A/N: Hello and thanks genuine_sun, Aymeleh, Lady Jam, Rei Eien, ranma, ln1,
Toni, Kori, and Naruka for all the reviews. This is the last chapter of
Family Secrets, but I've already got ideas for a sequel if anyone's
interested. I plan to use the few suggestions that I got for this chapter,
and a few of my own. To those of you who did send in suggestions for the
story, I apologize for not using your idea in this story. I did not
continue the BradXRan pairing because that's not a pairing I'm overly fond
of. I didn't want Brad to have visions of what would happen because that
kind of takes away the element of suspense, and I'm bad at suspense anyway.
I need all the help I can get. Thanks for reading!
~~
"Leave!"
"Ran, I thought you were working on that!"
"I am, but if I have to listen to one more girl singing annoying carols, I'm going to murder someone!"
"Jingle bells, jingle bells- "
"Ken, I suggest you stop!"
"Why?"
"Ran's about to lose it with all these songs."
"Oh . . . Grandma got run over by a reindeer, walking home from our house- "
"WHAT are you singing?"
"I heard that on this CD Schuldich got! It's funny! See, this grandma is walking home after getting drunk on eggnog, and gets run over by Santa and the reindeer!"
"KEN! How could you go into my room without asking?"
"I didn't. It was in the CD player in the living room."
"Well, that's okay, then."
It had been three months since Ran had woken up, and Christmas was right around the corner. After Ran had woken up, the others had spent almost every afternoon trying to get him and Brad to act like normal people, and to get Ran to open up. He had been acting nicer towards the girls in the shop; all the Christmas carols and lights were beginning to get to him.
Ken had begun starting every shift singing a different Christmas song. Unfortunately, so had Farfarello. Both had good voices, but after three weeks of two different songs in the morning, and the others' music at night was beginning to wear him thin. He groaned as Farfarello walked in, also singing.
"I'm gettin' not'in' for Christmas; Mommy and Daddy are mad! I'm getting' not'in' for Christmas, 'cause I ain't been not'in but bad!"
Ran whimpered and began to repeatedly bang his head into the counter. Schuldich walked up behind him and placed his hand on Ran's shoulder. Ran looked up into his brother's face, dazed from hitting his head so many times. "Why don't I take over for you today?" Schuldich suggested. Ran nodded and headed next door to get away from the noise.
~~
"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Ke~en, happy birthday to you!" Ken blew out the candles on the cake after making a wish. As soon as the cake was served, everyone left the room, returning a few seconds later and depositing wrapped boxes at Ken's face. Ken's face lit up as he looked first at the boxes, and then at the people who gave them to him.
"I get eight? Really?!" The others laughed as Ken bounced in his seat.
"What did you expect?" Nagi asked.
"Usually it's three presents. One from Ran, one from Yohji, and one from Omi." Ken was still looking at the presents in joyous disbelief as he said it.
"Well, there are eight members of Weiss now, and Manx has a reason to come if there isn't a mission. Because of that, there are eight now," Omi reminded him patiently, knowing that Ken wouldn't be able to wait much longer. Sure enough, less than a minute later, Ken was shredding the paper to see what he had been given.
He had gotten a new soccer ball from Brad, cleats from Schuldich, a jersey from Yohji, and a 'Soccer for Dummies' book from Farfarello. Nagi and Omi gave him tickets to a soccer game, Manx got him a book on coaching and strategies, and there was a $300 gift certificate to a sports store from Ran. Ken's eyes were shining when he looked up at his friends. "Thank you!" he mouthed, unable to make sound come out.
"I believe this is the first successful attempt at getting him to be quiet that didn't involve knocking him out," Yohji whispered to Farfarello, getting a laugh out of the Irish man. Brad then elbowed Yohji in the ribs.
~~
Two days later was Christmas, and everyone, even Yohji and Schuldich, managed to get up early. Manx arrived at about 8:30. After eating breakfast and talking, Ken, Farf, and the chibis couldn't wait any longer. Everyone headed upstairs to the living room, where there were 72 gifts under, beside, and around the tree.
"Maybe next year we'll just draw for a Secret Santa," Omi suggested, eyeing all the presents. Everyone had bought one gift for each other person, giving everyone eight gifts.
"That's pointless," Nagi responded, "Schuldich would just read our minds to find out what he was being given, and then would alter that person's thoughts to get what he wanted."
"I would not!" Nagi merely raised an eyebrow and settled himself on one of the two armchairs in the upstairs living room. Omi had taken the other armchair, Yohji and Manx were sharing one of the love seats, and Schuldich and Ran were sharing the other. Farfarello, Brad, and Ken had taken the couch. The gifts were distributed and everyone began opening their gifts.
~~
"Is this some sort of hint?" Yohji asked, holding up the third shirt he had received.
"Yes," Ran answered. "One of those shirts would be better for missions clothes for one thing."
"What's wrong with what I wear now?"
"Hmm, well, #1: Right now you look like a gay cowboy. #2: That paint on your chest is like a giant target.** #3: I'm getting sick of hearing you complain about being cold."
"I want a hippopotamus for Christmas; only a hippopotamus will do! No crocodiles, rhinoceroses, I only like hippopotamuses! And hippos like me, too!"
"You like hippos, Farf?" Omi asked as Farfie sang and opened the gift from Omi.
"Hippos are the best pets in the world!" Farf exclaimed, struggling with the tape holding the paper to the box. "Look! A hippo!"
Omi smiled as Farfarello held up his stuffed hippo. "I thought you might like a stuffed animal . . . I don't know why . . . "
"Are you going to name it, Farf?" Schuldich asked, smirking.
"Um . . . Momoe?"
"Why Momoe?"
"'Cause that's the name of the lady that owns the flower shop. The hippo's fat, and so is she!"
"Be nice to Momoe-san! She helped chip in to buy you the carrot peeler and the knife set you got for your birthday," Omi reminded him. Farfarello shrugged and told them that the hippo's name was 'Griff'.
"Do we even want to know why he chose Griff?" Nagi asked.
"You won't mind it," Brad told him.
"He's a hippo, and his name's Griff. He's hippo Griff. Like hippogriff from Harry Potter." Farfarello had gotten the first three Harry Potter books for his birthday, and couldn't get enough of them. He had received books four and five for Christmas, and had to be told to open the rest of his gifts instead of stopping there and starting to read.
"Yohji, why did you get me these?" Manx asked, holding up a box. Everyone else in the room tried to hide laughter.
"To . . . uh . . . keep you safe when you and Persia get together," Yohji explained, trying to remember if that was the real reason, or if he had just bought the condoms in a fit of drunken stupidity. Manx shook her head and moved her attention to another box.
~~
The next birthday they celebrated was Schuldich's, on January 12th. No one bought him anything until the eleventh in an attempt to keep him from knowing what they got. Thankfully, Schuldich had promised not to look into their heads if they promised to try and keep their thoughts on something else.
As a gift to himself, Schuldich took Ran out for a day to get to know him better. Even though they had lived and worked together for almost a year, he still knew next to nothing about his younger brother. During the day, they went to a coffee shop, one of Ran's favorite parks, and the cemetery. Ran was surprised that Schuldich knew where Lanen's grave was, but he tried not to say anything about it.
The brothers managed to talk and get to know each other. By the end of the day, though, Schu was ready to kill Kouga. Ran was ready to tear apart Esset piece by piece. On the way home they passed an ice cream shop and decided to stop.
"Are you sure Ken likes Strawberry?" Schuldich asked.
"Yes. Are you sure Brad will like the Pralines?"
"Brad loves Praline. Farf prefers coffee flavor, but he'll have to settle for Bubble Gum."
"They had Coffee, why didn't you get it for him?"
"He has enough energy as it is. What else did we get, again?"
"Mint Chocolate Chip for Nagi, Cookie Dough for Omi, Chocolate for Yohji, Blueberry for you, and Cherry for me."
"Oh, right."
When they got home, Brad was the only one with a complaint. "Schuldich, you know I don't like Praline. You do."
"Then what do you like?" Schu asked.
"Blueberry. What possessed you to buy it for yourself? You never miss an opportunity to say it's disgusting."
"I must have just had you on my mind," Schu responded with a wink, trading ice creams with Brad.
~~
"Ah, come on! Please? It's just one game!"
"No, Ken."
"What's going on?"
"Schu, Ran won't go to the game with me!"
"Ran, how cruel! Just go to the game with him."
"Why me?"
"Because you're the one he asked."
"Yeah, so please?
"Fine."
~~
"Ken, why did you want me to come with you?"
"To . . . get you into culture?"
"That would mean ballet and opera. Not a soccer game."
"To get you into today's culture?"
"Just tell me, Ken."
"Because I thought it would be fun to go with you."
"But you would probably have more fun here with one of the others. Farfarello would have gotten into it."
"Yeah, but I wanted to go with you."
"Again, why?"
"I just wanted to!" Ken said, blushing. Ran finally understood what Ken *wasn't* saying, and blushed as well. Neither looked at the other for a few minutes, but when they did, both were wearing shy smiles.
~~
"Mission," Manx announced, walking into the flower shop. There were no customers, so she was able to say it out loud. The guys closed the shop and headed to the basement. All eight had been in the shop, so they were able to start right away.
When the lights were turned back on, Manx looked from face to face. "This mission only requires three people. Persia has decided to let the eight of you decide who will go." No one was surprised when Ran volunteered, or when Schuldich insisted on going with him. Ken volunteered to be the third person to go.
They left at 10:45 that night, and got back at 2:00 the next morning. Schuldich looked like he was caught between blushing and wanting to throw up. Omi and Nagi tried asking about it, but that just made him turn red and run out of the room. The two technicians looked into the living room to ask if Ran or Ken would explain, and found the reason Schuldich was acting strange.
Ken had Ran pressed against the wall and was kissing the braided man thoroughly. Ran obviously wasn't arguing with him. Omi and Nagi backed away from the banister and headed back to the living room. There was no sense in alerting them to their presence if Schuldich was fighting a nosebleed.
~~
The next morning, though, Schu had recovered from his shock and begun teasing the younger two mercilessly. "So, how long have you been together?" he asked, stressing the last word.
Ran didn't look up from where he was making breakfast, but Ken smiled at Schuldich. "Well, our first kiss was on the date you talked Ran into going on with me."
"I never talked Ran into- You wanted him to go with you as a date?!"
"Yep. Thanks for talking him into going with me. Makes you feel like the perfect older brother, doesn't it?" Ran snorted when he heard Schuldich sputtering for a response.
"H- have you . . . ?"
"Nah." Ken looked at Ran, who was beginning to blush at the turn in the conversation. "But- "
"I don't need to know!" Schu shouted, covering his ears and shutting his eyes. Ken laughed and sent him a mental picture. "AH! Leave my brother alone!" Schuldich yelled, scratching at his temples. Then he stopped and looked over at Ken. "I wouldn't have thought of you as the kind to be interested in bondage." Ran choked on his coffee at that statement and glared at Ken.
"What are you planning on doing?" Ken just smiled and looked innocent. Ran turned to Schuldich. "I told you and Yohji to stop making all those innuendoes in his presence. Do you see why now?"
"Better than you can," Schu muttered. "By the way, how did this conversation get turned against me?"
"You asked about your brother's sex life."
"Right."
~~
A few weeks later, Ken and Ran were still going out, but everyone had pretty much accepted it. Even Brad had wished them well. Farfarello had checked in his room, but found no voodoo materials, so they considered his blessing to be sincere.
A few more missions had been undertaken, but none ended with the problems that the first had. A couple more months (and birthdays) went by, and everyone settled in with each other fully. It was almost impossible to tell that they had not always lived and worked together. Being a team, and dealing with the secrets unveiled because of that, had given them all a chance at a new beginning.
~~
A/N: I actually got both of the first reasons from the story 'Back in the Saddle Again'. I didn't ask permission to use them, and I'd like to say sorry to the author if he/she is reading this. Please forgive me! I don't know much about the start and end of the soccer season, but in this, it'll end in January or something. Also, I don't know if they would celebrate Christmas or not, but in this, they do.
As I said earlier, I do have ideas for a sequel, but only if I get enough reviews asking for it. In case you care, here's what I've got of a summary so far: The missions have gone without a problem ever since the first one where Ran was put in a coma. Now another problem arises when a mysterious chemical is sprayed at three of the members. Why do they suddenly want to go to an Amusement Park? And why is Schuldich buying Pull-Ups?
There you go. That's what I have of a summary so far, but it could take awhile for me to get it up even if I get a lot of review asking for it immediately. School's starting up soon and I still have to go. v.v;;
~~
"Leave!"
"Ran, I thought you were working on that!"
"I am, but if I have to listen to one more girl singing annoying carols, I'm going to murder someone!"
"Jingle bells, jingle bells- "
"Ken, I suggest you stop!"
"Why?"
"Ran's about to lose it with all these songs."
"Oh . . . Grandma got run over by a reindeer, walking home from our house- "
"WHAT are you singing?"
"I heard that on this CD Schuldich got! It's funny! See, this grandma is walking home after getting drunk on eggnog, and gets run over by Santa and the reindeer!"
"KEN! How could you go into my room without asking?"
"I didn't. It was in the CD player in the living room."
"Well, that's okay, then."
It had been three months since Ran had woken up, and Christmas was right around the corner. After Ran had woken up, the others had spent almost every afternoon trying to get him and Brad to act like normal people, and to get Ran to open up. He had been acting nicer towards the girls in the shop; all the Christmas carols and lights were beginning to get to him.
Ken had begun starting every shift singing a different Christmas song. Unfortunately, so had Farfarello. Both had good voices, but after three weeks of two different songs in the morning, and the others' music at night was beginning to wear him thin. He groaned as Farfarello walked in, also singing.
"I'm gettin' not'in' for Christmas; Mommy and Daddy are mad! I'm getting' not'in' for Christmas, 'cause I ain't been not'in but bad!"
Ran whimpered and began to repeatedly bang his head into the counter. Schuldich walked up behind him and placed his hand on Ran's shoulder. Ran looked up into his brother's face, dazed from hitting his head so many times. "Why don't I take over for you today?" Schuldich suggested. Ran nodded and headed next door to get away from the noise.
~~
"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Ke~en, happy birthday to you!" Ken blew out the candles on the cake after making a wish. As soon as the cake was served, everyone left the room, returning a few seconds later and depositing wrapped boxes at Ken's face. Ken's face lit up as he looked first at the boxes, and then at the people who gave them to him.
"I get eight? Really?!" The others laughed as Ken bounced in his seat.
"What did you expect?" Nagi asked.
"Usually it's three presents. One from Ran, one from Yohji, and one from Omi." Ken was still looking at the presents in joyous disbelief as he said it.
"Well, there are eight members of Weiss now, and Manx has a reason to come if there isn't a mission. Because of that, there are eight now," Omi reminded him patiently, knowing that Ken wouldn't be able to wait much longer. Sure enough, less than a minute later, Ken was shredding the paper to see what he had been given.
He had gotten a new soccer ball from Brad, cleats from Schuldich, a jersey from Yohji, and a 'Soccer for Dummies' book from Farfarello. Nagi and Omi gave him tickets to a soccer game, Manx got him a book on coaching and strategies, and there was a $300 gift certificate to a sports store from Ran. Ken's eyes were shining when he looked up at his friends. "Thank you!" he mouthed, unable to make sound come out.
"I believe this is the first successful attempt at getting him to be quiet that didn't involve knocking him out," Yohji whispered to Farfarello, getting a laugh out of the Irish man. Brad then elbowed Yohji in the ribs.
~~
Two days later was Christmas, and everyone, even Yohji and Schuldich, managed to get up early. Manx arrived at about 8:30. After eating breakfast and talking, Ken, Farf, and the chibis couldn't wait any longer. Everyone headed upstairs to the living room, where there were 72 gifts under, beside, and around the tree.
"Maybe next year we'll just draw for a Secret Santa," Omi suggested, eyeing all the presents. Everyone had bought one gift for each other person, giving everyone eight gifts.
"That's pointless," Nagi responded, "Schuldich would just read our minds to find out what he was being given, and then would alter that person's thoughts to get what he wanted."
"I would not!" Nagi merely raised an eyebrow and settled himself on one of the two armchairs in the upstairs living room. Omi had taken the other armchair, Yohji and Manx were sharing one of the love seats, and Schuldich and Ran were sharing the other. Farfarello, Brad, and Ken had taken the couch. The gifts were distributed and everyone began opening their gifts.
~~
"Is this some sort of hint?" Yohji asked, holding up the third shirt he had received.
"Yes," Ran answered. "One of those shirts would be better for missions clothes for one thing."
"What's wrong with what I wear now?"
"Hmm, well, #1: Right now you look like a gay cowboy. #2: That paint on your chest is like a giant target.** #3: I'm getting sick of hearing you complain about being cold."
"I want a hippopotamus for Christmas; only a hippopotamus will do! No crocodiles, rhinoceroses, I only like hippopotamuses! And hippos like me, too!"
"You like hippos, Farf?" Omi asked as Farfie sang and opened the gift from Omi.
"Hippos are the best pets in the world!" Farf exclaimed, struggling with the tape holding the paper to the box. "Look! A hippo!"
Omi smiled as Farfarello held up his stuffed hippo. "I thought you might like a stuffed animal . . . I don't know why . . . "
"Are you going to name it, Farf?" Schuldich asked, smirking.
"Um . . . Momoe?"
"Why Momoe?"
"'Cause that's the name of the lady that owns the flower shop. The hippo's fat, and so is she!"
"Be nice to Momoe-san! She helped chip in to buy you the carrot peeler and the knife set you got for your birthday," Omi reminded him. Farfarello shrugged and told them that the hippo's name was 'Griff'.
"Do we even want to know why he chose Griff?" Nagi asked.
"You won't mind it," Brad told him.
"He's a hippo, and his name's Griff. He's hippo Griff. Like hippogriff from Harry Potter." Farfarello had gotten the first three Harry Potter books for his birthday, and couldn't get enough of them. He had received books four and five for Christmas, and had to be told to open the rest of his gifts instead of stopping there and starting to read.
"Yohji, why did you get me these?" Manx asked, holding up a box. Everyone else in the room tried to hide laughter.
"To . . . uh . . . keep you safe when you and Persia get together," Yohji explained, trying to remember if that was the real reason, or if he had just bought the condoms in a fit of drunken stupidity. Manx shook her head and moved her attention to another box.
~~
The next birthday they celebrated was Schuldich's, on January 12th. No one bought him anything until the eleventh in an attempt to keep him from knowing what they got. Thankfully, Schuldich had promised not to look into their heads if they promised to try and keep their thoughts on something else.
As a gift to himself, Schuldich took Ran out for a day to get to know him better. Even though they had lived and worked together for almost a year, he still knew next to nothing about his younger brother. During the day, they went to a coffee shop, one of Ran's favorite parks, and the cemetery. Ran was surprised that Schuldich knew where Lanen's grave was, but he tried not to say anything about it.
The brothers managed to talk and get to know each other. By the end of the day, though, Schu was ready to kill Kouga. Ran was ready to tear apart Esset piece by piece. On the way home they passed an ice cream shop and decided to stop.
"Are you sure Ken likes Strawberry?" Schuldich asked.
"Yes. Are you sure Brad will like the Pralines?"
"Brad loves Praline. Farf prefers coffee flavor, but he'll have to settle for Bubble Gum."
"They had Coffee, why didn't you get it for him?"
"He has enough energy as it is. What else did we get, again?"
"Mint Chocolate Chip for Nagi, Cookie Dough for Omi, Chocolate for Yohji, Blueberry for you, and Cherry for me."
"Oh, right."
When they got home, Brad was the only one with a complaint. "Schuldich, you know I don't like Praline. You do."
"Then what do you like?" Schu asked.
"Blueberry. What possessed you to buy it for yourself? You never miss an opportunity to say it's disgusting."
"I must have just had you on my mind," Schu responded with a wink, trading ice creams with Brad.
~~
"Ah, come on! Please? It's just one game!"
"No, Ken."
"What's going on?"
"Schu, Ran won't go to the game with me!"
"Ran, how cruel! Just go to the game with him."
"Why me?"
"Because you're the one he asked."
"Yeah, so please?
"Fine."
~~
"Ken, why did you want me to come with you?"
"To . . . get you into culture?"
"That would mean ballet and opera. Not a soccer game."
"To get you into today's culture?"
"Just tell me, Ken."
"Because I thought it would be fun to go with you."
"But you would probably have more fun here with one of the others. Farfarello would have gotten into it."
"Yeah, but I wanted to go with you."
"Again, why?"
"I just wanted to!" Ken said, blushing. Ran finally understood what Ken *wasn't* saying, and blushed as well. Neither looked at the other for a few minutes, but when they did, both were wearing shy smiles.
~~
"Mission," Manx announced, walking into the flower shop. There were no customers, so she was able to say it out loud. The guys closed the shop and headed to the basement. All eight had been in the shop, so they were able to start right away.
When the lights were turned back on, Manx looked from face to face. "This mission only requires three people. Persia has decided to let the eight of you decide who will go." No one was surprised when Ran volunteered, or when Schuldich insisted on going with him. Ken volunteered to be the third person to go.
They left at 10:45 that night, and got back at 2:00 the next morning. Schuldich looked like he was caught between blushing and wanting to throw up. Omi and Nagi tried asking about it, but that just made him turn red and run out of the room. The two technicians looked into the living room to ask if Ran or Ken would explain, and found the reason Schuldich was acting strange.
Ken had Ran pressed against the wall and was kissing the braided man thoroughly. Ran obviously wasn't arguing with him. Omi and Nagi backed away from the banister and headed back to the living room. There was no sense in alerting them to their presence if Schuldich was fighting a nosebleed.
~~
The next morning, though, Schu had recovered from his shock and begun teasing the younger two mercilessly. "So, how long have you been together?" he asked, stressing the last word.
Ran didn't look up from where he was making breakfast, but Ken smiled at Schuldich. "Well, our first kiss was on the date you talked Ran into going on with me."
"I never talked Ran into- You wanted him to go with you as a date?!"
"Yep. Thanks for talking him into going with me. Makes you feel like the perfect older brother, doesn't it?" Ran snorted when he heard Schuldich sputtering for a response.
"H- have you . . . ?"
"Nah." Ken looked at Ran, who was beginning to blush at the turn in the conversation. "But- "
"I don't need to know!" Schu shouted, covering his ears and shutting his eyes. Ken laughed and sent him a mental picture. "AH! Leave my brother alone!" Schuldich yelled, scratching at his temples. Then he stopped and looked over at Ken. "I wouldn't have thought of you as the kind to be interested in bondage." Ran choked on his coffee at that statement and glared at Ken.
"What are you planning on doing?" Ken just smiled and looked innocent. Ran turned to Schuldich. "I told you and Yohji to stop making all those innuendoes in his presence. Do you see why now?"
"Better than you can," Schu muttered. "By the way, how did this conversation get turned against me?"
"You asked about your brother's sex life."
"Right."
~~
A few weeks later, Ken and Ran were still going out, but everyone had pretty much accepted it. Even Brad had wished them well. Farfarello had checked in his room, but found no voodoo materials, so they considered his blessing to be sincere.
A few more missions had been undertaken, but none ended with the problems that the first had. A couple more months (and birthdays) went by, and everyone settled in with each other fully. It was almost impossible to tell that they had not always lived and worked together. Being a team, and dealing with the secrets unveiled because of that, had given them all a chance at a new beginning.
~~
A/N: I actually got both of the first reasons from the story 'Back in the Saddle Again'. I didn't ask permission to use them, and I'd like to say sorry to the author if he/she is reading this. Please forgive me! I don't know much about the start and end of the soccer season, but in this, it'll end in January or something. Also, I don't know if they would celebrate Christmas or not, but in this, they do.
As I said earlier, I do have ideas for a sequel, but only if I get enough reviews asking for it. In case you care, here's what I've got of a summary so far: The missions have gone without a problem ever since the first one where Ran was put in a coma. Now another problem arises when a mysterious chemical is sprayed at three of the members. Why do they suddenly want to go to an Amusement Park? And why is Schuldich buying Pull-Ups?
There you go. That's what I have of a summary so far, but it could take awhile for me to get it up even if I get a lot of review asking for it immediately. School's starting up soon and I still have to go. v.v;;
