Author's Notes-- ( 7:09 PM 9/21/2004 ) Re-edited, re-posted. Still not too pleased. Next chapter is nearly finished in editing. Will be up this week. :) Don't hurt me.
Disclaimer-- It's all mine. Everything. Because I am God.
Warnings-- Language, Violence, OOC, Stupidity
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blah-- Thoughts (ex: What should I say, now?)
"blah" -- Dialogue (ex: "Your mom.")
„blah" -- Visably Foreign Dialogue (ex: „Wie ghet's?")
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Somewhat Damaged by Seph Lorraine
Act III: Scene II: Between You and Me
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It was difficult. It was just too damn difficult to get the window open, and he was about sick of trying. Taking a deep breath, the brunett leaned back, away from the glass and glared at it. "Why won't you fucking -open-?!" He whispered dangerously.
The stillness was broken from the bed at the otherside of the room as the room's other only occupant turned noisily.
Ken was silent; freezing as though a snapshot were being taken. "Shit! You're going to wake him." He berated himself beneath his breath, before leaning towards the window again.
He gave the white frame a sound shove, but again there was nothing.
Damnit. Screw Ran's peace. It's too hot in here. He glanced around for an object to use as a pry, and growled as he found none. He turned back to the window with a face of utter disappointment
It was not like an open window would really help him. It never had before-- after the dreams. These dreams surpassed normality, though. They were somewhat more erotic memories that had an unimaginable ability to heat his skin, and he needed air. Now.
The window was not even positioned well, to begin with. Being on an awkward edge of the building and roughly obscured by a giat tree, it was doubtful whether it would even allow for a breeze, were he to finally crack it open. It was slightly disappointing, that. While it seemed all of the other windows in the building opened to a clear view of the beautiful moon's reflection upon the sprinkler-soaked lawns, he just had to get the one with the giant tree branch.
It wasn't even usable as an escape route from the building; it was a flimbsy clump of branches that had been neglected to be trimmed by the lawn-keep, so that they pressed against the glass of the window with amazing force (there was even a crack or two in the glass). The brunett sighed and gave one last, forceful shove to the difficult glass and watched in puzzlement as both the frame and glass popped from the sill, and fell to the ground. Shattered.
Ken would have been affected by the sound-- his memories had left him to be affected by pretty much everything-- but, unfortunately, the brunette's attention happened to be elsewhere at that particular moment. Three rough, wirey branches whipped in through the open window, smacking the brunett right in the face, forcing him back a few steps.
"Goddamnit!" The brunette growled, turning and kicking at his nightstand with a barefoot, only to instantly regret it. "Zakennayo!" He grabbed his injured foot, hopping around wildly on one foot to keep his balance as he rubbed at the other, which had roughly struck the side of his nightstand. Finally, his shoulder hit the wall on the opposite side of the room, and the Japanese boy sunk to the floor. He muttered dark curses, rocking back and forth as he cradled his injured appendage.
If Ken's pathetic antics hadn't been so very disturbing to begin with, Ran might have been surprised to wake up to all of the racket. Yet, as it was, he had been unable to find his way back to a proper state of slumber since the brunette had first started to bang on the window. He had already been painfully awake as the younger man fought to open the thing, and he had been partially amused to see him nearly blinded by the branches that swung into his agrily reddening face. It all went downhill from there. Though, despite the tiniest amount of amusement he had for the situation, Ran was still quite angry.
"What the -hell- do you think you're doing?" He sat up, finally, narrowing his eyes at his restless roommate. He couldn't help but think the other boy to be almost ridiculous, despite his earlier suspicions.
Ken pulled himself up from the floor and pouted at the violet-eyed man in what could only be described to Ran as a childish (while to any rather normal person: completely adorable) manner, and pulled the crumpled post-it note labeled "floor" from his face.
"I wanted the window open." He answered, pulling himself up and hopping over to his bed on one foot, with less difficulty this time. "I'm sorry I woke you up-- I didn't mean to be so loud."
"-You're- going to have to replace the glass." Ran groaned subconsciously and pulled himself out of bed. Padding across the carpet silently, he pushed the branches aside to view out the window, and down at the broken glass upon the ground. A deep scowl marred his face as he glared.
"I'm sorry--"
The redhead suddenly dropped his anger, as if it were nothing, and appeared extremely tired, "It was cheap, though--" He yawned, turning to move back to his own bed, "--shouldn't be too expensive. Your problem. 'S too early for this."
Ken's eyes gleamed in surprise. He had almost expected the taller boy to throw something at him. He supposed that perhaps Ran didn't appear nearly as anal in the wee hours of the morning; perhaps a bit to tired for that. The other boy pulled himself onto his bed and dropped behind his covers, beginning to drift off once more.
The brunette sighed.
Ran's eyebrow twitched, but he continued his attempt at dozing of.
Deciding to simply sit there for a while as he cooled off; Ken sat at the edge of his bed, glancing around lightly. Nothing to do... Nothing to do... He turned his body and threw himself down onto the bed, sighing again as it squeaked loudly beneath his weight.
The redhead growled from the other side of the room, but quietly so.
Ken had never liked lying on his back, though, so he had to turn. He dropped himself back against the mattress after turning, for another go at the squeaky sound.
"Stop moving!" Ran hissed, his voice dangerous. "I can't sleep with you moving around like that."
"Gomen..." He was still.
After a moment of silence (miserable for the younger boy, lovely for the other) Ken simply couldn't take it anymore. He -had- to move his legs, and he -had- to turn to face the wall or he wouldn't ever get back to sleep. Sighing, he silently lifted himself to turn onto his otherside, but squealed in pain as his still aching foot banged against the wall, loudly.
Without thinking, he dropped back to the bed and began to move his legs like crazy to get them untangled from the hot sheets, so that he might pine over his injured foot. He cursed rather loudly, forgetting the redhead's demand for silence as he reached for his foot and began to rub it as it ached, "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit..."
"Would you shut the fuck up!?" Ran sat up, glaring evilly at his roommate, malice filling his dark eyes.
For a minute, Ken was shocked and leaned back against the wall in surprise as he yelped quite loudly. His feet moved frantically, knocking over his nightstand and sending the lamp crashing to the ground. The sound jarred him, as he heard the glass shattering, and the brunett was frozen in a sudden memory...
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Ken felt the pain as tons of variously sized shards of glass pieced his skin. The shove had been a rough one, and he found himself laying in a pool of spillt champaigne and broken glass. Though, some of the liquid now had the red tint of his own blood. He moved to get up, crunching the glass as it tore more holes in his already marred skin.
That face was right before him, when he raised himself, and two arms were quickly extended to push him back down again. He felt the pain stinging him, running through his body in waves of red. He wanted to get up, but now there was a weight pressing him down from his stomach.
He opened his brown eyes again, to see his dishevelled lover straddling him across the torsoe, the neck of the broken champaigne bottle still whole in his grip. Without words, and a wicked smirk, the older man grabbed at the fabric of his shirt, ripping it with his grip, and clearing the covering from the area of his unflawed chest.
"I love you, Ken." He whispered, cascading his fingertips across the skin, "Remember that." He dug the jagged edges of the bottle into the flesh at the base of the younger boy's neck, dragging the broken glass deeply across Ken's chest in a line as the brunett let forth a scream, his body convulsing with the pain.
And again the older man dug the broken bottle in, dragging it slowly, digging deeper into the flesh until the area from the brunett's neck all the way to his hips was nothing but a field of bloody trenches. The sharp spikes of two steel-heeled boots pierced sharply through Ken's hands, pinning him to the floor.
It continued for what seemed to be hours.
The brunett felt his body shaking violently, as he thrashed his head in pain. He felt the blow, as the older man shoved his fist at the right side of his face. He didn't cry; only struggle and scream.
"I won't let you die, Ken." The man above him narrowed his eyes, "I loved you too much, and you betrayed me. I want you to live with this. I want you to remember it and what you put me through. You can't get rid of -me-, love.
"Just in case you were curious, this is how it feels to be betrayed by the one you love!" The man dug the bottle in harder, and deeper into the brunett's stomach. A tear ran down his pained face as he pressed deeper with the glass.
Ken writhed in the pain, unable to move from his lover's antics, despite the adrenaline with which he struggled to throw off the other man. His chest, his stomach, all the cuts and bruises, and the gashes and scars--they were too much. How could Kase say that he had ever loved him? He knew he deserved this, and the other man's admission to feeling, despite the circumstances, was to much for him.
Ken moved his arms quickly as he felt the other man remove the pressure from his hands, but only a moment later the pressure was back, digging into his chest. He yelled at the pain and began to thrash wildly for a way up, his agony and volume only increasing as he felt the spike of the heel slide roughly across the marred flesh of his stomach, slicing through the skin fully to release an even larger stream of blood from his stomach.
He was losing-- he was going to die this time. Finally.
"Shit! Why did you move--"
The door burst open, the gunfire ricocheting through the hallways and into Ken's mind as the man above him stumbled, kicking his body. He dropped to the ground. Thinking quickly, the brunette moved to sit, pulling the gun from it's tucked position in the small of his back, crying out in pain as the older man's nails dug into his already bloody skin to pull him back down.
As quickly as he could, he swung his arm up, knocking the older man at the side of his head, and turning to aim the pistol at his lover. Six times he pulled the trigger, and only four shots escaped. All of them hit their target.
The other man's body was mercilessly pierced by a torrent of bullets and he was sent flying into the wall with a loud cry of pain. He slid down the side paneling onto the ground right in Ken's line of vision, as the younger boy now lay again against the floor in a pool of his own life and broken glass shards. His voice betrayed him with a sob at the broken eyes that stared back at him with pain, "Kase..."
The gun fell, and he reached forward to the man beside him. His palm bleeding from the sharp spikes of steel at the heels of his lovers boots, he brushed his hand against the other man's face.
"I'll see you in hell, Kenken."
"Yea... I know..."
Everything went black.
- - - - - - - - -
"Damnit, Hidaka! What's wrong with you!?"
Ken snapped back to reality as the memory came to an end. His eyes were dry from going so long without blinking. He couldn't blink, though. He couldn't blink, or he would cry. He searched for his voice to respond, but came up with no sign of it's presence.
The violet eyes that watched him were wide and full of confusion and surprise, and the already pale face that framed them had become pasty in it's wintry pallor. It was odd to see emotion on the other's face. For the short amount of time that he had known the redhead, there had been no feeling displayed for him to see, even in those icy violet eyes.
Ran was silent, watching the two alluring brown eyes before him regain some focus, slowly. He wished the younger boy would blink already, so he wouldn't look so much like he was about to cry. "Snap out of it, Hidaka!"
Without thinking he did so and felt the rush as a thousand tears came rushing to their peak. He intook a breath deeply, his body shaking suddenly as it hitched, and he leaned back against the wall behind him, resisting a sob from his now aching chest. The wounds always hurt after he remembered, but he would not be weak.
Kase hadn't wanted him to forget--and he hadn't.
Ran sat back suddenly, seeing the brunette's motion, and he reinstated his emotionless mask. His instinct was to reach forward and jerk the boy's shoulders until he got a response from the brunett. Though, Ken had distinctively told him he didn't like to be touched, and he would respect that, at least. He felt an understanding about that; he had never been fond of it, either.
The younger boy didn't move. His body didn't shake, or twitch or anything, though the redhead could've swore he saw a flash of some hidden emotion before his face was hidden by a well-placed arm. What was wrong with him?
He couldn't help but be curious-- maybe even a bit worried (even, though, it was definately for his -own- safety) at whatever was wrong with the brunette presently. He had watched as Ken sat, staring at the broken lamp, his body shivering almost violently as he watched. Knocking over that lamp had triggered something in the boy's mind, and Ran felt sure that the boy before him had just experienced some sort of psychotic episode.
Ran felt his hand reach forth out of it's own accord and give a slight push to the other boy's shoulder. So much for his vow of no physical contact. The brunett made no effort to move; his body only tensed. Again, the hand reached forth this time laying itself softly on the brunett's shoulder to rest.
The brunett was silent, and still.
"Ken?" 1 He inquired quietly. His voice was still flat and toneless, his eyes and features the same. "Do you need the nurse? I'm going to get Crawford." He drew his hand away from the younger boy's shoulder gently, beginning to stand and retrieve the master of the male dormitories.
"No!" The brunett didn't look up, but suddenly extended and palm, grasping Ran's wrist and jerking him back down roughly, only to let go and withdraw his slightly shaking arm, "I'm fine."
"It doesn't appear that way from here--"
"I'm -fine-." Ken's tone was firm.
"Prove it." The redhead challanged back.
"...I'm going to sleep, now." The brunett drew up his blanket, throwing it over his head and situating himself in the sheets with his face still hidden. He was not going to let the memories do it to him this time. He would not be affected. Definately not in the vicinity of Fujimiya Ran.
"I'm getting Crawford." Ran stood but felt himself lose his balance as Ken sharply kicked the back of his calf, sending him sprawling on his back onto the bed behind him-- extremely ungraceful. He felt his face redden.
"You can get him if you want, but you're going to regret it if you do." The brunett spoke monotoniously, slightly muffled beneath the sheet.
Rolling his eyes, the redhead moved to get up, "You can't do anything to me-- SHIT!"
Ran's yell was accompanied by a suddenly heavy weight on Ken's bed.
"What the FUCK IS THAT!?" There was a sudden feeling of the mattress being lifted and a clunk as something fell to the floor.
Ken's eyes bulged, as he lay frozen beneath the sheets. Oh shit... This is not good. This is not good at all. This is not fucking good at all! Shit! Forcing himself up into a sitting position rather quickly he froze as he saw 'the object' pointed at him, three inches from his face. He couldn't allow himself to move.
The four parallel blades levitated in the air before his face as the redhead held out the object. It was a brown leathered glove, with four extended blades protruding from directily above the finger slots. The holder wasn't wearing the object, but he was sure aiming to do some damage to Ken's face, holding it as he was.
The brunett sighed, His weight on the edge of the mattress must have put pressure on the trigger... His brown eyes traveled slowly down to Ran's grey pajama pants where on the side of his left leg, on the upper thigh, the material clung to his body in a sticky blotch of red. ...and cut him. Damnit.
Ran's eyes were narrowed dangerously, but slowly he permitted an eloquent crimson eyebrow to raise in question. "Explain."
Reaching up and taking the glove, Ken ran a finger over one of the slightly bloody blades. This was not good at all. How was he going to explain this?
Instead of making a response, his brown eyes darted up to meet the redhead's, and he challenged back, "When you explain the katana."
The redhead's eyebrow twitched slightly, as he continued to stand in silence, a scowl written well across his face, "I don't need to explain."
"Neither do I." The brunett snapped automatically, moving his concentrated gaze back to the blades of his weapon, as he wiped the blood from it with his fingers, "Be careful next time... Now, I have to wash it."
As if astonished that the brunett had acted so nonchallently in the situation, Ran growled and gave an angry shove at the brunett, forcing the boy back down onto his bed, as he glared from above. He couldn't think of any words, only that his original suspicions had been true. Hidaka Ken did -not- belong at the Academy-- at a place so unfamiliar with people who spoke an entirely different language. He didn't belong there, and now the redhead was determined to know just exactly who Hidaka Ken was and where he belonged.
"Be careful! You tell me to be careful?! What the hell is it doing under there!?"
"None of your business."
Ken glared angrily at the man above him and shoved back, managing to cause the redhead to stumble. Taking his moment he stood up. He had to figure out a course of action quickly--before Ran told and word got out.
Then it would be all too easy to find him.
The brunett was so caught up in trying to decide what to do, he hardly saw the fist coming at him. Though, just in time he managed to swing his head, and follow his reflex into a response. He quickly smashed his fist into the redhead's left cheek, sending the upperclassmen reeling backwards from the blow, but able to catch himself before he fell.
Ran's violet eyes danced with malice, but his anger was expected. He carefuly sized Ken up in the span of a moment, and without warning sent a forceful blow with his right arm, knocking the brunett to the ground with a loud thump, garunteed to wake the occupants of the room below them.
Groaning, Ken managed to push himself up, the glove sliding to fall to the floor without recognition. He lunged forward towards the redhead again, missing narrowly as Ran took his chance to dodge in the opposite direction, hitting the floor hard. The redhead wasn't through, though. He lifted himself from the ground without incident, grabbing the brunett from behind. One arm wrapped itself quickly around both of the arms belonging to the brunett, jerking them back into a horribly uncomfortable position, and the other arm gripped around the brunett's throat.
Ken thrashed wildly for the course of a minute before his left leg lost balance, and he began to drop towards the floor. As he sunk down the the carpet, Ran kept his grip tightly in place, following the other man. He was sweating, and almost out of breath, while the other man wasn't so badly off, he wasn't exactly going strong.
Puzzled at the brunett's seemingly sudden stillness, he glanced down, to see Ken's foot bleeding, and covered in shards of broken glass from the lamp he had damaged just minutes prior. "Hidaka." He spoke calmly, but the only response he received was heavy breathing from the brunett.
What was wrong with the guy? Wasn't he trying to beat him up, just a minute ago? Suddenly he wasn't speaking, or even moving. He was just kneeling and breathing.
On some wild spur of thought, the redhead let go, preparing himself for the brunett's angry force, as he would surely fight to get away.
The brunett made no motion towards him. Freed from the redhead's tight grasp, Ken released a painful breath. His vision only grew more blurry as he felt his shoulders give weight to fall down over his knees-- a position reserved for those who prayed, but borrowed for only a few minutes.
Ran was still, his face contorted with confusion and anger. He watched as the man before him kneeled on the floor, closing his arms around his face again. It was like he was a little boy, trying to hide. He sheilded himself with his arms, surrounding his face and neck, elbows to the floor.
He knew he needed to get Crawford. He needed to warn someone that there was something seriously wrong about Ken (even if he wasn't sure what it was). How was he supposed to leave him like this, though? The brunette might even run away while he was gone. He would have to take the younger man with him.
Just then the younger man moved. It was just a small twitch, and the man still made no sound, but he had still moved, nonetheless.
"Hidaka." He took a deep breath, backing up silently towards the odd glove. "What -are- you?"
Ran found his movements paused as the man suddenly sat up straight facing the opposite direction, his face not viewable to the redhead. He sighed quietly, but his tone was not resigned when he spoke, "I'm a man. What did you think?" He stood quickly, and turned around, watching the redhead with sharp brown eyes as the older man lifted the glove.
"You're coming with me."
"Where are we going?"
"To get Crawford."
"We are -not- getting Crawford. Put down my bugnuk."
"Yes, we are. What the hell is a bugnuk?"
"I will not permit you to do so. It is the glove you are holding."
"I don't need permission."
"Good, because I'm not giving any."
Ran blinked at that (falling for the distraction), surprised when the smaller man dove forward, jerking the glove by the end blade and easily manuevering it from his grip. The redhead watched as the brunett slipped his hand through the hole, his straightened palm causing the blade to retract. There was a quick ratching sound as the brunett tightened the glove and clenched his fist, the four narrow blades extending with the thin ping of metal on metal.
The brunett almost wanted to laugh at Ran's startled and nervous expression, but other things weighed him from doing so. He could not let the redhead reveal anything about him, if he did, all of his work would have been for nothing. He paused as he realized he actually had two options, and began to weigh each in his mind. 1) He could simply kill him-- it could be easily done, and he wouldn't have to worry about him anymore. Though, since he was actually living here, it might be difficult to cover up evidence against him. 2) He could make the other man trust him, maybe befriend him, and convince him to keep it a secret-- though, that would probably require telling him everything eventually, and who was to say he could trust him?
Ran didn't know much, but he already knew too much.
As he watched the redhead, though, he inwardly mused as the man's violet eyes flicked back and forth from him to his glove. He didn't want to kill Ran, and he hardly could on that particular evening. They had already made such noise, and would probably receive complaints about it in the morning; if he did it tonight, everyone would know it was him, and his cover would be blown completely.
He could try to trust the redhead-- but what if he just took it to the headmaster? This was potential black mail material he was dealing with... The idea hit him. It couldn't be used against him, if he found a way to use it against Ran, first.
His brown eyes scanned the length of the shirtless, sleep-deprived, and well tired redhead. What was Fujimiya's weakness? Maybe it was that blade he kept hidden so well beneath his mattress?
"Sit down." Ken motioned towards Ran's bed, with the glove.
"Why should I?" The redhead countered, his icy front back in place. Too bad, he didn't look displeasing with a hint of emotion in his eyes.
"Because I might decide to spare your life." That sounded pretty suave... Sure, he was completely bluffing, but it still sounded good.
"You're fucking with me, Hidaka. I'm fine where I am." The redhead crossed his thin arms across his chest.
Sighing in exasperation, Ken rolled his eyes, "Would you just sit down!? Being stubborn will get you nowhere."
Ran was still.
With a determined face, Ken walked forward, jerking the redhead by the arm to throw him down on his own bed, since it was closer. He pushed the older man down firmly, retracting the blades on his claw, and retreating a step, to focus his full gaze on the redhead, "Now--"
"What are you doing here, Hidaka?"
Ken paused, "We're about to decide that, Fujimiya." He narrowed his gaze on the redhead's own violet eyes. "My options are limited to two, if that thought eases your conscious. I won't share them with you, though."
"You want something." Ran was a very confused man at the moment.
"Don't we all?"
"You want something else."
"Good call." He sighed, "I want you to shut up."
"I refuse."
The brunett wanted to jerk his hair out one by one, and then he wanted to beat the redhead until he no longer was capable of the motor abilities required for speech. Or witticisms, for that matter. His stay here was not going as he had planned it, at all, and it could only go downhill once Fujimiya found out. He had decided to take the chance of trusting the redhead, though, even if it wasn't in a killer's blood to trust anyone. He could back himself up with threats, if necessary.
He still needed to find the redhead's weakness, though. But he had experience with this, it surely wouldn't be a problem.
"What -are- you?" Ran's voice was suddenly very calm, and quiet.
The brunett paused, searching for a response, "What do you think I am?"
"Won't you just give me a straight answer?!" The redhead exclaimed suddenly.
Ken narrowed his eyes, "You tell me what you think I am, and I'll work around that."
The violet eyed man seemed to think it over for a minute before nodding, "You aren't supposed to be here."
A nod, "No, I'm not."
"You aren't..." Ran searched for the words, his icy tone was in place again; a sort of self-defense mechanism. "You aren't..."
"Do you have any idea?" The brunette lifted an eyebrow, watching as the redhead rested his head in his hands, which rested upon his knees. The Fujimiya could be amusing, as it turned out.
"Well, you must be something! You come here without any knowledge of English, you keep a claw under your mattress, and you seem to have gone psychotically unstable on several different occasions this night alone!"
Sighing heavily, the brunett shook his head. There was no way he could just out-right tell the redhead, but he didn't want to lie too badly, "What I am isn't really something for you to be concerned about, alright?" He glanced at the claw before looking back to meet Ran's eyes again, "I would prefer you not to go talking about this, though."
"Why the hell shouldn't I? You've already pretty much stated you intend to kill me, anyway." Violet eyes narrowed.
"Do you -want- to die?" Ken lifted an eyebrow. Come to think of it, the redhead did almost seem to be one of those gothic-nonsense types. Angst to the world, we're all gonna die, you're so narrow minded, and whatnot.
"Not really." The redhead stated lowly, "But you're not giving me a choice, are you?"
"Actually... I am."
Ran was silent, his eyes watching Ken closely, taking in every twitch or movement.
"I am proposing a... deal. Of some sort."
"Why should I make a deal with you?"
"Shut up, and hear me out, Red." Ken's tone dropped as he said the name, his spirit lifting as he saw the redhead growl in annoyance, "I am not the only one with a weapon here. If either of us is caught with one, though, we shall be expelled--"
"That means nothing to me." Ran cut in sharply.
Okay, so the katana wasn't his weakness. He would have to dig deeper.
"Yes, I can see." Gods, that sounded false, "What about your family, though?"
Ran paused, an unnamed emotion streaking through his amethyst orbs, before being sheilded with a coat of ice.
He had gotten something! His family... What about Ran's family, though? He knew nothing about them, aside from the fact that Ran's sister wanted something from him-- "What would your sister do, without you, -Ran-?" The name was delicately pronounced, and seem to roll from the brunette's tounge elabourately.
It almost sounded alluring.
Ran tried to resist the fear within him from rising, but his mask was tearing away.
He had hit it, Ken felt sure. Stooping down a bit, to meet the violet gaze before him, the brunette narrowed his eyes, "I would hate for something to -happen- to her." His brown eyes feigned mock concern, "There are a lot of things that could happen to her." His voice became deadpan, "Even without my help."
Of course, Ken didn't really want to hurt the girl. She was annoying, sure, but he wouldn't bring himself to harm her without good reason. If Ran went against him, it would count as good enough reason, and though he had no personal grudges against Aya that went as far as death or even serious injury, he would do what he had to do. It was the way he was trained.
The redhead's breath was shallow, as he watched Ken with an icy glare, "You're serious?"
The brunett straightened himself back to full height and folded his arms, "Quite."
With a growl the redhead turned his head away, "Fine." Thinking for a moment he turned back, "Though, I suppose you already know, it's only a matter of time until someone else finds out. You can't very well threaten everyone, can you?"
Ken narrowed his eyes, removing his glove instead of focusing on the other man, "I'll be gone before that happens."
Ran remembered that. Of course he wouldn't stand for threats like that usually, but he still had that bad feeling about Ken. Now, he was beginning to understand why. He would not be able to keep silent about his roommate for long, he knew, but he needed to work out a way to keep Aya chan safe before he brought out Ken's secret.
It didn't take long for the brunett to clean his wounds, where the glass had torn his foot, and to leave materials for Ran to do the same for his leg. When they were both back into their beds, it was quite obvious that neither was going to get anymore sleep before sunrise. They both lay in silent contemplation anyway.
Ken did manage to nod off lightly at some point, thinking about how Ran had grabbed him earlier. His skin had come into direct contact with the redhead's and for the first time since that night a little of a year ago, when he watched Kase fall, he hadn't felt the memories that each brush of skin usually caused. He had actually forgotten...
There was no way he would be able to kill Ran, now.
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Notes--
1 I don't think I really made it clear, later in the chapter, that this is what Ken is mocking by calling Ran by his given name.
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Thank you to my reviewers:
Shinigami-- No, I don't hate Aya chan. She's just got a bitchy character in this story, and I like her that way. :) It's for purposes to add to the plot, they will not be moved. As for breaking up Schu/Yotan, I'm sorry, but that's not going to be the final pairing, and they haven't broken up again, yet. Youji doesn't know about Schu's little excursions with Crawford, yet.
newtype shadow-- I see you finally found out Ken's occupation, eh? Or I think you have, I can't really tell. As for what Ken keeps under his bed, it's in this chapter, quite obviously. Though, when I rewrite it, I may take that part out... I'm not sure. Youji, don't feel sorry for him. He's got his own -lady- coming to him. She'll show up in time. ;)
Karyx-- Aa! Thank you very much for the grammer notes. I have noticed by recent obssession with the word "though", as well. The run-ons I can hardly do anything about. I'll really try to work on that. The "kinetic" and "irrelative" errors shall also be fixed soon, and I thank you for bringing it to by attention. This chapter is definately not any better grammer-wise, I'm sure, since it hasn't even been proof-read, but I shall really try to watch my writing from now on. you haven't come across as snotty, and I am very glad for your criticism. Without good criticism, how doth one improve?
Midnight Katana-- If they won't give it to you, you must take it my force. In the manical rantings of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, "LIKE THIS BUG!! This bug that taunts me with its coldness!! I keep killing it, and it keeps coming back!!" Though, I'm sure that was pretty random.
Minerva Solo-- Yes, I am going to be hearing about Gluhen until the end of this fic... ;; Oi, well I've stopped my half of the statements, so you won't hear any more from moi. I'm ready for a change of topic...
"What's everyone's favourite type of cheese?"
kaen-chan-- The sexy Kenken picture was not saved to my HDD, nor do I have the net address (even though I swear I had it bookmarked oO), but it's not exactly a rare picture, so it shouldn't be difficult to find.
Heather-- Oi, you raise some good points that I have been wondering about, myself. First of all, Ken is going to turn 18 in this fic (hint, hint his birthday is the 23rd, and the upcoming dance is for -Christmas- which is the 25th), and I'm going to include something about that in the fic, though I'll go ahead and explain it here for you: Ran is 19 and a senior, though he is supremely intelligent and has attended most of his education in America, so they moved him ahead to the Sophmore class when he entered the school before some of his other classmates (Youji and Schu are probably about 20 or 21). Kenken has a -job- (if you haven't figured it out yet, I wont tell you) and probably even failed a few grades, not to mention he doesn't speak English, so it was pretty much decided they would put him into a lower class level, you know? It's complicated, and I really didn't think about that at first or I would have made him a junior... I know an 18 year-old sophmore, though, so, I guess it works...
Astralkitten-- XD The scary thing, when I first read your comment I actually considered the post-it notes for body parts thing... Heh heh
Whisper Reilman--I would try to answer your question, but from the way this chapter came out, all I can say is to expect alot of Ran angst over Aya's new crush. With the predicament I put him in in this chapter, Ran will be forced to playa weaker role than he's accustomed to, and he's going to break out of it, you'll see. It's not Ran's style to let Kenken do anything (dating or killing) to his sister, you know? Aya and Ken's dance is pretty much an illusion-- who knows if Ken will even show up for the dance? I really don't know what will happen...
And also to: Those who e-mailed me, and those whom have silenced me beyond words: xxkurenaixx, laurel-crowned, Solaris, Haruko (no I can't kill her off just yet), Carter Tachikawa, Ru-chan, miki-kun, fuzzish, Shime (Aya's smiles should be special, I agree!), starsong, Faraway4today, schu-chan, and Mikoto the Gnome Girl. Thank you for reviews!
(As always, if your review is not responded to this time, it shall be next time.)
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(Meanwhile, in a near by Pretzle Palace...)
Seph: Re-edit! Re-edit! Woo!
Miri: Took you long enough. Your stupidity astounds and confuses me.
Seph: (glares) Your face confuses me.
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The Review Button: I love you! :D