A/N and Disclaimer: Yep yep! New chapter up! ^^ I do not own Nerf, nor do I
own Weiss Kreuz. Though I'd settle for just about any part of Weiss, they
wouldn't let me have ANYTHING! Not even the broom from the flower shop . .
. though they might have given me the dirt swept up by it, I didn't venture
to ask. That would just be weird. And my apologies for OOCness in this
chapter, but it was for humor purposes.
Also, thank you Sky Rat for pointing-out that some people might have been confused last chapter. Hanaya= flower shop. I won't use any more Japanese, okay, 'cept for 'kun' because . . . well, just because of Omi, and the wonderful alliteration it has with 'Ken'. ^^
Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers! I love you all! ::gives everyone a happy holidays hug::
~~~~~~~~~~~
For some reason Ken couldn't get to sleep that night. He tried counting sheep, thinking happy thoughts, meditation, even holding his breath until he passed out. But he didn't. Ken just ended up with a rather irritating headache and minor case of hyperventilation. I'd say it was just his luck, but it had more to do with his selective case of stupidity.
He felt a little guilty about sleeping on the bed, but Omi wouldn't let him sleep on the floor, despite his protest. With Omi asleep on the ground, and only shadows to keep him company, it did get boring . . . well, until Ken decided to make use of his company.
Using skilled finger puppet technique, he used the illuminating streetlights outside to cast images of Omi and himself on the opposite wall.
Well, actually, he just decided Omi was most like a rabbit, and he was most like a dog. And that was pretty much the extent of his skill, so it would have to do.
The Omi rabbit stood alone on the wall, hopping around patiently until the Ken dog came onto the wallpaper. Ken moved his hands closer together.
"Hey, Omi?" Ken faked a strong masculine voice in a whisper.
"Oh! Ken! I was looking for you," a high-pitched voice whispered back.
"You're beautiful. Would you go out with me?" the dog moved his mouth with a hesitant air. Ken paused a second, letting his hands descend to the bed sheets before he let his upper body go back down onto the bed. The dog and rabbit fell off the wall somewhere in the midst of this. Ken sighed loudly.
. . . perhaps too loudly, because Omi stirred on the ground.
". . . I'll go out with you," he mumbled.
Ken jumped then blushed, almost as if it were a single action, "Omi?! Really?!"
"Yeah," Omi breathed briefly, mumbling slightly, but all that was audible was, ". . . You smell nice."
"E~?" despite his density (Kennium: 9.0 X 10e7856 g/cm squared), he could tell that Omi wouldn't say something like that and ventured to make a deduction, ". . . are you awake?"
"Sure, I'd love a crepe. . ." Omi tossed, turning towards Ken, revealing his closed eyes, and the brunette kicked himself mentally. If he had -actually- kicked himself, it wouldn't have been very pretty. A professional career in Soccer against a nearly fatal knife wound will do that.
"I'm such an idiot!" Ken whispered angrily at himself. He'd actually believed Omi had been talking to him. What was even worse was that Omi was dreaming about having a date with someone, now, and it couldn't be him. He clenched his teeth, but he really felt more like crying than anything.
Even more than he wanted to get to sleep, he just wanted to cry into his pillow, but he didn't dare. There was always a chance that Omi would wake, or that Youji had another trick up his sleeve. But Omi liked someone, and it wasn't him . . . his spirit was breaking. He wasn't ready for this rejection, but he promised himself he had to tell Omi tonight. He just couldn't go on like this. Ken choked back what threatened to come when he looked at the sleeping figure on the ground, who had a blissfully happy smile plastered across his perfectly shaped face.
He almost didn't notice as an unwanted tear slipped down his cheek.
"Crap," he hissed, wiping it away hatefully with the sleeve of his shirt as he buried his head into his pillow.
It wasn't long before Ken sobbed himself to sleep.
~~~~~~~~
Ken opened his eyes slowly, the fuzzy wall coming into focus from the blinding daylight that flooded the room. He had a headache.
"Ken-kun?" Omi's face became the focal point of the picture painted before him. So beautiful . . . "You're awake early," he threw Ken a smile.
"It's only seven?" Ken asked rhetorically, holding his forehead with one hand as he glanced at the clock and pushed himself up with his other arm, closing his eyes in a cringe of pain, (both kinds, as he recalled his breakdown the previous night). Ken opened one curiously, "Then why are you up at this hour, Omi?"
The blonde turned away as he gathered something into his hands, presenting a plate and fork to the bedridden Ken with a single reply, "breakfast".
"Wow. Thanks. You really didn't have to go through all the trouble," Ken mentioned, but accepted the plate anyway, "I could have called in for. . . room service or something."
"Don't be silly. It wasn't out of the way, I have to eat, too, you know," Omi smiled again as he pulled out his laptop from its hiding place under the bed, "And you need to stay right there until tonight. We have our work cut out for us."
Ken dove in hungrily for the eggs, but waited to swallow before talking, "Did you get in touch with Manx?" Ken took another bite.
"No," Omi answered, turning on his computer and opening several files he'd researched about Schwarz, "But I'm sure we can use weapons, now. . . for self-defense, and based on previous encounters we've had with this enemy, there's no way they could deny us that anymore on this mission" he paused to type, "Especially with your injury."
"Yeah, getting skewered isn't my idea of a good time," Ken illustrated as his fork prongs dug into a chunk of fried potato. But . . . then he realized what he was doing, and felt only slightly and oddly sorry for the poor potato and placed it back on his plate. Not that he was a potato, or anything but . . . the symbolism was just too painful, "So what now?"
"We aim to kill," Omi said (excuse the pun), "They must have planned to catch us off guard at the ice rink."
"Um. . . I think that was Youji who sent us those . . ." Ken tried to say.
"Well, there's always the possibility, but I don't think we should immediately assume."
"Okay. . . but that's the same thing you're doing with Schwarz" Ken added. Omi was probably right, anyway. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't picture Schuldig making an apple person. Of course, it might be his fault that he could picture Youji making one.
Omi looked at Ken, and sighed, "Alright. Why don't you call them, then?" he said, handing the phone to Ken casually before continuing his mission report. Ken stood there a bit, and Omi looked back to make sure that Ken was actually DOING something with the phone instead of just holding it. Sure enough . . . he was just holding it.
"Ken." Omi tried to explain, "Phones are used for calling people. We have the right to call Aya and Youji. We LIVE with them."
Ken (who was completely absorbed in thought for a moment) snapped back into the world of the living with a jump and an odd sound, "erf?"
"umm . . . 'Nerf?'" Omi quoted.
"huh? No, Nerf is a squishy thing you throw at people. 'erf' is a kind of surprised noise. What I mean is I'll call them, I was just zoning out a little. . ." Ken thought a second at this piece of wisdom as he began to dial, along with something that had been bothering him, and why he wasn't thinking straight in the first place while Omi had a hard time choking back a giggle as he started back on his laptop work.
Ken dialed the number and waited for the phone to ring, but it didn't. Three ascending notes came over the line followed by a recorded message telling him the line was out.
"That's strange," Ken announced as he hung up.
"What is?" asked Omi.
"The phone's out." Omi turned around in his chair with surprise.
"Really?" He widened his eyes, "We must be loosing a lot of flower orders right now. I wonder if they've noticed yet."
"Omi" Ken addressed, growing serious and getting the blondes attention, "Mastermind spoke to me . . . that's how I knew you were being attacked. He said that they were attacking Aya and Youji too. I'd forgotten about that until just now," Omi frowned gravely.
"Well, we're just going to have to trust them to take care of themselves," he answered coolly, "there's nothing we can do."
Ken looked at his hands that he wrung in his lap. That was true enough. Omi was always right. The trip from this mountain back to the shop was at least a full day's worth of travel. They wouldn't have time to be there and back for their rendez-vous with Schwarz . . . or so Omi had him believe. Ken realized now that if Schwarz had gotten to Youji and Aya, they wouldn't have been able to deliver anything, (aka the apple).
Then Aya and Youji might be. . .
. . . Here?!?!
Ken froze. That's right!! He knocked his hand against his forehead. Those direct surveillance devices he'd found in the drawer only have a three mile radius! They had to be here. Thank goodness, that means that Schwarz didn't get to them. . .
But that still doesn't explain the phone line. Maybe Schwarz got to the shop and did a little damage before figuring out that that Youji and Aya weren't there. That's brilliant. Now there's only one thing left to worry about. . .
YOUJI AND AYA ARE -HERE- DAMNNIT!!
They've been here, and have been spying on us this whole time. In person! Ken flushed from embarrassment. I can understand Youji, but. . . Aya~?! When did he turn against me? Okay, so there was that one time I put blond hair dye in his shampoo, and his hair was orange for a week . . . but that was soooooo long ago, and he already beat me up and then everything was cool. Oh . . . unless he's mad about that plant pot I broke when I violated the 'no soccer in the house' rule, but I didn't think he'd found that yet.
And what about tonight? Ken was sure that if Aya and Youji were here then the tickets were definitely their doing. How could they not be? Youji had been trying to get him and Omi together for ages, but Ken had only just realized. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to be himself around Omi with the paranoia of knowing that he might be watched hanging over him.
But the apple had spoken true. He would go tonight even if it killed him . . . either from the wound or the embarrassment didn't matter much at this point. He just hoped that they wouldn't find Youji or Aya there. That might be messier than finding Schwarz.
Ken attempted to get out of bed, but Omi saw him out of the corner of his eye.
"You should stay in bed, Ken. That wound has a ways to go from being healed. You should know that better than I do," Omi mentioned, "please rest."
Ken stopped. He really felt like walking around (laying in bed was the most boring thing ever~!) but for Omi. . . he'd do anything. And so he lay down again, without sigh or complaint, reaching for the remote.
"But you should be fine after you rest, so we're still going tonight to the ice rink together, right?" Omi commented almost rhetorically. Ken decided to answer anyway.
"Well, I think so . . . unless you don't think it's a good idea, Dr. Tsukiyono. I'm supposed to be resting." Ken smirked as he talked, but stopped speaking upon seeing a blush creep over Omi's face.
"Well, I think you'll be fine, but we'll see," The blond said through red cheeks as he continued typing. This whole reaction was unexpected, but strangely Ken found himself blushing back and feeling all warm inside like someone had poured a kettle of tea water straight into his stomach. It burned, and yet he tingled all over. There was an awkward silence as Omi got up, sitting in a chair opposite the bed near the television.
". . . I'm sure things will be just fine. . . " Omi told himself as he picked up a book by the chair, his blush dimming, and proceeded to read.
"Mind if I watch T.V.?" Ken asked, waving the remote in Omi's general direction.
"Go ahead." Omi said, looking up only briefly.
Ken pressed the button on the remote that flicked the screen on. A pandemonium of voices came through. Switching the channels until getting to the sports, Ken watched as a basketball star shot a two-pointer into a hoop. Too bad soccer isn't on. Straying his eyes from the television, Ken glanced at Omi. This was more entertainment than he could ever wish for. Just to be able to look at him, observe him, even knowing the pains of unrequited love, he had been content to just watch.
Well . . . so far.
~~~~~~several hours, several miles, and several basketball games later~~~~~~~
"No." Aya glared at the ice skates, "Just. . . No."
Youji sighed running his fingers through his hair from the front as he pulled away from the redhead, taking the cigarette out of his mouth before talking, "Geez, Aya. It's not like they're going to bite you."
"I don't ice skate."
"You mean you can't?"
"I mean I DON'T!" Aya flushed with anger. Youji had hit it right on the nose, but it's not like he would ever actually admit to it . . . though it seemed that's the way things were heading.
"Shhh!" Youji hissed in a panic, and Aya focused immediately, grabbing the cowboy hat that Youji had let him . . . or rather -forced- him to borrow (1), and hiding beneath thick sunglasses, Aya sat silently next to the recently hooded Youji as Ken and Omi entered through the glass door to the outside. Ken handed the monitor the tickets, she stamped their hands, and Ken and Omi walked right past them, barely even noticing they were there.
The hooded figure lifted the hood slightly off his eyes to make sure that the coast was clear. Youji sighed heavily, throwing the hood back entirely.
"That was too close for comfort," he relaxed, becoming serious, and letting his right fist fall into his left hand, "Okay, we stick to the plan."
"What plan?" Aya asked, sweat-dropping nervously.
"You know, the plan where YOU. . .," Youji pointed an accusing finger at the surprised face, ". . .go out and pursue the SUBJECT," Youji waved his hand in the rink's general direction, flipping it back sharply to point at the pair of neglected ice skates, ". . .in THOSE."
Aya's right eyebrow twitched. "And what will -you- be doing?"
"Hanging out here," Youji smirked playfully, ". . . with hot figure skaters . . ." He whistled as a girl in a leotard walked by. She ignored him and you could almost see the angry squiggles that Aya's head emitted. Finally, looking up with a glare that would freeze lava, Aya flung the ice skates at Youji's head.
"Why don't YOU go?" Aya growled, waiting for Youji to collect himself.
"Too suspicious," Youji rubbed the back of his head, and the bump he had deserved. "And besides, you have the right look." He paused, bringing his thumbs and forefingers out to make a frame. He distanced the frame from his face, tilting it, and closing one eye to see it more clearly. "Perfect."
". . .?"
"You look nothing like yourself!"
". . ." Aya blinked, though you couldn't tell beneath his sunglasses or Youji's hat.
"Well, you know, to disguise me, you'd probably have to cut off my hair or something (2) But you're fine! You look like John Wayne in those old western movies." Youji grinned, rubbing his chin as if in deep thought, looking at Aya's costume. Youji noticed the door to the ice rink behind their fearless leader, "So, it would make sense for you to go. Take this headset, so we can keep in touch. No one will see it under that hat."
Youji handed Aya the headset, and Aya stood there, angry, as he put it on along with the ice skates. Standing and looking at the mirror on the opposite wall, Aya sweat-dropped. He looked like the lead to a production of 'cowboys on ice'.
Youji, seeing Aya standing in front of the opening to the rink, and completely absorbed in his reflection, saw a golden opportunity.
Aya widened his eyes wider than we've ever seen them before as Youji gave him a gentle push onto the ice. Aya slid for a couple of yards, waving his arms ridiculously before promptly falling back against the rink wall, ending with legs widespread across the ice and his glasses half falling off of his nose. Youji could help but laugh. He spoke into the headpiece.
"So you really can't skate," Aya growled as the voice came over the speaker, chuckling hopelessly.
"I've never tried before," Aya answered in a whisper as he got up, holding the support bar, wiping off the shaved ice on his wet pants and venturing out once more. . . before sliding forward and falling backwards onto the ice.
So much for secrecy, Aya thought. He seemed to be attracting the most attention in the entire rink.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken looked at his feet as he moved them across the ice, taking it slow. Every time he moved his left leg, he had to balance his waist on the right. Most people don't realize this when they're skating, but the stabbing pain in your side every time your muscles tense to balance makes you notice these things.
He was going very slowly, and Omi had left him behind a minute ago, speeding through the crowd. He said he was surveying the crowd for suspicious characters, and told Ken he could wait behind. Ken tried to protest, but it was too late and Omi had already gone ahead.
Ken jumped slightly as he felt a tap on his right shoulder, and turned to look, but there was no one there. He took another stride but nearly lost his balance as Omi skated up on his left, grinning.
"Gotcha," the blond picked up the pace and turned to skate backwards in front of Ken, holding his hands behind him playfully. Omi swayed side to side with each stride, still smiling.
"Yeah," Ken smiled back. Omi was just too adorable, "you got me." Double entendre?
Omi looked closer at Ken, noticing that he limped slightly on the ice, wanting to put as little pressure on his left leg as possible.
"Ken-kun, are you okay?" Omi asked, turning back to skate forward at Ken's side. "Is it too painful? I didn't see anyone very suspicious, so I could sit out with you for a little while if you're not feeling well."
"I'm fine. . ." Ken was about to stop there, but then he got a brilliant idea, ". . . but maybe just to be sure I don't, you know, fall or anything. . ." Ken looked to his side, and slipped his bare hand into Omi's.
Omi's cheeks were already pink with the cold, but Ken could have sworn that they turned a deeper shade as Omi jumped slightly at the touch. It was only a nervous hiccup of a jump, but it made Ken want to wrap the smaller body in his arms and tell him how much he loved him. . . how much he wanted him. . . how much he wanted to hold those cold hands until they were as warm as his own.
"Your hand is so cold . . ." Ken remarked, closing his hand more tightly, still just as gentle, but with a new kind of message, "Hold mine until it's warm again?"
Omi smiled, looking down at his skates, ". . . sure."
Ken and Omi continued to skate together, hand in hand. They looked like the perfect couple, and were getting a few stares, but both of them had almost completely cut off all affiliation with the outside world. It was like the only thing left was the other's hand. Ken couldn't even feel the pain of his side anymore.
However none of this was quite enough to make him not notice the mysterious man in a cowboy hat that slipped and fell as they passed by. A pang went through Ken's head as he put the pieces together.
#1. Strangely familiar cowboy hat
#2. Is that. . . dark red hair? . . . I can't really see that well.
#3. Long gold earring. Just one.
#4. OMG, IT'S AYA!
Ken, during this realization, forgot temporarily where he put his feet . . . or was it that he forgot he had feet in the first place? In any case, he lost his footing, and toppled over face-first. There was a surging pain in his side as he realized that he hadn't hit hard ground. He actually fell on top of something.
Opening his eyes from wincing, he made his second realization. That 'something' was actually Omi.
Ken's brain went immediately from his pain to his heart, which picked up its pace considerably. It must have been his fault for telling Omi not to let go of his hand. He tried to move, but he couldn't without the pain being too great. He tried to speak, but the sound didn't come out. He could not only feel his own heart beating, but Omi's as well. They were both just as fast.
Was that possible?
After realizing his situation was when Ken was finally able to look at Omi's face . . . not that he hadn't been looking at it for the past few seconds . . . but he hadn't really realized it was there in its entirety. Omi was only a breath away. His eyes were wide and his cheeks were as pink as ever. The way Omi's hair fell on the ice made him crazy. The funny thing was that Ken couldn't help thinking Omi looked like a blushing schoolgirl right before her first kiss.
"K-ken kun . . . ?" Omi breathed. Ken felt a hand clutch his sleeve, and saw Omi's eyes begin to grow more watery, but Omi closed them in embarrassment and turned his head purposely so that he wouldn't be able to see, "Why are you just staying there?!" Omi yelled, looking back with pleading eyes.
"Because I-. . ."
Ken couldn't lie . . . he wanted to tell the truth. Those eyes were pleading for something. He didn't know what, but the beating of Omi's heart against his own told him that it wasn't for him to leave.
"We're attracting attention, Ken," Omi whispered.
"I can't let you go," Ken told him simply. That wasn't a lie. There was something that he needed to tell him. Ken couldn't go on like this. He didn't care if the whole world knew . . . he didn't care if Aya knew. This was . . . love.
Ken leaned forward, closing his eyes as he let his lips descend on Omi's. The whole world left them. Omi opened his eyes wider, unable to believe this was really happening, but when he felt Ken against him, he knew it was true. All of Omi's emotion flooded into his eyes and filled them with water, so that as he closed them, tears slid down his face and onto the ice.
Ken pulled away quickly, ashamed, as soon as he tried to cup Omi's cheek, feeling the tears that stained them, "s-sorry I. . ." He sat up, looking miserable, "I didn't mean to make you cry-"
But he barely had time to finish, because Omi had come onto his knees and had thrown his arms around Ken, sobbing freely, "I love you" he whispered into Ken's ear, holding onto him tightly.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Abyssinian?. . . Abyssinian?! Do you copy?" Youji yelled into the headset. "Mission status!" He demanded.
"Complete." Was Aya's simple reply, as he smirked, watching the scene unfold before him.
"What do you mean 'complete'?"
"Look for yourself."
Youji peered over at the glass, and saw Omi with his arms wrapped around Ken in the middle of the skating rink. "YES!" He cried, jumping up out of his seat with joy. Several people stared at him, "What are you looking at?" He asked them, a little annoyed.
All of the sudden there was an ear-splitting pitch that came over the skating rink intercom. A lot of people stopped skating to cover their ears. Omi withdrew his hug from Ken in surprise.
"May I have your attention, please," a male voice announced into the skating rink, "Will the real slim shady-" there were a couple of muffled scolds followed by an 'ouch', and another voice came over the mike, "We're having an emergency drill. Everyone is obligated to evacuate the building immediately." The mike clicked off.
Ken and Omi narrowed their eyes. There was no mistake . . . Youji looked a bit confused, knowing he'd heard those voices before. Aya, using the headset, called in.
"Youji, that was Schwarz, get ready to fight." Youji narrowed his eyes.
"Okay, I hear you," The blond answered, watching as the entire rink cleared out with the exception of the four of them. "Good thing I'm always prepared." Youji rolled up his arm as if checking a watch, but making sure that his weapon was there instead.
Ken stood up, grabbing his claw out of his pocket and putting it on to get ready. Omi fanned out four darts in his hand as he stood, looking around for anything suspicious. He noticed there was only one person who hadn't left. The hat, the hair, the earring. . .
"Aya-kun? What are you doing here-?!" Omi yelled.
"No time!" Youji cut him off, sending a stream of wire into the air and pulling the arm of a lithe, eye-patched figure that shot down from the ceiling, sending him crashing across the ice instead of into Omi.
"You're both. . .?!" Omi asked incredulously, looking to Ken for an answer, but his face offered nothing.
The screech on the speaker came up again, and all of them turned as Crawford stepped into the rink, "Welcome Weiss," his voice boomed through a smirk, "I was only expecting two of you, but my, my . . . this is a pleasant surprise."
"What do you want?" Aya asked, sliding forward on his skates, having discarded the hat and sunglasses, there was clearly a glare plastered across his face.
Crawford smirked, holding the microphone up to his lips once more as Schuldig and Nagi appeared from behind.
". . . To kill you."
~~~~~~~~~
(1) Aya likes to go stalking Ken and Omi in Youji's Gluhen cowboy hat. A very good disguise in my opinion ^^ Now if we could only figure out how Omi's hair turned gray . . .
(2) Poor Youji doesn't know what they did to him in Gluhen . . . and no, I'm not going to shut up about it. I'm in shock O.o
A/N: dun dun dun. ^^
Leave a review please? I would love it if you do.
Also, thank you Sky Rat for pointing-out that some people might have been confused last chapter. Hanaya= flower shop. I won't use any more Japanese, okay, 'cept for 'kun' because . . . well, just because of Omi, and the wonderful alliteration it has with 'Ken'. ^^
Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers! I love you all! ::gives everyone a happy holidays hug::
~~~~~~~~~~~
For some reason Ken couldn't get to sleep that night. He tried counting sheep, thinking happy thoughts, meditation, even holding his breath until he passed out. But he didn't. Ken just ended up with a rather irritating headache and minor case of hyperventilation. I'd say it was just his luck, but it had more to do with his selective case of stupidity.
He felt a little guilty about sleeping on the bed, but Omi wouldn't let him sleep on the floor, despite his protest. With Omi asleep on the ground, and only shadows to keep him company, it did get boring . . . well, until Ken decided to make use of his company.
Using skilled finger puppet technique, he used the illuminating streetlights outside to cast images of Omi and himself on the opposite wall.
Well, actually, he just decided Omi was most like a rabbit, and he was most like a dog. And that was pretty much the extent of his skill, so it would have to do.
The Omi rabbit stood alone on the wall, hopping around patiently until the Ken dog came onto the wallpaper. Ken moved his hands closer together.
"Hey, Omi?" Ken faked a strong masculine voice in a whisper.
"Oh! Ken! I was looking for you," a high-pitched voice whispered back.
"You're beautiful. Would you go out with me?" the dog moved his mouth with a hesitant air. Ken paused a second, letting his hands descend to the bed sheets before he let his upper body go back down onto the bed. The dog and rabbit fell off the wall somewhere in the midst of this. Ken sighed loudly.
. . . perhaps too loudly, because Omi stirred on the ground.
". . . I'll go out with you," he mumbled.
Ken jumped then blushed, almost as if it were a single action, "Omi?! Really?!"
"Yeah," Omi breathed briefly, mumbling slightly, but all that was audible was, ". . . You smell nice."
"E~?" despite his density (Kennium: 9.0 X 10e7856 g/cm squared), he could tell that Omi wouldn't say something like that and ventured to make a deduction, ". . . are you awake?"
"Sure, I'd love a crepe. . ." Omi tossed, turning towards Ken, revealing his closed eyes, and the brunette kicked himself mentally. If he had -actually- kicked himself, it wouldn't have been very pretty. A professional career in Soccer against a nearly fatal knife wound will do that.
"I'm such an idiot!" Ken whispered angrily at himself. He'd actually believed Omi had been talking to him. What was even worse was that Omi was dreaming about having a date with someone, now, and it couldn't be him. He clenched his teeth, but he really felt more like crying than anything.
Even more than he wanted to get to sleep, he just wanted to cry into his pillow, but he didn't dare. There was always a chance that Omi would wake, or that Youji had another trick up his sleeve. But Omi liked someone, and it wasn't him . . . his spirit was breaking. He wasn't ready for this rejection, but he promised himself he had to tell Omi tonight. He just couldn't go on like this. Ken choked back what threatened to come when he looked at the sleeping figure on the ground, who had a blissfully happy smile plastered across his perfectly shaped face.
He almost didn't notice as an unwanted tear slipped down his cheek.
"Crap," he hissed, wiping it away hatefully with the sleeve of his shirt as he buried his head into his pillow.
It wasn't long before Ken sobbed himself to sleep.
~~~~~~~~
Ken opened his eyes slowly, the fuzzy wall coming into focus from the blinding daylight that flooded the room. He had a headache.
"Ken-kun?" Omi's face became the focal point of the picture painted before him. So beautiful . . . "You're awake early," he threw Ken a smile.
"It's only seven?" Ken asked rhetorically, holding his forehead with one hand as he glanced at the clock and pushed himself up with his other arm, closing his eyes in a cringe of pain, (both kinds, as he recalled his breakdown the previous night). Ken opened one curiously, "Then why are you up at this hour, Omi?"
The blonde turned away as he gathered something into his hands, presenting a plate and fork to the bedridden Ken with a single reply, "breakfast".
"Wow. Thanks. You really didn't have to go through all the trouble," Ken mentioned, but accepted the plate anyway, "I could have called in for. . . room service or something."
"Don't be silly. It wasn't out of the way, I have to eat, too, you know," Omi smiled again as he pulled out his laptop from its hiding place under the bed, "And you need to stay right there until tonight. We have our work cut out for us."
Ken dove in hungrily for the eggs, but waited to swallow before talking, "Did you get in touch with Manx?" Ken took another bite.
"No," Omi answered, turning on his computer and opening several files he'd researched about Schwarz, "But I'm sure we can use weapons, now. . . for self-defense, and based on previous encounters we've had with this enemy, there's no way they could deny us that anymore on this mission" he paused to type, "Especially with your injury."
"Yeah, getting skewered isn't my idea of a good time," Ken illustrated as his fork prongs dug into a chunk of fried potato. But . . . then he realized what he was doing, and felt only slightly and oddly sorry for the poor potato and placed it back on his plate. Not that he was a potato, or anything but . . . the symbolism was just too painful, "So what now?"
"We aim to kill," Omi said (excuse the pun), "They must have planned to catch us off guard at the ice rink."
"Um. . . I think that was Youji who sent us those . . ." Ken tried to say.
"Well, there's always the possibility, but I don't think we should immediately assume."
"Okay. . . but that's the same thing you're doing with Schwarz" Ken added. Omi was probably right, anyway. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't picture Schuldig making an apple person. Of course, it might be his fault that he could picture Youji making one.
Omi looked at Ken, and sighed, "Alright. Why don't you call them, then?" he said, handing the phone to Ken casually before continuing his mission report. Ken stood there a bit, and Omi looked back to make sure that Ken was actually DOING something with the phone instead of just holding it. Sure enough . . . he was just holding it.
"Ken." Omi tried to explain, "Phones are used for calling people. We have the right to call Aya and Youji. We LIVE with them."
Ken (who was completely absorbed in thought for a moment) snapped back into the world of the living with a jump and an odd sound, "erf?"
"umm . . . 'Nerf?'" Omi quoted.
"huh? No, Nerf is a squishy thing you throw at people. 'erf' is a kind of surprised noise. What I mean is I'll call them, I was just zoning out a little. . ." Ken thought a second at this piece of wisdom as he began to dial, along with something that had been bothering him, and why he wasn't thinking straight in the first place while Omi had a hard time choking back a giggle as he started back on his laptop work.
Ken dialed the number and waited for the phone to ring, but it didn't. Three ascending notes came over the line followed by a recorded message telling him the line was out.
"That's strange," Ken announced as he hung up.
"What is?" asked Omi.
"The phone's out." Omi turned around in his chair with surprise.
"Really?" He widened his eyes, "We must be loosing a lot of flower orders right now. I wonder if they've noticed yet."
"Omi" Ken addressed, growing serious and getting the blondes attention, "Mastermind spoke to me . . . that's how I knew you were being attacked. He said that they were attacking Aya and Youji too. I'd forgotten about that until just now," Omi frowned gravely.
"Well, we're just going to have to trust them to take care of themselves," he answered coolly, "there's nothing we can do."
Ken looked at his hands that he wrung in his lap. That was true enough. Omi was always right. The trip from this mountain back to the shop was at least a full day's worth of travel. They wouldn't have time to be there and back for their rendez-vous with Schwarz . . . or so Omi had him believe. Ken realized now that if Schwarz had gotten to Youji and Aya, they wouldn't have been able to deliver anything, (aka the apple).
Then Aya and Youji might be. . .
. . . Here?!?!
Ken froze. That's right!! He knocked his hand against his forehead. Those direct surveillance devices he'd found in the drawer only have a three mile radius! They had to be here. Thank goodness, that means that Schwarz didn't get to them. . .
But that still doesn't explain the phone line. Maybe Schwarz got to the shop and did a little damage before figuring out that that Youji and Aya weren't there. That's brilliant. Now there's only one thing left to worry about. . .
YOUJI AND AYA ARE -HERE- DAMNNIT!!
They've been here, and have been spying on us this whole time. In person! Ken flushed from embarrassment. I can understand Youji, but. . . Aya~?! When did he turn against me? Okay, so there was that one time I put blond hair dye in his shampoo, and his hair was orange for a week . . . but that was soooooo long ago, and he already beat me up and then everything was cool. Oh . . . unless he's mad about that plant pot I broke when I violated the 'no soccer in the house' rule, but I didn't think he'd found that yet.
And what about tonight? Ken was sure that if Aya and Youji were here then the tickets were definitely their doing. How could they not be? Youji had been trying to get him and Omi together for ages, but Ken had only just realized. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to be himself around Omi with the paranoia of knowing that he might be watched hanging over him.
But the apple had spoken true. He would go tonight even if it killed him . . . either from the wound or the embarrassment didn't matter much at this point. He just hoped that they wouldn't find Youji or Aya there. That might be messier than finding Schwarz.
Ken attempted to get out of bed, but Omi saw him out of the corner of his eye.
"You should stay in bed, Ken. That wound has a ways to go from being healed. You should know that better than I do," Omi mentioned, "please rest."
Ken stopped. He really felt like walking around (laying in bed was the most boring thing ever~!) but for Omi. . . he'd do anything. And so he lay down again, without sigh or complaint, reaching for the remote.
"But you should be fine after you rest, so we're still going tonight to the ice rink together, right?" Omi commented almost rhetorically. Ken decided to answer anyway.
"Well, I think so . . . unless you don't think it's a good idea, Dr. Tsukiyono. I'm supposed to be resting." Ken smirked as he talked, but stopped speaking upon seeing a blush creep over Omi's face.
"Well, I think you'll be fine, but we'll see," The blond said through red cheeks as he continued typing. This whole reaction was unexpected, but strangely Ken found himself blushing back and feeling all warm inside like someone had poured a kettle of tea water straight into his stomach. It burned, and yet he tingled all over. There was an awkward silence as Omi got up, sitting in a chair opposite the bed near the television.
". . . I'm sure things will be just fine. . . " Omi told himself as he picked up a book by the chair, his blush dimming, and proceeded to read.
"Mind if I watch T.V.?" Ken asked, waving the remote in Omi's general direction.
"Go ahead." Omi said, looking up only briefly.
Ken pressed the button on the remote that flicked the screen on. A pandemonium of voices came through. Switching the channels until getting to the sports, Ken watched as a basketball star shot a two-pointer into a hoop. Too bad soccer isn't on. Straying his eyes from the television, Ken glanced at Omi. This was more entertainment than he could ever wish for. Just to be able to look at him, observe him, even knowing the pains of unrequited love, he had been content to just watch.
Well . . . so far.
~~~~~~several hours, several miles, and several basketball games later~~~~~~~
"No." Aya glared at the ice skates, "Just. . . No."
Youji sighed running his fingers through his hair from the front as he pulled away from the redhead, taking the cigarette out of his mouth before talking, "Geez, Aya. It's not like they're going to bite you."
"I don't ice skate."
"You mean you can't?"
"I mean I DON'T!" Aya flushed with anger. Youji had hit it right on the nose, but it's not like he would ever actually admit to it . . . though it seemed that's the way things were heading.
"Shhh!" Youji hissed in a panic, and Aya focused immediately, grabbing the cowboy hat that Youji had let him . . . or rather -forced- him to borrow (1), and hiding beneath thick sunglasses, Aya sat silently next to the recently hooded Youji as Ken and Omi entered through the glass door to the outside. Ken handed the monitor the tickets, she stamped their hands, and Ken and Omi walked right past them, barely even noticing they were there.
The hooded figure lifted the hood slightly off his eyes to make sure that the coast was clear. Youji sighed heavily, throwing the hood back entirely.
"That was too close for comfort," he relaxed, becoming serious, and letting his right fist fall into his left hand, "Okay, we stick to the plan."
"What plan?" Aya asked, sweat-dropping nervously.
"You know, the plan where YOU. . .," Youji pointed an accusing finger at the surprised face, ". . .go out and pursue the SUBJECT," Youji waved his hand in the rink's general direction, flipping it back sharply to point at the pair of neglected ice skates, ". . .in THOSE."
Aya's right eyebrow twitched. "And what will -you- be doing?"
"Hanging out here," Youji smirked playfully, ". . . with hot figure skaters . . ." He whistled as a girl in a leotard walked by. She ignored him and you could almost see the angry squiggles that Aya's head emitted. Finally, looking up with a glare that would freeze lava, Aya flung the ice skates at Youji's head.
"Why don't YOU go?" Aya growled, waiting for Youji to collect himself.
"Too suspicious," Youji rubbed the back of his head, and the bump he had deserved. "And besides, you have the right look." He paused, bringing his thumbs and forefingers out to make a frame. He distanced the frame from his face, tilting it, and closing one eye to see it more clearly. "Perfect."
". . .?"
"You look nothing like yourself!"
". . ." Aya blinked, though you couldn't tell beneath his sunglasses or Youji's hat.
"Well, you know, to disguise me, you'd probably have to cut off my hair or something (2) But you're fine! You look like John Wayne in those old western movies." Youji grinned, rubbing his chin as if in deep thought, looking at Aya's costume. Youji noticed the door to the ice rink behind their fearless leader, "So, it would make sense for you to go. Take this headset, so we can keep in touch. No one will see it under that hat."
Youji handed Aya the headset, and Aya stood there, angry, as he put it on along with the ice skates. Standing and looking at the mirror on the opposite wall, Aya sweat-dropped. He looked like the lead to a production of 'cowboys on ice'.
Youji, seeing Aya standing in front of the opening to the rink, and completely absorbed in his reflection, saw a golden opportunity.
Aya widened his eyes wider than we've ever seen them before as Youji gave him a gentle push onto the ice. Aya slid for a couple of yards, waving his arms ridiculously before promptly falling back against the rink wall, ending with legs widespread across the ice and his glasses half falling off of his nose. Youji could help but laugh. He spoke into the headpiece.
"So you really can't skate," Aya growled as the voice came over the speaker, chuckling hopelessly.
"I've never tried before," Aya answered in a whisper as he got up, holding the support bar, wiping off the shaved ice on his wet pants and venturing out once more. . . before sliding forward and falling backwards onto the ice.
So much for secrecy, Aya thought. He seemed to be attracting the most attention in the entire rink.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken looked at his feet as he moved them across the ice, taking it slow. Every time he moved his left leg, he had to balance his waist on the right. Most people don't realize this when they're skating, but the stabbing pain in your side every time your muscles tense to balance makes you notice these things.
He was going very slowly, and Omi had left him behind a minute ago, speeding through the crowd. He said he was surveying the crowd for suspicious characters, and told Ken he could wait behind. Ken tried to protest, but it was too late and Omi had already gone ahead.
Ken jumped slightly as he felt a tap on his right shoulder, and turned to look, but there was no one there. He took another stride but nearly lost his balance as Omi skated up on his left, grinning.
"Gotcha," the blond picked up the pace and turned to skate backwards in front of Ken, holding his hands behind him playfully. Omi swayed side to side with each stride, still smiling.
"Yeah," Ken smiled back. Omi was just too adorable, "you got me." Double entendre?
Omi looked closer at Ken, noticing that he limped slightly on the ice, wanting to put as little pressure on his left leg as possible.
"Ken-kun, are you okay?" Omi asked, turning back to skate forward at Ken's side. "Is it too painful? I didn't see anyone very suspicious, so I could sit out with you for a little while if you're not feeling well."
"I'm fine. . ." Ken was about to stop there, but then he got a brilliant idea, ". . . but maybe just to be sure I don't, you know, fall or anything. . ." Ken looked to his side, and slipped his bare hand into Omi's.
Omi's cheeks were already pink with the cold, but Ken could have sworn that they turned a deeper shade as Omi jumped slightly at the touch. It was only a nervous hiccup of a jump, but it made Ken want to wrap the smaller body in his arms and tell him how much he loved him. . . how much he wanted him. . . how much he wanted to hold those cold hands until they were as warm as his own.
"Your hand is so cold . . ." Ken remarked, closing his hand more tightly, still just as gentle, but with a new kind of message, "Hold mine until it's warm again?"
Omi smiled, looking down at his skates, ". . . sure."
Ken and Omi continued to skate together, hand in hand. They looked like the perfect couple, and were getting a few stares, but both of them had almost completely cut off all affiliation with the outside world. It was like the only thing left was the other's hand. Ken couldn't even feel the pain of his side anymore.
However none of this was quite enough to make him not notice the mysterious man in a cowboy hat that slipped and fell as they passed by. A pang went through Ken's head as he put the pieces together.
#1. Strangely familiar cowboy hat
#2. Is that. . . dark red hair? . . . I can't really see that well.
#3. Long gold earring. Just one.
#4. OMG, IT'S AYA!
Ken, during this realization, forgot temporarily where he put his feet . . . or was it that he forgot he had feet in the first place? In any case, he lost his footing, and toppled over face-first. There was a surging pain in his side as he realized that he hadn't hit hard ground. He actually fell on top of something.
Opening his eyes from wincing, he made his second realization. That 'something' was actually Omi.
Ken's brain went immediately from his pain to his heart, which picked up its pace considerably. It must have been his fault for telling Omi not to let go of his hand. He tried to move, but he couldn't without the pain being too great. He tried to speak, but the sound didn't come out. He could not only feel his own heart beating, but Omi's as well. They were both just as fast.
Was that possible?
After realizing his situation was when Ken was finally able to look at Omi's face . . . not that he hadn't been looking at it for the past few seconds . . . but he hadn't really realized it was there in its entirety. Omi was only a breath away. His eyes were wide and his cheeks were as pink as ever. The way Omi's hair fell on the ice made him crazy. The funny thing was that Ken couldn't help thinking Omi looked like a blushing schoolgirl right before her first kiss.
"K-ken kun . . . ?" Omi breathed. Ken felt a hand clutch his sleeve, and saw Omi's eyes begin to grow more watery, but Omi closed them in embarrassment and turned his head purposely so that he wouldn't be able to see, "Why are you just staying there?!" Omi yelled, looking back with pleading eyes.
"Because I-. . ."
Ken couldn't lie . . . he wanted to tell the truth. Those eyes were pleading for something. He didn't know what, but the beating of Omi's heart against his own told him that it wasn't for him to leave.
"We're attracting attention, Ken," Omi whispered.
"I can't let you go," Ken told him simply. That wasn't a lie. There was something that he needed to tell him. Ken couldn't go on like this. He didn't care if the whole world knew . . . he didn't care if Aya knew. This was . . . love.
Ken leaned forward, closing his eyes as he let his lips descend on Omi's. The whole world left them. Omi opened his eyes wider, unable to believe this was really happening, but when he felt Ken against him, he knew it was true. All of Omi's emotion flooded into his eyes and filled them with water, so that as he closed them, tears slid down his face and onto the ice.
Ken pulled away quickly, ashamed, as soon as he tried to cup Omi's cheek, feeling the tears that stained them, "s-sorry I. . ." He sat up, looking miserable, "I didn't mean to make you cry-"
But he barely had time to finish, because Omi had come onto his knees and had thrown his arms around Ken, sobbing freely, "I love you" he whispered into Ken's ear, holding onto him tightly.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Abyssinian?. . . Abyssinian?! Do you copy?" Youji yelled into the headset. "Mission status!" He demanded.
"Complete." Was Aya's simple reply, as he smirked, watching the scene unfold before him.
"What do you mean 'complete'?"
"Look for yourself."
Youji peered over at the glass, and saw Omi with his arms wrapped around Ken in the middle of the skating rink. "YES!" He cried, jumping up out of his seat with joy. Several people stared at him, "What are you looking at?" He asked them, a little annoyed.
All of the sudden there was an ear-splitting pitch that came over the skating rink intercom. A lot of people stopped skating to cover their ears. Omi withdrew his hug from Ken in surprise.
"May I have your attention, please," a male voice announced into the skating rink, "Will the real slim shady-" there were a couple of muffled scolds followed by an 'ouch', and another voice came over the mike, "We're having an emergency drill. Everyone is obligated to evacuate the building immediately." The mike clicked off.
Ken and Omi narrowed their eyes. There was no mistake . . . Youji looked a bit confused, knowing he'd heard those voices before. Aya, using the headset, called in.
"Youji, that was Schwarz, get ready to fight." Youji narrowed his eyes.
"Okay, I hear you," The blond answered, watching as the entire rink cleared out with the exception of the four of them. "Good thing I'm always prepared." Youji rolled up his arm as if checking a watch, but making sure that his weapon was there instead.
Ken stood up, grabbing his claw out of his pocket and putting it on to get ready. Omi fanned out four darts in his hand as he stood, looking around for anything suspicious. He noticed there was only one person who hadn't left. The hat, the hair, the earring. . .
"Aya-kun? What are you doing here-?!" Omi yelled.
"No time!" Youji cut him off, sending a stream of wire into the air and pulling the arm of a lithe, eye-patched figure that shot down from the ceiling, sending him crashing across the ice instead of into Omi.
"You're both. . .?!" Omi asked incredulously, looking to Ken for an answer, but his face offered nothing.
The screech on the speaker came up again, and all of them turned as Crawford stepped into the rink, "Welcome Weiss," his voice boomed through a smirk, "I was only expecting two of you, but my, my . . . this is a pleasant surprise."
"What do you want?" Aya asked, sliding forward on his skates, having discarded the hat and sunglasses, there was clearly a glare plastered across his face.
Crawford smirked, holding the microphone up to his lips once more as Schuldig and Nagi appeared from behind.
". . . To kill you."
~~~~~~~~~
(1) Aya likes to go stalking Ken and Omi in Youji's Gluhen cowboy hat. A very good disguise in my opinion ^^ Now if we could only figure out how Omi's hair turned gray . . .
(2) Poor Youji doesn't know what they did to him in Gluhen . . . and no, I'm not going to shut up about it. I'm in shock O.o
A/N: dun dun dun. ^^
Leave a review please? I would love it if you do.