Title – Price of
Forgiveness (Chpt 1)
Author - HourglassThorne, hourglassthorne@yahoo.com
Rating – R
Pairing(s) - Pairing yet to be specified
Warning(s) – Gluhen spoilers;
strong language; graphic
violence; disturbing content Summary - Set 2 years after the events at Koua Academy, Aya and Ken
are settled into their new lives as assassins for Kryptonbrand. However, a man
with the least reason to seek them out is thrust back into their lives once
more.
Status of fanfic – ongoing
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Such a wonderfully bright and sunny
morning. Hardly a cloud in the sky and a pleasant cool spring breeze wafting
through the air, tugging playfully at the unruly locks of the dark-haired young
man as he stepped out of the front doors of the "Kittens' House" carrying an
armload of flowers.
"I ought to be out on the soccer field," some small part of Ken's inner
voice sulked as he envisioned serene calm of the dew-covered fields in a nearby
park just a few blocks away. Unfortunately, it would be hours before any decent
number of fellas would gather there either after classes or on their breaks for
a quick scrimage. Not only that, but he was opening with a certain
duty-oriented redhead this morning who would probably strike him down with a
well aimed death-glare if he even mentioned cutting out early.
"Maybe I can get Michel to use those big weepy green eyes on Aya. Kid does
owe me a favor for taking his morning shift last week, and it's hard to use a
shi-ne glare on anybody that cute, so maybe…" the Japanese brunette mused
to himself as he turned back towards the open door and shifted his gaze on the
smaller blonde boy counting the change in the register.
"Oy! Michel! I was wondering—"
"No." A handful of coins rained down into a compartment in the register.
"But Michel—"
"No." A roll of coins was torn open and emptied uncerimoniously into the next
compartment.
"You don't even know what I'm gonna ask."
"You wanna go out and play soccer, and you want me to ask Aya if he'll let you
go early."
"…" Ken stared at Michel for what seemed like a long moment as the younger man
counted out a bundle of paper bills. "But you owe me," he whined, a plaintive
catch to his voice.
"Not enough for him to get you out this morning's shift."
Ken froze as the all too familiar commanding voice, and his ears burned
slightly as Aya came walking in from the back storeroom, carrying an
arrangement of stargazer lilies in a burgandy ceramic vase. "Oh, good morning
Aya-kun," he said sheepishly. Then he chuckled and smiled playfully as he
shrugged his shoulders in defeat. "Well, ya can't blame me for trying."
Aya turned his gaze out the window as he set the lilies down on a table
directly in front of it. He then graced no one in particular with a small
smile. "No, I can't."
Ken grinned then turned back to his work, smiling as the first pair of regular
morning customers came up the walk and turned into the shoppe. "Good morning!"
he said to them brightly as they walked up, admiring the flowers that were
already set out at the front. "We've got a sale on lilies this week. Aya-kun's
got a few new arrangement he's just set out. Go on in and take a look!"
~ * ~
The wonderful weather seemed to be working its way into the people walking
along the city streets, either on their way to work or just starting their
errands for the day. Many were taking their time and nearly all of them were
relaxed more than they usually would be on a Monday morning. However, the
beauty of the day was lost on several people roaming the city at that moment;
including one man in particular as he wove his way nimbly through two streams
of people who had just emerged from and were waiting to board a rather crowded
bus. The tall man ducked himself lower in an effort to lose himself better
within the crowd, holding a large wrapped bundle protectively close to his
chest. He risked a quick glance backwards and noticed, with a sliver of
satisfaction, that the three men who were persuing him had gotten hung up in
the masses.
However, they would not be delayed like that for long. At most, he may have
bought himself maybe a minute's lead on them, if that.
He picked up the pace and rounded next corner sharply, taking off in a sprint
in an effort to put more distance between himself and the people he was running
from. There were fewer people to hide among here. That was bad. But there were
shoppes here. Maybe he could duck into one and hide till the coast was clear…
Turning his head, he risked another glance back to see if he was still being
followed. The men had not yet come around the corner—
"Hey! Watch out!"
Whipping his head about too late, he turned his gaze just in time to see
himself run straight into a dark haired, well-tanned Japanese man who had been busy
misting the flowers that sat just outside a well-kept flower shoppe. At the
last instant, unable to fully stop his forward momentum, the taller man shifted
his body so that he ended up colliding with Ken with his left side, saving the
bundle in his arms from being caught in the impact. Ken, his instincts kicking
in swiftly, shifted his stance as well, dropping the hose and bringing his
hands up to catch the fella by the left arm, using his momentum to help bring
him to a screeching halt.
"Whoa! Hey there. Where's the fi--?!" Ken's voice cut off as soon as he got a
good look at the tall man standing before him, his eyes widening in shock and
his jaw very nearly hitting the floor. The man standing before him was dressed
in a dark suit, still holding the loosely wrapped bundle in his arms closely as
he tried to catch his breath. However, blonde waves of hair, grown out to an
entirely too familiar length, were falling haphazardly across his face as a
pair of panicked, yet unmistakable, deep green eyes peered out at Ken from
behind his bangs.
"Sorry," the man gasped out between breaths. "I wasn't…" He trailed off
himself, staring at the stunned young man with a puzzled expression. "You… you
look familiar."
"Y… Youji," Ken stammered out incredulously, quite at a loss for anything other
than that.
The tall blonde's expression grew even more confused. "'Youji?' Is that… Do you
know…" Shaking his head, he suddenly started shifting about nervously, looking
behind him once more and stiffening when he saw the three men standing at the
street corner, looking around for him. Ken's gaze followed his.
"Youji? What's going—Oof!" Ken suddenly found the wrapped bundle shoved into
his arms and the now thoroughly panicked familiar stranger was pushing him
urgently back towards the flower shoppe. "Oy! Youji! Stop it! What's going
on?!" He suddenly found himself swiftly turned about and staring straight into
the anxious man's dark green eyes, barely registering Michel's voice calling
out his name in alarm and Aya's voice whispering out Youji's in shock.
"Don't let them find her! Keep. Her. Safe!" Youji commanded with a harsh tone
of desperation in his voice. He let his hands linger on the warm bundle for
only a moment afterwards before screwing his eyes shut and shoving Ken hard
back into the interior of the shoppe. Then, in the next instant, Youji was
running back onto the sidewalk, taking a hard left and running swiftly as he
could away from them.
"Ken? Who was that?" Michel asked a moment after he caught Ken, barely keeping
him from falling backwards on his ass. Ken was still staring in shock at the
open door as Aya quickly came to his side as well. But before he could ask his
teammate the obvious question, the three of them heard rapid footsteps coming
down the sidewalk. Looking up, they saw three rough looking men, one of whom
had a scarred face, run quickly past the shoppe, heading in the same direction
that Youji had run.
Aya's violet eyes narrowed and without pause, he ran out of the shoppe and
after those men.
"Aya! Wait! Don't go off alone! Damnit!" Ken cursed as he got to his feet, with
every intention of throwing down the bundle in his arms to the floor in
frustration. However, as he got to his feet, he felt the loosely wrapped bundle
move and whimper . He froze as he and Michel stared at it. "What the…?"
Michel stared at the bundle wide-eyed, curiosity and a dawning comprehension
stirring behind his own green orbs. "Is that what I think it is?" The smaller
young man carefully pulled away some of the soft cotton cloth and both of them
gasped, a bright smile lighting Michel's face and a stunned one lighting Ken's.
"It's a baby girl!" Michel exclaimed with an awestruck whisper as he beamed at
the blearily blinking infant, who started whimpering and fussing softly in his
teammate's arms. Eagerly, Michel reached over and took the child from Ken,
holding her close to his chest and cooing reassuringly at her. "Awww… poor
little thing. I don't think she's even a year old."
As the baby stopped fussing and stared at Michel curiously with her own large
emerald eyes, Ken could only stare in shock and wonder at the child himself.
"What the hell has Youji gotten himself into?"