Author's Notes-- ( 10:43 PM 10/24/2004 ) Meant to have this done a week ago, but I got lazy. There is an additional part to this that is a dream-sequence for Ken. It's just humour and some pointless KenRan shounen ai, I will not post it at FF .Net but I might post it on my LJ later. If I do I'll include a link in the next installment.
Thanks to Lain1 for pointing out the use of "...wa, doko desu ka." Apparently, it's the more casual way of saying "Where is...?", while "...wa, doko ni arimasu ka." denotes something more along the lines of "Where can I find...?"
Also, in the last chapter I made an error in the use of Asuka's French. She said "Il n'est pas de homosexuel..." However, now I can't be certain whether the article of un/de is even necessary. I think she should have said, "Il n'est pas homosexuel. Il est bi."
Musical Background -- The first part (aka the "lake part") of this "scene" was written while listening to Girlfriend by the Pillows. The last part (aka the "fight part") while listening to Lust for Blood by Gackt. The general sound of each seems to fit the scene, I think.
Warnings-- Introducing... Bishounen Boxing!, Asuka has majour OOC as I can't really relate to what her actual character is
blah-- Thoughts (ex: What should I say, now?)
"blah" -- Dialogue (ex: "Your mom.")
„blah" -- Visably Foreign Dialogue (ex: „Wie ghet's?")
- - - - - - - - -
Somewhat Damaged by Seph Lorraine
Act VI: Scene II: Fighting the Fire
- - - - - - - - -
Kudou Youji muttered darkly beneath his breath as he traipsed across the colourful lawns of Smaragd Wald Academy. The bell for afternoon classes had rang an entire half hour ago, but he was not concerned with that. Never in his six years of attendence had he ever worried about that. He told himself he just didn't have the motivation.
He sighed heavily as he approached the docks, enjoying the even clanking of his boots against the planked boards beneath him. He approached his usual boat, seven, and frowned when he saw it was missing. Without any further thought he settled for number six. 1 He sat across one of the boarded seats, untied the ropes, and cast himself off, lowering the oars into the water and stroking roughly to gain movement.
When he reached a few metres out towards the right side of the lake, he stopped rowing, opting instead to pause and light up a cigarette. So what if he had told the bishounen he would quit? It was a much needed release.
It was a pattern with him. Whenever he was upset, really upset, he would go out on the lake and just drift about for a while. The fitness classes had stopped using the lake for swimming since the pool had been installed years ago, and the crew-teams didn't start using the lake until spring, so he was alone. He didn't mind being alone sometimes.
The water was still and calm, and the sky was overcast. The area surrounding the lake was covered by trees, all brilliant with the bright colours of autumn, dropping leaves lazily to drift along the dark waters of the lake. The birds were leaving, flying south, so even the woods were silent. It was a heavy, unbreakable silence, one in which one felt it necessary to whisper as to not break the serenity of the--
"Hey!"
Youji snapped out of his daze, green eyes casting about the lake.
Everything seemed normal, until his eyes locked on an overturned boat floating ever-closer to the far side of the lake. In white paint on the hind-side of the capsized not-quite-vessle was a large number seven. 2 He looked carefully, but couldn't see any movement in the area around the boat.
"I'm over here!"
Turning again in search of the voice, his eyes scanned the nearby shore. Only metres down the shore from where he presently drifted, stood a girl. She was stuck, trapped at the edge of the lake by the surrounding trees and the edge of the water.
Youji tensed, beginning to row towards her, quickly, "What happened? What are you doing out here?!"
"The boat capsized and I got stuck over here!"
He pulled the boat up to the edge of the shore as close as he could, " Are you OK? Get in."
Nodding, she lowered herself down into the boat, taking the seat opposite him, and turning to face him, "Yea, I'm fine. Thank you so much. I thought I was going to be stuck there all day."
"No problem..." Youji blinked and lowered his glasses a bit to get a better look at the girl directly across from him. She was a pale girl of average height, a student, like himself. She was soaked to the bone, strands of dark hair hanging loosely in the way of her dark eyes. Her clothes, a standard girls uniform, were still dripping with icy water and she shivered lightly as she spoke. He was pretty sure he hadn't seen her before, but he now felt a bit sorry he hadn't.
She was beautiful.
"Youji?" Her accent was of pronounced French, as was apparent in how she spoke the last syllable of his name.
He snapped out of it again, shaking his head, "Sorry, I'm a bit lost, today. What did you say?"
"I just asked if you knew a way I could get the boat back to shore." She nodded towards the overturned still-not-quite-a-vessel from earlier.
"Oh, that--Wait, you know my name?"
"Oui. Everyone around here knows you." She rolled her eyes a bit, "You're too eccentric to be unnoticed."
"Oh." Great, Kudou. You seem to be full of great lines today. There is a hot French chick soaking wet and alone with you in a boat in the middle of a lonely lake, and all you can say is, "Oh." Brilliant, just Brilliant.
She smiled lightly, a tremble evident in her voice, from the cold, "I'm Asuka." She extended a hand, „Enchanté." (trans: Enchanted/"Pleased to meet you.")
Somewhat regaining his former self, he took her hand, lifting it and kissing it lightly, and repeating her, „Enchanté."
She allowed him his fun, and stared in a rather amused way, "And here comes the part where you hit on me and I unyieldingly fall for your manly charms, right?"
"And my deadly good looks." He smiled fondly, picking up the oars again, eyes searching out the docks, once more, "Sounds like you know this game well."
Asuka sighed tiredly, "A little too well."
Turning his green eyes back to her, he pulled his glasses down a bit to look over them, "A girl like you? I'd believe it."
She smiled. When she first began attending the academy he had caught her eye, and for some reason he had held it. Aya was right, she did think he was quite possibly the most handsome guy she'd ever seen.
They drifted in silence for a moment, Youji stroking numbly with the oars, when her voice caught his ears again, "You look depressed. Can I help?"
"Yes, and no." He grunted lightly, taking another draw on his cigarette, "I'm just pissed off with someone."
"Schuldig?" She leaned forward, watching him intently.
Grunting again at her response, his mood seemed to sour again, "'Suppose everyone knows him, too."
"They do."
"Yea, well..." He stopped oaring, shaking his head, "No more. I won't do it anymore."
"Let me guess," She reached forward, and surprised him by plucking the cigarette lightly from his lips and tossing it into the water, "you broke up, again." Then, on a sidenote, "Smoking is bad for you."
"How did you guess?" He rolled his eyes; sarcasm. "And I know."
"So?" She shrugged, pressing her hands gently against the seat on either side of where she sat and looked to the planked floor of the boat, "You'll be together again in a week, anyways. What does it even matter?"
He frowned, watching as the small white cigarette butt drifted away on the lake's surface, noticing idly that they had stopped moving, "That's just it. That's not going to happen this time." He turned his gaze back to the floor of the small boat, as well, "One of my friends came back to the school just this past week, and I talked to him for the first time in months this morning. Something about talking to him made me think..." He sighed, and reached for the oar, again, "Nevermind."
Before he could move it, though, her hand reached out to rest lightly atop his own, "No, go on. I'm listening."
Youji sighed, looking up to meet her gaze, and shrugged, "I honestly don't know why I'm here anymore. My class left for university two years ago, and with grades like mine I'll never get into one." He paused, "Well, unless I go back to the U.S."
She frowned at that, "But what does all that have to do with Schuldig?"
"He's a distraction. Part of the reason I've failed all the classes I have." His hand drew to pull at the oar again, "And I want things to be different. I want to have something to look forward to, and Schuldig isn't that something."
Asuka slapped his hand away from the oar, "Stop trying to row us back to dock. Neither of us is in a big hurry."
Youji raised an eyebrow.
She smiled before she began, "Youji, your problem is that you're afraid to admit you want stability."
He blinked, "I am?"
She nodded, "Schuldig is not a stable area of your life. He's wild and unpredictable even despite his predictability."
"He is?"
"Yes. You unconsciously pine for something steady. Probably because of some early childhood experience."
"...Your last name wouldn't be Freud, would it?"
She grinned lightly and took it as a complement, "Well?"
The blonde gave her a pointed look, "I really don't think that's it."
"Yea..." Asuka shrugged, "But you have to admit the logic sounds good."
"I'll give you -that-."
"Seriously. When you were younger, did you move a lot? Switch schools a lot?"
Youji shook his head, "No..."
"Well, was there anything in your life that was constantly changing?"
The senior seemed to think for a moment, "Yes." His green eyes flickered in memory, "My father remarried seven times."
Asuka's eyes went wide for a moment before she recovered herself, clearing her throat and averting her eyes, "Right, so..."
Smirking at her obvious discomfort he continued, "It's nothing bad, he just couldn't make up his mind, I guess. They were all very kind, nice ladies, and as far as I can remember I liked them all. There was Anna, Ying Fa, Melonie, Kyoko, Svetlana, Rebecca, and Emily."
Asuka lifted an eyebrow, "In that order?"
He nodded, before catching himself, "Well, I actually think Kyoko came before Melonie..."
She laughed, "-That- was what was constantly changing?!"
A lopsided smirk, "Yep. Unfortunately for you, I've been told I'm a lot like him."
The dark-haired junior rolled her eyes but continued to smile, "As if you could ever get so far with me." She thought for a moment, "Which of your 'mothers' did you like best?"
"Well, I don't like to think of it like that, choosing favourites and all. But if I had to say..." He drifted off to think, "Kyoko. She was half Japanese, and she treated me more like a mother than any of the others. She wasn't afraid that I wouldn't like her if she got upset with me when I didn't clean my room. She didn't treat me like I would hate her if she weren't as sweet as she could manage, not that the others were bad for that, of course. She gave me my brother, too."
"Omi?"
Youji nodded, "Omi is my half brother, and he's a freshman here. He kept her last name, Tsukiyono, after she died in a fire when I was eight. I think Omi was about two." 3
"Oh, I'm sorry." She frowned sympathetically.
"I forgive you." The smirk was back again.
"What about your real mother?"
The blonde shrugged, looking pensive for a moment, "She and my father never married. I don't know where she is."
"Oh, I'm sor-- That's sad." She corrected herself quickly.
He made a face, turning back into his listless self, "Why did we go off on this tangent, again?"
Asuka made to scratch her head, "I don't know. I forgot what we were originally talking about."
"Me, too." He thought for a moment, "Oh yeah. We were on about Schuldig."
The junior bit her lower lip lightly, "So, who was the friend who inspired this change of heart about him?"
"His name is Ran Fujimiya, I don't know if you would know him." Youji muttered the last part inaudibly, "And the fact that Schu's been after one of the maths professors since February."
"Ran Fujimiya... Tall, pale guy?"
"Yea..."
"Really red hair?"
"You know him."
"I just met him about an hour ago. He's my roommate's 'oniichan', as she puts it." Asuka rolled her dark eyes in amusement at their earlier meeting, "Kind of quiet, seems nice, though."
Youji looked surprise, "You're Aya's roommate, then?"
"Indeed. And what an adventure it is. She's been all over me today about how the new guy turned her down for the dance, when she's been trying to learn Japanese and everything just to talk to him." She rapped her knuckles lightly against the sides of the boat in fidgeting gestures, "Kind of pathetic, if you ask me, but cute, too."
"We know all the same people. What a small world."
This time Asuka didn't attempt to stall him, when he reached for the oars and began to row towards the docks, "Well, next class begins in twenty minutes."
"And I'm off to see the Wizard." He responded absently.
She stilled and looked at him with mock-surprise, "The wonderful Wizard of Oz?"
"Because." He nodded.
"Because?" An inquisitive spark.
"Because."
"Because?"
"Because of the wonderful things he does!"
She smiled, leaned forward, and pecked him on the cheek.
- - - - - - - - -
Ken was wide awake as he headed into his English lesson the next day, as opposed to his almost ill feeling from yesterday. He had caught up on his sleep by going to bed early. So early he hadn't even seen his firey roommate since his English lesson the day before. He had merely gotten a shower, hid Ran's deodorant and toothpaste, and completed his homework before drifting off into the sleep of the dead.
And he would be damned if the dead didn't sleep well.
As he approached the room, he stopped to peek through the crack in the door and make sure he didn't walk in on anything, because it was a likely happening where-ever Schuldig was involved.
Quiet voices drifted through the room. The older maths teacher sat watching the German, whom was unusually minding his own business for once.
"You're not saying anything."
Schuldig turned and gave the other man an amused glance before turning back to his chalkboard, "How astute of you."
"You're up to something." Crawford's voice was fairly low as he said this. Suspicion clouded his usually clear vision.
"Like what, Bradley?"
"Don't call me that."
"Whatever, Bradley." Brushing his long red hair over his shoulder, Schuldig through his partner a withering glance.
"I will request that you leave if you--I will -force- you to leave if you cannot address me in the manner that is proper and ethical between teacher and student." The American growled, flipping open the Spanish textbook in his hand to a random page.
"And what if it's more than that?" The younger man's voice was barely audible as he mumbled under his breath.
"What was that?" Crawford lifted his narrowed gaze.
"I didn't say anything." Schuldig spoke quietly.
Crawford stared at him for a minute longer. He hadn't managed to pick up on what the other man had just said, but he was trying to figure it out. The younger man was acting extremely peculiar today, calm even, and that was just extremely out of character.
The moment slipped away, and the room slid back into silence.
Feeling like a feather, Ken sauntered into the classroom with a rare smirk across his boyish features. He dropped down into his desk, and nodded to Crawford, whom was perched as usual upon the desk, giving him the same look an Amish farmer gives a computer salesman.
"Good afternoon, Crawford-san. How are you doing?" He smiled lightly. His day had been going very good so far. There could be no snubbing his mood.
Crawford made no response, only continued to stare in a catatonic state.
After a minute or two, Schuldig-- whom had previously been drawing upon the large chalkboard, as usual-- gave the older man a gentle nudge in the ribs, "I think he asked you a question, Bradley."
"Yes..." The maths teacher blinked himself out of his tranced state, "I'm doing well, and it seems you are, too."
Ken nodded in understanding, "Yes, I feel very well today."
"That's good..." He paused. Ken's unusually bright and attentive attitude was somewhat disturbing, "I hope."
Schuldig was drawing a stick figure of Crawford behind said man's back; it was wearing glasses and a suit and looking very serious. In it's right circle (assumably meant to be a hand) it held a shish-ka-bob skewer on which flailed another smaller stick figure labeled as "God". Schuldig, having Farfarello's art class for first period every morning, had recently gotten a spot on the art room's "wall of fame" for drawing this exact same thing on a larger piece of paper last Wednesday. It confused him as to why, but he decided he really couldn't be arsed to think about Farfarello's crazy ways.
Ken watched with interest. Nothing could ruin this day.
Not a moment later did Ran enter the room, looking generally very detached-- which could be considered normal for him. As usual, his eyes narrowed at Ken, and as usual the brunette felt that maybe something -could- ruin his day. Perhaps it was possibly about to.
Ran grunted his greeting without conscious thought, still glaring at Ken with smokey violet eyes. That vague sense of unease settled over him again as he saw the younger brunette.
Ken vaguely wondered if the redhead had to look pretty all the time. He rolled his eyes and rested his cheek on his left hand. Nobody had violet eyes; they had to be contacts. But that would imply that the older man was vain. Though, the idea of Ran being vain was rather believable.
As Ran made his way to the chalkboard, Ken pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil, setting it atop the desk and waiting for instructions.
The American cleared his throat, the note-taking session beginning as usual, "Adjectives are words that modify nouns and are not to be confused with adverbs, which modify adjectives, verbs, and other adverbs. Unlike Japanese adjectives, which are utter nonsense--" 4
Ran shot the teacher a glare but wrote it anyways.
"--English adjectives mostly all do the same thing. It is very simple to use them, as conjugation is not needed for the normal ones."
The brunette blinked as he copied Ran's elegant cursive, "Nonsense?"
"Just write it." The redhead growled.
"In example: The colour 'green' can be used to say, 'That book is green,' or 'That is a green book'. The same goes for all colours, and other adjectives, such as: loud, slow, mean, ugly, annoying, stupid, --" The American was cut off.
"Gods, Bradley. You're just full of sunshine." Schuldig jeered from his drawings-- on the side of the board Ran was -not- using.
"-- and etc. These are the common adjectives. Next are the--"
"Isn't 'annoying' a verb?" Ken asked suddenly.
The redhead paused in his writing to explain, "Annoying is not a common adjective. Crawford is an asshat, and therefore I don't know why he put it under that catagory--" 5
Schuldig smirked, only grasping the words "Crawford" and "asshat", "Hey Brad, I think they're talking about you."
The American didn't seem to be paying anyone any mind, though. Truthfully, he was questioning the human psyche and his very existance. He was a rather attractive 27 year old man from New York City with an abusive stepfather, an alcoholic mother, and all the memories that accompanied such a domestic situation. He was a qualified professional boxer with a degree in advanced mathmatics and architechture with a scandolous desire for one of his senior students. Though he would never admit that last part. He also enjoyed gardening, though he would never admit that, either. He could have made something of himself, but what did he do? Throw it all away to go teach some lousy kids at a English-speaking school in the middle of Bumfuck'd, Germany! It was times like these when he really wanted to just throw himself off the bell tower in the centre of the courtyard and land in a bloody mess upon Principal R. Takatori's freshly-shined shoes. That dirty old son of a bitch wasn't paying him enough money to feed his damned cat, let alone--
"Crawford?"
Crawford snapped to again to find Schuldig poking him in the ribs. He snapped the Spanish textbook closed and stood up, whirling around he threw it with amazing accuracy right into the face of the white-suited stick man behind him. The book hit the board with a SMACKand fell to the floor in a lifeless ruffle of pages.
"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!! I COULD HAVE BEEN A FUCKING ARCHITECT!! I QUIT!!" And with that he stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
The classroom's remaining three occupants stood in surprised silence, even Ran's eyes were wide with shock.
Schuldig frowned, "I knew he'd snap one day."
- - - - - - - - -
"Hidaka!"
A voice called after him as he made his way quickly down the hallway towards the exit of the building. He stopped abruptly in his tracks and turned to see Ran walking after him fairly quickly to catch up. The man's expression was unreadable and his eyes did not meet his own.
"What?" So he finally found to where his stuff has been disappearing?
The redhead looked up when he reached a few metres of the other man, "You said you would stay away from her." His voice was low, quiet as to keep from being overheard.
Ken stared at him blankly for a moment, trying to unsolve what Ran was talking about. "When did I say that?" Maybe not.
"When you made your sorry excuse for a deal--"
Aya.
"I said I wouldn't make anything happen to her, I didn't say I would stay away." He answered equally as low in tone.
"I want you to stay away." Ran's voice was hardly more than a growl, "Completely."
"You're hardly in the position to be posing changes in our contract."
"We have no contract."
"Would you like to test that theory?"
"I'll take you right here, Hidaka. You won't have a chance to exact anything on my imouto!" His voice was raising.
Ken felt his jaw tighten, he didn't want to fight about something as stupid as the other man's sister, and certainly not with Ran. If the man was actually practiced with the katana he hid beneath his matress, that made the redhead a formidable opponent to anyone, himself included. this was no time to be stupid and ignore the facts, "I'm not going to fight you over your airheaded imouto." Though, I could use the release.
"Then leave her the fuck alone. She told me yesterday you turned her down to go to that stupid dance. That means your still talking to her. If I keep your secret you stay the fuck away from her!" Ran's fists were clenching at his sides.
"You have no secret on me, and you have no place dictating what I do." He ground out lowly. He wasn't sure what it was about the redhead that caused his judgement to cloud over. Whether it was the fact that the other man was trying to tell him what he could do or to whom he could speak, or the fact that the lack of physical release over the last six months was finally getting to him, didn't matter anymore. It didn't even matter that it was all over that feminine annoyance that had ceaslessly been following him from class to class for the past week. He just wanted to fight.
Ran could prove to be a worthy opponent.
The air at that moment was thicker than smoke, but none less hazy. The binder seemed to slip effortlessly from Ken's hand, clattering upon the tiled floor, as the redhead came even closer. His joints seemed to loosen and his muscles tensed.
The fist came at him more quickly than he would have expected, leaving him only the sparest amounts of time to move his head, leaving one of the redhead's knuckles to skim his ear and one of his cheeckbones.
Ken lunged at the other man, throwing his weight towards the other man's stomach, only to be grabbed around the shoulders as the taller man turned, and tilted backwards. He pulled at the arm around his shoulders, pushing the other man away roughly with the flats of both his hands.
The scuffle continued, each standing a small distance apart again. Ran approached again, landing a rather forceful blow to the right side of Ken's chest, before the brunette took a powerful punch square in the older man's abdomen. He heard the redhead draw a thick breath and wince, pushing him back again by the shoulders, only to be pulled back by the offending arms.
Ran, caught of guard by the tug on his arms and still dealing with the pain in his torso, tumbled forwards rather ungracefully, sending them both to the floor, him on top. His right knee landed right in the brunette's own stomach, earning him a surprised yelp of pain. He drew back his fist again, aiming for Ken's face again, but paused as he got a look of the brunette's bright eyes. The other man was alive with the fire of the moment, brown eyes dancing in what could have seemed to be some sort of sickly pleasure with this fight. He was surprised when he found himself suddenly hitting the floor, the brunette rolling atop his own person.
Ken drew back a fist that Ran was fully prepared to block, but the blow never came.
It was only after noting the noise that surrounded the hall did he open his eyes and realise he had closed them in the first place.
A mob of students had formed around them, gawking and jeering at their struggle, despite the teachers whom were already getting to the front of the crowd to keep them back and out of harm's way. Two sophomore-class teachers were forcefully pulling Ken from atop his person, successful despite the bruises both would carry the next day from facing his struggle.
He could feel himself readying his offensive again, but found that he, himself was being restrained by two pairs of stout arms. He jerked wildly, actually causing one of the teachers to swear and let go, but the other would not have it. He felt his entire form still when he heard the voice in his ear, "I don't know what you think you're doing, Fujimiya, but it's not going to work."
He felt bile rising to the back of his throat. Anyone but that man. He felt sick at being in such a close proximity with the one man he had come to hate more than anything. He wanted to jerk free, but he knew it was futile.
During the moment of his body's lull as he registered Principal R. Takatori's voice in his ear, the other teacher had come to restrain his other arm again, both of them pulling him up to stand. He could vaguely understand bits and pieces of the crowd. All around, various people were screaming his name, cheering him on. Couldn't they see the fight was over? He doubted he even knew them. Others were yelling to let the fight continue.
"Come on, Ran! You can -so- take that new guy!"
"Let them fight!"
"This is like real anime! Japanese people fighting in our very own school!"
"The new guy's a pushover! Get him in the face!"
"Take him down Bruce Lee-style, Ran!"
"How dare that new kid TOUCH our God!"
"You rock, Fujimiya!"
The new guy. Not one voice mentioned Ken. Not one person knew who he was.
Ran felt there was a sickening sadness to it all as he scanned the crowd through narrowed violet eyes, his gaze coming to stop on the two teachers restraining his opponent. He wasn't struggling anymore, he was just standing now, messy brown hair falling into dull brown eyes. The fire that had been there only seconds before had died. He had only just felt the candle of Hidaka Ken.
Now, he wanted the fire.
- - - - - - - - -
Notes--
1 I dunno if anyone would have gotten that. Number 7? Get it? Youji's car is a "Seven"? ... OK, nevermind.
2 I just read this while editing: ves·sel n. - Nautical. A craft, especially one larger than a rowboat, designed to navigate on water; An airship. Heh heh! Bigger than a rowboat... Damn.
3 Several things: I don't know Omi's actual mother's name, so I gave her one. And I think I earlier stated that Youji and Omi had a four year difference in age, which I should go back and change. I wasn't taking into count, when I wrote it, the two extra years that Youji has spent at the school.
4 Bitterness? What bitterness? I don't know what you're talking about.
5 Why is the mental image of Ran calling someone an "asshat" so hilarious? And Crawford, of all people. That and the fact that Ken stole his deodorant. So he's probably pretty smelly as he says it.
- - - - - - - - -
Thank you to my reviewers:
kasugai gummie- So, basically only moving things use "arimasu"? OK, that makes sense, then. And about my misspelling "legal", I'm really sorry. I really have issues with my spelling; just recently discovered how to spell "brunette" (as opposed to: brunet, or brunett). I'll really try to work on that. I'm very glad you're enjoying this fic, though! And I suppose you just asked me if I understand Spanish... Which I don't. I just know simple things like: thank you, hello, bye, where's the restroom, please step away from the doors, taco, burrito, enchalada... :) Sorry. Thanks for reading!
Lain1- Wow! Thank you very much for your explanation. That really does help. :) I hope you're enjoying the story, and thank you for reading!
xXLil Yu JahXx- Aw, thank you! I've always wanted to be someone's god! ((Smirk)) Yea, I couldn't have Ken go to that dance with Aya. She comes off as a bitch, for one, and I don't want this to turn into one of the usual AU School fics where the main characters end up going to a dance and, I dunno, dancing or something. The dance is more for the developement of some of my other characters than Ken and Ran or Ken and Aya-chan. The reason Ran's not protesting is because he isn't certain whether his missing items are Ken's doing or not, he's got the idea, but I guess he figures it would be better to confront and kill the younger man with proof rather than assumption. ((Shruggs)) That's just logical Ran for ya'.
Whisper Reilman- A ha ha! That's an hilarious idea! Unfortunately, I think the situation would have to be a bit more drawn out to include the mysterious reappearing of the objects, but maybe I can manage to work it out that way... :) Thanks for reading!
Amanda- AyaxAsuka? Hmm... I never even thought about that, really. Unfortuantely, that's not my plan. I personally think the WK series has too few standing female characters to really have enough material to spin a yuri couple off of, but some people can get pretty creative. It's an interesting idea, though, it dosen't work well with what I have planned for Asuka. I'm very honoured that you are enjoying this story! Thank you for reading!
kyon- Oui! Nous parlons françias. Je ne suis pas stupide aussi. :D "Merci" for reading!
Laurel Crowned- Disagree-ability. One of Ran's many beautiful virtues, methinks. He needs a reason to dislike Ken, so why not everything? Thank you for reading!
The Invisible Fan- I'm so happy you're enjoying this! Especially the linguistics part! Sometimes I'm afraid I go a bit over-board with all my langauge-analysis nonsense, but so far people seem to be taking it well. I'm happy to hear that it's actually -enjoyed-, though. :) Linguistics is fantastic, ne? The idea of being to communicate in so many ways, and knowing how all of them came to be seems incredibly fascinating to me. Thank you for reading!
HeatherR- Ken getting sick? Meh, I think Ken's sickness is more mental then anything. You know how on really bad days (weeks, in Ken's case), everything is miserable, and then you find yourself getting a headache, too? It's not really a coughing/sneezing/fever kind of sick. Trying to kind of show how well things -aren't- going for poor Kenken. And about Ran finding out Aya-chan is a brat, he's aware, but he loves her anyway. She -is- his sister, of course. I think Ran probably understands that Aya's not so much a "bad person" as she is "under educated" about life and the ways of the world; I'll go into her situation when we start in on Ran's past. :) Thank you so much for reading, and I love getting questions, so thanks for asking, as well! I hope I did an OK job at answering...
Yoiriko (for chapters 1 n 2)- First Weiß fic you've read?! I am unworthy! But, welcome to the wonderful world of WK fanfiction, things to remember: RanKen rocks your face off, and Orange sweaters are a fashion statement, not an annoyance (no matter how much it makes your eyes twitch). As for Farf with red hair and Schu with green, that's going by the manga version. If you do a google image search for either of them, you're likely to come up with a picture. Thank you for reading, though!
ITSAME- I'm so happy to see -someone- thought that was funny. I had a good laugh about it, too, but you're the only one to mention it. Oh well, great minds think perverted, ne? Thank you for reading!
Narijima- "...though I do find it a bit odd that they're primarily speaking English at a German school..." You raise a very good point. I don't think I even realised this, myself, until Act II, and by then it would have been strange to change it. So, I'm going to create the history of the school instantly right now. Here we go: The school was founded in the mid 18th century by an English nobleman (we'll call him Sir Stephen Wyndham, because that's a cool name), whom moved to northern Germany when he married his German wife, Elise (we'll call her that because Beethoven wrote a song 'für' someone named 'Elise'). He established the school, and since he was English he made it an English-speaking school. So everyone whom attends must speak/learn to speak English. The end. :D So that shall be my rationailzation. ((sweatdrops)) I'm so happy you're enjoying this fic, though! Thank you so much for reading!
Zavijah- You're review really made me smile! :) Yes, the fic lives, though a bit slowly, I admit. I'm so happy you like the languages, too. It now seems strange that when I first put the idea together I was practically praying for people not to be bored by it; it can seem a bit fanatical at times. Read the whole thing again?! Wow. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!
Also, thanks to: Chitoshiya no Tohma, Mist, Amethyst Blossom, and sidheranma.
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The Review Button: All reveiwers will be included into Seph's will to receive a Gackt poster when she finally dies. Ho, ho! Motivation, ne?
Thanks to Lain1 for pointing out the use of "...wa, doko desu ka." Apparently, it's the more casual way of saying "Where is...?", while "...wa, doko ni arimasu ka." denotes something more along the lines of "Where can I find...?"
Also, in the last chapter I made an error in the use of Asuka's French. She said "Il n'est pas de homosexuel..." However, now I can't be certain whether the article of un/de is even necessary. I think she should have said, "Il n'est pas homosexuel. Il est bi."
Musical Background -- The first part (aka the "lake part") of this "scene" was written while listening to Girlfriend by the Pillows. The last part (aka the "fight part") while listening to Lust for Blood by Gackt. The general sound of each seems to fit the scene, I think.
Warnings-- Introducing... Bishounen Boxing!, Asuka has majour OOC as I can't really relate to what her actual character is
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 VI: Scene II: Fighting the Fire
- - - - - - - - -
Kudou Youji muttered darkly beneath his breath as he traipsed across the colourful lawns of Smaragd Wald Academy. The bell for afternoon classes had rang an entire half hour ago, but he was not concerned with that. Never in his six years of attendence had he ever worried about that. He told himself he just didn't have the motivation.
He sighed heavily as he approached the docks, enjoying the even clanking of his boots against the planked boards beneath him. He approached his usual boat, seven, and frowned when he saw it was missing. Without any further thought he settled for number six. 1 He sat across one of the boarded seats, untied the ropes, and cast himself off, lowering the oars into the water and stroking roughly to gain movement.
When he reached a few metres out towards the right side of the lake, he stopped rowing, opting instead to pause and light up a cigarette. So what if he had told the bishounen he would quit? It was a much needed release.
It was a pattern with him. Whenever he was upset, really upset, he would go out on the lake and just drift about for a while. The fitness classes had stopped using the lake for swimming since the pool had been installed years ago, and the crew-teams didn't start using the lake until spring, so he was alone. He didn't mind being alone sometimes.
The water was still and calm, and the sky was overcast. The area surrounding the lake was covered by trees, all brilliant with the bright colours of autumn, dropping leaves lazily to drift along the dark waters of the lake. The birds were leaving, flying south, so even the woods were silent. It was a heavy, unbreakable silence, one in which one felt it necessary to whisper as to not break the serenity of the--
"Hey!"
Youji snapped out of his daze, green eyes casting about the lake.
Everything seemed normal, until his eyes locked on an overturned boat floating ever-closer to the far side of the lake. In white paint on the hind-side of the capsized not-quite-vessle was a large number seven. 2 He looked carefully, but couldn't see any movement in the area around the boat.
"I'm over here!"
Turning again in search of the voice, his eyes scanned the nearby shore. Only metres down the shore from where he presently drifted, stood a girl. She was stuck, trapped at the edge of the lake by the surrounding trees and the edge of the water.
Youji tensed, beginning to row towards her, quickly, "What happened? What are you doing out here?!"
"The boat capsized and I got stuck over here!"
He pulled the boat up to the edge of the shore as close as he could, " Are you OK? Get in."
Nodding, she lowered herself down into the boat, taking the seat opposite him, and turning to face him, "Yea, I'm fine. Thank you so much. I thought I was going to be stuck there all day."
"No problem..." Youji blinked and lowered his glasses a bit to get a better look at the girl directly across from him. She was a pale girl of average height, a student, like himself. She was soaked to the bone, strands of dark hair hanging loosely in the way of her dark eyes. Her clothes, a standard girls uniform, were still dripping with icy water and she shivered lightly as she spoke. He was pretty sure he hadn't seen her before, but he now felt a bit sorry he hadn't.
She was beautiful.
"Youji?" Her accent was of pronounced French, as was apparent in how she spoke the last syllable of his name.
He snapped out of it again, shaking his head, "Sorry, I'm a bit lost, today. What did you say?"
"I just asked if you knew a way I could get the boat back to shore." She nodded towards the overturned still-not-quite-a-vessel from earlier.
"Oh, that--Wait, you know my name?"
"Oui. Everyone around here knows you." She rolled her eyes a bit, "You're too eccentric to be unnoticed."
"Oh." Great, Kudou. You seem to be full of great lines today. There is a hot French chick soaking wet and alone with you in a boat in the middle of a lonely lake, and all you can say is, "Oh." Brilliant, just Brilliant.
She smiled lightly, a tremble evident in her voice, from the cold, "I'm Asuka." She extended a hand, „Enchanté." (trans: Enchanted/"Pleased to meet you.")
Somewhat regaining his former self, he took her hand, lifting it and kissing it lightly, and repeating her, „Enchanté."
She allowed him his fun, and stared in a rather amused way, "And here comes the part where you hit on me and I unyieldingly fall for your manly charms, right?"
"And my deadly good looks." He smiled fondly, picking up the oars again, eyes searching out the docks, once more, "Sounds like you know this game well."
Asuka sighed tiredly, "A little too well."
Turning his green eyes back to her, he pulled his glasses down a bit to look over them, "A girl like you? I'd believe it."
She smiled. When she first began attending the academy he had caught her eye, and for some reason he had held it. Aya was right, she did think he was quite possibly the most handsome guy she'd ever seen.
They drifted in silence for a moment, Youji stroking numbly with the oars, when her voice caught his ears again, "You look depressed. Can I help?"
"Yes, and no." He grunted lightly, taking another draw on his cigarette, "I'm just pissed off with someone."
"Schuldig?" She leaned forward, watching him intently.
Grunting again at her response, his mood seemed to sour again, "'Suppose everyone knows him, too."
"They do."
"Yea, well..." He stopped oaring, shaking his head, "No more. I won't do it anymore."
"Let me guess," She reached forward, and surprised him by plucking the cigarette lightly from his lips and tossing it into the water, "you broke up, again." Then, on a sidenote, "Smoking is bad for you."
"How did you guess?" He rolled his eyes; sarcasm. "And I know."
"So?" She shrugged, pressing her hands gently against the seat on either side of where she sat and looked to the planked floor of the boat, "You'll be together again in a week, anyways. What does it even matter?"
He frowned, watching as the small white cigarette butt drifted away on the lake's surface, noticing idly that they had stopped moving, "That's just it. That's not going to happen this time." He turned his gaze back to the floor of the small boat, as well, "One of my friends came back to the school just this past week, and I talked to him for the first time in months this morning. Something about talking to him made me think..." He sighed, and reached for the oar, again, "Nevermind."
Before he could move it, though, her hand reached out to rest lightly atop his own, "No, go on. I'm listening."
Youji sighed, looking up to meet her gaze, and shrugged, "I honestly don't know why I'm here anymore. My class left for university two years ago, and with grades like mine I'll never get into one." He paused, "Well, unless I go back to the U.S."
She frowned at that, "But what does all that have to do with Schuldig?"
"He's a distraction. Part of the reason I've failed all the classes I have." His hand drew to pull at the oar again, "And I want things to be different. I want to have something to look forward to, and Schuldig isn't that something."
Asuka slapped his hand away from the oar, "Stop trying to row us back to dock. Neither of us is in a big hurry."
Youji raised an eyebrow.
She smiled before she began, "Youji, your problem is that you're afraid to admit you want stability."
He blinked, "I am?"
She nodded, "Schuldig is not a stable area of your life. He's wild and unpredictable even despite his predictability."
"He is?"
"Yes. You unconsciously pine for something steady. Probably because of some early childhood experience."
"...Your last name wouldn't be Freud, would it?"
She grinned lightly and took it as a complement, "Well?"
The blonde gave her a pointed look, "I really don't think that's it."
"Yea..." Asuka shrugged, "But you have to admit the logic sounds good."
"I'll give you -that-."
"Seriously. When you were younger, did you move a lot? Switch schools a lot?"
Youji shook his head, "No..."
"Well, was there anything in your life that was constantly changing?"
The senior seemed to think for a moment, "Yes." His green eyes flickered in memory, "My father remarried seven times."
Asuka's eyes went wide for a moment before she recovered herself, clearing her throat and averting her eyes, "Right, so..."
Smirking at her obvious discomfort he continued, "It's nothing bad, he just couldn't make up his mind, I guess. They were all very kind, nice ladies, and as far as I can remember I liked them all. There was Anna, Ying Fa, Melonie, Kyoko, Svetlana, Rebecca, and Emily."
Asuka lifted an eyebrow, "In that order?"
He nodded, before catching himself, "Well, I actually think Kyoko came before Melonie..."
She laughed, "-That- was what was constantly changing?!"
A lopsided smirk, "Yep. Unfortunately for you, I've been told I'm a lot like him."
The dark-haired junior rolled her eyes but continued to smile, "As if you could ever get so far with me." She thought for a moment, "Which of your 'mothers' did you like best?"
"Well, I don't like to think of it like that, choosing favourites and all. But if I had to say..." He drifted off to think, "Kyoko. She was half Japanese, and she treated me more like a mother than any of the others. She wasn't afraid that I wouldn't like her if she got upset with me when I didn't clean my room. She didn't treat me like I would hate her if she weren't as sweet as she could manage, not that the others were bad for that, of course. She gave me my brother, too."
"Omi?"
Youji nodded, "Omi is my half brother, and he's a freshman here. He kept her last name, Tsukiyono, after she died in a fire when I was eight. I think Omi was about two." 3
"Oh, I'm sorry." She frowned sympathetically.
"I forgive you." The smirk was back again.
"What about your real mother?"
The blonde shrugged, looking pensive for a moment, "She and my father never married. I don't know where she is."
"Oh, I'm sor-- That's sad." She corrected herself quickly.
He made a face, turning back into his listless self, "Why did we go off on this tangent, again?"
Asuka made to scratch her head, "I don't know. I forgot what we were originally talking about."
"Me, too." He thought for a moment, "Oh yeah. We were on about Schuldig."
The junior bit her lower lip lightly, "So, who was the friend who inspired this change of heart about him?"
"His name is Ran Fujimiya, I don't know if you would know him." Youji muttered the last part inaudibly, "And the fact that Schu's been after one of the maths professors since February."
"Ran Fujimiya... Tall, pale guy?"
"Yea..."
"Really red hair?"
"You know him."
"I just met him about an hour ago. He's my roommate's 'oniichan', as she puts it." Asuka rolled her dark eyes in amusement at their earlier meeting, "Kind of quiet, seems nice, though."
Youji looked surprise, "You're Aya's roommate, then?"
"Indeed. And what an adventure it is. She's been all over me today about how the new guy turned her down for the dance, when she's been trying to learn Japanese and everything just to talk to him." She rapped her knuckles lightly against the sides of the boat in fidgeting gestures, "Kind of pathetic, if you ask me, but cute, too."
"We know all the same people. What a small world."
This time Asuka didn't attempt to stall him, when he reached for the oars and began to row towards the docks, "Well, next class begins in twenty minutes."
"And I'm off to see the Wizard." He responded absently.
She stilled and looked at him with mock-surprise, "The wonderful Wizard of Oz?"
"Because." He nodded.
"Because?" An inquisitive spark.
"Because."
"Because?"
"Because of the wonderful things he does!"
She smiled, leaned forward, and pecked him on the cheek.
- - - - - - - - -
Ken was wide awake as he headed into his English lesson the next day, as opposed to his almost ill feeling from yesterday. He had caught up on his sleep by going to bed early. So early he hadn't even seen his firey roommate since his English lesson the day before. He had merely gotten a shower, hid Ran's deodorant and toothpaste, and completed his homework before drifting off into the sleep of the dead.
And he would be damned if the dead didn't sleep well.
As he approached the room, he stopped to peek through the crack in the door and make sure he didn't walk in on anything, because it was a likely happening where-ever Schuldig was involved.
Quiet voices drifted through the room. The older maths teacher sat watching the German, whom was unusually minding his own business for once.
"You're not saying anything."
Schuldig turned and gave the other man an amused glance before turning back to his chalkboard, "How astute of you."
"You're up to something." Crawford's voice was fairly low as he said this. Suspicion clouded his usually clear vision.
"Like what, Bradley?"
"Don't call me that."
"Whatever, Bradley." Brushing his long red hair over his shoulder, Schuldig through his partner a withering glance.
"I will request that you leave if you--I will -force- you to leave if you cannot address me in the manner that is proper and ethical between teacher and student." The American growled, flipping open the Spanish textbook in his hand to a random page.
"And what if it's more than that?" The younger man's voice was barely audible as he mumbled under his breath.
"What was that?" Crawford lifted his narrowed gaze.
"I didn't say anything." Schuldig spoke quietly.
Crawford stared at him for a minute longer. He hadn't managed to pick up on what the other man had just said, but he was trying to figure it out. The younger man was acting extremely peculiar today, calm even, and that was just extremely out of character.
The moment slipped away, and the room slid back into silence.
Feeling like a feather, Ken sauntered into the classroom with a rare smirk across his boyish features. He dropped down into his desk, and nodded to Crawford, whom was perched as usual upon the desk, giving him the same look an Amish farmer gives a computer salesman.
"Good afternoon, Crawford-san. How are you doing?" He smiled lightly. His day had been going very good so far. There could be no snubbing his mood.
Crawford made no response, only continued to stare in a catatonic state.
After a minute or two, Schuldig-- whom had previously been drawing upon the large chalkboard, as usual-- gave the older man a gentle nudge in the ribs, "I think he asked you a question, Bradley."
"Yes..." The maths teacher blinked himself out of his tranced state, "I'm doing well, and it seems you are, too."
Ken nodded in understanding, "Yes, I feel very well today."
"That's good..." He paused. Ken's unusually bright and attentive attitude was somewhat disturbing, "I hope."
Schuldig was drawing a stick figure of Crawford behind said man's back; it was wearing glasses and a suit and looking very serious. In it's right circle (assumably meant to be a hand) it held a shish-ka-bob skewer on which flailed another smaller stick figure labeled as "God". Schuldig, having Farfarello's art class for first period every morning, had recently gotten a spot on the art room's "wall of fame" for drawing this exact same thing on a larger piece of paper last Wednesday. It confused him as to why, but he decided he really couldn't be arsed to think about Farfarello's crazy ways.
Ken watched with interest. Nothing could ruin this day.
Not a moment later did Ran enter the room, looking generally very detached-- which could be considered normal for him. As usual, his eyes narrowed at Ken, and as usual the brunette felt that maybe something -could- ruin his day. Perhaps it was possibly about to.
Ran grunted his greeting without conscious thought, still glaring at Ken with smokey violet eyes. That vague sense of unease settled over him again as he saw the younger brunette.
Ken vaguely wondered if the redhead had to look pretty all the time. He rolled his eyes and rested his cheek on his left hand. Nobody had violet eyes; they had to be contacts. But that would imply that the older man was vain. Though, the idea of Ran being vain was rather believable.
As Ran made his way to the chalkboard, Ken pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil, setting it atop the desk and waiting for instructions.
The American cleared his throat, the note-taking session beginning as usual, "Adjectives are words that modify nouns and are not to be confused with adverbs, which modify adjectives, verbs, and other adverbs. Unlike Japanese adjectives, which are utter nonsense--" 4
Ran shot the teacher a glare but wrote it anyways.
"--English adjectives mostly all do the same thing. It is very simple to use them, as conjugation is not needed for the normal ones."
The brunette blinked as he copied Ran's elegant cursive, "Nonsense?"
"Just write it." The redhead growled.
"In example: The colour 'green' can be used to say, 'That book is green,' or 'That is a green book'. The same goes for all colours, and other adjectives, such as: loud, slow, mean, ugly, annoying, stupid, --" The American was cut off.
"Gods, Bradley. You're just full of sunshine." Schuldig jeered from his drawings-- on the side of the board Ran was -not- using.
"-- and etc. These are the common adjectives. Next are the--"
"Isn't 'annoying' a verb?" Ken asked suddenly.
The redhead paused in his writing to explain, "Annoying is not a common adjective. Crawford is an asshat, and therefore I don't know why he put it under that catagory--" 5
Schuldig smirked, only grasping the words "Crawford" and "asshat", "Hey Brad, I think they're talking about you."
The American didn't seem to be paying anyone any mind, though. Truthfully, he was questioning the human psyche and his very existance. He was a rather attractive 27 year old man from New York City with an abusive stepfather, an alcoholic mother, and all the memories that accompanied such a domestic situation. He was a qualified professional boxer with a degree in advanced mathmatics and architechture with a scandolous desire for one of his senior students. Though he would never admit that last part. He also enjoyed gardening, though he would never admit that, either. He could have made something of himself, but what did he do? Throw it all away to go teach some lousy kids at a English-speaking school in the middle of Bumfuck'd, Germany! It was times like these when he really wanted to just throw himself off the bell tower in the centre of the courtyard and land in a bloody mess upon Principal R. Takatori's freshly-shined shoes. That dirty old son of a bitch wasn't paying him enough money to feed his damned cat, let alone--
"Crawford?"
Crawford snapped to again to find Schuldig poking him in the ribs. He snapped the Spanish textbook closed and stood up, whirling around he threw it with amazing accuracy right into the face of the white-suited stick man behind him. The book hit the board with a SMACKand fell to the floor in a lifeless ruffle of pages.
"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!! I COULD HAVE BEEN A FUCKING ARCHITECT!! I QUIT!!" And with that he stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
The classroom's remaining three occupants stood in surprised silence, even Ran's eyes were wide with shock.
Schuldig frowned, "I knew he'd snap one day."
- - - - - - - - -
"Hidaka!"
A voice called after him as he made his way quickly down the hallway towards the exit of the building. He stopped abruptly in his tracks and turned to see Ran walking after him fairly quickly to catch up. The man's expression was unreadable and his eyes did not meet his own.
"What?" So he finally found to where his stuff has been disappearing?
The redhead looked up when he reached a few metres of the other man, "You said you would stay away from her." His voice was low, quiet as to keep from being overheard.
Ken stared at him blankly for a moment, trying to unsolve what Ran was talking about. "When did I say that?" Maybe not.
"When you made your sorry excuse for a deal--"
Aya.
"I said I wouldn't make anything happen to her, I didn't say I would stay away." He answered equally as low in tone.
"I want you to stay away." Ran's voice was hardly more than a growl, "Completely."
"You're hardly in the position to be posing changes in our contract."
"We have no contract."
"Would you like to test that theory?"
"I'll take you right here, Hidaka. You won't have a chance to exact anything on my imouto!" His voice was raising.
Ken felt his jaw tighten, he didn't want to fight about something as stupid as the other man's sister, and certainly not with Ran. If the man was actually practiced with the katana he hid beneath his matress, that made the redhead a formidable opponent to anyone, himself included. this was no time to be stupid and ignore the facts, "I'm not going to fight you over your airheaded imouto." Though, I could use the release.
"Then leave her the fuck alone. She told me yesterday you turned her down to go to that stupid dance. That means your still talking to her. If I keep your secret you stay the fuck away from her!" Ran's fists were clenching at his sides.
"You have no secret on me, and you have no place dictating what I do." He ground out lowly. He wasn't sure what it was about the redhead that caused his judgement to cloud over. Whether it was the fact that the other man was trying to tell him what he could do or to whom he could speak, or the fact that the lack of physical release over the last six months was finally getting to him, didn't matter anymore. It didn't even matter that it was all over that feminine annoyance that had ceaslessly been following him from class to class for the past week. He just wanted to fight.
Ran could prove to be a worthy opponent.
The air at that moment was thicker than smoke, but none less hazy. The binder seemed to slip effortlessly from Ken's hand, clattering upon the tiled floor, as the redhead came even closer. His joints seemed to loosen and his muscles tensed.
The fist came at him more quickly than he would have expected, leaving him only the sparest amounts of time to move his head, leaving one of the redhead's knuckles to skim his ear and one of his cheeckbones.
Ken lunged at the other man, throwing his weight towards the other man's stomach, only to be grabbed around the shoulders as the taller man turned, and tilted backwards. He pulled at the arm around his shoulders, pushing the other man away roughly with the flats of both his hands.
The scuffle continued, each standing a small distance apart again. Ran approached again, landing a rather forceful blow to the right side of Ken's chest, before the brunette took a powerful punch square in the older man's abdomen. He heard the redhead draw a thick breath and wince, pushing him back again by the shoulders, only to be pulled back by the offending arms.
Ran, caught of guard by the tug on his arms and still dealing with the pain in his torso, tumbled forwards rather ungracefully, sending them both to the floor, him on top. His right knee landed right in the brunette's own stomach, earning him a surprised yelp of pain. He drew back his fist again, aiming for Ken's face again, but paused as he got a look of the brunette's bright eyes. The other man was alive with the fire of the moment, brown eyes dancing in what could have seemed to be some sort of sickly pleasure with this fight. He was surprised when he found himself suddenly hitting the floor, the brunette rolling atop his own person.
Ken drew back a fist that Ran was fully prepared to block, but the blow never came.
It was only after noting the noise that surrounded the hall did he open his eyes and realise he had closed them in the first place.
A mob of students had formed around them, gawking and jeering at their struggle, despite the teachers whom were already getting to the front of the crowd to keep them back and out of harm's way. Two sophomore-class teachers were forcefully pulling Ken from atop his person, successful despite the bruises both would carry the next day from facing his struggle.
He could feel himself readying his offensive again, but found that he, himself was being restrained by two pairs of stout arms. He jerked wildly, actually causing one of the teachers to swear and let go, but the other would not have it. He felt his entire form still when he heard the voice in his ear, "I don't know what you think you're doing, Fujimiya, but it's not going to work."
He felt bile rising to the back of his throat. Anyone but that man. He felt sick at being in such a close proximity with the one man he had come to hate more than anything. He wanted to jerk free, but he knew it was futile.
During the moment of his body's lull as he registered Principal R. Takatori's voice in his ear, the other teacher had come to restrain his other arm again, both of them pulling him up to stand. He could vaguely understand bits and pieces of the crowd. All around, various people were screaming his name, cheering him on. Couldn't they see the fight was over? He doubted he even knew them. Others were yelling to let the fight continue.
"Come on, Ran! You can -so- take that new guy!"
"Let them fight!"
"This is like real anime! Japanese people fighting in our very own school!"
"The new guy's a pushover! Get him in the face!"
"Take him down Bruce Lee-style, Ran!"
"How dare that new kid TOUCH our God!"
"You rock, Fujimiya!"
The new guy. Not one voice mentioned Ken. Not one person knew who he was.
Ran felt there was a sickening sadness to it all as he scanned the crowd through narrowed violet eyes, his gaze coming to stop on the two teachers restraining his opponent. He wasn't struggling anymore, he was just standing now, messy brown hair falling into dull brown eyes. The fire that had been there only seconds before had died. He had only just felt the candle of Hidaka Ken.
Now, he wanted the fire.
- - - - - - - - -
Notes--
1 I dunno if anyone would have gotten that. Number 7? Get it? Youji's car is a "Seven"? ... OK, nevermind.
2 I just read this while editing: ves·sel n. - Nautical. A craft, especially one larger than a rowboat, designed to navigate on water; An airship. Heh heh! Bigger than a rowboat... Damn.
3 Several things: I don't know Omi's actual mother's name, so I gave her one. And I think I earlier stated that Youji and Omi had a four year difference in age, which I should go back and change. I wasn't taking into count, when I wrote it, the two extra years that Youji has spent at the school.
4 Bitterness? What bitterness? I don't know what you're talking about.
5 Why is the mental image of Ran calling someone an "asshat" so hilarious? And Crawford, of all people. That and the fact that Ken stole his deodorant. So he's probably pretty smelly as he says it.
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Thank you to my reviewers:
kasugai gummie- So, basically only moving things use "arimasu"? OK, that makes sense, then. And about my misspelling "legal", I'm really sorry. I really have issues with my spelling; just recently discovered how to spell "brunette" (as opposed to: brunet, or brunett). I'll really try to work on that. I'm very glad you're enjoying this fic, though! And I suppose you just asked me if I understand Spanish... Which I don't. I just know simple things like: thank you, hello, bye, where's the restroom, please step away from the doors, taco, burrito, enchalada... :) Sorry. Thanks for reading!
Lain1- Wow! Thank you very much for your explanation. That really does help. :) I hope you're enjoying the story, and thank you for reading!
xXLil Yu JahXx- Aw, thank you! I've always wanted to be someone's god! ((Smirk)) Yea, I couldn't have Ken go to that dance with Aya. She comes off as a bitch, for one, and I don't want this to turn into one of the usual AU School fics where the main characters end up going to a dance and, I dunno, dancing or something. The dance is more for the developement of some of my other characters than Ken and Ran or Ken and Aya-chan. The reason Ran's not protesting is because he isn't certain whether his missing items are Ken's doing or not, he's got the idea, but I guess he figures it would be better to confront and kill the younger man with proof rather than assumption. ((Shruggs)) That's just logical Ran for ya'.
Whisper Reilman- A ha ha! That's an hilarious idea! Unfortunately, I think the situation would have to be a bit more drawn out to include the mysterious reappearing of the objects, but maybe I can manage to work it out that way... :) Thanks for reading!
Amanda- AyaxAsuka? Hmm... I never even thought about that, really. Unfortuantely, that's not my plan. I personally think the WK series has too few standing female characters to really have enough material to spin a yuri couple off of, but some people can get pretty creative. It's an interesting idea, though, it dosen't work well with what I have planned for Asuka. I'm very honoured that you are enjoying this story! Thank you for reading!
kyon- Oui! Nous parlons françias. Je ne suis pas stupide aussi. :D "Merci" for reading!
Laurel Crowned- Disagree-ability. One of Ran's many beautiful virtues, methinks. He needs a reason to dislike Ken, so why not everything? Thank you for reading!
The Invisible Fan- I'm so happy you're enjoying this! Especially the linguistics part! Sometimes I'm afraid I go a bit over-board with all my langauge-analysis nonsense, but so far people seem to be taking it well. I'm happy to hear that it's actually -enjoyed-, though. :) Linguistics is fantastic, ne? The idea of being to communicate in so many ways, and knowing how all of them came to be seems incredibly fascinating to me. Thank you for reading!
HeatherR- Ken getting sick? Meh, I think Ken's sickness is more mental then anything. You know how on really bad days (weeks, in Ken's case), everything is miserable, and then you find yourself getting a headache, too? It's not really a coughing/sneezing/fever kind of sick. Trying to kind of show how well things -aren't- going for poor Kenken. And about Ran finding out Aya-chan is a brat, he's aware, but he loves her anyway. She -is- his sister, of course. I think Ran probably understands that Aya's not so much a "bad person" as she is "under educated" about life and the ways of the world; I'll go into her situation when we start in on Ran's past. :) Thank you so much for reading, and I love getting questions, so thanks for asking, as well! I hope I did an OK job at answering...
Yoiriko (for chapters 1 n 2)- First Weiß fic you've read?! I am unworthy! But, welcome to the wonderful world of WK fanfiction, things to remember: RanKen rocks your face off, and Orange sweaters are a fashion statement, not an annoyance (no matter how much it makes your eyes twitch). As for Farf with red hair and Schu with green, that's going by the manga version. If you do a google image search for either of them, you're likely to come up with a picture. Thank you for reading, though!
ITSAME- I'm so happy to see -someone- thought that was funny. I had a good laugh about it, too, but you're the only one to mention it. Oh well, great minds think perverted, ne? Thank you for reading!
Narijima- "...though I do find it a bit odd that they're primarily speaking English at a German school..." You raise a very good point. I don't think I even realised this, myself, until Act II, and by then it would have been strange to change it. So, I'm going to create the history of the school instantly right now. Here we go: The school was founded in the mid 18th century by an English nobleman (we'll call him Sir Stephen Wyndham, because that's a cool name), whom moved to northern Germany when he married his German wife, Elise (we'll call her that because Beethoven wrote a song 'für' someone named 'Elise'). He established the school, and since he was English he made it an English-speaking school. So everyone whom attends must speak/learn to speak English. The end. :D So that shall be my rationailzation. ((sweatdrops)) I'm so happy you're enjoying this fic, though! Thank you so much for reading!
Zavijah- You're review really made me smile! :) Yes, the fic lives, though a bit slowly, I admit. I'm so happy you like the languages, too. It now seems strange that when I first put the idea together I was practically praying for people not to be bored by it; it can seem a bit fanatical at times. Read the whole thing again?! Wow. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!
Also, thanks to: Chitoshiya no Tohma, Mist, Amethyst Blossom, and sidheranma.
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The Review Button: All reveiwers will be included into Seph's will to receive a Gackt poster when she finally dies. Ho, ho! Motivation, ne?