Schuldich knew that something was wrong the moment that he stepped into the elevator .
At first it was just a nagging sensation , the kind you get when you suddenly remember that you had kept the water running or had forgotten to turn off the lights in the kitchen , but slowly , the feeling grew larger and more formidable ; like a recurring nightmare snapping at your heels .
He gripped the bouquet tightly , crushing the plastic wrapper in his hands .
He'd bought the flowers earlier from the Koneko no Sumu Ie , the flowershop where Aya used to work and he still hadn't been able to return to Ken to give it to him .
It had taken him several hours to smoothen out the details of Aya's funeral which was going to happen the next day , especially since it was such in such short notice . The truth of the matter was , he wanted Aya's funeral as soon as possible so that Ken wouldn't find out that Aya had died . Not yet .
He watched the glowing digits of the elevator crawl slowly one into another and he heard the ting! As the door opened , he felt something almost akin to relief . He was finally back !
I'm almost there ...
He couldn't help but keep the smile of anticipation on his face .
Those several hours that he was gone from Ken's side was enough to keep his nerves frayed in worry . After all , anything could happen in a few hours and he wanted to be by Ken's side all the time if that was even possible .
His brows knotted in apprehension when he caught sight of the two boys . Omi and Nagi , they said their names were . They were sitting next to each other on a bench , looking like they had been through hell .
He strode to them , and towered over just long enough for them to look up . " You've seen Ken ?" He asked , gesturing with his occupied hand to the room that Ken was in .
The moment Omi saw him , he burst into tears and buried his face into his friend's chest . " He's not there anymore ." Nagi said quietly , almost solemnly .
" What ?!" The throbbing came back again , he could almost feel his hands shaking at the unbroken news .
" I'm sorry . We didn't mean to ! It's just ... Oh God ! I can't believe he's ... Ken's ..." Omi sobbed , his big blue eyes filled with so much sadness and regret .
Schuldich's heart jumped to his mouth .
It can't be !
Ken can't be ... !
" Ken !"
The bouquet of blue-violet gentians fell from his unfeeling fingers and were viciously mutilated by his boots . He ran to the door of Ken's hospital room and threw it violently open , almost tearing it off its hinges .
His eyes fell on the bed .
It was empty .
† † †
Sidestory ... sort-of ...
**REDEMPTION_MOON :** Can it be that ... that Kenken's dead ?!!! *bursts into tears* Noooooooooo !!!! He can't die ! Oh God no ! *crumples down onto the floor, sobbing uncontrollably .*
Ken : *kicks her* Baka . You're the one who's controlling the story .
Schuldich : ¬_____¬ If I didn't know any better , I'd say she's enjoying this .
Ken : I agree . She's torturing the readers as well as you and me .
Schuldich : I think she deserves to be punished , don't you ?
Ken : She does . And it's so damn near Christmas too .
Schuldich : *stares at RM who's giving them puppy eyes* Mein Gott . She really takes the cake . One of the weirdest I've seen around .
Ken : But you have to admit , she does look cute with those big green eyes , they're almost like yours , almost as green and as dark as yours .
R_M : *wags tail and bats eyelashes to encourage Ken's train of thought*
Schuldich : *indignant* They do not ! No one has eyes as beautiful as mine .
Ken : Touchy . If I didn't know you any better , I'd say you're jealous . *kneels and pats RM on the headR_M : *wags tail*
Schuldich : Am not !
Ken : My my , and now you're defensive . * Besides , I like puppies . It reminds me of the time I used to teach kids how to play soccer . You know , most of them are a lot like puppies . So innocent and all .
Schuldich : *mutters* That one's sure mega-miles from innocent if you ask me *sighs* I can never really win against you , can I ?
Ken : Of course not . *ponders* I like her . I'm going to keep her as a pet .
R_M : *raises triumphant fist in the air like a boxer who's won a title match*
Schuldich : Why bother ? She's no good anyway .
R_M : *glares at Schuldich*
Ken : Well , I think she writes acceptable mush . Maybe we could coerce her to write a lemon in the near future .
Schuldich : Interesting . Maybe . *thinks for a while* All right .
Ken : *grins* Okay , let's go back to your flat and have a nice little romp .
Schuldich : *puts an arm around Ken's waist* Now that's an idea I rather like .
Ken : *picks up puppy-fied R_M* Let's go .
Schuldich : *pauses* The thought just occurred to me , Ken lieb . How do you feel about orgies ?
R_M : O___O;;;
And so , they came back to Schuldich's flat , did a little romping around .
The next few days , the neighbors kept on complaining about a puppy howling all night long trying to escape from the scary torture chamber where romping was done all night long .
THE END
I know you still hate me , and you probably have a nasty smirk right now daring me to write something more so you could all just queue around and kill me .
Sorry .
I couldn't resist !
*runs away laughing to herself*
BTW . By New Year's this fic will most probably be completed ; but the thing is , there are a few ideas that I won't be able to try to get the ending I want , so when this is through , I just might have the energy to change the succeeding chapters with more angst and drama that I've dreamed up a while ago that I just can't fit in right now .
Okay , I'm done !
*runs away again*
Shrink : I'm afraid she's been taken hold by her mad writer syndrome again . Sorry for letting you see that . *bows and runs after R_M*