Mending [8]
...
"Ow," Ken complained as another sharp sting swept over the wound on his head.
"Well, if you hold still like I told you instead of squirming around like a little kid, it wouldn't hurt so much." Yohji pulled out a clean cotton swab from the small plastic bag and poured some disinfectant on it.
"Yea right, liar," Ken objected and shut one eye.
"How'd you manage to let Berserker cut you way up here anyway?" Yohji questioned and dabbed the cotton swab onto Ken's cut.
"I don't know. He had the upper hand on me for a while." Ken bit his lip. "Are you done yet?"
"Yea, just let me wrap this around your head." Yohji pulled out a roll of bandage and unraveled enough to circle Ken's head several times.
"Hey, Yohji.."
"Hm?" He replied as he began wrapping the bandage around Ken's head, pulling his hair up so it doesn't get caught.
"Aya's mad at me, isn't he?"
Yohji stopped for a second to catch the look on Ken's face but soon continued his job. "If you ask me, he's probably more mad at himself than you."
"Yea right!" Ken called out and flinched as he accidentally scraped his cut against Yohji's hand.
"I said stay still!"
"Sorry," Ken mumbled and calmed down. "Point is, I was a total idiot last night, and I wouldn't be surprised if Aya thought so, too."
"You saved his life."
"A lot of good that did! We both would've died anyway if it wasn't for that Schwarz kid."
"Yea, what the hell was that anyway?" Yohji pulled the bandage around Ken's head for the last time and tucked the edge in to keep it from unraveling.
"I don't know, but I don't really care." Ken looked down at his hands and chewed his tongue.
"If you're thinking this much about Aya then just go talk to him. It won't be the most pleasant conversation you'll ever have, but maybe you can get something resolved.
"I should, but I don't know what to say."
Yohji looked playfully thoughtful for a moment. "I think something along the lines of, 'Aya, I'm madly in love with you, and I'll just die if you don't forgive me.' should work."
"Yohji!" Ken pulled a pillow off his bed and chucked it at the offender.
"Damn! That was brutal!" Yohji rubbed the side of his face. "You're like a teenage girl with a crush. It's ridiculous," he added and watched Ken angrily storm out of the room.
~
"Wake up, kid." Schuldig hovered over Nagi's bed.
"What?" Came the mumbled response.
"I'm going to go see him." He knelt down next to the bed and perched his arms on top of it.
Nagi sat up and scowled at him. "You must be joking."
/Keep your voice down!/
"I'm going to sleep."
/No, come on. I just need you to cover for me./ Schuldig bit his lip and watched his teammate through the dark.
There was a short moment of stunned silence. /It's been nice knowing you./
/I know what you're thinking, but Brad's not going to find out./
/What the hell do you mean 'Brad's not going to find out'?/ Nagi laughed nervously. /Crawford knows everything!/
/Not everything, kid./ Schuldig smirked. /If he knew everything, we'd both be dead a long time ago./
/I don't know about you, but I don't remember doing anything wrong./
/You must have a serious case of amnesia then./ Schuldig laughed.
Nagi frowned at him. /Well, I hope you're not stupid enough to go to the flower shop./
/No, he's going out to a club tonight./
/And what makes you think Crawford won't find out?/
/Absolutely nothing, but I'm willing to take my chances./
~
"It's so hard to fight him." Omi sighed and did the final wrap around Ran's ribs.
"I don't see why not. He's clearly our enemy." Ran looked away for a moment and rephrased his statement. "Well, at least it used to be clear."
"You see? That's why it's so hard!" Omi sat down on the bed and started putting things away back into the medical kit box. "I think he's really a good person, and he just doesn't know rather he's fighting for the right thing anymore."
Ran buttoned his shirt back up. "I think he had a temporary lapse in sanity."
Omi closed the medical kit and folded his hands on top of it. "He helped us; I want to return the favor." He looked down, knowing Ran wouldn't be pleased with this.
"You'll do nothing of the sort."
"But, Aya-kun!" Omi began to object but Ran interrupted him.
"Don't be naive!"
"He saved your life!"
"He did," Ran agreed, his voice losing some of its sharpness. "That doesn't mean he's reformed." He tended to be less harsh on Omi. In fact, the other members of Weiss usually went out of their way to look out for the little one. A natural instinct, one could say.
"And if he does?"
Ran sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "If he does, I won't try to kill him."
"Aya-kun, promise you'll give him a chance," Omi pleaded.
"I said I won't kill him. That's all the promise you'll get from me."
Omi sighed, accepting defeat. He knew that when Ran had his mind set on something, it's near impossible to change it. As if on cue, Ken's figure broke the light streaming in from the hallway.
"Do you need something?" Ran asked, turning his attention to the doorframe.
Ken's look of determination seemed to run into oblivion upon hearing the coldness in Ran's voice. "I can come back when you're finished." He turned to leave.
"We're finished!" Omi declared cheerfully and made his way out of the room, medical kit in hand.
Ran carefully sat down on his bed and swung his legs onto it. "Well?"
"You're mad at me," Ken said, cutting right to the chase.
"I'm not."
Ken scrunched his eyebrows and sat down on the edge of Ran's bed. "What's with the silent treatment then?"
"You're paranoid; I'm not ignoring you," Ran insisted and examined his wrapped-up ribs.
"Yes, you are."
"I'm talking to you right now, aren't I?" Ran rose his voice to make his point clear.
"And now you're yelling at me!" Ken shot back, frowning at his teammate.
"You're giving me no choice. You're acting like a child." Ran scowled at himself. He took a stern vow, in the car on their way home, that he'll distance himself from Ken. His irrational thinking during the mission was due to this distraction, and he knew he needed to focus himself. The idea was, in fact, to ignore Ken, but that's easier said than done.
"This isn't why I came here." Ken's tone softened. "I wanted to apologize to you for being such an idiot last night."
Ran looked up at him, not exactly expecting this. "You did nothing wrong."
"Yea, except almost get us both killed."
"I acted on impulse. If I had thought it through, I could have had both of us out of that building before Oracle even set foot on the roof."
"Don't tell me you're blaming yourself for this!" Ken let his voice rise. He had always been very emotional; never exactly the calm and collected type.
Ran sighed. There was one surefire way to get rid of anyone, and that's to tell him what he wants to hear. "No one needs to take the blame. We're all alright, aren't we?"
"I'll be more careful next time," Ken promised.
"So will I."
The idea of Ran being any more careful than he already is amused Ken. "I gotta go. I have a shift with Yohji in ten minutes," he rambled and made his way out of the room.
Ran laid back on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. This was going to be a hard vow to keep, he thought.
...
"Ow," Ken complained as another sharp sting swept over the wound on his head.
"Well, if you hold still like I told you instead of squirming around like a little kid, it wouldn't hurt so much." Yohji pulled out a clean cotton swab from the small plastic bag and poured some disinfectant on it.
"Yea right, liar," Ken objected and shut one eye.
"How'd you manage to let Berserker cut you way up here anyway?" Yohji questioned and dabbed the cotton swab onto Ken's cut.
"I don't know. He had the upper hand on me for a while." Ken bit his lip. "Are you done yet?"
"Yea, just let me wrap this around your head." Yohji pulled out a roll of bandage and unraveled enough to circle Ken's head several times.
"Hey, Yohji.."
"Hm?" He replied as he began wrapping the bandage around Ken's head, pulling his hair up so it doesn't get caught.
"Aya's mad at me, isn't he?"
Yohji stopped for a second to catch the look on Ken's face but soon continued his job. "If you ask me, he's probably more mad at himself than you."
"Yea right!" Ken called out and flinched as he accidentally scraped his cut against Yohji's hand.
"I said stay still!"
"Sorry," Ken mumbled and calmed down. "Point is, I was a total idiot last night, and I wouldn't be surprised if Aya thought so, too."
"You saved his life."
"A lot of good that did! We both would've died anyway if it wasn't for that Schwarz kid."
"Yea, what the hell was that anyway?" Yohji pulled the bandage around Ken's head for the last time and tucked the edge in to keep it from unraveling.
"I don't know, but I don't really care." Ken looked down at his hands and chewed his tongue.
"If you're thinking this much about Aya then just go talk to him. It won't be the most pleasant conversation you'll ever have, but maybe you can get something resolved.
"I should, but I don't know what to say."
Yohji looked playfully thoughtful for a moment. "I think something along the lines of, 'Aya, I'm madly in love with you, and I'll just die if you don't forgive me.' should work."
"Yohji!" Ken pulled a pillow off his bed and chucked it at the offender.
"Damn! That was brutal!" Yohji rubbed the side of his face. "You're like a teenage girl with a crush. It's ridiculous," he added and watched Ken angrily storm out of the room.
~
"Wake up, kid." Schuldig hovered over Nagi's bed.
"What?" Came the mumbled response.
"I'm going to go see him." He knelt down next to the bed and perched his arms on top of it.
Nagi sat up and scowled at him. "You must be joking."
/Keep your voice down!/
"I'm going to sleep."
/No, come on. I just need you to cover for me./ Schuldig bit his lip and watched his teammate through the dark.
There was a short moment of stunned silence. /It's been nice knowing you./
/I know what you're thinking, but Brad's not going to find out./
/What the hell do you mean 'Brad's not going to find out'?/ Nagi laughed nervously. /Crawford knows everything!/
/Not everything, kid./ Schuldig smirked. /If he knew everything, we'd both be dead a long time ago./
/I don't know about you, but I don't remember doing anything wrong./
/You must have a serious case of amnesia then./ Schuldig laughed.
Nagi frowned at him. /Well, I hope you're not stupid enough to go to the flower shop./
/No, he's going out to a club tonight./
/And what makes you think Crawford won't find out?/
/Absolutely nothing, but I'm willing to take my chances./
~
"It's so hard to fight him." Omi sighed and did the final wrap around Ran's ribs.
"I don't see why not. He's clearly our enemy." Ran looked away for a moment and rephrased his statement. "Well, at least it used to be clear."
"You see? That's why it's so hard!" Omi sat down on the bed and started putting things away back into the medical kit box. "I think he's really a good person, and he just doesn't know rather he's fighting for the right thing anymore."
Ran buttoned his shirt back up. "I think he had a temporary lapse in sanity."
Omi closed the medical kit and folded his hands on top of it. "He helped us; I want to return the favor." He looked down, knowing Ran wouldn't be pleased with this.
"You'll do nothing of the sort."
"But, Aya-kun!" Omi began to object but Ran interrupted him.
"Don't be naive!"
"He saved your life!"
"He did," Ran agreed, his voice losing some of its sharpness. "That doesn't mean he's reformed." He tended to be less harsh on Omi. In fact, the other members of Weiss usually went out of their way to look out for the little one. A natural instinct, one could say.
"And if he does?"
Ran sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "If he does, I won't try to kill him."
"Aya-kun, promise you'll give him a chance," Omi pleaded.
"I said I won't kill him. That's all the promise you'll get from me."
Omi sighed, accepting defeat. He knew that when Ran had his mind set on something, it's near impossible to change it. As if on cue, Ken's figure broke the light streaming in from the hallway.
"Do you need something?" Ran asked, turning his attention to the doorframe.
Ken's look of determination seemed to run into oblivion upon hearing the coldness in Ran's voice. "I can come back when you're finished." He turned to leave.
"We're finished!" Omi declared cheerfully and made his way out of the room, medical kit in hand.
Ran carefully sat down on his bed and swung his legs onto it. "Well?"
"You're mad at me," Ken said, cutting right to the chase.
"I'm not."
Ken scrunched his eyebrows and sat down on the edge of Ran's bed. "What's with the silent treatment then?"
"You're paranoid; I'm not ignoring you," Ran insisted and examined his wrapped-up ribs.
"Yes, you are."
"I'm talking to you right now, aren't I?" Ran rose his voice to make his point clear.
"And now you're yelling at me!" Ken shot back, frowning at his teammate.
"You're giving me no choice. You're acting like a child." Ran scowled at himself. He took a stern vow, in the car on their way home, that he'll distance himself from Ken. His irrational thinking during the mission was due to this distraction, and he knew he needed to focus himself. The idea was, in fact, to ignore Ken, but that's easier said than done.
"This isn't why I came here." Ken's tone softened. "I wanted to apologize to you for being such an idiot last night."
Ran looked up at him, not exactly expecting this. "You did nothing wrong."
"Yea, except almost get us both killed."
"I acted on impulse. If I had thought it through, I could have had both of us out of that building before Oracle even set foot on the roof."
"Don't tell me you're blaming yourself for this!" Ken let his voice rise. He had always been very emotional; never exactly the calm and collected type.
Ran sighed. There was one surefire way to get rid of anyone, and that's to tell him what he wants to hear. "No one needs to take the blame. We're all alright, aren't we?"
"I'll be more careful next time," Ken promised.
"So will I."
The idea of Ran being any more careful than he already is amused Ken. "I gotta go. I have a shift with Yohji in ten minutes," he rambled and made his way out of the room.
Ran laid back on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. This was going to be a hard vow to keep, he thought.