Don't own Weiss Kruez or the song 'Something more' by the Cure. DISCLAIMED!

I guess it should start now.

He clutched at a particularly deep wound in his side, trying to slow the outpouring of blood. Sitting there in a puddle of his own life fluid, nearly black in the dark, he shifted his shoulders slightly, tossed his head to rid his glazed blue eyes of the stringy, orange hair hanging in front of them, and rasped, "If you could have anything you ever desired, what would it be?"

The other man considered the question slowly, warily, breathing heavily, dark eyes narrowed. His brown hair was damp with sweat, clinging to his flushed cheeks and forehead, and he couldn't help but feel almost disgusted as he looked down on the dying assassin hunched over at his feet. "Sometimes...I want to start over."

"Ah."

Everything exploded.

Ken felt panicked before he even opened his eyes, although he could not think of any real reason to fear save that his eyes seemed soldered shut, blood pounding in his ears to the rhythm of his heartbeat, breathing no longer an easy task. A far away voice echoed in the background, like he was underwater, listening to someone above the surface speaking.

"For a second of your life... Tell me if it's true...waiting for a sign is all I want of you. Your heart hides a secret, a promise of what is, something more than this..."

He suddenly found his previously paralyzed body capable of movement and dug his hands into the soft ground beneath him, thrashing for a few moments and gulping down air in panic before suddenly finding himself flipped over onto his back, staring at the ceiling, breathing heavily now that the pillow was no longer pressed to his face. The voice from before was no longer blurry, but clear - along with the music.

"Just a second of your time, any one will do... A taste of any other is all I want from you. Offer me the world, and how can I resist...something more than this?"

A giant sigh of relief. He was in bed. Listening to music. He must've drifted off. Only, it was strange... Panic seized him again. Where was he exactly? What time of day was it? And how had he gotten there?

"Are you ok, Ken?" A light hand descended gently on his shoulder, the voice distinctly feminine - sleepy and soft.

He glanced suddenly to his right and felt his heart leap into his throat. The lights were on, but a little low, casting a golden glow on everything - the bed he lay on was made, but the covers were a little rumpled, and sitting beside him was...

Shoot, what was her name?

Aya-chan. That's right, Ran's little sister. He barely knew her - what was going on?

She yawned, covering her mouth with a dainty hand, and then flipped her dark braids over her shoulders, smiling. Her round face and dark eyes looked slightly older than he thought her to actually be, but maybe she was just worn out. "We must've fallen asleep while listening to the CD," she said, nodding towards the CD player sitting on the edge of the mattress. "It's been a long night."

"Um..." Ken couldn't really remember anything. His mind was pretty blank. It was strange though, not like amnesia. He recognized the room - he just didn't know who it belonged to. He knew the girl - he just couldn't remember her. His name, Ken Hidaka, where he lived...

That would come to him in time.

Aya hopped out of bed almost energetically, yawning again and then giving a shuddering little sneeze. She was wearing blue jeans and a plain black hoodie, a fading bruise on her left cheek, barely noticeable anymore. Quickly, she extended her hand to help him up, giving his arm a quick yank so that he practically leapt to his feet. "Come on, Ken, we better get back to the party."

"Party?" This was a complete surprise. Nevertheless, he didn't release her hand, allowing the girl to lead him out of the bedroom and down the stairs, where the noise level grew with each step. Music added to the din of all the loud, rowdy conversation, and as they stepped down onto the main floor, Ken saw that people were packed tightly in the room - faces he knew, but could not quite place...

"I can't wait to get all these people out of here so we can go to bed," Aya told him, raising her voice slightly to be heard over the noise.

Ken gulped down a lump that had formed in his throat. What had she meant by that?

She smiled innocently at him.

Ok, so he was completely lost. This was his life and he barely remembered it - was there something going on between him and Aya? And if so, did Ran want to kill him? This was very weird. So intense were all these thoughts and musings that Ken did not even realize where he was going until he ran smack into someone else's back. "Sorry!" he cried, and leapt back.

A young man, tall and lean and broad-shouldered with light auburn hair pulled back in a short ponytail turned to face him, blinking sky blue eyes in surprise. Then, he smiled, tilted his head to the side, and greeted softly, "Hey, Kenken. I haven't seen you in a while."

Ken stared at him quizzically. "Schuldig?" he asked, and for reasons he could not determine, recoiled in disgust. Something just seemed wrong about the other man. His smile was too kind, his hair should be a longer and darker, more orangey red, and his clothes were simply too casual - a pair of khaki cargo pants and a black T-shirt.

"Where did you and Aya-chan go off to?" inquired Schuldig, but it was in a friendly, curious sort of way - not the demanding, suspicious tone that Ken, for some reason, expected. That smile was still curling his lips, and his long face looked pale, almost sad. When Ken didn't reply, his smile faded and he murmured, "Ken, please don't make life harder for her than it already is. Don't walk off with her like that when everyone is watching."

But he couldn't hear the German's words. An aching paranoia was seeping through his skin, slowly pricking at his mind until the image of Schuldig wavered and faded from a realistic state into a molded, almost fake appearance. His skin was too pale and bright, eyes too shiny, hair glowing unnaturally. "You...don't look right..." Ken said shakily.

"Look right?" parroted Schuldig dumbly, and right before Ken's very eyes, a wound split open on his arm midway between his shoulder and elbow, gushing blood that fell in a steady stream to the ground and stained the carpet. He didn't seem to notice though, and, oblivious to the huge gash, leaned closer and squinted, scarlet fluid trickling from the corner of his mouth. "What do you mean? Are you ok, Ken? You're looking a little pale..."

He backed away, choking back the bile that rose into his throat. He wanted to vomit - why did no one notice that Schuldig was falling apart before their very eyes? Cuts and deep wounds were splitting open all over his arms and face, blood soaking through his shirt and pants. There was no pain in the German's expression, but the flesh was practically falling off his body in ribbons.

And then, suddenly, everything was normal again. Schuldig stood before him, clean and healed - not a trace of the previous injuries. His soft blue eyes were blinking rapidly in confusion, and Ken suddenly realized that he had stumbled back and was sitting on the floor, leaning onto his hands, staring up at the ring of concerned faces around him.

Aya appeared, reaching out a hand to help him up, and seemed as though she wanted to say something, but had only time to start the first word before being abruptly cut off by a gruff voice calling her name. Like an obedient dog she turned and ran to the speaker, who Ken instantly recognized, but, just as it was with everyone else, did not actually know. Though he felt he should.

And Jei Farfarello (that's who it was) looked wrong too. His hair was a soft auburn-brown, short and bristly, and his round face was all too tan. His skin...flawless. Standing about half a head higher than Aya-chan, he was wiry but strong, his jaw clenched in what seemed to be irritability. And he was dressed too nice! Black slacks and a gray turtle-neck - expensive shoes. He snarled something at Aya and they left the room to go out into the cold, the girl slinking behind him as if she were just a bit worried.

Ken shook off the help of everyone trying to get him back on his feet and sighed furiously. Somehow, he felt half of the people around him were his enemies, though he could not figure out why. WHAT WAS GOING ON!

Shortly, Aya and Jei came back in, both looking carefully blank, although Aya was rubbing her shoulder as if it pained her. Schuldig, who had reappeared at Ken's side, hummed sympathetically at the couple and then patted Ken on the shoulder. "If only her brother would do something," he said softly. "Of all the people I know, I always thought Aya-chan would be the last to get in an abusive relationship."

"Abusive?"

"Yeah... C'mon, Ken - you've seen first hand. But Ran... He's never around. Always too busy working."

Ken stared dumbly at the Irishman and the dark-haired girl beside him. She looked timid, but happy. And now that he thought about it, her older brother was nowhere in sight... But that didn't seem right. Ran was protective of his little sister, as far as Ken knew. Then again, according to his instincts, Schuldig was his enemy, not his friend, but the current situation disagreed with that as well.

"I don't know what's going on," Ken said blankly, his eyes unfocussing for a moment as he locked gazes with Jei, who had turned his head to glare at him, and watched the Irishman's visage melt away to be replaced with what looked to be a twisted replica of the man. His skin was deathly white, like paper, and covered in rough, jagged scars. His soft amber eyes had turned golden, an eye patch over one, and in his hand was a knife dripping with blood. The body of a teenage boy was curled up at his feet, shuddering.

Ken blinked and it was gone.

Schuldig was now standing in front of him, blocking his view of Jei. "Kenken, ever since you and Aya-chan went up to your room to listen to her new CD, you've been acting weird. Jei is suspicious enough already, and what with how you're acting, it's making it worse."

"So, I live here?"

"Yes, with Aya and Ran. They rent out a room to you."

"Um...how long has she been with Farfarello?"

"Farfarello? Oh, you mean Jei. About half a year. He didn't start getting abusive until recently. I think she's hoping it is just a stage." The redhead looked thoughtfully at Ken, frowning. "You seem really dazed. Is everything alright?"

"I feel really weird. I just woke up and nothing makes sense anymore. It's like...the facts are there, but I feel like I'm living someone else's life."

Schuldig smiled slightly, giving a light punch to his shoulder. "Hey, we all feel like that some days." A quick glance at his watch. "I have to get going - giving a lesson early tomorrow morning to some kid just starting out on the violin. Poor girl - she's progressing at snail's pace, but her parents are RICH. Well, see ya'."

Schuldig melted into the crowd.

He played the violin? Since when!

Ken went up to the bedroom that he had been told was his and curled up under the covers, still fully-clothed. As he closed his eyes, an image flashed before his eyes.

Himself, standing over a mound of dead bodies, bugnuks gleaming and dripping with blood, the claws stretching over his knuckles from heavy gloves. He stared with emotionless brown eyes at the destruction, and the scary thing was...

It felt right.

Review!