Author's Note-- Aa, this took me a while... strangely. Please be aware that it is...
quite random. Ken is acting a bit drastic, even for someone who is high, I know,
but just play along, ok? A little bit of RanKen is showing up in this part, but only
a little. And refridgerator poetry!
http://www.geocities.com/sephlorraine/dream.html
Warnings-- Humourous use of drugs and their effects, Shounen ai (RanKen), OOC, Angst, Langauge, Silliness... Etc.
Disclaimer-- I don't own it. Das ist argern... That I don't, that is. _
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An Eternal High 2/4 (Please do not simplify this fraction)
By Seph Lorraine
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Morning came sooner than was expected, and even stranger, Aya's wake came later. Fujimiya Aya was almost always the first one up in the mornings that the shop was due open (excluding Omi's jogging days, and Ken's soccer days, and the few occassions when Youji simply hadn't gotten home yet), though, strangely, this morning he did not awaken until a very tentative knock sounded from his door.
At first, hearing it, he dismissed the irritating noise, and shut his eyes once more, though the knocking persisted, and finally a smaller voice joined in.
"Hey, Aya... Are you in there?" Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock...
"...Hn..." Aya grunted from the comfort of his pillows.
"Are you coming down to help open the shop, today--?" Omi's voice was cut off as someone began talking to him in low tones from the hallway, as well.
There was a muffled noise or two before it was Youji's turn to get Aya up. The playboy quickly began beating against the door with his fists, "Hey, Aya, you better get yourself up and help us open shop or your ass is grass!"
The two boys in the hallway were surprised when the door opened to reveal a deliciously shirtless, disheveled looking, pissed off, glaring, Aya (Mmm... Not a bad sight, eh?). They froze; two collective gulps could be heard as they both turned and quickly headed towards the stairs.
The redhead was about to close the door again, when Youji suddenly turned around to call, "And wake up Kenken, while you're up there!"
Groaning slightly, and putting a hand to his forhead, Aya sighed and glared at the door three metres from his own. He ran his hand quickly through his hair, demolishing the tangles in his bright red strands, and staggered over to Ken's door. His conscious pounded dully within his head, a slight headache beginning, as he rapped upon the door the the ex-J-League player's room, "Wake up, Hidaka."
From the other side of the door, the brunette responded... by not responding.
Aya pounded a bit harder, "Ken! It's time to open shop; wake up!"
Only the deafening sound of silence could penetrate the door to Ken's room. Then, suddenly--
"He! He! He..." A small bout of giggling errupted from within Ken's stoney-silent room.
Puzzled, the redhead, stood for a moment. "..Ken?"
"Ho! Ho! Ho..." A morphed laugh drifted through the woodwork.
"Ken?" The door was pushed open by the redhead, and Aya peered in at the brunett.
"Guten Morgen alle! Ich heisse Nek und--Wilkommen...Aya! Ha ha!" Ken was rolling about his bed in a frenzy to gain enough momentum to roll onto the floor, while laughing to a strangely unusual extent. His face was red and streaming with tears of laughter, as he babbled some strange nonsense in a language Aya was unfamiliar with (Who knew Siberian was bilingual?), in the unmistakable voice of a gameshow host.
There was something wrong here. There was something very wrong here, indeed. For a moment, Aya was speechless (...should this be an unusual thing?), "Ano... I'll be... right back." The redhead slammed the door closed, and headed directly down the stairs to the flower shop, whilst Omi was still in the kitchen, digging through the refridgerator for orange juice.
The blond, averted his blue eyes to the red head, feeling his presence in the room, "Good morning, Aya! It's nice to see--"
"I thought you said he's be back to normal by morning." The violet-eyed man got directly to the point.
"Wha..?" Omi frowned, "Isn't he?"
"Go see for yourself." With that, Aya climbed the stairs again, and entered his room to dress, as the blond followed behind, trailing up to Ken's door instead, though. What persued next was to traumatizing to capture in complete affect.
"HE BIT ME! CAN YOU BELIEVE HE FRICKIN' BIT ME!?" The youngest Weiss member hadn't shut up for the last 30 minutes upon the subject. "I open the door, and there he is, like a dog, and he just jumps on my leg and begins to gnaw on my ankle! He's a cannibal! HE BIT ME!"
Youji frowned, "Yea, well are you guys gonna get to the point of this meeting or not?"
Weiss, minus one slightly stoned kitten, had settled into the missions room, delaying shop-opening that day, due to an emergency meeting. Though, they had been a bit slow getting it together, seeing as how Omi was easily distracted from the real topic at hand.
"I say we drag him out into a field and shoot him! Blow his brains out! Rip out his entrails and feed 'em to the dogs!" The small blond cried, a fierce glint dancing within his unusually dark cerulean eyes. "That'll show him who to bite!"
"Shut up, Omi." Aya quickly silenced the youngest Weiss with one of his Icy Aya Death Glares™. He turned to Youji, "Ken's high hasn't appeared to have worn off quite yet."
Silence ensued for a following moment or two, followed by a deep chuckle on behalf of the eldest blond, "Well, damn." Youji smiled, the shrugged, "I guess there's nothing we can do about it right now, is there?" He glanced at the seething Omi, and the scowling Aya, "We'll just have to wait until tonight..." A dark smirk crossed his face, suddenly, "Then we can have some fun with him."
Aya paused, glancing at Youji inquisitively, "What are you planning, Kudou?"
The play boy assassin leaned back, adjusting his sunglasses, and propping his feet up, "You'll just have to suffer and see, tonight."
From the shop, the loud crash flower pots falling over, and shattering, could be heard. There was then a slight moan, as if a person standing up, after being hit by a truck.
"That is if he makes it to tonight." The redhead clenched his fists and shut his eyes, his anger already apparent.
Omi gulped, "That is if -we- make it to tonight."
9: 30 -- // Super Aya vs. The Kidney Thief \\
"Ken... What are you doing?" The youngest blond watched his friend rearranged the many roses on display in the window. The ex-J-leaguer had been acting strangely, as expected, laughing hysterically at even the smallest things. Luckily, he had done a good job of scaring away the school girls earlier that morning. Now, Ken seemed to be in his own little world...
The brunett chuckled and moved a few more of them around, looking rather dazed and laughing for no reason every once in a while. "I'm helping!"
"They don't need rearranging, Ken... They all look the same." Omi pointed at the fact that all of the roses Ken was arranging were identicle red roses.
"Yes, well, some of them were beginning to bicker."
"...?" Youji tuned in from behind the counter.
Suddenly, Ken held up two roses, and in a high falcetto voice, "'Aa! Stop that man! He just stole my kidney!'" He waved one rose as if it were talking to the one in the other hand, which he assigned a deeper voice, "'Never fear Sakura, Super Aya will save you! Where was your kidney when it was stolen?'" He began to wave the roses one at a time when their respective characters talked:
Sakura, "Why, it was in my purse! Oh, Super Aya, you must save me! Save me!"
Super Aya, "I shall return to you your kidney, safely, I promise!" Super Aya flies away, and Sakura disappears, being replaced by another rose, which he assigned a cracky sinister voice.
In his own little world of illusion, and misconception, Ken paid no attention to those watching him, and especially didn't notice when Aya joined in to watch as well as Omi and Youji. All three were looking a bit worried, if not fearful at the brunette's actions.
Kidney Thief, "Ha! Now that I have this kidney, I can rule the world! For, it is a magical kidney, and with it I may fulfill my one desire to... RULE THIS MAGICAL KIDNEY! MWA HA HA HA!"
Super Aya, "Halt right there! I'm Super Aya, and I stand for love and justice. In the name of the moon, you're... gonna give me back that damn kidney!" At this point the two roses begin to fight. Unfortunately, Kidney Thief looses all of his petals, and Super Aya begans to look a bit bald, but in the end, Super Aya is successful, and returns to Sakura.
Sakura, "Oh, Super Aya! You've saved my kidney! I love you, Super Aya! But now I must kill you, for you have touched my magical kidney, and will soon be filled with the lust for domination over my magical kidney! GAH!"
Super Aya, "Ha! I shall go Super Sajin on you, and I will beat your ass! KA ME HA ME HA!!! Ha ha.."
Again, both roses fight, this time neither is successful in winning, and Ken returns to rearranging the other roses (which he still claims are 'bickering') once more.
Through all this, Aya kept a careful eye on Ken, watching the brunett's actions. Was this what people were really like when they got high? Did Ken have an ounce of realization as to what he was doing? Hopefully, this wouldn't get any weirder right?
10:30 -- // I Am Sailor Nek! \\
From the back corner of the shop, two green eyes peered out of the darkness. Someone had to stop this madness. Hearing a clutter from across the shop, near the counter, the eyes narrowed deviously, the brain behind them working up a plan.
Suddenly, another pair of eyes appeared. This pair had shimmering blue irises, wider than saucers, and shook nervously. "Psst! What are we going to do about him, Yo-tan?"
The green eyes widened as their owner sighed heavily, "I'm not sure."
"We can't just let him continue like this! This is totally ruining our business! No one wants to buy flowers from stoners!" THe younger boy whined.
"I know, I know... It should wear off after today, though. I mean... How long can one be high for, anyway?" Youji bit his lip, "Hey..." His eyes scanned around the shop, empty except for Ken, who was currently punching away at random buttons on the cash register, giddy with hysteria. "Where'd Aya go?"
Both sets of eyes blinked simoultaneously and peered deeper into the shop, glancing around. The tall redhead was nowhere to be found.
Ken squealed in delight as the tiny change drawer snapped open, and pushed it back in to play with the other buttons. He then glanced around him, suddenly silent. The shop was empty. The other tree boys had abandoned him. There was no one there to stop the flowers from bickering but him! He suddenly covered his ears hearing the loud fueds from the roses near the front of the shop, and then from the fresia displayed behind him. Then the gentians started up, and soon even the ficus were going at it!
The brunett paused, his hands clamped down over his ears, and he looked around in panic. He had to do something! Though, what could he...? He suddenly snapped his fingers and eyed the flowers with a wild gleam in his eyes. He did not notice three sets of eyes watching him from around the shop.
Running to the backroom, he grabbed a potting shovel, and raced back into the shop, to hear the bell ring from above the door. Something in Ken's mind was sure that the cause of this evil had been the cause of that ring. He dashed out of the small room, and thrust the tiny shovel out in a battle stance. "Hold it right there! I am Sailor Nek! And on behalf of your obnoxious ringing, I'm going to hidiously mutilate you! GAH!!!"
Unfortunately, his target had somehow been refocused as the telephone. He crushed the plastic encased object, bashing the metal innards, tearing apart the chord, and brutally beating the buttons. "I'll teach you to steal my coffee, again! You flatulant donut fuckers!"
"MOMMY! That man's scary! I wanna go home!" A tiny girl in blue, stood, staring wide-eyed and shocked at the brunett. Fortunately, her mother grabbed her hand and carried her out of the shop immediately.
"To think that from a florist!?" The woman stormed out angrily with her child, the door banging shut behind them.
"Come back again!" Ken called as they left.
Suddenly, Aya appeared from the other side of a row of violets, his violet eyes were dangerously narrowed, "Ken. Leave." He pointed to the door leading from the shop to their living area upstairs.
The brunett scratched his head looking confused, "Leave? Treeves have lees... er," he paused, "Trees have leaves!" The ex-JLeaguer was suddenly thrown into another fit of giggles, and didn't notice when Aya came up behind him, and violently pushed him out of the shop.
Looking around wearily, Youji and Omi suddenly appeared from the darkness of the back corner, "Is it safe?"
A mere glare from Aya settled the question, and they all went back to work (minus one siberian, that is).
11:30 -- // "Someone help! My hand! What do I do about my hand?!" \\
"Is it time for lunch yet?"
"No! And it won't be for another hour, Yo-tan." Omi rolled his blue eyes, as he rang up a current customer.
"Hey, chibi. You told me to remind you that you had to be somewhere today." The eldest blond spoke.
"Nan ji desu?"
"Juu ichi ji han desu." Youji paused what he was doing to stare at the youngest Weiss.
"Oh, yea! Thanks for reminding me! I need to leave." The blond quickly untied his appron, and hung it on the wall.
"Where are you supposed to go anyway?"
"I have to meet my boyfri--er.." Omi paused, nervously, "I have to meet my poison-specialist!"
Aya halted mid-step and eyed the youngest assassin accusingly.
The eldest blinked, "Why do you need to see a poison specialist?"
"Uh... For the... spider! In my room!" Blue eyes darted back and forth for a moment, "It bit me... while I was sleeping... And... Ugh! I don't feel so good! I better go get an antidote." With that, he was out the door.
The shop was silent, when suddenly, there came a strange giggling from the back room. Aya sighed, and looked to Youji, "Go check on Ken. Make sure he hasn't killed anything... or eaten anyone..." He went back to sweeping.
Walking slowly in fear of what was in the back room was only delaying the inevitable for Youji Kudo. When he reached the door, the giggling had turned into whining and the scraping of shoes against cement, as if someone where struggling. The blond tentively pushed open the door and peered in, to see...
"My hand! My hand! It's stuck!" Ken groaned, both of his palms against the wall. It looked like he was trying to detach it.
Youji rolled his eyes, "What have you..." He paused as he eyed the superglue bottle, lying open on the floor, "Damn, Ken." He looked up, "How the hell did THIS happen?"
It was obvious, though, that Ken wasn't paying any attention, instead he was practically screaming for help, tugging on his hand, "Someone help! My hand! What do I do about my hand?!"
By now Aya had shown up, "What happened?"
"Einstein, here, glued himself to the wall--Ouch! Damnit, Ken!" The blond rubbed the back of his neck from where Ken had hit him.
Two green eyes glared at him through locks of chocolate hair, "Shut up, Youji!"
The lanky blond, set his weight on the other hip as he watched and shook his head, "Are you claiming that it was a very smart thing you did?"
Aya frowned at the hand, and pulled a bit on one of Ken's fingers.
"HOLY SHIT!!! DAMNIT, AYA, DON'T DO THAT!!!" The brunett clenched his teeth, "Fuck, it hurts!"
The two other Weiss took this in with lifted eyebrows.
"What colourful language, Kenken." The playboy teased, and walked towards to phone to call the medics. He paused, seeing the mound of dented plastic and wire that had once been their phone. "Jesus Christ, Ken. This is the last time you ever get high..." He went inside to use their phone instead.
When his hand was removed, thirty minutes later, it was only by a trained medic, that it was done.
12:00 -- // Arachniphobia \\
Aya glanced at Ken, who was poking at his banaged and painful hand, "Do you have any idea why Omi would need to see a poison-specialist?" As soon as he had asked, he wondered why he had done so. Why would Ken know anything? Though, his instinct were telling him to ask.
The brunett blinked, and sputtered into another fit of giggles, "Why?"
With his arms crossed, Aya continued to stand, still and thinking, "He said he had to go about some spider--"
"AAAAAAA!!!!" In no time at all, Ken was standing atop the kitchen table, looking around in a paranoid frenzy, "SPIDER!!! THERE'S A SPIDER!!!"
The redhead blinked, and began to look around, "Where?"
"I DON'T KNOW!!!"
"Then why are you yelling?"
"BECAUSE!!!"
"Ken!"
"THE SPIDER!!! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!" [1]
"Ken, get down!"
"WHERE'S THE SPIDER!?!? KILL IT, AYA! MASH IT'S ARACHNID BRAINS INTO SOILED PIG MASS!!"
"...?"
"KILL IT, AYA!!! KILL IT NOW!!!"
"KEN! SHUT UP!!!"
"...?" The brunett, a top of the kitchen table watched Aya fearfully.
The redhead, spoke through clenched teeth, "Get off the table. Now."
"He he--" Ken climbed down obediantly, immediately losing his footing and falling to the floor in a lump. "Aa! Spider! We have to kill the spider!" In a moment Ken was gone, back out into the shop in fright.
12:30 -- // Always give your children happy meals. If such is not done, the affects can be traumatizing. \\
"Finally!" Youji watched as the clock struck 12:30, "I'm off, guys. I'll be back in an hour."
Two green eyes watched the tall blond strut from the shop, off to take his lunch break, it was common sense to even the most stoned of all florist/assassins that when Youji said he would be back in an hour, the rest of that sentence was silent: "I'll be back in an hour... before I head out to the club." AKA, Ken and Aya were alone to run the shop for the rest of the day.
Ken was still acting more clumbsy than usual, as was evident in his state, and he continued to be completely amused with some invisable issue, at which he laughed at from moment to moment. Finally, curiosity was sneaking up on the redhead, and he decided to ask.
"What are you laughing at?" His voice was monotonious as ever, and his face held no clue as to his curiosity.
The brunett stopped, mid-laugh, and thought about it for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders, "I'm not quite sure..."
"Oh." Aya frowned.
The soccer player immediately continued to laugh.
"You never answered my question, Ken."
He stopped again, "What question?" The grin on his face was one of uncontrollable laughter arising.
"Do you know why Omi would need to see a poison specialist? And, before you do anything, there IS NO spider." Aya was watching him closely now.
Ken flenched at the last word, and bit his lip, "I'm not allowed to say."
The redhead tapped his foot impatiently and gave the brunett an intimidating stare.
"You should be in a movie, Ran." Chocolate bangs fought to hide the peering green eyes staring up at the Weiss leader.
Aya paused, and narrowed his eyes at the younger assassin, "What are you talking about?" He wanted to reach down and move the hair away for a clearer look into the jade gaze. Ken had always expressed things so clearly through his eyes, something that had made him unbelievably easy to read. Almost boring on poor Kenken's behalf. [2] 'Wait a minute... He called me Ran?'
The younger boy began laughing again, "You have a pretty nose!" This time the laughter was harder, and the boy was almost rolling with it.
Rolling his eyes, and deciding this was going nowhere, the redhead went back to his arrangement. It didn't look like he would be able to leave the shop up the Ken for lunch break, and Ken certainly wasn't going out by himself.
"I wonder where they're eating at." Ken giggled and began to walk towards a row of gentians.
Aya simply listened with one ear, making sure Ken stayed out of trouble, and began to trim some baby's breath to add volume to his arrangement.
"If you were a Prodigy, where would you eat?" The soccer player began to giggle again, "I could just imagine Naoe Nagi and Tsukiyono Omi walking into McDonalds--"
The redhead snapped to attention, "What did you say?"
"--Oo! I bet he got a happy meal! He he! With the toy!" Ken frowned, "I never got happy meals when I was little--"
"...!?"
"--Aa, it's probably just some shitty Disney promo plastic. I hate the damn battles between all of these corporate leaders and who wants to set the best examples through maximum or moderate viewing in modern media using all these pathetic bribes like those stupid Land Before Time dinosaur action figures. Say, exactly how many sequals does that movie have? Twenty? Damn, that thing was lame to being with, but they just had to keep going, and going... Why is the energizer bunny pink? Is he the easter bunny, too? Why did I never get batteries for Easter, either--" [3]
Aya's jaw was actually hanging at the brunett, who was now talking quite animatedly about batteries. Had he just said Naoe Nagi and Tsukiyono Omi? Together? (Who smells sex and a cheeseburger with the enemy?)
"--Damn panasonic batteries work on EVERYTHING! I mean, if the TV ran on batteries, they would be panasonic batteries. Hey! We have a panasonic TV! I wish we had a SONY, though--!" Ken was suddenly shaken violently by the shoulders, and snapped out just intime to see Aya staring at him agape.
"Omi went out to see Nagi?" The redhead's voice was cold and firm.
Ken blinked, "I didn't say--"
"Yes you did! I heard it." Aya's violet eyes had narrowed to slits, just daring the brunett to lie.
"Oh... Um." He glanced around quickly, and began to laugh semi-nervously, he suddenly looked down, defeatedly, "Damn...man. I'm dizzy... If Omi asks... I didn't say anything." Ken stumbled off to the otherside of the shop, leaving the redhead to ponder over Omi's loyalty to Weiss.
13:30 -- // He is a very sexy man. A very sexy man, indeed. \\
Ken sat, behind the counter laughing at the windows (and calling them names) as Aya started on another arrangement. The brunett had tried to assist in arrangement-making earlier, but had been thoroughly unsucessful, now it seemed that he was amused to just watch the door. This musing was confirmed as the soccer player broke into another fit of giggles.
The bell rang and Aya looked up to see a rather attractive girl of about 18 enter. She smiled and headed straight for Ken, before he could say a word.
"Hi, there! I was hoping you could help me find some appropriate flowers to give to my imouto. Her birthday is today, and I was hoping to surprise her on the way home." She smiled, tucking a few strands of deep brown hair behind her left ear.
Ken frowned at her, creasing his brow and thinking, he was quite obviously distracted by the girl, herself, as he kept his eyes thoroughly locked on her own brown eyes. A small blush also dotted colourfully at his cheeks. "Ano... I... Well... I... Er..." He stumbled over his words left and right, and slowly at that.
Rolling his eyes, Aya stepped up, "Gomen ne, Hidaka-san is a bit detached at the moment--"
"I've got it covered." The brunett broke in quickly, still not moving his eyes from the girl. He stepped around the counter, and the girl giggled slightly, following him across the shop.
He turned to her, moving his eyes away, and speaking in a very falsly important voice, "So, ma'am, could you please tell me a bit about your imouto?"
The girl smiled back at him, "Well..." She took a quick glance behind them over to where the redhead was working on his arrangement, seemingly paying them no attention. When she saw, she took the chance to take a step or two closer to the soccer play, "She likes... Yellow."
Ken quirked a brow in his slow-conscious amusement, "Er... is that all?"
The brown-haired girl reached up, brushing the bangs from Ken's eyes and trailed her hand softly down the side of his smooth face, "She also likes music... You know..." She brought her finger down his neck to trail down his chest slowly, "What all... little... girls like..." She licked her lips suggestively, peering up at him with her flashing brown eyes.
A bit hesitantly, Ken laughed, and stole a nervous glance over at Aya, whom immediately looked back to his arrangement the moment the brunett turned to him. He looked back to the girl, who was almost pressing herself to him, now.
"Um... Well..." His head felt fuzzy, and a bit heavy. He just wanted to fall down. Something was wrong with this, but what was it? She was attractive, and -very- friendly, "What about... um..." He reached to his side quickly, pulling up a small box of marigolds, "These! They're lovely, eh? She'll love them, I'm sure!"
The girl frowned momentarily, glancing distractedly at the flowers, "They're orange, though...?"
"Uh... Then I'll get you some yellow!" He began to turn away, but she quickly pulled him back by the arm, "Hold on, sexy." She giggled, and leaned against him, "I can wait all day for flowers... I need -you-, now."
He took a deep breath and for once, he wasn't laughing. He watched the girl and narrowed his eyes a bit before pushing her away gently, "Gomen ne... I'm working, now."
She simply shook her head and laughed, "Then take a break! You could surely take some time for a pretty girl, huh?" She looked up pleadingly, "C'mon, sexy. You know you want to."
Ken shook his head quickly. This was wrong, very wrong. Sure, she was pretty, and he was on quite an impressive high, but he knew that something about it was wrong, "No. No, I don't."
The girl took a step back, cocking her head at him, slightly. Aya's eyes watched un-noticed from the other side of the room. "Fine then... Another time, then." She smiled, but he still shook his head.
"No. I'm just not interested." The soccer player seemed very serious, suddenly, and very sure of himself, as he said this.
She watched him in silence for a moment, before he finally spoke again, crossing his arms, "Look, if you're going to be in here, I must ask you to either buy something, or get out."
When he glanced back over at Aya, the redhead immediately went back to work, but there was a flicker of something in his eyes. Approval? Ken suddenly felt much lighter, that he had done something Aya deemed worthy of approval-- even if it was silent.
14:30 -- // Unworthy of the Golden Arches \\
"Hey... Imo!" Ken began to laugh almost hysterically, sinking to the floor behind the counter, where his laughs now only existed as background noise.
Violet eyes went livid and narrowed at the teenage boy who had just entered the shop, "Bombay."
Omi watched as Ken fell to the floor laughing with a look of dismay covering his large chibi face, then he turn to Aya... and froze. Had The Ice Prince suddenly gone Cold Bastard? Damn, he was getting tired of trying to keep up with the redhead's many multiple personalities... They were all so similar, anyway.
"Er... Konnichiwa, Aya-kun...?" His hands trembled a bit, before he froze completely. His gaze drifted to the spot of the counter at which Ken had stood before falling the ground for a good... chuckle. He intook a sharp breath and turned back to the Weiss leader; he knew. Ken had told!
"Meet me in the mission room in 10 minutes. We're closing early today." The redhead's voice was cold and sharp.
"I can explain, Aya." Omi responded, slightly frightened.
"Go. I'll be there in 10 minutes." Aya's tone was flat, and as expected, Omi left the shop to wait for Abyssinian in the missions room.
Ken was suddenly gathering himself up from the floor, and examining his hand, "I think it hurts."
An eloquent crimson eyebrow arched as the tall redhead turned to see Ken, "Think?"
"What?" The brunett blinked.
"It hurts?"
"What does?"
"I don't know?"
"Then why are you complaining?" Ken glanced at the redhead inquisitively.
"I'm not!" Aya snapped back.
"Well, then why are we still having this discussion?!"
"Because you keep asking me pointless questions!"
"Well, then why are you still answering them!?"
"Because you keep asking!"
"Then I'll stop!"
"You go right ahead and do that!"
"Fine then I will!"
"Ok, then!"
"Alright!"
"Yea!"
"Exactly!"
"Good."
There was silence for a minute, before the brunette fell over laughing again, hitting his head for the second time on the way down.
Aya simply glared at him, "Come on, Ken. We have to close up shop."
The laughter stopped and there was a pause.
"...Hey. Aya?" Ken pulled himself up, and watched the redhead, as he pulled down the grate infront of the store's entrance, closing the shop early.
The redhead glanced at him, his signal to continue.
"Did your parents ever take you to McDonalds when you were a kid? And did they get you happy meals?" It was quite obvious, the Ken hadn't clearly thought out that question before asking (oh, c'mon, he's stoned, what would you expect), and he was gesturing and watching the lump that used to be the phone as he spoke, paying absolutely no attention to the redhead to which he spoke.
Aya paused, and shot the younger boy a glare, though it was futile since the brunette wasn't really paying him any attention. Sighing, he just stood for a moment and watched the brunett press away at the buttons on the register, and who then began giggling when the cash drawer popped out to hit him in the stomach. The older Weiss made no response, but simply watched the other for a moment, then continued closing up shop.
All was still silent for the next seven minutes, until Aya came back out of the back room to find Ken laying face down in the potting soil, mumbling, "...fucking plants and the shit they bury themselves in. It's a fucking crime against our fucking society... Damn assholes trying to control our taxes and whip all the shitty assed fucks into some fucking form of order. Then they bitch about the environment and how we throw our fucking shit on the fucking ground and polute the already fucked up grass and trees, and OH THE FUCKING FLOWERS... Grr..."
Throwing his hands up in the air, Aya let out a dull roar, "Gods, Ken! You are NEVER getting stoned again!"
"Damn, you're animated today, Aya."
"Damn, you're swearing alot today, Ken."
15:30 -- // Soccer class?! Canceled!? Oh no! \\
Ken frowned and looked up at the clock in the kitchen, noticing the time. Wasn't he supposed to be doing something? He frowned and scratched at his head, his eyes darting around the room for a clue as to what it was. The two ords of green finally set their gaze on the refridgerator, and he walked over to it. People always keep schedules and pointless stuff on the front of the refridgerator.
Frowning at the disarrangement of word pieces scattered all over the fridge, he began to move them all over for a clear surface area on the front of the fridge. All of the word pieces were tiny magnets, bought in a few of those refridgerator-poetry kits. You were supposed to make poems on your refridgerator with them, but they used them for leaving messages. Feeling bit poetic (and completely forgetting about whatever it was he was supposed to be doing), Ken began to compose a poem.
When he was satisfied, he sat down and watched it... Maybe it would move if he stared long enough? Maybe he could use the inhuman abilities of his super-human mind to make the little word pieces dance! He put all of his concentration into tying to move the pieces with his mind, but alas--
"I can't believe you told, Ken!" Omi entered and crossed his arms, scowling at the brunett at the kitchen table.
Blinking, Ken looked up to the blond teenager and cocked his head to the side, as if studying the youngest Weiss member, "What did I tell?"
"About Nagi!" He growled, and darked his glare, "I trusted you, Ken!"
For some odd reason, Ken couldn't comprehend this immediately, so he continued to watch the younger boy in confusion, "Trusted me with what?"
"You lied, Ken. You lied to me! You said you'd keep it a secret and you went and told Aya all about--" Remembering, suddenly, that Ken was not currently himself, the blond sighed in frustration and anger, "Ya know what? Nevermind, Ken. Just NEVER MIND!" The boy stormed from the room, to his computer and slammed the door behind him.
Frozen in his seat, the soccer-player looked to the floor, "I lied?" The room had turned so cold suddenly.
Now it was Aya's turn to enter. The elder boy payed no attention to the brunett, and simply went about his daily routine of making tea. Finally, he noticed Ken's absence of giggles--his absence of activity, as well. He glanced behind him to see the boy in question staring at the floor, eyes stormy and unfocused.
He watched as the boy lifted his head slightly, watching the words on the front of the refridgerator, and for that moment his face was a broken mask of depression and anger. In a simple movement, he had up and left the room, leaving nothing but the remaining sound of his chair scraping against the kitchen floor behind.
Aya stood for a moment, considering over this, and preparing his tea. As he left the room, he stopped to read the fridge, and the poem Ken had written... [4]
What we find in the brightest places
Seems the darkest on our minds
For if we all walked the earth without our faces
The darkest place would be my mind
Nek is now on sale for only the easy payment
Of one human soul per lifetime down-payment
Please place you order with the manager
And thank you for shopping at the K o n e k o
When he was done he stood for a moment, examining the words with a frown. It was a piece of symbollism too deep for even him to fully understand. Had Ken actually written this? Why would he choose to leave something like this open for just anyone to read? He frowned and reached for a piece of paper from the magnet notepad and the pen stuck ontop of it. Writing quickly, he copied the words down, and shoved them in his pants pocket. He wanted to read over it again later. He stared at the words for a moment longer, stopping only when he realised the phone was ringing. He paced over to the reciever and answered.
"Moshi moshi."
"Konnichiwa, this is Yamata Myako calling about Hidaka-san. Might I speak with him? Onegai." The voice answered.
"Gomen, Yamata-san. Hidaka-san is very ill and cannot come to the phone right now. Shall I deliver a message?"
"Hai. Tell him that his 15:30 soccer class has been dismissed this afternoon on account of his absence. I will need to speak with him when he returns. Would you happen to know when he will be well, sir?"
"Iie, I cannot be certain, though, it might be another day at least. Hidaka-san is very ill."
"Alright. Give him my wishes that he get well. Arigato."
He hung up and placed the phone down. Something had to be done about Ken, soon. Aya had never been stoned, himself, but he was sure that this 'high' his teammate was on, should have definately worn off by now. It might be best to get in touch with Kritiker concerning the Brunett's current state.
________________________
To be continued...
________________________
Basic Japanese... (In case you got confused)
Nan ji desu? -- What time is it?
Juu ichi ji han desu. -- It is 11:30.
Hai/Iie -- Yes/No
Onegai -- Please
Moshi moshi -- Greeting used when answering the telephone.
Gomen -- Sorry/Excuse me
Konnichiwa -- Good afternoon
Arigato -- Thanks
'-san', '-kun', '-chan', '-sama' - Name suffixes used for respect,
'-san' being a unisex form of respect, '-kun' for younger males,
'-chan' is for younger females, and '-sama' for figures of high
importance and authority (aka Kami-sama).
Author's Notes... (For background info)
1] In all of my stories, Ken seems to be afraid of spiders...
I'm not quite sure why I do this. It's in my fic 'Claustrophobia',
as well. O_o Kenken's just got a big spider issue.
2] I don't like the idea of Ken being boring, and most Ken-lovers
dont, so don't get angry over this! It's a method of 'fore-
shadowing', ha ha!
3] I also have some sort of obssession with Ken ranting about
justice and corporate fallacies and the problematic issues with
modern society and how the government just outright sucks. It's
kind of like my obssession with Wufei from Gundam Wing...
4] Don't you just love refridgerator poetry? ^_^ I know that they
don't usually contain the words that Ken's poem used, but it
really dosen't matter. I love Ken having a deeper side; it's such
an asset to his character... I wish I had some refridgerator
poetry.
quite random. Ken is acting a bit drastic, even for someone who is high, I know,
but just play along, ok? A little bit of RanKen is showing up in this part, but only
a little. And refridgerator poetry!
http://www.geocities.com/sephlorraine/dream.html
Warnings-- Humourous use of drugs and their effects, Shounen ai (RanKen), OOC, Angst, Langauge, Silliness... Etc.
Disclaimer-- I don't own it. Das ist argern... That I don't, that is. _
________________________
An Eternal High 2/4 (Please do not simplify this fraction)
By Seph Lorraine
________________________
Morning came sooner than was expected, and even stranger, Aya's wake came later. Fujimiya Aya was almost always the first one up in the mornings that the shop was due open (excluding Omi's jogging days, and Ken's soccer days, and the few occassions when Youji simply hadn't gotten home yet), though, strangely, this morning he did not awaken until a very tentative knock sounded from his door.
At first, hearing it, he dismissed the irritating noise, and shut his eyes once more, though the knocking persisted, and finally a smaller voice joined in.
"Hey, Aya... Are you in there?" Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock...
"...Hn..." Aya grunted from the comfort of his pillows.
"Are you coming down to help open the shop, today--?" Omi's voice was cut off as someone began talking to him in low tones from the hallway, as well.
There was a muffled noise or two before it was Youji's turn to get Aya up. The playboy quickly began beating against the door with his fists, "Hey, Aya, you better get yourself up and help us open shop or your ass is grass!"
The two boys in the hallway were surprised when the door opened to reveal a deliciously shirtless, disheveled looking, pissed off, glaring, Aya (Mmm... Not a bad sight, eh?). They froze; two collective gulps could be heard as they both turned and quickly headed towards the stairs.
The redhead was about to close the door again, when Youji suddenly turned around to call, "And wake up Kenken, while you're up there!"
Groaning slightly, and putting a hand to his forhead, Aya sighed and glared at the door three metres from his own. He ran his hand quickly through his hair, demolishing the tangles in his bright red strands, and staggered over to Ken's door. His conscious pounded dully within his head, a slight headache beginning, as he rapped upon the door the the ex-J-League player's room, "Wake up, Hidaka."
From the other side of the door, the brunette responded... by not responding.
Aya pounded a bit harder, "Ken! It's time to open shop; wake up!"
Only the deafening sound of silence could penetrate the door to Ken's room. Then, suddenly--
"He! He! He..." A small bout of giggling errupted from within Ken's stoney-silent room.
Puzzled, the redhead, stood for a moment. "..Ken?"
"Ho! Ho! Ho..." A morphed laugh drifted through the woodwork.
"Ken?" The door was pushed open by the redhead, and Aya peered in at the brunett.
"Guten Morgen alle! Ich heisse Nek und--Wilkommen...Aya! Ha ha!" Ken was rolling about his bed in a frenzy to gain enough momentum to roll onto the floor, while laughing to a strangely unusual extent. His face was red and streaming with tears of laughter, as he babbled some strange nonsense in a language Aya was unfamiliar with (Who knew Siberian was bilingual?), in the unmistakable voice of a gameshow host.
There was something wrong here. There was something very wrong here, indeed. For a moment, Aya was speechless (...should this be an unusual thing?), "Ano... I'll be... right back." The redhead slammed the door closed, and headed directly down the stairs to the flower shop, whilst Omi was still in the kitchen, digging through the refridgerator for orange juice.
The blond, averted his blue eyes to the red head, feeling his presence in the room, "Good morning, Aya! It's nice to see--"
"I thought you said he's be back to normal by morning." The violet-eyed man got directly to the point.
"Wha..?" Omi frowned, "Isn't he?"
"Go see for yourself." With that, Aya climbed the stairs again, and entered his room to dress, as the blond followed behind, trailing up to Ken's door instead, though. What persued next was to traumatizing to capture in complete affect.
"HE BIT ME! CAN YOU BELIEVE HE FRICKIN' BIT ME!?" The youngest Weiss member hadn't shut up for the last 30 minutes upon the subject. "I open the door, and there he is, like a dog, and he just jumps on my leg and begins to gnaw on my ankle! He's a cannibal! HE BIT ME!"
Youji frowned, "Yea, well are you guys gonna get to the point of this meeting or not?"
Weiss, minus one slightly stoned kitten, had settled into the missions room, delaying shop-opening that day, due to an emergency meeting. Though, they had been a bit slow getting it together, seeing as how Omi was easily distracted from the real topic at hand.
"I say we drag him out into a field and shoot him! Blow his brains out! Rip out his entrails and feed 'em to the dogs!" The small blond cried, a fierce glint dancing within his unusually dark cerulean eyes. "That'll show him who to bite!"
"Shut up, Omi." Aya quickly silenced the youngest Weiss with one of his Icy Aya Death Glares™. He turned to Youji, "Ken's high hasn't appeared to have worn off quite yet."
Silence ensued for a following moment or two, followed by a deep chuckle on behalf of the eldest blond, "Well, damn." Youji smiled, the shrugged, "I guess there's nothing we can do about it right now, is there?" He glanced at the seething Omi, and the scowling Aya, "We'll just have to wait until tonight..." A dark smirk crossed his face, suddenly, "Then we can have some fun with him."
Aya paused, glancing at Youji inquisitively, "What are you planning, Kudou?"
The play boy assassin leaned back, adjusting his sunglasses, and propping his feet up, "You'll just have to suffer and see, tonight."
From the shop, the loud crash flower pots falling over, and shattering, could be heard. There was then a slight moan, as if a person standing up, after being hit by a truck.
"That is if he makes it to tonight." The redhead clenched his fists and shut his eyes, his anger already apparent.
Omi gulped, "That is if -we- make it to tonight."
9: 30 -- // Super Aya vs. The Kidney Thief \\
"Ken... What are you doing?" The youngest blond watched his friend rearranged the many roses on display in the window. The ex-J-leaguer had been acting strangely, as expected, laughing hysterically at even the smallest things. Luckily, he had done a good job of scaring away the school girls earlier that morning. Now, Ken seemed to be in his own little world...
The brunett chuckled and moved a few more of them around, looking rather dazed and laughing for no reason every once in a while. "I'm helping!"
"They don't need rearranging, Ken... They all look the same." Omi pointed at the fact that all of the roses Ken was arranging were identicle red roses.
"Yes, well, some of them were beginning to bicker."
"...?" Youji tuned in from behind the counter.
Suddenly, Ken held up two roses, and in a high falcetto voice, "'Aa! Stop that man! He just stole my kidney!'" He waved one rose as if it were talking to the one in the other hand, which he assigned a deeper voice, "'Never fear Sakura, Super Aya will save you! Where was your kidney when it was stolen?'" He began to wave the roses one at a time when their respective characters talked:
Sakura, "Why, it was in my purse! Oh, Super Aya, you must save me! Save me!"
Super Aya, "I shall return to you your kidney, safely, I promise!" Super Aya flies away, and Sakura disappears, being replaced by another rose, which he assigned a cracky sinister voice.
In his own little world of illusion, and misconception, Ken paid no attention to those watching him, and especially didn't notice when Aya joined in to watch as well as Omi and Youji. All three were looking a bit worried, if not fearful at the brunette's actions.
Kidney Thief, "Ha! Now that I have this kidney, I can rule the world! For, it is a magical kidney, and with it I may fulfill my one desire to... RULE THIS MAGICAL KIDNEY! MWA HA HA HA!"
Super Aya, "Halt right there! I'm Super Aya, and I stand for love and justice. In the name of the moon, you're... gonna give me back that damn kidney!" At this point the two roses begin to fight. Unfortunately, Kidney Thief looses all of his petals, and Super Aya begans to look a bit bald, but in the end, Super Aya is successful, and returns to Sakura.
Sakura, "Oh, Super Aya! You've saved my kidney! I love you, Super Aya! But now I must kill you, for you have touched my magical kidney, and will soon be filled with the lust for domination over my magical kidney! GAH!"
Super Aya, "Ha! I shall go Super Sajin on you, and I will beat your ass! KA ME HA ME HA!!! Ha ha.."
Again, both roses fight, this time neither is successful in winning, and Ken returns to rearranging the other roses (which he still claims are 'bickering') once more.
Through all this, Aya kept a careful eye on Ken, watching the brunett's actions. Was this what people were really like when they got high? Did Ken have an ounce of realization as to what he was doing? Hopefully, this wouldn't get any weirder right?
10:30 -- // I Am Sailor Nek! \\
From the back corner of the shop, two green eyes peered out of the darkness. Someone had to stop this madness. Hearing a clutter from across the shop, near the counter, the eyes narrowed deviously, the brain behind them working up a plan.
Suddenly, another pair of eyes appeared. This pair had shimmering blue irises, wider than saucers, and shook nervously. "Psst! What are we going to do about him, Yo-tan?"
The green eyes widened as their owner sighed heavily, "I'm not sure."
"We can't just let him continue like this! This is totally ruining our business! No one wants to buy flowers from stoners!" THe younger boy whined.
"I know, I know... It should wear off after today, though. I mean... How long can one be high for, anyway?" Youji bit his lip, "Hey..." His eyes scanned around the shop, empty except for Ken, who was currently punching away at random buttons on the cash register, giddy with hysteria. "Where'd Aya go?"
Both sets of eyes blinked simoultaneously and peered deeper into the shop, glancing around. The tall redhead was nowhere to be found.
Ken squealed in delight as the tiny change drawer snapped open, and pushed it back in to play with the other buttons. He then glanced around him, suddenly silent. The shop was empty. The other tree boys had abandoned him. There was no one there to stop the flowers from bickering but him! He suddenly covered his ears hearing the loud fueds from the roses near the front of the shop, and then from the fresia displayed behind him. Then the gentians started up, and soon even the ficus were going at it!
The brunett paused, his hands clamped down over his ears, and he looked around in panic. He had to do something! Though, what could he...? He suddenly snapped his fingers and eyed the flowers with a wild gleam in his eyes. He did not notice three sets of eyes watching him from around the shop.
Running to the backroom, he grabbed a potting shovel, and raced back into the shop, to hear the bell ring from above the door. Something in Ken's mind was sure that the cause of this evil had been the cause of that ring. He dashed out of the small room, and thrust the tiny shovel out in a battle stance. "Hold it right there! I am Sailor Nek! And on behalf of your obnoxious ringing, I'm going to hidiously mutilate you! GAH!!!"
Unfortunately, his target had somehow been refocused as the telephone. He crushed the plastic encased object, bashing the metal innards, tearing apart the chord, and brutally beating the buttons. "I'll teach you to steal my coffee, again! You flatulant donut fuckers!"
"MOMMY! That man's scary! I wanna go home!" A tiny girl in blue, stood, staring wide-eyed and shocked at the brunett. Fortunately, her mother grabbed her hand and carried her out of the shop immediately.
"To think that from a florist!?" The woman stormed out angrily with her child, the door banging shut behind them.
"Come back again!" Ken called as they left.
Suddenly, Aya appeared from the other side of a row of violets, his violet eyes were dangerously narrowed, "Ken. Leave." He pointed to the door leading from the shop to their living area upstairs.
The brunett scratched his head looking confused, "Leave? Treeves have lees... er," he paused, "Trees have leaves!" The ex-JLeaguer was suddenly thrown into another fit of giggles, and didn't notice when Aya came up behind him, and violently pushed him out of the shop.
Looking around wearily, Youji and Omi suddenly appeared from the darkness of the back corner, "Is it safe?"
A mere glare from Aya settled the question, and they all went back to work (minus one siberian, that is).
11:30 -- // "Someone help! My hand! What do I do about my hand?!" \\
"Is it time for lunch yet?"
"No! And it won't be for another hour, Yo-tan." Omi rolled his blue eyes, as he rang up a current customer.
"Hey, chibi. You told me to remind you that you had to be somewhere today." The eldest blond spoke.
"Nan ji desu?"
"Juu ichi ji han desu." Youji paused what he was doing to stare at the youngest Weiss.
"Oh, yea! Thanks for reminding me! I need to leave." The blond quickly untied his appron, and hung it on the wall.
"Where are you supposed to go anyway?"
"I have to meet my boyfri--er.." Omi paused, nervously, "I have to meet my poison-specialist!"
Aya halted mid-step and eyed the youngest assassin accusingly.
The eldest blinked, "Why do you need to see a poison specialist?"
"Uh... For the... spider! In my room!" Blue eyes darted back and forth for a moment, "It bit me... while I was sleeping... And... Ugh! I don't feel so good! I better go get an antidote." With that, he was out the door.
The shop was silent, when suddenly, there came a strange giggling from the back room. Aya sighed, and looked to Youji, "Go check on Ken. Make sure he hasn't killed anything... or eaten anyone..." He went back to sweeping.
Walking slowly in fear of what was in the back room was only delaying the inevitable for Youji Kudo. When he reached the door, the giggling had turned into whining and the scraping of shoes against cement, as if someone where struggling. The blond tentively pushed open the door and peered in, to see...
"My hand! My hand! It's stuck!" Ken groaned, both of his palms against the wall. It looked like he was trying to detach it.
Youji rolled his eyes, "What have you..." He paused as he eyed the superglue bottle, lying open on the floor, "Damn, Ken." He looked up, "How the hell did THIS happen?"
It was obvious, though, that Ken wasn't paying any attention, instead he was practically screaming for help, tugging on his hand, "Someone help! My hand! What do I do about my hand?!"
By now Aya had shown up, "What happened?"
"Einstein, here, glued himself to the wall--Ouch! Damnit, Ken!" The blond rubbed the back of his neck from where Ken had hit him.
Two green eyes glared at him through locks of chocolate hair, "Shut up, Youji!"
The lanky blond, set his weight on the other hip as he watched and shook his head, "Are you claiming that it was a very smart thing you did?"
Aya frowned at the hand, and pulled a bit on one of Ken's fingers.
"HOLY SHIT!!! DAMNIT, AYA, DON'T DO THAT!!!" The brunett clenched his teeth, "Fuck, it hurts!"
The two other Weiss took this in with lifted eyebrows.
"What colourful language, Kenken." The playboy teased, and walked towards to phone to call the medics. He paused, seeing the mound of dented plastic and wire that had once been their phone. "Jesus Christ, Ken. This is the last time you ever get high..." He went inside to use their phone instead.
When his hand was removed, thirty minutes later, it was only by a trained medic, that it was done.
12:00 -- // Arachniphobia \\
Aya glanced at Ken, who was poking at his banaged and painful hand, "Do you have any idea why Omi would need to see a poison-specialist?" As soon as he had asked, he wondered why he had done so. Why would Ken know anything? Though, his instinct were telling him to ask.
The brunett blinked, and sputtered into another fit of giggles, "Why?"
With his arms crossed, Aya continued to stand, still and thinking, "He said he had to go about some spider--"
"AAAAAAA!!!!" In no time at all, Ken was standing atop the kitchen table, looking around in a paranoid frenzy, "SPIDER!!! THERE'S A SPIDER!!!"
The redhead blinked, and began to look around, "Where?"
"I DON'T KNOW!!!"
"Then why are you yelling?"
"BECAUSE!!!"
"Ken!"
"THE SPIDER!!! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!" [1]
"Ken, get down!"
"WHERE'S THE SPIDER!?!? KILL IT, AYA! MASH IT'S ARACHNID BRAINS INTO SOILED PIG MASS!!"
"...?"
"KILL IT, AYA!!! KILL IT NOW!!!"
"KEN! SHUT UP!!!"
"...?" The brunett, a top of the kitchen table watched Aya fearfully.
The redhead, spoke through clenched teeth, "Get off the table. Now."
"He he--" Ken climbed down obediantly, immediately losing his footing and falling to the floor in a lump. "Aa! Spider! We have to kill the spider!" In a moment Ken was gone, back out into the shop in fright.
12:30 -- // Always give your children happy meals. If such is not done, the affects can be traumatizing. \\
"Finally!" Youji watched as the clock struck 12:30, "I'm off, guys. I'll be back in an hour."
Two green eyes watched the tall blond strut from the shop, off to take his lunch break, it was common sense to even the most stoned of all florist/assassins that when Youji said he would be back in an hour, the rest of that sentence was silent: "I'll be back in an hour... before I head out to the club." AKA, Ken and Aya were alone to run the shop for the rest of the day.
Ken was still acting more clumbsy than usual, as was evident in his state, and he continued to be completely amused with some invisable issue, at which he laughed at from moment to moment. Finally, curiosity was sneaking up on the redhead, and he decided to ask.
"What are you laughing at?" His voice was monotonious as ever, and his face held no clue as to his curiosity.
The brunett stopped, mid-laugh, and thought about it for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders, "I'm not quite sure..."
"Oh." Aya frowned.
The soccer player immediately continued to laugh.
"You never answered my question, Ken."
He stopped again, "What question?" The grin on his face was one of uncontrollable laughter arising.
"Do you know why Omi would need to see a poison specialist? And, before you do anything, there IS NO spider." Aya was watching him closely now.
Ken flenched at the last word, and bit his lip, "I'm not allowed to say."
The redhead tapped his foot impatiently and gave the brunett an intimidating stare.
"You should be in a movie, Ran." Chocolate bangs fought to hide the peering green eyes staring up at the Weiss leader.
Aya paused, and narrowed his eyes at the younger assassin, "What are you talking about?" He wanted to reach down and move the hair away for a clearer look into the jade gaze. Ken had always expressed things so clearly through his eyes, something that had made him unbelievably easy to read. Almost boring on poor Kenken's behalf. [2] 'Wait a minute... He called me Ran?'
The younger boy began laughing again, "You have a pretty nose!" This time the laughter was harder, and the boy was almost rolling with it.
Rolling his eyes, and deciding this was going nowhere, the redhead went back to his arrangement. It didn't look like he would be able to leave the shop up the Ken for lunch break, and Ken certainly wasn't going out by himself.
"I wonder where they're eating at." Ken giggled and began to walk towards a row of gentians.
Aya simply listened with one ear, making sure Ken stayed out of trouble, and began to trim some baby's breath to add volume to his arrangement.
"If you were a Prodigy, where would you eat?" The soccer player began to giggle again, "I could just imagine Naoe Nagi and Tsukiyono Omi walking into McDonalds--"
The redhead snapped to attention, "What did you say?"
"--Oo! I bet he got a happy meal! He he! With the toy!" Ken frowned, "I never got happy meals when I was little--"
"...!?"
"--Aa, it's probably just some shitty Disney promo plastic. I hate the damn battles between all of these corporate leaders and who wants to set the best examples through maximum or moderate viewing in modern media using all these pathetic bribes like those stupid Land Before Time dinosaur action figures. Say, exactly how many sequals does that movie have? Twenty? Damn, that thing was lame to being with, but they just had to keep going, and going... Why is the energizer bunny pink? Is he the easter bunny, too? Why did I never get batteries for Easter, either--" [3]
Aya's jaw was actually hanging at the brunett, who was now talking quite animatedly about batteries. Had he just said Naoe Nagi and Tsukiyono Omi? Together? (Who smells sex and a cheeseburger with the enemy?)
"--Damn panasonic batteries work on EVERYTHING! I mean, if the TV ran on batteries, they would be panasonic batteries. Hey! We have a panasonic TV! I wish we had a SONY, though--!" Ken was suddenly shaken violently by the shoulders, and snapped out just intime to see Aya staring at him agape.
"Omi went out to see Nagi?" The redhead's voice was cold and firm.
Ken blinked, "I didn't say--"
"Yes you did! I heard it." Aya's violet eyes had narrowed to slits, just daring the brunett to lie.
"Oh... Um." He glanced around quickly, and began to laugh semi-nervously, he suddenly looked down, defeatedly, "Damn...man. I'm dizzy... If Omi asks... I didn't say anything." Ken stumbled off to the otherside of the shop, leaving the redhead to ponder over Omi's loyalty to Weiss.
13:30 -- // He is a very sexy man. A very sexy man, indeed. \\
Ken sat, behind the counter laughing at the windows (and calling them names) as Aya started on another arrangement. The brunett had tried to assist in arrangement-making earlier, but had been thoroughly unsucessful, now it seemed that he was amused to just watch the door. This musing was confirmed as the soccer player broke into another fit of giggles.
The bell rang and Aya looked up to see a rather attractive girl of about 18 enter. She smiled and headed straight for Ken, before he could say a word.
"Hi, there! I was hoping you could help me find some appropriate flowers to give to my imouto. Her birthday is today, and I was hoping to surprise her on the way home." She smiled, tucking a few strands of deep brown hair behind her left ear.
Ken frowned at her, creasing his brow and thinking, he was quite obviously distracted by the girl, herself, as he kept his eyes thoroughly locked on her own brown eyes. A small blush also dotted colourfully at his cheeks. "Ano... I... Well... I... Er..." He stumbled over his words left and right, and slowly at that.
Rolling his eyes, Aya stepped up, "Gomen ne, Hidaka-san is a bit detached at the moment--"
"I've got it covered." The brunett broke in quickly, still not moving his eyes from the girl. He stepped around the counter, and the girl giggled slightly, following him across the shop.
He turned to her, moving his eyes away, and speaking in a very falsly important voice, "So, ma'am, could you please tell me a bit about your imouto?"
The girl smiled back at him, "Well..." She took a quick glance behind them over to where the redhead was working on his arrangement, seemingly paying them no attention. When she saw, she took the chance to take a step or two closer to the soccer play, "She likes... Yellow."
Ken quirked a brow in his slow-conscious amusement, "Er... is that all?"
The brown-haired girl reached up, brushing the bangs from Ken's eyes and trailed her hand softly down the side of his smooth face, "She also likes music... You know..." She brought her finger down his neck to trail down his chest slowly, "What all... little... girls like..." She licked her lips suggestively, peering up at him with her flashing brown eyes.
A bit hesitantly, Ken laughed, and stole a nervous glance over at Aya, whom immediately looked back to his arrangement the moment the brunett turned to him. He looked back to the girl, who was almost pressing herself to him, now.
"Um... Well..." His head felt fuzzy, and a bit heavy. He just wanted to fall down. Something was wrong with this, but what was it? She was attractive, and -very- friendly, "What about... um..." He reached to his side quickly, pulling up a small box of marigolds, "These! They're lovely, eh? She'll love them, I'm sure!"
The girl frowned momentarily, glancing distractedly at the flowers, "They're orange, though...?"
"Uh... Then I'll get you some yellow!" He began to turn away, but she quickly pulled him back by the arm, "Hold on, sexy." She giggled, and leaned against him, "I can wait all day for flowers... I need -you-, now."
He took a deep breath and for once, he wasn't laughing. He watched the girl and narrowed his eyes a bit before pushing her away gently, "Gomen ne... I'm working, now."
She simply shook her head and laughed, "Then take a break! You could surely take some time for a pretty girl, huh?" She looked up pleadingly, "C'mon, sexy. You know you want to."
Ken shook his head quickly. This was wrong, very wrong. Sure, she was pretty, and he was on quite an impressive high, but he knew that something about it was wrong, "No. No, I don't."
The girl took a step back, cocking her head at him, slightly. Aya's eyes watched un-noticed from the other side of the room. "Fine then... Another time, then." She smiled, but he still shook his head.
"No. I'm just not interested." The soccer player seemed very serious, suddenly, and very sure of himself, as he said this.
She watched him in silence for a moment, before he finally spoke again, crossing his arms, "Look, if you're going to be in here, I must ask you to either buy something, or get out."
When he glanced back over at Aya, the redhead immediately went back to work, but there was a flicker of something in his eyes. Approval? Ken suddenly felt much lighter, that he had done something Aya deemed worthy of approval-- even if it was silent.
14:30 -- // Unworthy of the Golden Arches \\
"Hey... Imo!" Ken began to laugh almost hysterically, sinking to the floor behind the counter, where his laughs now only existed as background noise.
Violet eyes went livid and narrowed at the teenage boy who had just entered the shop, "Bombay."
Omi watched as Ken fell to the floor laughing with a look of dismay covering his large chibi face, then he turn to Aya... and froze. Had The Ice Prince suddenly gone Cold Bastard? Damn, he was getting tired of trying to keep up with the redhead's many multiple personalities... They were all so similar, anyway.
"Er... Konnichiwa, Aya-kun...?" His hands trembled a bit, before he froze completely. His gaze drifted to the spot of the counter at which Ken had stood before falling the ground for a good... chuckle. He intook a sharp breath and turned back to the Weiss leader; he knew. Ken had told!
"Meet me in the mission room in 10 minutes. We're closing early today." The redhead's voice was cold and sharp.
"I can explain, Aya." Omi responded, slightly frightened.
"Go. I'll be there in 10 minutes." Aya's tone was flat, and as expected, Omi left the shop to wait for Abyssinian in the missions room.
Ken was suddenly gathering himself up from the floor, and examining his hand, "I think it hurts."
An eloquent crimson eyebrow arched as the tall redhead turned to see Ken, "Think?"
"What?" The brunett blinked.
"It hurts?"
"What does?"
"I don't know?"
"Then why are you complaining?" Ken glanced at the redhead inquisitively.
"I'm not!" Aya snapped back.
"Well, then why are we still having this discussion?!"
"Because you keep asking me pointless questions!"
"Well, then why are you still answering them!?"
"Because you keep asking!"
"Then I'll stop!"
"You go right ahead and do that!"
"Fine then I will!"
"Ok, then!"
"Alright!"
"Yea!"
"Exactly!"
"Good."
There was silence for a minute, before the brunette fell over laughing again, hitting his head for the second time on the way down.
Aya simply glared at him, "Come on, Ken. We have to close up shop."
The laughter stopped and there was a pause.
"...Hey. Aya?" Ken pulled himself up, and watched the redhead, as he pulled down the grate infront of the store's entrance, closing the shop early.
The redhead glanced at him, his signal to continue.
"Did your parents ever take you to McDonalds when you were a kid? And did they get you happy meals?" It was quite obvious, the Ken hadn't clearly thought out that question before asking (oh, c'mon, he's stoned, what would you expect), and he was gesturing and watching the lump that used to be the phone as he spoke, paying absolutely no attention to the redhead to which he spoke.
Aya paused, and shot the younger boy a glare, though it was futile since the brunette wasn't really paying him any attention. Sighing, he just stood for a moment and watched the brunett press away at the buttons on the register, and who then began giggling when the cash drawer popped out to hit him in the stomach. The older Weiss made no response, but simply watched the other for a moment, then continued closing up shop.
All was still silent for the next seven minutes, until Aya came back out of the back room to find Ken laying face down in the potting soil, mumbling, "...fucking plants and the shit they bury themselves in. It's a fucking crime against our fucking society... Damn assholes trying to control our taxes and whip all the shitty assed fucks into some fucking form of order. Then they bitch about the environment and how we throw our fucking shit on the fucking ground and polute the already fucked up grass and trees, and OH THE FUCKING FLOWERS... Grr..."
Throwing his hands up in the air, Aya let out a dull roar, "Gods, Ken! You are NEVER getting stoned again!"
"Damn, you're animated today, Aya."
"Damn, you're swearing alot today, Ken."
15:30 -- // Soccer class?! Canceled!? Oh no! \\
Ken frowned and looked up at the clock in the kitchen, noticing the time. Wasn't he supposed to be doing something? He frowned and scratched at his head, his eyes darting around the room for a clue as to what it was. The two ords of green finally set their gaze on the refridgerator, and he walked over to it. People always keep schedules and pointless stuff on the front of the refridgerator.
Frowning at the disarrangement of word pieces scattered all over the fridge, he began to move them all over for a clear surface area on the front of the fridge. All of the word pieces were tiny magnets, bought in a few of those refridgerator-poetry kits. You were supposed to make poems on your refridgerator with them, but they used them for leaving messages. Feeling bit poetic (and completely forgetting about whatever it was he was supposed to be doing), Ken began to compose a poem.
When he was satisfied, he sat down and watched it... Maybe it would move if he stared long enough? Maybe he could use the inhuman abilities of his super-human mind to make the little word pieces dance! He put all of his concentration into tying to move the pieces with his mind, but alas--
"I can't believe you told, Ken!" Omi entered and crossed his arms, scowling at the brunett at the kitchen table.
Blinking, Ken looked up to the blond teenager and cocked his head to the side, as if studying the youngest Weiss member, "What did I tell?"
"About Nagi!" He growled, and darked his glare, "I trusted you, Ken!"
For some odd reason, Ken couldn't comprehend this immediately, so he continued to watch the younger boy in confusion, "Trusted me with what?"
"You lied, Ken. You lied to me! You said you'd keep it a secret and you went and told Aya all about--" Remembering, suddenly, that Ken was not currently himself, the blond sighed in frustration and anger, "Ya know what? Nevermind, Ken. Just NEVER MIND!" The boy stormed from the room, to his computer and slammed the door behind him.
Frozen in his seat, the soccer-player looked to the floor, "I lied?" The room had turned so cold suddenly.
Now it was Aya's turn to enter. The elder boy payed no attention to the brunett, and simply went about his daily routine of making tea. Finally, he noticed Ken's absence of giggles--his absence of activity, as well. He glanced behind him to see the boy in question staring at the floor, eyes stormy and unfocused.
He watched as the boy lifted his head slightly, watching the words on the front of the refridgerator, and for that moment his face was a broken mask of depression and anger. In a simple movement, he had up and left the room, leaving nothing but the remaining sound of his chair scraping against the kitchen floor behind.
Aya stood for a moment, considering over this, and preparing his tea. As he left the room, he stopped to read the fridge, and the poem Ken had written... [4]
What we find in the brightest places
Seems the darkest on our minds
For if we all walked the earth without our faces
The darkest place would be my mind
Nek is now on sale for only the easy payment
Of one human soul per lifetime down-payment
Please place you order with the manager
And thank you for shopping at the K o n e k o
When he was done he stood for a moment, examining the words with a frown. It was a piece of symbollism too deep for even him to fully understand. Had Ken actually written this? Why would he choose to leave something like this open for just anyone to read? He frowned and reached for a piece of paper from the magnet notepad and the pen stuck ontop of it. Writing quickly, he copied the words down, and shoved them in his pants pocket. He wanted to read over it again later. He stared at the words for a moment longer, stopping only when he realised the phone was ringing. He paced over to the reciever and answered.
"Moshi moshi."
"Konnichiwa, this is Yamata Myako calling about Hidaka-san. Might I speak with him? Onegai." The voice answered.
"Gomen, Yamata-san. Hidaka-san is very ill and cannot come to the phone right now. Shall I deliver a message?"
"Hai. Tell him that his 15:30 soccer class has been dismissed this afternoon on account of his absence. I will need to speak with him when he returns. Would you happen to know when he will be well, sir?"
"Iie, I cannot be certain, though, it might be another day at least. Hidaka-san is very ill."
"Alright. Give him my wishes that he get well. Arigato."
He hung up and placed the phone down. Something had to be done about Ken, soon. Aya had never been stoned, himself, but he was sure that this 'high' his teammate was on, should have definately worn off by now. It might be best to get in touch with Kritiker concerning the Brunett's current state.
________________________
To be continued...
________________________
Basic Japanese... (In case you got confused)
Nan ji desu? -- What time is it?
Juu ichi ji han desu. -- It is 11:30.
Hai/Iie -- Yes/No
Onegai -- Please
Moshi moshi -- Greeting used when answering the telephone.
Gomen -- Sorry/Excuse me
Konnichiwa -- Good afternoon
Arigato -- Thanks
'-san', '-kun', '-chan', '-sama' - Name suffixes used for respect,
'-san' being a unisex form of respect, '-kun' for younger males,
'-chan' is for younger females, and '-sama' for figures of high
importance and authority (aka Kami-sama).
Author's Notes... (For background info)
1] In all of my stories, Ken seems to be afraid of spiders...
I'm not quite sure why I do this. It's in my fic 'Claustrophobia',
as well. O_o Kenken's just got a big spider issue.
2] I don't like the idea of Ken being boring, and most Ken-lovers
dont, so don't get angry over this! It's a method of 'fore-
shadowing', ha ha!
3] I also have some sort of obssession with Ken ranting about
justice and corporate fallacies and the problematic issues with
modern society and how the government just outright sucks. It's
kind of like my obssession with Wufei from Gundam Wing...
4] Don't you just love refridgerator poetry? ^_^ I know that they
don't usually contain the words that Ken's poem used, but it
really dosen't matter. I love Ken having a deeper side; it's such
an asset to his character... I wish I had some refridgerator
poetry.