Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be... Damn...

*

Gomen, gomen, gomen! *bows* I didn't mean for this to take as long as it did, please forgive? Once again, thank you to everyone who has been patient and waited for this. Thank you, as always, to kami-chan whos the best beta-reader in the world, Windy, my ebbil son and, Chibi who keep annoying me to write! *giggles* Hope you enjoy! Please, if you don't mind... review? *bows once again and runs off*

*

Chapter Eight

He didn't like it, nothing that he saw brought any relief to his mind of the situation that had been presented to him. But then again, he knew he couldn't refuse, it was part of this world that he had been pulled into. He had been trained that the darkness was a friend, something that could hide him from the eyes of the world. He had also been taught to survive, to fight till the end and to never give into a stronger power. Death, darkness, a murderer among monsters who brought the wicked to their knees, providing justice with the swing of his sword. It was the basics of survival and it was all he had, but this was something completely different from what he was used to. This was one of the worst things that he had ever had to face in his life, he could only hope that he survived. "If you're not going to buy anything, GET OUT!"

Once again the girls giggled as the redhead lost his temper, annoyed at the harpies that hung around in the store. "Ran, you have to be nicer." The blond whispered, walking up beside him. "They may be annoying, but they are customers."

"Customers buy things." Ran answered, his eyes never leaving the arrangement that he had been working on. A moment later he frowned, looking at the boy beside him. "This is the way I look at it, they are in the store and actual customers think we are busy." Ken couldn't help but smile at the words as they fell from the redhead's mouth. "Because of that, they decide to go to another store, making us lose business; thus we lose money. In the end, we have to shut down because we aren't bringing in enough profit to keep the business open." Of course that would never happen, Kritiker made sure all bills were taken care of, but the customers didn't know that. Ran could have almost smiled at the shocked looks on the girls' faces, slowly they began to file out of the shop and back into the streets.

Omi just stood there in disbelief, no fuss, no muss and they were leaving on their own. Usually the three of them had to make the lovesick girls leave by force, yet Ran had done it with a few choice words. "You know, they will be back?"

The swordsman shrugged, going back to his flowers. "But for now it is silent." He answered, a slight smile crossing his lips. Yes, he felt a lot better now that all those pretentious girls were gone.

Yohji sighed, looking over at Ran. "Now there is no one to talk to, what am I supposed to do?"

"Work?" Green eyes glared over at Ken as the soccer-loving assassin laughed at him. "Oh I'm sorry, do you need me to grab the dictionary so you call look up the definition?"

Once again Yohji glared over at the brunette, pouting. "Omi, tell him to stop teasing me!"

Ran glanced up at the three as they continued on with their games. He found it funny, how much the three assassins reminded him of his first team. From what he could remember of his past with his group in Kyoto, they had seemed to get along, but then again he didn't remember the past year. 'What if something did go wrong? Did we have a falling out? I wish I could remember something, anything that could point to what happened up there.' But he knew there was no point in it, he would only remember when it came back to him and until then there was no point in pushing the issue. Thinking back on Manx's words, he wondered if it could have been an inside job. Could that someone he had trusted betray them, killing everyone but him… could that have been Kikiyou? 'Could he be coming back for me?'

"Ran?" He looked up meeting dark eyes with his own violet orbs. "You were lost." He stated, seeing the confused look he received. "You know… in thought? I had asked you a question and you never answered."

"I'm sorry Ken, you are right." Looking back down at the arrangement before him, he frowned noticing that it was done. "When did…"

"A few minutes ago." Ken answered. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

The brunette could only smile at that response. He should have been used to the fact the Ran sometimes acted like this, but he didn't like when the redhead pushed him away. "Well, if you need me I'll be over there." He said a moment later, but Ran never responded.

*

He loved to watch him, it was like a guilty obsession that he couldn't stop, even if he wanted to. All he could think of was him, how he might have lost his memories, but his grace and beauty? No, they were as seductive and erotic as ever. He might have forgotten, but some things were too engrained into the redhead to forget. Standing there, eyes narrowed as he labored over the arrangement before him, brows furrowed in concentration.

Ran really was beautiful, but in a way he had been tainted… he had been changed by these people he now called his teammates. Yes, it was partially due to memory loss but also the way he held himself, as if he was uncertain and confused. Kikiyou could understand that in a way no one else could, he had seen Ran when the man had first been brought to them. Back then he had been a young, frightened, angry child, but they had changed him. They had taught him and he had become like them, if that was a good thing or not was for Ran to decide.

Kikiyou knew that this new Ran that he saw before him, wasn't the man he had been trained to become. Losing his memory had changed him back into that boy they had tried to force out of him. The one who still believed in the goodness of people, even if he hid that fact from others. The one who knew that the world was a cruel place, but that light could still exist; even in the darkest of hearts. Ran, himself, had been a walking paradox. Even though he believed that decency existed in people, it was hard for him to forgive and even harder for him to forget.

The assassin could hold a grunge, Kikiyou knew this, and as far as he knew, Ran had never gotten his revenge. That in fact, was the reason that the redhead had become an assassin. He knew a bit of the story from Shion that he had been sent to their team after his family had been killed and his sister put into a coma. Sure, Ran had come to Kritiker looking for vengeance against the person responsible, which happened to be Takatori. As of yet, Kikiyou knew Ran hadn't achieved that goal, as his family's killer was still a free man, untouched by the redhead's fury. A fury, that at one time he and his team members had reigned for a completely different purpose.

It was interesting to see Ran in the position Kritiker had moved him into. The man had never been that friendly, seeing him surrounded by happy-go-lucky girls, who didn't seem to be able to take a hint, was fascinating. Dark eyes watched as Ran yelled at said girls, a moment later the blond came over and spoke to him. The redhead obviously said something that the girls didn't like, moments later they cleared out of the store, leaving the men alone. Kikiyou couldn't help but smile, Ran had never liked a lot of people around him.

Dark eyes narrowed as the brunette inside the shop walked up to Ran. There was a short exchange, then the man smiled at Ran and walked away. It was the same man he had seen talking to Ran earlier that day out in the back, the older assassin had smiled then. Kikiyou had hated that this person had that effect on Ran, no one should have that effect on his teammate, and especially some new member he had just met. But there it was and it was plain as day, the two were comfortable around one another and this stranger made Ran happy.

'No one should make him happy but me.' He thought, leaning against the wall as he watched the stranger he now hated, the brunette he cursed for changing Ran. 'If anyone would make Ran smile, it should be me. He is mine… my orchid, my teammate and my lover. No one else's… gods Ran, you really have forgotten everything, haven't you?' The feeling of eyes on him knocked Kikiyou from his thoughts as he looked up. In the doorway stood a tall dark haired man, green eyes fixed on him, scrutinizing him. A feeling of nervousness ran though him as he glared at the smoking assassin, then turned and walked away.

"I have officially decided that people are freaks." Yohji said out of the blue, looking back into the flower shop. Ran chose to ignore him, as usual; while the other two looked up. "There was some man standing across the street just staring at the shop. What idiot would just stare at a flower shop like that, for no reason at all?"

Shrugging, Ken picked up a pot off the floor and moved it towards the back. "Maybe we have a few fanboys after us as well as girls?" He answered, seeing the look Yohji shot him. "What? Anything is possible, isn't that right Ran?"

Violet eyes glances up at Ken as the younger assassin moved past him. "I'm sorry?"

"Fanboys… you know, like all the girls in here?"

Ran frowned as his eyes fell on the windows and the street beyond. "Those girls are an annoyance, I don't see how you three put up with them for so long."

"We just never had anyone with such a wonderful personality that could drive them off." The longhaired brunette quipped. "Now that you are here, we should be perfectly fine!" The redhead just rolled his eyes, once again focusing on the job before him.

*

"Are you sure you don't want one of us to come with you?" Omi yelled down the stairs and into the back room where Ran stood, pulling on his coat. "Ken's at practice but Yohji and I could always keep you company."

'Just what I need,' he thought, buttoning up his coat. 'A happy kid or a chatty playboy.' Sighing, Ran looked back up the stairs, Omi standing at the top awaiting his answer. "I'm going to go for a walk, then do some shopping," Omi nodded. "I'll be fine, I promise that I won't get lost."

That made the blond smile. "Well, take your cell with you, just incase something happens." He responded, sounding a bit too motherly to Ran's ears. "Dinner should be ready in a few hours!"

"Fine." On that note he opened the back door and walked out of the house. It wasn't that he failed to get along with his teammates, he really did. They just tended to be different from him and that fact could sometimes annoy him. It wasn't that he expected them to be an exact copy of one another that would have been a bit too odd. But this team, in and of themselves were nothing alike, yet they got along. Another thing that bothered him was how they tried to make him feel welcome. In a way he had been glad that they were trying, it meant a lot to Ran that they wanted to accept him. He just wished they wouldn't try so hard. 'I feel like they are coddling me, or trying to make me into something I am not.'

That very thought made him take pause. How could he be something he was not, when he couldn't remember what he had been? Ran knew that Kritiker believed he was hiding the facts, or that he wasn't remembering because he didn't want to. The first, he knew wasn't a fact but the second… could he really be forcing himself to forget what happened that night in Kyoto? Could he have seen the whole thing, and then blocked it from his mind, some sort of self inflicted amnesia? But if that was the case, what had really happened to his old team? What could have been so bad, that he wouldn't want the person responsible to pay for the crimes they had committed?

'All this thinking isn't helping.' One pale hand rose to rub his forehead. 'It's only giving me another headache, I'm having enough of those.' Ran could only sigh, glancing around to see where his feet had pulled him. He knew he hadn't been paying much attention to the world around him, like usual. Unlike others, the daily routine of the people around him bored Ran to no end. 'When I look at the daily lives of the people in and around me, I wonder what my life would have been like had I not be dragged down into this world.' He mused, taking a left into the park that he had been passing. 'Would I be as blind as these people, unawares of the nightly activities of Kritiker?' He hated that thought, being like them, like the people that turned a blind eye to the destruction other humans caused.

The world was truly a beautiful place, if one took the time to see it. Ran, he had the time, which is why he liked to remain silent and observe the routines of the world order. The redhead had remembered Shion once telling him, when you acted out in anger, simple things that should be obvious seemed to go by in a rush. Though if you took your time to observe the workings around you, things that seemed blurred tended to come into focus. Ran could honestly say he hadn't always listened to his mentor, even now his temper got to him. Even if he hid the fact by keeping that anger inside. He had to because of what he had been taught to be, the observer, the calm silence that a team needed. He had become the rational mind, the wall that others could support themselves upon.

Or so he felt. "But what do I feel like this? Like… at some point that wall crumbled? That, because of me, something bad happened that I can't remember?" Those thoughts were what drove him from his other teammates and out into the city to be alone. He wanted to remember the occurrences that had preceded his escape to Tokyo. He wanted to remember how he had gotten to this city, to Kritiker and into this position. 'I feel like the more I try to remember, the harder it becomes to reach that memory!' It was frustrating, and it was wearing down, what little distance he had put between himself and his three new team members. Especially Ken. 'Ken.' For some reason, he was the one person that Ran wanted to believe in, to put his trust in.

"Do you have a headache?"

The sentence was to the point, the person's voice, calm, deep and strong. Before Ran could even connect the fact into his mind that he had, in fact, been spoken too, the one word he never thought we would say fell from his mouth. "Kikiyou?" The violet gaze looked up, meeting the almost black eyes before him. Long dark hair fell around tanned features as the man smiled at him. "Is… is it really you?" He whispered, standing up from the bench that he had, at some point, seated himself at.

"Ran." He answered, shaking his head. "I never thought I would see you again. I thought you had been killed in the attacks!" With those words said, the taller man pulled Ran to him, holding him in his arms. "I ran after Shion fell, my injuries were too severe to stay and try to fight. It would have been suicide!" Releasing his hold on the younger man, Ran just stood there in a daze. "I tried to find you, how did you get away?"

That made him look up, still shocked that he stood there before him. 'No, Manx has to be wrong! This… he is Kikiyou, I remember this kindness. There is no way he was involved with our team's death! It makes sense, he was injured, afraid if he went back to Kritiker that the ones who did attack us would follow. He was trying to protect us!' A hand on his shoulder made him blink as the gentle face of his friend came back into focus. "I-I, how did I escape? I can't remember, all I know is that I woke up here, in Tokyo. Manx came to me, told me what had happened to our team, said you were missing!"

He nodded, dark eyes glancing around the park as if he was watching for something. "I needed time to heal, I barley got away…" finally he looked back down at the shorter man before him. "I felt awful that I couldn't find you, I mourned your death." Suddenly Kikiyou smiled grabbing Ran's arms. "But here you are, alive and safe! You don't know how happy I am that you made it out of there."

"Kikiyou?" His friend and teammate arched a brow, worry crossing his eyes for a brief moment. "Have you spoken to Kritiker?" A simple shake of the head gave Ran his answer. "They believe that you are the one who is responsible for our team's death."

"Impossible." He stated firmly.

Ran nodded, sitting back down on the bench while Kikiyou remained standing. "That is what I told Manx, it was impossible! Kritiker won't listen, they say my amnesia is effecting my judgment."

A tanned hand reached up, brushing dark hair back from his face. "Amnesia? You can't remember anything that happened?"

"No, I remember coming to Kyoto and being put onto the team. Everything after that tends to blur together, then just goes black." Ran answered honestly, here was a man he knew he could trust. A man he had feared he had lost forever, back in the flesh and standing before him. "Manx keeps pressuring me to remember so that can find the people that attacked us, but the more I try, the more it hurts."

Kikiyou nodded, smiling once again at his young friend. "Then stop trying to remember." He responded, resting his hand on Ran's shoulder. "Don't cause yourself pain because of them."

The redhead couldn't help but smile up at him, finally receiving what he truly needed. Support. "You sound like Ken." He whispered, a slight smile remaining on his lip at those words as his eyes fell closed. Those actions caused Ran to miss the frown that crossed his friend's face.

"Who is Ken?" He asked, suddenly curious to know exactly what this new team had become to him.

"Ken is one on my new teammates, dark haired and slightly shorter than me." Ran's eyes opened as he glanced at Kikiyou. "He's very kind and seems genuinely worried about me. So far he is the one person on the team I feel I can relate to and who understands me, though we are different. Though all of my teammates are very nice, just… different." Glancing away from his teammate, Ran frowned. "Do you remember what happened to our team? Are you going to go speak to Manx now that you have healed?"

"Yes to both questions." He replied. "But do me a favor?" Ran could only nod, Kikiyou knew that Ran would do anything for him. "Don't tell Manx I am back yet, I know who did this to us and I am very close to solving the whole problem, then I can tell Manx."

Violet eyes lit up at those words. "Do you mean that?" His friend nodded, a smile crossing his own features at the redhead's relief. "Who did this?"

"I would rather you not remember if it saves you pain." He answered honestly. "Believe me, you don't want to remember what happened that night."

Letting out a sigh, he stood and looked down at Kikiyou. "Why do you always take care of me, worry for me?"

Smiling up at the redhead, he stood and took Ran's chin gently with his hand. "It is because I care about you." He answered, kissing his cheek gently. Purple eyes widened at his show of affection as a blush crossed his cheeks. "I'll contact you soon." He then said, walking away from him.

*

Ken jumped off his bike, pushing it into the garage. He had to admit to himself that the children he coached down at the park were getting a lot better than they had been when he had first met them. It was interesting actually, how he had got reigned into this position. One fall day Ken had decided to go for a walk in a nearby park and had seen a group of children playing soccer… badly. When one of the kids kicked the ball towards him, he had sent it back their way and instantly had been pulled into the game by the children. That had caused him to help them with their game, when had lead to more children coming over to play. Before he knew it he had been going down to the park two days a week and on Saturday's to teach the kids. Ken liked it though, it was one of the few things he had in his life that was good. The other thing was something that had just hit him unexpectedly.

Ran.

He didn't know when he started having genuine feelings for the silent redhead, but he couldn't deny that they weren't there. Of course the last thing he wanted to do was to actually admit to anyone that he had fallen for their newest recruit, especially Yohji. 'If he found out he would never let up, stupid playboy would probably try to figure out ways to play matchmaker.' Letting out a sigh, he made his way for the garage door that would lead him to the stairs up to the kitchen. One tanned hand fell on the handle, when he looked up seeing an envelope taped to the wooden door. "That is odd." Glancing around for a moment, he pulled it down, pulling out the paper inside. Dark eyes widened a moment later as Ken pulled open the door and ran upstairs.

Omi smiled to himself as he heard the pounding coming up the stairs. "Ken must be home."

"Yep, he's the only one that can make that much noise." The longhaired brunette answered, looking up from the magazine. "You would think he was raised with no manners!" The blond simply shook his head, knowing that Yohji, himself, lacked many of those manners as well.

A moment later the back door flew open as Ken rushed though the kitchen and up the stairs. "Ran!" He yelled, tossing open the older man's bedroom door. "Shit!" Growling, he closed the door on the empty room, making his way up to the training room. "Ran, are you here?!" He yelled once again, but there was no answer to his call. Dashing out of the room and back downstairs, Ken made his way back into the kitchen seeing the looks his two teammates were giving him. "Where is Ran?"

"Gone." Yohji answered, looking back to his magazine.

The blond nodded, bright blue eyes falling on his friend. "He looked restless, said he wanted to take a walk. I offered to go with him, but I don't think he really wanted any company."

"Shit, shit, shit!" He growled, slamming the note down on the table. "I found this on the door to the garage."

Yohji sat down the magazine as Omi picked up the paper off the kitchen table. "What is it, kid?"

He couldn't help but frown at the words that were written across the white sheet. " 'He is my possession, you will never be able to own him. Stop your affection towards my Orchid or I will kill you.' " Omi looked up at Ken, eyes wide. "Where did you find this?"

The younger brunette couldn't help from sighing. "On the garage door."

"I don't get it? What do they mean by giving affection to their orchid?"

"Oh Yohji…" The youngest assassin said, shaking his head. "Ran, his name means orchid."

Green eyes widened as he finally understood exactly what the note was referring to. "Well, shit."

"Someone knows that Ran is here with us!" Ken snapped, the need to protect his friend and newest team member flooded his mind. "What if it's that Kikiyou guy? You know, the one that Manx warned us about?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know what?" All three looked up at the feminine voice that now filtered though their panic. "You three look like you have seen a ghost?" She then said, arching one scarlet brow in question. "Has something happened that I should know about?"

Yohji breathed out, looking up at the brunette and blond standing beside him at the table. They all knew they should tell Manx, but he also knew that might just cause more problems for their small team. 'What if we tell her and she decides that Ran should be removed?' Yohji asked himself, not liking that outcome at all. 'Ken is finally getting used to a new member, there might be more to his liking? Would it be fair to take Ran away when Ken really does want to help and protect him? What would that do to Ken?' It was obvious that Omi was thinking along the same lines as his eyes fell on his own. Deciding to take a chance, Yohji glanced back up at the redhead. "We need to tell you something, but you can't inform Kritiker."

Manx sighed, crossing her arms. "I can't do that Yohji, you know this."

"Fine, then promise that everything will stay the way it is right now!" Omi then said, a slight fear creeping into his voice.

"I can't promise that either." She answered, walking up to the table. "But if this has to do with Ran, please boys you know we want to protect him. We can't do that if we don't know what is happening! Please, if you really want to protect him, tell me what is happening."

After a moment the three assassins seemed to calm down as Omi handed the note over to their informant. "Ken found that on the door when he came home." Manx took the paper from his hand, glancing over it then looked back up at the three. "We know it has to do with Ran, but we don't want to see him go! We want to help him Manx, please don't try to take him away?"

"Oh Omi," reaching a hand up to rub her forehead, she once again glanced of the note. "I'm going to take this in, try to compare the writing to the old members of Ran's team. Kikiyou might be here, looking for him this very minute. This only proves that someone has found out where he is." She couldn't help but growl at those words. "We couldn't even keep him safe, whoever did this has already found him."

"Kikiyou, you mean?" Jade eyes met the dark green of the eldest assassins. "You think that Kikiyou has found Ran?" She hated how this team could figure out what she was thinking, even the playboy could read her. That wasn't always a good thing, but there was nothing she could do to change it. "Even though he says that Kikiyou couldn't be the one who did it, you still believe he did. Is that why you want him to remember, so he can prove that he was the cause of this?"

Manx couldn't help but glare at the man before her. "What Kritiker believes and what really happened is none of your concern. You need…"

"It is our concern." Ken answered, cutting her off. "The moment you put him with us, you put our lives in danger." Manx sighed, knowing he was right. "You asked us to protect him, asked up to watch over him. When you did that you involved us in this, so don't tell us it's none of our concern." Omi and Yohji both looked up at Ken in shock, they had never heard him sound that intelligent before. Then again, he was fighting to keep something that he cared about. That could make anyone do anything to make another person see their point of view.

"Very well." She replied. "Even though Ran doesn't believe that Kikiyou did it, he is still a suspect seeing we can't find him. Kritiker can't confirm if he is alive or dead, that is why we are concerned about this." Holding up the note, she frowned. "This only makes me worry, I don't want Ran harmed. Look… I won't remove him from this group, but please, watch him closely." The three assassins nodded. "Don't let him know what is happening."

"Manx.."

"Please, don't let him know about this note." Reluctantly, they nodded. "Thank you, now when Ran does get home I need to know, we think we found a way to find out who really did do this. I need to borrow his sword, but I don't feel right just taking it."

"Okay Manx, we will do that for you."

Manx smiled, slipping the note into her pocket. "Thank you boys, I'll be back over soon." Turning, she walked out and down towards her car. She was too wrapped up in her own thoughts to see the violet eyes that watched her as she left Weiss's home.

*

kami: How does she do it?

Schu: Do what?

kami: Pull out wonderful chapters like that! Moouu! I can't stand this Kikiyou guy! Grr!!

Schu: *nonchalantly* Yeah, me too.

kami: *pokes him* What's with you?

Schu: *cries* Isa-chan was having green tea ice cream this morning and didn't offer me any!

kami: O_O;; *rocks him* There, there, it'll be okay… *looks at reader while holding a crying Schu and whispers* Minna-san, review onegai? Thankies! ^^;;