Letters Of Black

By: Atsureki

Disclaimers : Wiess ain't mine!

Warnings : AU, Yaoi, OCC, angst.

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 11. Transparent Danger

There was something special about finding someone waiting in the kitchen in the morning. Ken smiled to himself as he padded up to his lover and softly kissed his cheek. Ran turned his head slightly and a soft smiled spread across his normally so bland face. The redhead was always beautiful but when he smiled the word just wasn't enough anymore.

For a moment Ken couldn't help but wonder what Ran possibly could see in him. A soft finger brushed away the slight pout on the brunette's lips and amethyst eyes met chocolate. The only thing that disturbed them was the massive form that hovered in the kitchen door. Frowning Ken tried to ignore Nakata. The over-sized bodyguard made no attempt to hide his disgust over seeing two males touching each other. Huffing quietly Ken did his best to ignore the stupid bodyguard.

"I have practise today. Can you come with me?" the brunette asked quietly as he took a seat.

"Aa." Shaking his head Ken smiled.

"Hn," he grinned at his lover and winked. At that Ran couldn't keep himself from laughing. It was deep smooth and melodious. A wounderful sound to Ken's ears he had never heard before.

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

"Will you hang on to this for me? I hate when the others steal my drink," Ken muttered and put a bottle in the redhead's hands.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have an unhealthy relationship with your sportdrink?" Ran asked with a hint of a smile in his bland face.

"Actually yes, but you know that stuff doesn't come cheap." The redhead shook his head at his lover.

"Jocks," he said rolled his eyes but kept the light smile.

"At least I don't pull muscles in bed," Ken stated sweetly and poked Ran in the side, carefully making sure he picked the right side. A mild blush crept onto ivory cheeks.

"Stop pestering me and go chase that stupid ball instead," the redhead said and put on a fake scowl. The brunette's only answer to that was sticking his tongue out and waving his firm behind at Ran. Smiling softly to himself the redhead watched his lover warm up with the other men.

He felt so at ease, so happy. It had been years since he had joked around like that. Sighing with content Ran sat down and stretched out his slender body. He had actually pulled something the previous night. A muscle in his back was sore but it wasn't nothing to worry about.

With his violet gaze locked at the brunette he played absently with the plastic bottle. Curious he uncapped it and took a sniff. It smelled slightly of bitter almond. Ran wrinkled his nose and put the bottle down on the ground instead.

The men before him were done with warming up and prepared for a little match, shirts against skins. Fate was smiling at the redhead as Ken quickly stripped himself from his shirt and trotted over the to goal, back facing Ran. The bench squeeked in protest as a heavy body sat down on it. Without looking the redhead knew that it was Nakata. He didn't like his lover's new bodyguard one bit but the man was protective.

The game started and Ran actually enjoyed it. He had never seen a soccer-game in his life but he soon understood why people got hooked on it. Ken seemed to have a link with the ball and always showed up exactly where it was headed before it had any chance of getting inside the square he protected with his life.

The match had almost ended when Nakata put down the plastic bottle he had been drinking from. Ran didn't notice, he was too busy staring his eyes out as they feasted upon a broad, tanned, sweaty back. Ken's muscles played under the skin and made the redhead drool. He rose and accidently tipped the bottle over. Growling he picked it up but it was too late. His lover's precious sportdrink was gone.

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

Ken showered quickly, eager to get back out to Ran. He frowned slightly as he pulled on his jeans. There had been no sign of Nakata since the match had ended but he didn't really care. He knew that Ran could protect him if it was needed. With a smile at Ben he grabbed his bags and headed back outside.

"Hey Ken?!" The brunette stopped and turned around. Ben waved. Ken smiled at his friend and waited for him. "You're in a hurry today?"

"Not really," the brunette answered with hesitation. Something told him that Ben didn't like Ran. But then his friend had always been protective.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine." His answer seemed to confuse Ben slightly.

"Where's Nakata?"

"Don't know, haven't seen him for a while but he's probably waiting outside," Ken shrugged and started walking again.

"Take care Ken." The brunette smiled and nodded.

"You too Ben, ja."

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

Ran's car was a white porsche with a temper. They roared down the streets still without Nakata. Ken was a bit concerned that his bodyguard had just disappeared but there wasn't much he could do about it. Finally he decided to ask Ran if he had seen the man.

"Did you see Nakata?" The redhead glanced at him and nodded.

"He sat next to me during the match but then he left. He said something about not feeling well." Ken frowned. Well that would explain why he hadn't showed up.

"Um Ran, where are we going?"

"We're going to go see someone who I think can help you with your back," Ran answered softly. "You didn't take any morphine yet, ne?" Ken had been too busy with getting back to his lover to care about the pain.

"No not yet but…"

"Just wait a while with it. I really think Lee can help you," the redhead interrupted him. "He's very good."

"Very good with what?" He didn't really want any doctor messing with his back, finding out that there was nothing anyone could do to help.

"He's into old chinese medicine. I'm willing to bet that with his needles he can take away the pain koi." When Ran called him koi Ken felt his heart leap with joy. Neither one of them had expressed any real feelings to the other but that at least told him that the redhead felt something that was stronger than just sexual want. All he wanted was for Ran to love him. Ken had already realized that that was what he felt for the silent redhead but he didn't want to say anything just yet. The last thing he needed was to be rejected because he moved too fast.

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

Lee was old, spoke bad japanese but he knew what he was doing. Several needles had been carefully inserted into the brunette's damaged back and the pain had subsided almost right away. As Ken lied there flat on his stomach Lee spoke with Ran in chinese. The soccer-player didn't understand a word and was more than a little surprised that Ran did.

"Ken, Lee says that the pain comes from a muscle." Ken nodded, that he already knew. "He says that when the doctors stitched you up the muscle was shortened slightly and that pulls on your spine which causes the pain. He's relaxing it now and thinks that if you just keep up this treatment once a week or so the pain should disappear." That was music to Ken's ears.

"You mean I wouldn't have to inject morphine anymore?" he asked. It sounded too good to be true.

"Hai, you'll still be addicted to it of course but… you won't need it to get rid of the pain." Ken frowned to himsel. If he hadn't been so scared and stubborn he might have been saved from a lot of pain, not to mention saved a lot of money. Ran was just about to say something more when his phone rang. He answered and listened for a while. "What?!" The question was asked harshly. "When was this? An hour ago? But how?" Ken watched his lover with concern. Something was wrong. "No he's with me. Don't worry I'll take him back to my place." Ran frowned deeply when he ended the call.

"What's wrong?"

"That was Ben. He told me why Nakata disappeared," the redhead answered quietly. "He's dead Ken."

"Dead? What do mean dead?" He might not like his bodyguard but that didn't mean he wanted the man dead.

"Someone poisoned him."

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

Ken swallowed. Why would someone poison his bodyguard? Cursing under his breath the brunette found the answer. It must have been that damn psycho!

"Ken do you remember the lyrics you got on the first four photos?" Ran asked and looked like he was thinking hard.

"What about them?"

"Hang on a second," the redhead muttered and started pacing. "Damn! Why didn't I recognize it before! On the last photo you got there was a part that sounded very strange, do you remember?"

"Yeah there was something about almonds, right?"

"Hai, and in those lyrics there was a part about cyanide. Cyanide is poisoness and has a pungent smell of bitter almond, did you know that?" Ken shook his head.

"What does that have to do with anything?" he asked in confusion.

"Earlier I took a sniff of your sportdrink and it smelled like bitter almond. Cyanide is transparent and deadly even in small doses. I put your bottle on the ground and Nakata was sitting next to me. What if he drank from it?" Ken shuddered.

If that was true his stalker had just tried to kill him. Only shear luck had saved his life and taken someone else's instead. Ran had accidently spilled the sportdrink and if he hadn't… The brunette didn't even want to think about what would have happened if he had gulped down that stuff like he normally did after a game.

~TBC~

It was short I know but school is keeping me busy *hates school* Now this is getting dangerous! Damn psycho bastard trying to kill poor Kenken! *hugs him* Ran keep him safe please!

And about the clues I leave for you. They're suppose to be difficult you know *L* And there is no way I'm gonna tell you who it is until the time has come. *evil laff*

Ah I almost forgot. Cyanide is as far as I know a gas but well there must be some way to turn it into a liquid right? If not, I don't really care *hehe* We'll just pretend that there is. *nods* Ja/Atsureki