By: Hentai Y. Slave
Genre: PG-13, shonen-ai, fluff, humor, AU
Pairing: implied RanXKen so far, will develop later (I hope)
Summary: CHP 2 UP! Follow Ran & Ken's everyday trouble in high school (okay, mostly Ken is the one in the trouble. Ken: Hey!) where they discover love in the craziest way. (AU, fluff, shonen-ai, RanXKen, Ken's POV)
Notes: End or TBC? TBC of course! Hehe, I decided to add another chapter after all (maniac grin) this one's pretty short. I think it won't be as good as the previous chp cause I didn't have a definite draft for this one, just some dialogue (shrugs) Review replies are at the bottom of the fic.
Disclaimer: grumbles I.DO.NOT.OWN.WEISS.KREUZ.OR.ANY.OF.ITS.CHARACTERS. Happy? But I do own this fic. Mwahahaha.
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Chapter 2: Ran lost something! A depressed Ran? Ken to the rescue!
Well, just as I expected, Ran treated me to the cheapest ice-cream that day. That's Ran for you.
It's already a few days after the competition and finally the seemingly endless congrats from the other students are starting to lessen. I know winning the competition is a big deal, and obviously everywhere I go there will be students coming up and congratulating me, giving me a pat on the back, but it soon gets annoying. I have people congratulating me in the canteen, in the classroom, down the hall...even when I'm in the toilet. I think I should buy a tape recorder and record myself saying "Thank you", and replay it several times a day. My tongue's getting numb.
Besides, when groups of students start coming up to me to chat more often, talking about the game, Ran would slip away from my side and lean against the nearest wall, waiting for the crowd to disperseor go off doing 'Important Head-prefect Stuff'. I understand that he hates the huge crowds around me...okay, he hates being with people entirely. It's weird how he can chair prefect meetings with ease, standing in front of all the students but be an introvert and anti-social at the same time. I mean, shouldn't he be easily approachable as a Head-prefect, you know,'the link between students and teachers'? He only talks to others when working on a project or giving instructions. I can't figure it out.
Anyway, I hate it when he just abandons me to the crowds. He probably thinks that I enjoy the publicity, but I actually prefer his companionship more. I know I shouldn't bear a grudge (because he's not doing it on purpose), but it's just annoying how he just assumes that I like the attention. I like HIS attention, not giggling girls or grateful soccer pals hanging around me.
"RING!"
Ah, there goes the school bell that announces that school is over. I head for my locker and shove my stuff inside. I'm almost immediately surrounded by my soccer buddies. We already planned to go out for lunch today, which leaves Ran to walk home alone. As I mentioned, he never goes home without me when I stayed in school till late in the evening (due to my soccer practices), but other than that we don't have any special arrangements. It's either Ran who walks home alone when I go out with my friends, or me who goes jogging home alone when Ran goes for his part time job at the flower shop.
Yes, you've heard it right. Ran works part time in a flower shop after school, when he's free from leadership duties and attending the kendo club. The owner of the shop is a very nice old lady, who sits in the shop most of the time stroking her cat. She lets Ran come in anytime he wants to help out and pays him sufficiently. I think there are mainly three reasons why she gives Ran such flexible working hours. First, she knows how much of a busy person Ran is in school. Secondly, Ran is very, very good at taking care of the flowers; I think she doesn't want to lose such a good florist. Lastly,
Ran brings in the customers. Well, mostly shrieking fan girls of Ran from the school. I mean, with such an attractive man such as Ran as a florist, of course the sales would go up. Hordes of females crowd around the shop buying flowers when Ran is around. Me? Well, I tried to help out there once...but I started tripping over so much stuff, breaking pots etc. that Ran literally kicked me out (I don't blame him; he has to pay for any pots that I break). Strange isn't it? Ken, the excellent-reflex soccer player becomes a clumsy guy out of the field who trips over flower pots. Hehheh.
Well, there are some times when he's not working and I'm free in the afternoon that we walk home together. We don't head home immediately (at least I try to convince him not to head home immediately) and we go for walks and such. Ran rarely requests for me to break my arrangement with my soccer buddies in order to walk home with me in the afternoon. As I head towards the school gate with my soccer buddies, I spot Ran leaning against the gate, waiting for me. I guess this is one of those rare times.
"Ken," Ran's quiet and controlled voice came out, "will you walk home with me today?"
I hesitate for a while. Both Ran and my soccer buddies know how much I enjoy spending time with Ran, and I bet they're all guessing that I'll agree to Ran's request immediately. Looking at Ran, I noticed he had been a bit distracted today, the weariness present in his eyes making me want to ask him privately what was wrong. But I still remember what had goneon these few days, how he unknowingly abandoned me to the crowds. My childish instincts took over and I turned to him.
"Sorry Ran, I'm going out with my friends today. You can walk home yourself," I said almost cruelly to his face. He seems taken aback by my answer, eyes widening in surprise. But he says nothing, just nodding in acknowledgement and turning away, the disappointment clearly present in his eyes to me. He looks so moody today that I almost relented. As he starts down the path to home, my soccer buddies and I turn to the opposite direction, heading to the restaurant for lunch.
Even as I walk amongst my close friends, my thoughts drifted to Ran and the depressed look on his face. He can hide it from the others behind that cold mask, but he can't hide it from me. Something's bothering him today and I am filled with concern and curiosity. What could shake our fearless Head-prefect to the state that he is now? I know he's usually cranky and sarcastic, but not upset! That's not the Ran I have known for ten years!
Very quickly, after just walking down two streets, my worries for Ran takes over me and I hastily apologized to my buddies before running off in Ran's direction. They fully understood and let me go. Great buddies, aren't they? Soon I spotted Ran, practically dragging his feet across the pavement. He barely covered any distance with his slow walking. And if that wasn't enough evidence to show that he was upset, his head was drooping down, not noticing his surroundings and stuck in an overall gloomy mood. I can practically see a dark cloud hovering over his head.
Instead of going up and greeting him, I decided to settle on tailing him from a distance. Man, he's the president of the kendo club for goodness sake! He didn't even sense me with his godlike senses! I'm just a few meters away! Ran crossed the street, hands in his pocket and looking at the ground. A loud honk caught my attention.
That's when I saw it.
A truck was heading Ran's way!
"RAN!" I shouted, running forward and tackling him to the ground, away from the danger. The huge truck sped pass the road, turning at another corner and continued driving off. I would have blushed at the interesting position I am at now, with a dazed Ran pinned below me, but I was too angry at him. I sat up and grabbed Ran by the collar to make him face me.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING? YOU ALMOST GOT KNOCKED DOWN BY A TRUCK!" I screamed at him, my own body shaking with anger and concern. He was so close to a car accident! What if I haven't decided at the last minute to leave my soccer buddies and go after Ran instead? He would have ended up like his sister...I bit my lips at the last thought.
Ran on the other hand, was still not quite aware of the situation, having the wind suddenly knocked out of his lungs by me. He stared at me, then at the road, then at me again. Finally, he hung his head down in shame when he realized his own idiotic behavior. But I was not done with him yet. Not by a long shot.
"Tell me what's wrong Ran. Why are you so depressed? If I haven't come along you would have been knocked down by that truck, just like your..." I couldn't continue. Damn, why did I have to remind him of his family? He looks even more grieve stricken now. Stupid Ken, stupid Ken. I gave a sigh; no point lecturing him anymore now when he's already so upset. I stood up and bent down to help him to his feet.
"Look, I'm sorry I screamed my head off at you. Are you hurt? Do you need help standing?" I asked, letting my concern show and my anger fade away. He shook his head and accepted my arm. Together, we made our way to the playground nearby. I set him down on a swing and inspected him for any injuries. He only has a slight graze on his left knee and a light bruise on his right elbow. Good. Me? I'm not injured at all...Ran WAS lying below me when we crashed (though my throat's a bit sore from shouting at Ran). I sat down on the other swing and turned to face him.
"Now tell me what made you went zombie-walking," I insisted, letting the firmness of my voice show through. Sometimes, you have to be strict to get anything out of that iceberg's mouth. Even at the tone of my voice, he turned his head away. I quickly resisted the urge to strangle him there and then.
"Ran..."
"Hn."
"Well?"
"I..."
"Yes?"
I leaned closer to him in anticipation. Finally, he would tell me what the hell made him all gloomy and sulky. He opened his mouth again.
"I lost my wallet."
I fell off the swing. WHAT? All that trouble for a stupid wallet? It's not even branded! Ran looked on wide eyed at my reaction, a bit of amusement on his face. Again, I controlled the urge to strangle him. Instead, I settled down on a more comfortable position on the swing and looked at him.
"So how much money did you have in it?" I asked, letting the bitterness of my voice show. Really, I expected something more important to fizz my pal. Guess money really IS his number one. He blinked at my question.
"I didn't have any money inside," he whispered. Is that his face reddening?
"Then what? A diamond ring worth fortunes?" I retorted sarcastically. Honestly, someday I'll have to...
"NO, YOUR PICTURE'S INSIDE, YOU BAKA!" He blurted out angrily, giving me a deadly glare. He realized what he had just said and turned away again.
I blinked, almost falling back down again, first at his outburst then at his words...My picture? I stared at Ran incredulous.
Then I remembered. It was a photograph of me taken three years ago at the school sports meet. The camera was taken from my head and to my shoulders, the field as a background, with me smiling and holding a medal. It was placed in the school magazine that year. That night, I saw Ran cutting the picture out of the magazine and putting it into his wallet. When I asked him why he kept the picture in his wallet at that time, he answered that he wanted a picture of me around him all the time...because he wanted to use my ugly face to ward off evil spirits. I still remembered how I chased him around the house angrily at that time. The nerve of him...
"It's the only photograph I have of the two of us," Ran added quietly.
Huh? He's in the picture too? I thought for a moment, and then realized that Ran WAS in the picture. He had accidentally walked pass as the photograph was taken, and thus the side view of his face showed up in the far background. Thinking back, I never DID have a proper picture taken with Ran. The only one was the family photo taken with my parents in it...
Ran still refused to look in my direction. I couldn't help it; I grinned like a maniac. I was really touched; he was upset losing a picture of US. I'm so happy to know that he treasures our friendship so much. I knew that under that ice facade there was a soft heart. I started chuckling. Ran turned to look at me with a surprised look, hearing my chuckle. Looking at his expression, I started laughing. Affected by me, he started chuckling too. Soon, the two of us broke into loud laughter, looking like two idiots in a playground.
It was a full minute before I calmed myself down, wiping the tears that had flown out due to my intense laughing. Ran was also starting to calm down. Though surprised at the sound Ran's laughter, I was glad to hear it. I decided that I liked the sound of his laughter, feeling the urge to hear more of it. I gave a wide grin as an idea popped into my head. I grabbed Ran's left arm and pulled him up.
"Come on," I said, tugging the sleeve of his shirt before running off. He seemed surprised at my sudden actions, but still ranby my side.
"Where are we going?" He asked. I just gave him a wide smile.
"You'll see."
Soon we arrived at the photo shop. I bought an instant camera and two rolls of film. I dragged him everywhere, to the parks, the playground, the lakes, the gardens and even back to school. We took tons of photos of each other, and I bugged lots of passersby to take photos of both of us together. I made us do lots of positions; standing up, sitting down, lying down etc. By evening, we had finished both rolls of film. I bought another two more for further use at home. It was exhausting; Ihad lookedlike a stupid tourist and I'mprobably turning blind due to all the flashes, but it was one of the most amazing times of my life. I'm sure Ran enjoyed it too; I've never seen him smile that much in my life.
At one part of our 'photo-taking session' a student of our school had came forward. She handed Ran's wallet back to him, saying that she found it in the hallway and was trying to find a chance to return it back to him. Ran thanked her profusely and checked his wallet to make sure nothing was missing. After she waved goodbye and walked off, I gave Ran's head a small knock, reprimanding him lightly. He gave a sheepish smile. I swear, he's such a kid sometimes.
That night, I took out two picture frames that I kept in my drawer and slipped two of the photos of us taken earlier in each frame. The first one was taken in front of the lake, with my left arm around Ran's shoulder, smiling and giving a 'V' sign with my right hand. Ran was next to me, giving a small smile and has his right arm around my waist. The second one has Ran alone sitting cross-legged on the grass, giving the camera a nice, shy smile. It's one of my favorite pictures taken. I set both frames on the small table beside my bed, so that I can look at the two pictures everyday before I sleep. Lying on my bed, I leaned over and took the framed photo of Ran, looking at his smile.
"Goodnight Ran," I whispered to the photo, putting the frame back on its rightful position on the table top, switching off the lights and drifting off to a pleasant dream.
End or TBC?
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Author's notes: Okay, so it's NOT as short as it was intended to be. Well, there goes another chp...I should have the companion fic up shouldn't I? Ken ken's getting all the attention.
Ran: Hn.
Author: (sarcastic) wow, I DID NOT expected that reply from Mr. Monotone. Anyways, before I dive into the review replies, I just want to say that it was the reviews I received so far that encouraged me to continue writing. So for those who read chp 1 and wished for me to continue, you have to thank the reviewers of chp1.
Ran & Ken: (claps)
Author: Ahem, here goes
To toriko: Thanks for being my first reviewer, it's always special to be the first 0 well, I think I will continue writing this fic until I run out of ideas. I make sure every chp ends in a good way, so that I can lurk off for a while without people throwing stones at me for leaving a cliff hanger. It doesn't matter whether you call me slave or H.S. or whatever, but I prefer people calling me slave-chan in reviews though. I like the sound of it
To Manx16: Well, this is the next chp. The previous chp is not related / continued from the previous chp. This fic is just a series of events, which makes them more aware of their feelings (this IS fluff 0) thanks for your review! I appreciate it!
To RuByMoOn17: thanks for reviewing I'll try to update as often as I can. I'm bad at typing. Slow fingers .
To olivia-yuymaxwell: Glad u found this cute. I was afraid I won't get any reviews!
To silly goose: (hides) oh..no..puppy..eyes..can't..resist glomp hehe thanks for liking it so much. It's hard to think this fic will be good compared to the fics written by so many other wonderful authors
To kage Miko: sequel? I didn't say this was a one shot, so I can add chps as I like. Brillant? (bathes in praise) wow..
Ran: (hits author off cloud nine with mallet)
Author: Itai! RAN!
To Aika-chan: Me, awesome writer? (bathes in praise again)
Ran: (prepares mallet)
Author: Er heh heh, nice Ranny..anyway Aika-chan, I see you have spotted what I intended to do with this fic: write each chp so I can end it that way or continue. I have the power, Mwahahaha
Ran: (stares)
Author: (cowers)
To Santurion: No need to be sorry , I tend to get very excited when I read a good fic too. I think I even threatened some author to cont before (jokingly of course)
To Jin Munku-JGSPTV: wow, very hard to type your nickname. Actually, I have a pretty good idea on how to cont this fic. That ice-cream event has ended, but as I mentioned there MIGHT be a companion fic which will be Ran's POV of what happened in this fic.
Author: DONE! (throws confetti) Finally, R&R pls!
Ran: she means read and review
Author: I'm sure they all know that... Ran-CHAN (runs off)
Ran: HOW DARE YOU CALL ME RAN-CHAN! SHI-NE! (chases)