picture. There was another rhyme written in black but the letters were smeared with blood. Ken didn't have to think, he knew that it was Ran's blood.

I told you to make him go away!
You didn't listen now he has to pay
Did you really think I was just a prank?
Watch how my knife into your lover sank
I could have killed him you know
It would be the second one in a row
Don't make me come after you
You don't know who I am, want a clue?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was a grey day. No sun, no birds, no more summer. Ken had spent five days at Yoji's place before Ran's doctor had agreed to release the redhead. During all those days Ken hadn't talked to his bodyguard once. Omi and Yoji wouldn't let him leave the apartment and the brunette hadn't argued.

Tapping his fingers on the table Ken looked around the lanky blonde's kitchen. He was so bored and if he wasn't allowed to go out for a run soon he'd go nuts. Annoyed the brunette glared at the small blonde who sat infront of him. Omi was tapping away at his laptop and didn't seem to notice the glares he got.

"Omi?" Blue eyes looked up and as usual a smile followed them.

"Hai Ken-san."

"Could you drop the -san? It sounds stupid," Ken muttered sourly. "I need to go out for a run."

"Sorry Ken-sa… Ken but it's not safe."

"I don't care! If I'm just going to sit here I'm gonna freak, I might as well give that sick bastard a chance to kill me instead," the brunette growled and rose. "I am going outside, you coming?" It wasn't like Omi could stop him after all.

"If I let you go alone Ran-kun will kill me," the small blonde whined and shut down his computer. "But we will stay close to Yoji-kun's apartment, right?"

"Right," Ken agreed and almost felt like skipping. His body wasn't used to sitting still so much anymore and it was aching for a good sweaty run. It was raining outside and the grey sky was depressing but Ken didn't care. He was finally outside again!

"You run a lot don't you Ken?" The brunette smiled at the younger man and nodded.

"Every day. I love running!" Omi wrinkled his nose at that.

"Just don't go too fast, okay? I'm not sure I can keep up with you."

"Don't worry Omi we'll take it slow," Ken promised and started jogging down the street slowly with the small blonde beside him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ken stopped outside Yoji's building and started stretching his warm muscles. It took a while before the petit blonde joined him, panting and sweating like crazy.

"You'll feel great after you've showered and changed," the brunette promised and smiled brightly.

"You… you said… we… we'd take it… it slow," Omi panted. Ken actually felt a little bad about the pace he had set up. Unlike him the blonde wasn't use to running several miles even if it was done rather slowly.

"I'm sorry Omi-kun."

"Don't worry about it Ken…-kun," Omi smiled and stretched. "I'll be a little sore tomorrow though." Together they entered the building and took the elevator up. The small blonde unlocked the door and they both stepped over the pile of mail laying inside the door. Without thinking Ken picked it up and placed it on the kitchen-table.

"Why don't you shower first," he suggested and dried his sweaty forehead on his shirt.

"Thanks." Omi headed for the bathroom and Ken sank down on a chair. He was tired from the run and very hungry. Curiously he poked around among the letters. He should have known better, he knew it the second his brown gaze spotted the black envelope.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"How the hell did he know where Ken was?" Yoji growled and shook the envelope in Ran's direction. The redhead and the blonde had just arrived from the doctor's place and Ran looked pale and tired.

"I don't know." Green eyes glared at amethyst.

"I don't like this Ran!" The red haired bodyguard didn't bother to say anything. He was in pain, he was tired and he had had enough of that damn psycho stalker. Carefully he glanced over at Ken. The brunette hadn't said a word to him since he came in and he still hadn't looked at him.

Sighing to himself Ran took the letter from Yoji and opened it. As expected it contained a photo. Amethyst eyes narrowed as they ran over the picture. It had been taken as Ken stumbled out of his bedroom after having found the mutilated cat a week ago.

"What is it this time?" Omi asked quietly. Ran didn't answer. He read the message under the photo and then the rhyme on the back of it.

"You can't run from me…"

"No more games, no more fun
It's time for you to run
Run faster Kenken my sweet
Pick up those stumbling feet
Come baby take a little sip
Taste the bitter almond on my lip"

The photo traveled between the four men and finally was placed on the table.

"He's changing his patterns again."

"I don't think so Yoji-kun," Omi frowned. "At the beginning Ken-kun just got one envelope every Saturday, right?" The brunette nodded. "I don't think he ever intended on sending any more than those until Ran-kun showed up and started messing up his plans. On those photos the text was always 'You can't do something or other, but I can.'. I think this is the final one. He's telling Ken-kun that there's no point in running but he wants him to run anyway." Ran shifted his weight and let out a hiss of pain.

"I think Omi's right," he agreed and took another look at the rhyme. "Taste the bitter almond on my lip," he read out loud.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Ken asked quietly and for a moment he met Ran's eyes. Those brown orbs were filled with something that the redhead couldn't understand completely. Despite the wound in his side, the threats on his and Ken's life Ran hadn't been able to stop himself from longing after the brunette. Only an idiot would have believe that the redhead wasn't falling for his client, and Ran was not an idiot. Sighing he pulled his attention back to the rhyme.

"I don't know." Ken sighed as well and poured himself some of the horrible energy-drink he always drank. He emptied the glass and leaned back in his chair. Ran could see that he was thinking about something, something unpleasent.

"He's gonna come after me next Saturday," Ken suddenly said.

"What?"

"How do you know that Ken-kun?" The brunette looked at Ran and then at Omi.

"He's been refering to Kase's death, he's been calling me Kenken, right?"

"So?" Ran asked and raised an eyebrow.

"Next Saturday it'll be exactly two years since I… since Kase died."

~TBC~

Before I say anything about this chapter I want to thank all the wonderful ppl who review this fic. You are all great *glomps*

And now… This chapter was rather long ne? For this fic I mean. Nevermind. Well looks like things are getting close to final hm? And what's gonna happen between Ranners and Kenken? Does Ken love Ran or what? Oh gawd I'm going insane *laffs happily* It's a good thing I don't suffer from insanity! I enjoy it! *chuckles madly*

Oh and I gave you all a clue to who the psycho is. *hehe* Did you get manage to pick it up? Ja/Atsureki