This story is told from Ken's point of view after losing everything.
R&R please! ~Arzetta
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the guys in Weis or Schwarz for that matter! Warnings: There really aren't any with the exception of some slight rough language in one part. Enjoy! ************************************************************************
It was just another mission, like any other mission we'd been on before. Little did we know it was to be our last and it went all-wrong.
We had been ordered to break into a crime bosses house and take him out along with his second in command. They had been running illegal drugs and been the cause of one too many deaths of late. It was a large Victorian style house with a high roof and a turret on one side, painted light cream colors with dark wood doors. It struck me as odd that you would find such a house here when it was better suited to America.
I don't remember much but I do remember that we were surprised by Schwarz's presence as much as they were surprised at ours. The fights began and I could see Ran, he was staring down Oracle, who had that all-knowing smug grin on his face. The Irishman, Berserker, made a mad dash for me, then some thing happened that none of us expected, the house began to rumble and quake. We all ran for a door, a window; any thing that would get us out of the doomed house and then there was a bright flash of pure white light accompanied by a roaring sound like a runaway freight train. The next thing I remember was waking up in a hospital bed surrounded by people, medical staff.
As soon as I could I began to ask questions, "Where am I? What happened? Where are my companions?" None of my questions were answered, no one had heard of us or of me. I spent two weeks in the hospital recovering from my injuries that I had endured. When I was released there were some nurses who were nice enough to provide me with some clothes in a backpack and a little money. All of the things I had when I was brought in were gone they said and were sorry about it. I thanked them and left, the next place I went was our old place and the flower shop. It was gone, and in its place was a Baby Gap. I felt confused and spent some time wandering around the section of city I had spent so much time in. After awhile I found a place to stay, it was a small apartment that was in a building across from the old place. When I looked out the window I could almost see into my old room.
I lived hand to mouth for a month or more as I tried to find a job, but no one would hire me. Everyday I searched and tried to find out what had become of my companions, no, family more like, because that was what they had become. Especially Ran, he was the most important to me. I had been in love with Ran for forever it seemed, but it had only been in the last year and a half that he had found out about it. Turned out he felt the same way about me and we began dating. I had to find him, my life was falling apart and I needed him more than ever. I became nearly broke, half starved and emotionally drained.
I went everywhere asking everyone; from people I had seen every day to perfect strangers. None of them remembered Ran, Omi or Yohji. They didn't even remember me! I visited Yohji's old hangouts and talked with his old girlfriends, they didn't recall him. Omi's school was of no help either and try as I might I could not find Ran's sister Aya. She had been attending a private all girls' school and when I enquired there about her they told me there was no one there by that name. The house where we had had our last stand was gone but I had hoped that maybe there would be some kind of tell tale fragments of it left that I could go through but no, the lot was empty and due for commercial renovations. The last shred of evidence that might have proved anything was gone and it was as if none of us had ever existed.
A few days later I received a small manila envelope in the mail. Which was very odd being that I hadn't received a single piece of mail in a month or more with the exception of bills and those I had a hard time paying, in fact I was on the verge of being kicked out of my apartment if I didn't pay my rent soon. When I opened the envelope I pulled out two letters, a passport and a stack of cash. I was really worried now and read the letters over carefully. The first one was from a legal system and stated that my name was now legally changed to Jayzon Ishida. The second was a typed out letter with no signature, it said that there in the envelope was everything I would need to start a new life somewhere else. There would be money in a Swiss bank account, more money than I would ever need, I could pick my location and be provided with a brand new car of my choice and a fully furnished and staffed house. But there was one catch, it said I had to leave Japan and never come back and I had three days to decide. It left me outraged! I wasn't about to sell myself down the river! I had to find them even if it took the rest of my life. Which had suddenly become very complicated and hard.I cried a lot.
Three days later I came home from being out late, I didn't have a car or my bike so I walked everywhere. That night I came home to find that the door of my apartment had been forced, the evidence was small and almost unnoticeable to the untrained eye, but I was an assassin, trained to watch and find the little things. The little things some times make all the difference and all of my instincts were screaming at me that some thing wasn't right. As I slowly opened the door some one came flying out of the darkness at me, dodging aside I watched as they stumbled at first but were quick to come round again. This time I was ready for them, even unarmed as I was, I still could fight. We clashed in a tumbled of arms and legs and rolled on the floor for a while knocking over my coffee table. I came out on top; straddling them I looked down at my assailant. It was a tanned young man with dark hair and amber eyes, he grinned maliciously at me.
"Who are you?" I demanded.
Amber eyes didn't say anything; he just kept grinning. That's when I heard the laughter; it was deep and had the tone of some one who enjoyed watching others struggle. Looking up my mind told me that I knew that voice and some times dreaded it. It was none other than our illustrious leader, the man who had brought us together and now it seemed, had made us disappear. It was Persia, the man who had made our lives hell for the last six months.
Jumping up I whipped around to find Persia sitting at my table, there was a man on either side of him and he was grinning bemusedly at me. "You son of a bitch! You dirty rotten bastard!" I screamed and tried to jump the table to get at him. I wanted nothing more than to strangle him but his two goons including amber eyes pulled me back. Struggling against them I yelled questions at him, "Where are they? Where is my family?"
"Family?" Persia asked incredulously, "I don't know, Hidaka, nor do I care!"
"Don't play games with me Persia!" I snapped.
"I never play games!" Persia replied seriously. "If you mean your co- workers, I can tell you that they are all dead. The remains were not found for two of them and Manx is also dead as of last night in a horrible car accident."
As he said this I saw amber eyes smile, I remember that and I know now I should have paid attention to it but I blew it off because I was more concerned about Ran. "What about Ran and his sister, Aya?" I asked.
"Ran is dead," Persia responded then finished tersely, "Weren't you listening? Aya is now a ward of the state and has had a name change and been sent to another country to begin again as a rich young heiress." He paused here to straighten his tie, "Which really is your only option Hidaka unless you'd like to defy me, because if you do, you can always die now." Persia said a little menacingly, "Leave Japan and begin a new life, we'll have everything ready for you. Whatever you have need of, it will be yours. But, you must never come back here, the days of the white hunters are over."
I nodded remembering that same phrase being said by Manx when we were working on the case of the city gangs where some one I had known along time ago of mine had been involved. I had heard all that Persia had said and the news hit me like a ton of bricks. My stomach felt knotted up and there was a lump in my throat that made it hard to speak. "I'll go," I said quietly knowing the truth that now there really wasn't anything left here for me. Looking at my feet, "Where is Ran buried?" I asked and looked up at him.
"What?" Persia asked almost incredulously as if he didn't think I would want to know.
That is when I snapped; throwing off the three men who were larger than me with almost animal like strength I jumped up and came over the table. Grabbing Persia by the front of his suit coat I began shaking him, "Where is he?" I demanded before I was once again drug off by his goons.
Straightening his tie, Persia looked at me, "Fujimiya is buried in the little graveyard just outside the village where he grew up. It's owned and cared for by a group of monks."
"Does he have a stone? Was he planted under a cherry tree?" I asked. Ran had loved cherry trees; he had planted one for his sister at the private school she had been attending. I knew of the village, one Takanda by name. Ran had told me about it one night, it was some thing he had never told any one. I was surprised but then again not surprised to learn the Persia knew.
"Yes he has a stone. But there are no cherry trees." Persia said as he stood up.
"Fine, I will leave tomorrow if need be. But I am going to visit Ran's grave before I leave." I stated tersely.
"Agreed." Persia said, "We'll have some one here for you in the morning to take you to the airport. We'll also have you ticket ready along with everything else. Any particular place you'd like to go?"
"No." I replied flatly, "Just a large city some where far from here."
"Done." Persia said his voice filled with satisfaction, knowing he had won. As he stood he said in a rather smirking voice, "Pleasure doing business with you, Ishida." using the name I had been given by the legal system. Then he left with his goons following him, amber eyes looked back at me as if to say, "It's not over between us." Then he too left slamming the door shut behind him.
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The next morning a loud knocking on my door awakened me. Running a hand through my unruly brown hair as I walked I opened the door of my apartment to see a tall pale young man with dark eyes dressed is a crisp smoke gray limo drivers suit. His hair was short, jet-black and parted on one side of his head and he smelled slightly of some thing I couldn't name.
"Yes?" I asked
"Jayzon Ishida, sir?" the young man asked nervously.
"No, I'm Ken Hidaka." I replied as I looked at him, it occurred to me that he seemed very familiar like we had met before but I couldn't place him.
"Sir, I was told to come to this address and pick up a young man of your description." He told me and handed me a tiny slip of paper where, sure enough my address and what I looked like was written down. The name on it threw me till I remember that was the same name that was on the passport and papers I had received in the mail. The man standing at my door had to be the person that Persia said would come to pick me up.
"It's okay you're at the right place. You are?" Shaking my head I started back towards the tiny bedroom to collect what little I still owned. After stuffing a few things in a bag and putting on my shoes I left the apartment to stand in the hall with the driver.
"Lawrence, your driver and butler, sir," the young man replied with a nod of his head.
"Lawrence." I said as if to try the name out. We walked down the hall stopping at my land lady's apartment so I could give her my key, after that we went down to the front entrance and there sat a long black limo, the kind with the tinted windows and a window in between the driver and passenger that went up and down.
Lawrence opened one of the back doors and gestured for me to get in and I did. I wasn't sure what else to do, it was quite a bit to take in after what I had just been through. The inside of the limo was done in plush black suede leather; there was a small television, a place for drinks and a phone in one of the arms of the chair. I looked up front to see Lawrence looking at me with a wry smile on his face, that smile looked familiar but still try as I might I couldn't place it.
"Where to sir? I've also got a package here for you sir, I was told to give it to you after you got in the limo." Lawrence said and handed me a large manila envelope.
Taking it from him I looked at carefully, slowly I popped the tab and opened the envelope. "A green house, and then to the fishing village of Takanda's cemetery." I replied and pulled out the contents of the envelope, there were two airline tickets for a private jet to where ever I might desire and an air freight slip for the limo along with real-estate pictures from all over the world of large houses, condos, high rise apartments and all of them came fully staffed.
"Very good sir." Lawrence replied and drove the limo away from the building and down the street.
I can't recall much of the ride in between Tokyo and Takanda, just the little green house we stopped at where an old woman with dark silver colored hair helped me pick out a small cherry tree with pale colored blossoms on it. She told me that it would be delivered and planted over Ran's grave. I thanked her and paid for it then got back in the limo all the while Lawrence watched in silence and did whatever I asked of him with a sharp nod and the phrase, "very good sir." Then we went to the cemetery and that in will remember all of my life.
The sky was gray and the wind was slightly chilly and there as we drove up was the small graveyard on a hill, looking very bleak and lonely. There was a very pleasant rather round monk at the front gate who let us in, Brother Kenichi was his name.
"Can you tell me where Fujimiya Ran is buried? I asked
"Fujimiya?" Brother Kenichi questioned more to himself than us. "Yes, he's buried in the back near the fence. The buried him there a week ago yesterday, it was a very odd funeral, no one came except for a tall man with dark hair who claimed to be the deceased father."
I nodded knowing full well it wasn't Ran's father that had come out here, Ran parents were dead, killed in a mysterious accident three years ago during the Christmas holidays. "Thank you." I said and began walking back to the back of the cemetery, all the while Lawrence followed in the limo. When I found the stone I dropped to my knees in front of, it had nothing but his name and the dates of his birth and in my opinion very untimely demise, it seemed so lonely and cold some how. Running on hand over his name I began to cry, "Oh Ran," the tears ran freely down my face, " I miss you so much!" I laid my forehead on the stone and told him everything that had happened to me and that the rest of our family was dead and I was all- alone now. "Ran, I'm sorry but I couldn't find Aya. I searched everywhere for her. I wish I had been able to find her." I sighed, "I have to leave now and I'm not sure if I will ever be able to come back and visit you. But I did get you a cherry tree, I know you'll like that." I kissed the stone and stood up, "Goodbye Ran, know that I will always love you."
With that said I stood up and made my way back to the limo where Lawrence waited for me one door held open. I didn't look back as we left, knowing full well that I was leaving my old life behind me and could never come home again. I told Lawrence to take us to the airport where the jet waited and that was the last I ever saw of Japan again.
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Well there it is, I hope you all liked it. If you did I'll post the rest of it. Let me know okay! ~Arzetta
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the guys in Weis or Schwarz for that matter! Warnings: There really aren't any with the exception of some slight rough language in one part. Enjoy! ************************************************************************
It was just another mission, like any other mission we'd been on before. Little did we know it was to be our last and it went all-wrong.
We had been ordered to break into a crime bosses house and take him out along with his second in command. They had been running illegal drugs and been the cause of one too many deaths of late. It was a large Victorian style house with a high roof and a turret on one side, painted light cream colors with dark wood doors. It struck me as odd that you would find such a house here when it was better suited to America.
I don't remember much but I do remember that we were surprised by Schwarz's presence as much as they were surprised at ours. The fights began and I could see Ran, he was staring down Oracle, who had that all-knowing smug grin on his face. The Irishman, Berserker, made a mad dash for me, then some thing happened that none of us expected, the house began to rumble and quake. We all ran for a door, a window; any thing that would get us out of the doomed house and then there was a bright flash of pure white light accompanied by a roaring sound like a runaway freight train. The next thing I remember was waking up in a hospital bed surrounded by people, medical staff.
As soon as I could I began to ask questions, "Where am I? What happened? Where are my companions?" None of my questions were answered, no one had heard of us or of me. I spent two weeks in the hospital recovering from my injuries that I had endured. When I was released there were some nurses who were nice enough to provide me with some clothes in a backpack and a little money. All of the things I had when I was brought in were gone they said and were sorry about it. I thanked them and left, the next place I went was our old place and the flower shop. It was gone, and in its place was a Baby Gap. I felt confused and spent some time wandering around the section of city I had spent so much time in. After awhile I found a place to stay, it was a small apartment that was in a building across from the old place. When I looked out the window I could almost see into my old room.
I lived hand to mouth for a month or more as I tried to find a job, but no one would hire me. Everyday I searched and tried to find out what had become of my companions, no, family more like, because that was what they had become. Especially Ran, he was the most important to me. I had been in love with Ran for forever it seemed, but it had only been in the last year and a half that he had found out about it. Turned out he felt the same way about me and we began dating. I had to find him, my life was falling apart and I needed him more than ever. I became nearly broke, half starved and emotionally drained.
I went everywhere asking everyone; from people I had seen every day to perfect strangers. None of them remembered Ran, Omi or Yohji. They didn't even remember me! I visited Yohji's old hangouts and talked with his old girlfriends, they didn't recall him. Omi's school was of no help either and try as I might I could not find Ran's sister Aya. She had been attending a private all girls' school and when I enquired there about her they told me there was no one there by that name. The house where we had had our last stand was gone but I had hoped that maybe there would be some kind of tell tale fragments of it left that I could go through but no, the lot was empty and due for commercial renovations. The last shred of evidence that might have proved anything was gone and it was as if none of us had ever existed.
A few days later I received a small manila envelope in the mail. Which was very odd being that I hadn't received a single piece of mail in a month or more with the exception of bills and those I had a hard time paying, in fact I was on the verge of being kicked out of my apartment if I didn't pay my rent soon. When I opened the envelope I pulled out two letters, a passport and a stack of cash. I was really worried now and read the letters over carefully. The first one was from a legal system and stated that my name was now legally changed to Jayzon Ishida. The second was a typed out letter with no signature, it said that there in the envelope was everything I would need to start a new life somewhere else. There would be money in a Swiss bank account, more money than I would ever need, I could pick my location and be provided with a brand new car of my choice and a fully furnished and staffed house. But there was one catch, it said I had to leave Japan and never come back and I had three days to decide. It left me outraged! I wasn't about to sell myself down the river! I had to find them even if it took the rest of my life. Which had suddenly become very complicated and hard.I cried a lot.
Three days later I came home from being out late, I didn't have a car or my bike so I walked everywhere. That night I came home to find that the door of my apartment had been forced, the evidence was small and almost unnoticeable to the untrained eye, but I was an assassin, trained to watch and find the little things. The little things some times make all the difference and all of my instincts were screaming at me that some thing wasn't right. As I slowly opened the door some one came flying out of the darkness at me, dodging aside I watched as they stumbled at first but were quick to come round again. This time I was ready for them, even unarmed as I was, I still could fight. We clashed in a tumbled of arms and legs and rolled on the floor for a while knocking over my coffee table. I came out on top; straddling them I looked down at my assailant. It was a tanned young man with dark hair and amber eyes, he grinned maliciously at me.
"Who are you?" I demanded.
Amber eyes didn't say anything; he just kept grinning. That's when I heard the laughter; it was deep and had the tone of some one who enjoyed watching others struggle. Looking up my mind told me that I knew that voice and some times dreaded it. It was none other than our illustrious leader, the man who had brought us together and now it seemed, had made us disappear. It was Persia, the man who had made our lives hell for the last six months.
Jumping up I whipped around to find Persia sitting at my table, there was a man on either side of him and he was grinning bemusedly at me. "You son of a bitch! You dirty rotten bastard!" I screamed and tried to jump the table to get at him. I wanted nothing more than to strangle him but his two goons including amber eyes pulled me back. Struggling against them I yelled questions at him, "Where are they? Where is my family?"
"Family?" Persia asked incredulously, "I don't know, Hidaka, nor do I care!"
"Don't play games with me Persia!" I snapped.
"I never play games!" Persia replied seriously. "If you mean your co- workers, I can tell you that they are all dead. The remains were not found for two of them and Manx is also dead as of last night in a horrible car accident."
As he said this I saw amber eyes smile, I remember that and I know now I should have paid attention to it but I blew it off because I was more concerned about Ran. "What about Ran and his sister, Aya?" I asked.
"Ran is dead," Persia responded then finished tersely, "Weren't you listening? Aya is now a ward of the state and has had a name change and been sent to another country to begin again as a rich young heiress." He paused here to straighten his tie, "Which really is your only option Hidaka unless you'd like to defy me, because if you do, you can always die now." Persia said a little menacingly, "Leave Japan and begin a new life, we'll have everything ready for you. Whatever you have need of, it will be yours. But, you must never come back here, the days of the white hunters are over."
I nodded remembering that same phrase being said by Manx when we were working on the case of the city gangs where some one I had known along time ago of mine had been involved. I had heard all that Persia had said and the news hit me like a ton of bricks. My stomach felt knotted up and there was a lump in my throat that made it hard to speak. "I'll go," I said quietly knowing the truth that now there really wasn't anything left here for me. Looking at my feet, "Where is Ran buried?" I asked and looked up at him.
"What?" Persia asked almost incredulously as if he didn't think I would want to know.
That is when I snapped; throwing off the three men who were larger than me with almost animal like strength I jumped up and came over the table. Grabbing Persia by the front of his suit coat I began shaking him, "Where is he?" I demanded before I was once again drug off by his goons.
Straightening his tie, Persia looked at me, "Fujimiya is buried in the little graveyard just outside the village where he grew up. It's owned and cared for by a group of monks."
"Does he have a stone? Was he planted under a cherry tree?" I asked. Ran had loved cherry trees; he had planted one for his sister at the private school she had been attending. I knew of the village, one Takanda by name. Ran had told me about it one night, it was some thing he had never told any one. I was surprised but then again not surprised to learn the Persia knew.
"Yes he has a stone. But there are no cherry trees." Persia said as he stood up.
"Fine, I will leave tomorrow if need be. But I am going to visit Ran's grave before I leave." I stated tersely.
"Agreed." Persia said, "We'll have some one here for you in the morning to take you to the airport. We'll also have you ticket ready along with everything else. Any particular place you'd like to go?"
"No." I replied flatly, "Just a large city some where far from here."
"Done." Persia said his voice filled with satisfaction, knowing he had won. As he stood he said in a rather smirking voice, "Pleasure doing business with you, Ishida." using the name I had been given by the legal system. Then he left with his goons following him, amber eyes looked back at me as if to say, "It's not over between us." Then he too left slamming the door shut behind him.
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The next morning a loud knocking on my door awakened me. Running a hand through my unruly brown hair as I walked I opened the door of my apartment to see a tall pale young man with dark eyes dressed is a crisp smoke gray limo drivers suit. His hair was short, jet-black and parted on one side of his head and he smelled slightly of some thing I couldn't name.
"Yes?" I asked
"Jayzon Ishida, sir?" the young man asked nervously.
"No, I'm Ken Hidaka." I replied as I looked at him, it occurred to me that he seemed very familiar like we had met before but I couldn't place him.
"Sir, I was told to come to this address and pick up a young man of your description." He told me and handed me a tiny slip of paper where, sure enough my address and what I looked like was written down. The name on it threw me till I remember that was the same name that was on the passport and papers I had received in the mail. The man standing at my door had to be the person that Persia said would come to pick me up.
"It's okay you're at the right place. You are?" Shaking my head I started back towards the tiny bedroom to collect what little I still owned. After stuffing a few things in a bag and putting on my shoes I left the apartment to stand in the hall with the driver.
"Lawrence, your driver and butler, sir," the young man replied with a nod of his head.
"Lawrence." I said as if to try the name out. We walked down the hall stopping at my land lady's apartment so I could give her my key, after that we went down to the front entrance and there sat a long black limo, the kind with the tinted windows and a window in between the driver and passenger that went up and down.
Lawrence opened one of the back doors and gestured for me to get in and I did. I wasn't sure what else to do, it was quite a bit to take in after what I had just been through. The inside of the limo was done in plush black suede leather; there was a small television, a place for drinks and a phone in one of the arms of the chair. I looked up front to see Lawrence looking at me with a wry smile on his face, that smile looked familiar but still try as I might I couldn't place it.
"Where to sir? I've also got a package here for you sir, I was told to give it to you after you got in the limo." Lawrence said and handed me a large manila envelope.
Taking it from him I looked at carefully, slowly I popped the tab and opened the envelope. "A green house, and then to the fishing village of Takanda's cemetery." I replied and pulled out the contents of the envelope, there were two airline tickets for a private jet to where ever I might desire and an air freight slip for the limo along with real-estate pictures from all over the world of large houses, condos, high rise apartments and all of them came fully staffed.
"Very good sir." Lawrence replied and drove the limo away from the building and down the street.
I can't recall much of the ride in between Tokyo and Takanda, just the little green house we stopped at where an old woman with dark silver colored hair helped me pick out a small cherry tree with pale colored blossoms on it. She told me that it would be delivered and planted over Ran's grave. I thanked her and paid for it then got back in the limo all the while Lawrence watched in silence and did whatever I asked of him with a sharp nod and the phrase, "very good sir." Then we went to the cemetery and that in will remember all of my life.
The sky was gray and the wind was slightly chilly and there as we drove up was the small graveyard on a hill, looking very bleak and lonely. There was a very pleasant rather round monk at the front gate who let us in, Brother Kenichi was his name.
"Can you tell me where Fujimiya Ran is buried? I asked
"Fujimiya?" Brother Kenichi questioned more to himself than us. "Yes, he's buried in the back near the fence. The buried him there a week ago yesterday, it was a very odd funeral, no one came except for a tall man with dark hair who claimed to be the deceased father."
I nodded knowing full well it wasn't Ran's father that had come out here, Ran parents were dead, killed in a mysterious accident three years ago during the Christmas holidays. "Thank you." I said and began walking back to the back of the cemetery, all the while Lawrence followed in the limo. When I found the stone I dropped to my knees in front of, it had nothing but his name and the dates of his birth and in my opinion very untimely demise, it seemed so lonely and cold some how. Running on hand over his name I began to cry, "Oh Ran," the tears ran freely down my face, " I miss you so much!" I laid my forehead on the stone and told him everything that had happened to me and that the rest of our family was dead and I was all- alone now. "Ran, I'm sorry but I couldn't find Aya. I searched everywhere for her. I wish I had been able to find her." I sighed, "I have to leave now and I'm not sure if I will ever be able to come back and visit you. But I did get you a cherry tree, I know you'll like that." I kissed the stone and stood up, "Goodbye Ran, know that I will always love you."
With that said I stood up and made my way back to the limo where Lawrence waited for me one door held open. I didn't look back as we left, knowing full well that I was leaving my old life behind me and could never come home again. I told Lawrence to take us to the airport where the jet waited and that was the last I ever saw of Japan again.
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Well there it is, I hope you all liked it. If you did I'll post the rest of it. Let me know okay! ~Arzetta