Thanks for all the reviews! It was really encouraging.

Xaoseph: Thanks so much for all your ideas and helping me get started with this fic!

Apocalipticoblivion: Wow, all your questions give me many ideas. I loved your review, thanks so much for it. Keep on reviewing and I'll keep updating, deal? lol

Zeto: Glad you like it. I like reviews.

Secera Crystalfire: Thanks for your compliments! Keep on reviewing!

Mistress of Darkness1: Aww, so I'm not just writing this in vain... lol Thanks a bunch, review again.

Manx: Yeah, when I wondered what kind of instrument Schuldig could play, the violin kinda popped into my head. I'm happy you liked it after all, keep reviewing.

Misura: Hmm...we'll have to see what is real and what is not, won't we?

Redemption-Moon: Will do.

Oh, and I own NOTHING.

The redhead looked moodily over his shoulder and then fixed cold, amethyst eyes on the boy kneeling on the ground, passing his hands quickly over the unconscious man before him. "Hurry up, Bombay. We can't risk being here any longer."

"He's hurt though, Abyssian." The seventeen-year-old lifted swimming blue eyes to the older man, not trying to hide the obvious concern. "He's not waking up."

From a few feet away, a tall, lanky man with shoulder-length hair, clad in a long, dark trench coat, stood over the nearly dead German who was propped up against the wall, unconscious. "This one's about dead," he declared, the toe of his boot gently nudging the rival assassin's knee, finding him unresponsive. His hands went to work at pulling out his razor wire. "I'll finish him off."

A commotion from down the hall startled the trio. The redhead lifted the limp body of their fallen teammate over his shoulders and rose, calling out, "Balinese, there's no time! We can't fight like this! Go!"

They had disappeared within a matter of moments.

Ken shuffled down to the kitchen the next morning in his crumpled clothes from the night before, curious to see if things felt any more normal than before. For one thing, turning the corner and seeing Aya scrambling eggs in her school uniform while Farfarello sat at the table, eyeing her with an expression that bordered on predatory - that was NOT normal.

He sighed.

"Hiya, Ken," Aya greeted him, turning to face him with a smile. "Want some breakfast? I know you don't like eggs, but I have some extra if you want any."

He barely heard, too busy staring at Farfarello and seeing him with white hair instead of soft auburn, scarred skin instead of flawless, and golden eyes instead of amber. "What's Farfarello doing here so early?" he demanded.

"Jei always comes by in the morning to have breakfast and then drive me to school," she replied, blinking her eyes in surprise. "I mean, he does it like every morning. Wow, did you get drunk last night or what?"

"Huh? Oh...no."

Aya grinned and shook her head, scraping the fluffy, golden eggs onto a plate for Jei, setting it before him on the table and then playfully ruffling his hair, only to have him duck away and grunt in irritation. Her smile faded momentarily, but she quickly regained it and turned to look at Ken, saying almost sternly, "You better get to work on your manuscript today. Your editor keeps calling and wondering where the last hundred pages are. After all, your deadline is next week."

Ken shook his head quickly and it suddenly hit him. He was a writer. He wrote novels. Why did that seem so wrong? "Oh, yeah... I write books." It was all rushing in on him, his published works, how he was barely scraping enough money together to live semi-comfortably. It was a good thing he was trusted enough by Ran to be allowed to live with his sister (and occasionally, with Ran as well) so Ken could watch out for Aya when business called her brother away. "Don't worry, Aya, I'll get on it today."

But he didn't.

Instead, after she and Farfarello left, he walked to the nearest park and joined a group of guys a bit younger than him in a game of soccer. Now THAT felt right. Like he was meant to do it, like he had always played the game and loved it.

After it was all over, he was soaked in sweat and had not progressed the least in his 'writing'. Still baffled at his current position and his lack of understanding, he headed back to the apartment and looked at the clock. A few more hours until Aya-chan came home. Boredom.

He wondered where Ran was. In his head, the older man should be close by, but he wasn't...

"I wonder what I normally do all day," Ken sighed, opening up his wallet and sifting through the contents. "It seems to me there is somewhere I could go... Ah, what's this?" He pulled out a small business card and took a closer look. It was advertising a studio for music lessons. At the bottom, in smaller print, listed the teachers.

Schuldig was among them.

"He is a good violinist," Ken commented to himself, putting the card back and then walking off down the hall to take a shower.

Aya-chan and Farfarello arrived home while he was still finishing dressing. Standing before the mirror in his T-shirt and boxers, toweling off his hair, he heard the door slam and lifted his head, drawing in a sharp breath when a heavy crash followed soon after. What struck him strange immediately afterwards was how horrified his face was reflected in the looking glass, when he himself had not even realized he wore such an expression. Without thinking, he dashed out to the kitchen, to the front door of the house, and skidded to a stop, seeing that Farfarello was stooping to pick up a fallen chair while Aya-chan watched on with expressionless eyes.

"Hey, what's going on?" Ken asked, trying to sound casual but only having the nervous hitch in his voice destroy the tactic.

Aya turned to face him, surprised, and then replied, "Farfarello knocked over a chair."

Ken's instincts had told him it was something else, but maybe he was wrong...?

But then Schuldig would've been wrong too.

Farfarello was glaring at him with cruel amber eyes, and Aya was clearly on not feeling all too much like having him hang around, if her offish attitude was any indication, so he meekly turned and mumbled, "Ok, then I'm just gonna go...put on some pants..."

They watched him turn the corner, but did not realize that he stopped there. Pressing his back to the wall, Ken sucked in his breath and waited.

And it didn't take long.

Farfarello walked over to where Aya stood and slipped his arms around her waist, trying to pull her close only to have her resist. His lips brushed her cheek and she turned her head to glare in a different direction. "What?" he demanded, bristling angrily. "What's your problem now?"

"Maybe I'm still upset about earlier."

"Huh?"

"Jei! That made me really upset! I told you - I was CRYING for goodness' sake! How could you have forgotten? Do my feelings really mean so little to you!"

Farfarello looked as if he was making some sort of attempt to appear genuinely concerned, or so Ken thought. It wasn't all too convincing, but love must blind some people because Aya, after some hesitation, let her face soften as if she believed the act. "Listen," he told her quietly, brushing some stray strands of hair from her forehead, causing the tears that had been welling up in her eyes to escape and flood down her face. "I really am sorry. I know I've been on edge lately, I yell at you when you don't deserve it, and sometimes...I hurt you. You know I'm going through a rough time with my sister dying recently and leaving me with her son, but I'm going to get over this soon, I promise."

Ken rolled his eyes.

Aya nodded mutely and then broke away, turning her back on him and placing her hands on the counter, leaning heavily on them. She seemed incapable of speech.

"I'm going to go now," Farfarello told her, eyes boring into her back, and from what Ken could see, he was clearly holding back anger at her less than satisfactory response. "I'll pick you up tomorrow morning as usual, and don't forget, we have tickets for the concert tomorrow night as well."

She nodded again, not turning around until she heard the door slam. Then, she wiped at her eyes with her sleeves and ran to the stairs. Ken could hear her light footsteps falling on the steps and then in the hallway all the distance to her room.

After dinner that night, Ken helped Aya clear the table and, while she washed dishes, he dried. Somehow, he felt he should bring up how he felt Farfarello was all wrong for her, but he could not think of how to do so without sounding intrusive and bossy. So, instead, after accepting a plate from her, he slowly wiped it off with the slightly damp dish towel and commented, "So, your brother hasn't been home in a while, has he?"

"Two weeks," she replied with no real enthusiasm. "He's due back tomorrow, so he can see the concert."

"Concert?"

Instantly, she turned on him, wailing, "Keeeen! I can't believe you forgot! Schuldig is playing the violin at the concert, remember? It's a big deal! You're his best friend, how could you just forget?" She paused. "It's a good thing I'm keeping the tickets because you probably would've lost them."

"Uh huh." Ken managed a sheepish smile and scratched the back of his head, brown eyes clouding with momentary embarrassment.

Aya finished the last dish and then put it away, smiling. "Hey, I'm gonna go get into my pajamas and then we can watch a movie, ok? Wouldn't wanna break the nightly ritual." She dashed quickly to the stairs, rested her hand on the banister, and looked back at him curiously. "You gonna get ready for bed too?"

"Oh...um, not yet. I'll get the snacks."

"Kay!" She dashed up the stairs again, disappearing.

Ken turned his attention to throwing a bag of popcorn into the microwave and then scavenging the refrigerator for drinks. Obviously, someone needed to do some shopping - all he found was milk. Deciding to look elsewhere for food, he checked the pantry, tore apart the cabinets, and found, to his delight, a stash of chocolate bars. Happily, he gathered those up, collected the now ready popcorn to pour it into a bowl, and walked into the living room.

Aya bounced into the rooms moments later in over-sized, striped pajama pants and a matching button up shirt, the sleeves only allowing her fingertips to poke out. "You found Ran's chocolate!" she cried in delight at seeing his discovery. "He never tells anyone! I've been searching for months! Where was it?"

He considered telling her it was in the kitchen closet taped to the bottom of the lowest shelf, but decided against it. Instead, he grinned, shaking his head and remarking, "I guess you'll never know."

She groaned in disappointment, but quickly got over it. "What should we watch?" she wanted to know, moving to the box of DVDs by the TV. "Um, how about some anime?"

"Ok," he agreed easily, settling down on the couch and propping his feet up on the coffee table. "What do you have in mind."

"Fruits Basket."

Ken protested heartily.

"Ok, Voices of a Distant Star!" Without even waiting for an answer, Aya grabbed the DVD case, snapped it open, and stuck the disc into the DVD player. "I haven't even seen it yet," she commented happily. "I've heard it is really sad though."

Apprehensively, he glanced at her as she took her seat beside him, picking up a pillow and hugging it to her chest. "Um...this isn't one of those girly animes, is it?"

"...it could be. I don't know. Just watch it!"

"Hey, before we do, I gotta admit something..."

"Hmm?"

"I kinda...eavesdropped. Today. On you and Farfarello."

She didn't say anything.

"Does he...um...does he ever hit you?"

To his surprise, she merely shrugged and smiled, though her arms tightened around the pillow. "Um, he just...well - ok, he always has a reason. Like when me and you disappeared at the party last night... Everyone thought we were doing something, and it embarrassed Farfarello. If he had disappeared into his bedroom with some girl during a party, right there in front of everyone, I would've hit him too."

"But this is different. He's a guy - he shouldn't hit you at all. And besides, nothing happened between us."

"Oh, it was just a little hit to the shoulder. It's not like he punches me in the face or anything."

"Aren't you ever scared of him?"

Her smile faded, and she looked pensive. After a pause, she replied, "Everyone is scared of Jei."

Ken found that no words flew to his mind at that statement, and he sat silently beside her, lowering his gaze to stare at his socked feet. After some more silence, Aya began to speak again, and he looked up to meet her eyes.

"Yeah...Jei wasn't like that always... When his sister died, he kinda turned morbid and the pressure of raising her son got to him. I just...I'll hang in there. He's going to be ok, and someday he'll be back to normal. He would do the same for me."

Ken shook his head slightly.

"What? Ken, he's going to get better."

"How can you trust someone like him?"

"...I just...ok, I kinda wish I felt safer with him, but it's a difficult time and...just watch the movie." She directed the TV remote at the television and pressed her thumb upon the play button, but Ken did not miss the sadness that remained in her expression. He thought to himself that she really did want someone that she could trust, and she wasn't happy with Farfarello - if anything she was scared of him and living off some stale memories that held her back from moving on. However, he was able to discard these thoughts as it was obvious bringing them up would bring her pain and embarrassment.

She seemed thankful that he dropped the subject easily.

Ken made it through the short movie surprisingly well - considering the lack of action and the fact that only two characters were seen the entire time - a boy, as well as a girl who looked amazingly like the boy, except in a skirt. But Aya told him to ignore that and that it wasn't the point and there was a difference...just not a big one. However, the feel of the movie was pretty nice, for all the talking the couple did about each other, it wasn't too sappy, kinda sad, actually...

At the end of the movie, Aya was leaning sideways against Ken's shoulder with her legs curled beneath her, arms still holding the pillow tightly to herself. Her eyes were wide in disbelief. "Did she die?" she demanded, sounding slightly appalled. "It looks like she was dying!"

Ken thought for a moment and then unwrapped a new candy bar. "I don't know. The arms to her mecha robot were gone, and she looked kinda beat up. Maybe she was dying, but then again, that freaky vision of herself told her she'd see her boyfriend again, so maybe they save her. We may never know."

"Hey, that's your fifth candy bar!"

"Yeah?"

"Uh huh! All that hydrogenated oil is going tot kill you!"

"Whadda?"

"Keeeen!" She whacked him over the head with her pillow and then sighed in what appeared to be frustration. "You need to lay off the junk food. I mean it."

"Oh, so you're going to make me, huh?"

"As a matter of fact, yes."

He decided to ignore the comment, biting into the candy bar again. He had not taken into account how this would effect Aya, and before he could really say what was going on, he felt his grasp slipping on the chocolate as he was thrown to the side and slammed into the couch cushion, face first. His muffled scream resounded in his own ears.

Aya, who was leaning over him, hands gripping his shoulders, laughed lightly and exclaimed, "Promise to cut back on sugar!"

Pushing himself up with some effort, he flopped over onto his back and shook his head defiantly. "Why should I?"

"'Cuz it's not healthy!" She was still playfully holding him down, her head bowed over his, long hair falling like a curtain over his face, tickling the corner of his mouth. He could faintly smell the fragrance of the peach soap she used to wash her face each night - it made him slightly uncomfortable - but her lips were smiling and the top button of her shirt had come undone so he tried to keep his eyes focused on hers. Her voice went on sweetly. "And I want you to be healthy. So you stick around. If you died on me because of what you eat..."

He grinned nervously, realizing she was slowly letting her elbows bend, sinking down to lie over him, and as the playful mood faded, so did his smile. "What?"

They were too close.

"Well, I don't know what. I guess I'd be upset." Her breath was warm on his skin. Her round face was now serious, her hands resting lightly on his shoulders. She seemed to be at a loss for words, but she didn't move. Her body was an almost heavy pressure on his. "You really need to stop eating candy though..."

"Ok, I'll cut back," he heard himself promising.

She started to say something, but stopped without any kind of warning. Her dark eyelashes met her cheeks for a moment and then fluttered up again, looking almost upset. Her head turned, and he wondered what had provoked her to do this, so he looked as well.

Farfarello's car was pulling into the driveway.

Aya jumped up and quickly fixed the button that had come undone on her nightshirt, her hands flying to her hair immediately afterwards, fingers combing through it. Anxiously, she asked, "What is he doing here so late? Something must be wrong..."

Ken didn't have an answer.

She ran into the kitchen and he heard the door open, heard her greeting him, but did not hear any sounds of reply. Curious, he got up and walked in to see what was taking place.

Standing in the doorway was Farfarello. He had managed to somehow not make a sound, and his amber eyes were narrowed to mere slits that burned in malicious anger. His hand rested on the doorway, body stiff and rigid, lips pressed to a thin line.

"Jei, what are you doing?"

He threw a book on the table. "Came to return something I borrowed." He paused, as if collecting his anger. "It's easy to see into lighted windows. There's a big window that looks into your living room. Nothing's going on, huh, Aya?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but his hand rose and swiftly struck across her cheek, whipping her head to the side, the only sound being a stifled cry that was choked almost soundlessly in her throat and the smack of his knuckles colliding with her face.

Ken, shocked by what he had seen, stood rooted to his spot, incapable of moving and speaking. And then, he found his voice and exclaimed something that even he couldn't make out, though he had leapt forward to do something - maybe to hit Farfarello back, but Aya drew in between the two and stood there, tears brimming in her watery eyes, a bruise which was forming in the shape of three of Farfarello's long fingers darkening on her cheek. She said nothing, looked down, and then Farfarello was gone, whirling on his heel and slamming the door behind him.

"Aya!" Ken said, almost desperately, but she turned and ran up the stairs, ducking her head to hide her tears. He watched her retreating back, head bent with one hand lifted to hover over her red cheek, the other arm pumping furiously as she ran at full speed up the stairs, eager to get away, and then he stood alone, forlornly sighing and knowing that he could no longer call such treatment Aya's personal business.

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