A/N:I had this edited because I received a rather rude flame. (ever heard of manners?) Anyway, I'll also have chap 5 soon... hopefully.

Later.

Thanks to the following people for leaving behind a review:

RuByMoOn17, Gunning Angel, Southpaw Boxer, lady angel, Bao-chan, LoneCayt, Sadazen, DaredevilX, Wildheartz, Hakudoshi-chan, Random Person, Flame, Bloodrose 'Valentine' Foxxstar, Anonymous, gamed, and all those who read but don't review ( but please do…)

Disclaimer: Don't own stuff here but others I do. Don't steal, don't sue.

Please forgive my typos. Reminding you that I have no beta and my grammar isn't immaculate.

Different

I won't apologize for following you,

Aya cooked breakfast, once again with that smile on her face. The week was over and it was time to enjoy the weekend. Although Ran had classes later on in the afternoon but it was sort of the same.

She could hear him play his guitar from his room.

Her smile widened. Her older brother who has taken great care of her, despite the troubles he dealt with, despite the things he maybe hidfrom her. She saddened suddenly, remembering something she'dhidden from her brother for the past months here. But she couldn't bring herself to tell him. Would he understand?...

"Aya… you're overcooking the bacon…"

"Huh?.. WAH!"

She responded to the low voice of her brother from his room doorway. She switched the gas off and gave a loud sigh. They were both accustomed to the American breakfast since birth but right now it was burned to a black crisp. Ran walked toward her side, staring at their supposed breakfast, wearing jeans and the orange turtleneck sweater, which clashed blindly with his red hair. "Nice one."

"…I'm sorry." She replied, voice sad.

"No, it's all right. We can still eat it." He said and patted her head, giving her a small smile. "Well, you can still eat it. I have to leave…"

"Oh? Why?"

"Work." He responded simply, walking toward the doorway. "I'll be back later tonight." With that he was out the door, leaving Aya with her hidden problem

llllll

He sighed, half-asleep. He just sat on his chair, leaning his elbow on his prized desk. He had brought a model today, a blonde vixen with blue eyes and ordered his students to paint her only cloaked in and an ivory, silk sheet as she posed on a marble box -shaped stool. Name wasCatherine she was a friend of his really. She'd been in the modeling business and had been nice enough to model here for free. Everyone, except him and Ran were pretty mesmerized too, drooling. (But of course the women weren'teither.) Even Mr. Hall to his left, whom he enjoyed making the butt of his many jokes; it was so fun… And he did it because he was bored. And Mr. Hall onlyseemedto give more notes than actual lectures.

Schuldig wasactually supposed to do a painting of her, as an example… but she wasn't very inspiring.

He had lots of female models, all as pretty as this one. Maybe even lovelier.

But lovely wasn't enough. No, he wanted to paint a celestial creature. And the only one he saw with that image appeared to hate him and only paid attention to drooling Mr. Hall. This was another "secret" reason why he likedto embarrass the man, Ran only seemed to look at him during class, he'd caught glances, but only because he wanted to view the windows.

Damn, he had to do something. Everyone was too quiet. And he had run out of good topics.

Dirt.

"Lance." He heard his blonde friend's seductive voice and looked at her. She was still very locked on her position and all he could see was her back, her long locks draped on her shoulder. "I can feel you're bored."

"Didn't know you had a sixth sense, Catherine," he said with a grin. "Or is it that obvious?"

"You're not talking. You talk when you're bored but you're quiet when you're bored as hell," she said and smiled, some students had become intrigued with the sudden topic. Schuldig laughed. "Sketching me seems to be quite a difficult task."

"Sketching period is hard," the German answered, leaning back on his chair with his arms crossed. "You're a model. Not a bloody artist…"

She laughed, trying hard to stay still. "You sound like you hate your job." The foreign teacher chuckled darkly. "Do you?"

"No, of course I don't. But it seems I'm in a bad slump…" He answered and some of the people looked at him in surprise. "Yes, I'm still blocked, I know. Unlike models like you Cath, you just have to angle your body to seduce. Body art is not as hard as still-life."

"Oh really?" She sounded amused as well as annoyed. "Why don't you do it, then? Since you're such a genius." Now more of the students stopped what they were doing when they heard the remark, Ran included, since there was a tension that filled the room.

Schuldig raised a fine eyebrow. "Was that a challenge, woman?" he said and stood, eyes watching his every movement, a grin appeared on his handsome features. "Are you telling to strip and pose with you?"

llllll

Ran's eyes nearly fell off, along with his ears and maybe all his red hair. He didn't want to hear these kinds of things. He had a pretty annoying time at work this morning, much to his dismay, he discovered that one of his co-workers was the evil Youji Kudoh who was behind him right now.

He was a very bloody slacker.

Curse that blonde, curse…

"Yes, maybe I am, German," she hissed with confidence and there was a very loud scream of joy from the ladies, something filled with excitement. "Well, you're quite a charmer it seems, German. What do you say? They're all old enough to see naked people anyway; it'snot like we're any older."

Schuldig snorted, in amusement rather than supposed disgust. "I don't come cheap. Besides that, you're a sheet hogger."

"You can leave your pants on, but theshirt goes off."

"Are you ordering me around?"

"I believe I am," she said and her smile widened. "I've always wanted to see you show off some good skin."

The German laughed and looked around the room, eyes glimmering with curiosity. He pulled out his trademark grin. "You want me too?"

"YES!" came the loud answer which made Catherine laugh, almost too happily. Some were already celebrating with the concept in mind. Ran rolled his eyes, feeling sick. He shifted his gaze to Schuldig and locked eyes with him.

Stare.

Schuldig grinned.

Ran glared.

Schuldig winked.

And the school bell rang.

"NNNNOOOOO!" Came the screech of sad fan girls.

llllll

Most of the students had left, some disappointed some happy. Schuldig stayed, chatting with his friend, who was still wrapped in nothing but silk. Ran sighed, a little relieved that he didn't see Schuldig half naked, beside some naked lady… And not-

Or was he disappointed?

No, that's the wrong train of thought.

"Fujimiya, Kudoh. Come here," he heard the professor call from his desk. Ran ignored the other name and walked up to his teacher, the blonde now moved right beside him. He could feel someone gazing at them. He just didn't know who so then ignored than bother to ponder

"Fujimiya, I heard from your high school that you can play the guitar and you have a good voice." He glanced from the red head to the blonde. "And I'm sure, Mr. Kudoh, that you've taken piano."

I knew it, Ran thought, but remained indifferent.

Mr. Hall smiled calmly. "What about you two do a little duet? Here. Now." He ordered.

"Eh?" Youji mustered. "What is it-"

"Do it or you fail my class."

With that, they both rushed to the piano. It never came across Ran that this man liked to blackmail. But he seemed to be mistaken. The teacher stood up and walked a little closer. "Kudoh, you play. Fujimiya, you'll sing."

"What do I play?" Youji asked, testing the tune of the keys with 'some strange scary grace' or at least that was what Ran had told himself.

"Anything you both know," came the simple reply.

The red head looked at the Youji who stared back, his was gaze intense. He didn't like this man but what couldhe do? Actually, Youji didn't look like one who'd care about grades or college. But oh well, he couldn'talways be right. Without looking at the keys, the blonde began to play a melody he had heard to many times on a foreigner's radio and on TV.

Vanessa Carlton…

A Thousand Miles…

With that, Youji received a very hard slap on the head.

"Ow! Godsdammit, Fujimiya!" he said rubbing his sore spot. Ran glared, and Mr. Hall had a large sweat drop on the back of his head, watching how the two bickered.

"I know you know this song!"

"I don't give a rat's ass. I'm not going to sing that. It's too strange," came the impassive yet dangerous tone.

"Fine." After a little thinking, the blonde looked at his fingers and placed them on the keys and began to play again.

Vanessa Carlton… Ordinary Day…

He received another blow, harder this time.

"Ow! You know, you're not really weak!" He nursed his head again, looking at Ran with anger and pain flashing in his eyes. "I can get brain damage! Besides, it's a nice song and I KNOW you know it!"

"As if you can get any dumber." Ran glared hard. "And that song is just as strange as the other one. Change it."

Youji muttered a curse, looking back at the piano, he let out a sigh. "Why don't you think of a song!" He didn't receive an answer, not wanting to complain anymore since he wanted this done faster. He let out another sigh. "If you hate this next one can you not hit me?"

"Depends… if it's a good one," Ran said simply; Youji smirked. He knew he wasn't Ran's favorite person but hey, couldn't help it. It was just him. He was aware that they weren't the only ones in the classroom. The German teacher was watching and so was his lady friend that he may try to pick up later.

Surely, you'd think he'd be vindicated because of the incident with Ran and the guitar. Of course he was, but he won't hate the man for being confident and being right. But he also had to prove who was boss. Ran was a freshman and he was a sophomore. Not acceptable. With another sigh, he relaxed his shoulders and inhaled and exhaled deeply. "If you don't like this I'm giving up."

"Hn," came the reply, and he grinned, placing his fingers in standby.

He then pressed the keys, gliding here and there as he gave his own personalized introduction for the song. Ran was a little shocked, but was able to recognize the hymn.

"You like?" came the blonde's slur.

"Hn."

"I'll take that as yes then." And he continued his well-planned intro. "Ready?" And then he paused, and before to the main part of the song. The notes were sweet and matching; obviously he had taken his time to learn the keys and the emotion. Youji hadn'theard Ran sing but then…

"There used to be a graying tower alone on the sea.
You became the light on the dark side of me.
Love remained a drug that's the high and not the pill.
But did you know,
That when it snows,
My eyes become large and
The light that you shine can be seen."

God damn he's good. It was deep and full of hidden emotions and interesting secrets.

"Baby,
I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey.
Ooh,
The more I get of you,
Stranger it feels, yeah.
And now that your rose is in bloom.
A light hits the gloom on the grave.

There is so much a man can tell you,
So much he can say. You remain
My power, my pleasure, my pain.
To me you're like a growing addiction that I can't deny, yeah
Won't you tell me, is that healthy, baby?
But did you know,
That when it snows,
My eyes become large and the light that you shine can be seen."

Baby,
I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey.
Ooh, the more I get of you
Stranger it feels, yeah
Now that your rose is in bloom,
A light hits the gloom on the grave…."

Soon the song ended, with a 'touch of Kudoh' at the end with his piano. The room was silent for a moment. No one had expected that kind of voice. But…

"Damn… I didn't know you were that good," Youji muttered, playing something soft.

Ran smirked at the remark. "Quite. You just chose the right song. But thank you for the compliment."

With that, Mr. Hall clamped a hand on both of their shoulders, with a pleased smile.

"You boys did well. You two make a good team. Keep training that voice of yours, Ran.", Mr. Hall remarked with a smile. He walked to his own desk, white in color, and took his book. "Well, then, for that you get extra credit. Don't tell your other teachers and your classmates, ok?" With that, he had vanished through the left open door.

Ran blinked once. Somehow his schedule had been forgotten for a moment of more than he remembered and looked at his watch, releasing a thankful sigh. 35 minutes left before his meeting with Gabriel, a German he was fonder of. Someone he could relate to and maybe even a friend.

He invited him to recording and since he was not so stressed with work he decided to accept the invitation. And it wouldn't take long to walk from here to there so he could just relax.

"Ran? Hey, is that you?"

He turned toward the door at the sound of a voice of a childhood memory and nearly couldn't help but gasp. This person… could he be…?

"I knew it! I know that singing voice from anywhere!" the brunette said with a wide smile, walking deeper into the room. He took note of the people behind them, Schuldig fixing the easel while his blonde friend spoke to him about 'control'. He stopped in front of the red head. "It's been some time, ne?"

"Yeah." Ran said, regaining his composure. "You study here?"

"Yep. I take night classes and I'm part of the soccer team," he said, happily. He looked at Ran up and down. "I can see you're doing pretty well. How's Aya?"

"She's fine. She missed you, it seems. It's been years,"Ran said with a pleasant expression on his face as he noticed the blush that crept its way onto the younger boy's face. He knew since they were young he was attracted to her, not like he minded… much. "But then you look a little…"

"Not like me?" Ken finished recovering from embarrassment and the red head nodded. "Soccer's been doing a lot for me. And-"

"Am I to be discarded into the background? Or you know… I'm not exactly supposed to be here?" The blonde interrupted, obviously feeling left out as he stood up.

"Hey, Youji. Didn't see you there." Ken said innocently and Youji nearly fell.

"Didn't see me! Didn't SEE-ME!" He remarked, shocked to the core, feeling very much mocked. "It hurts, Ken… It really does…"

"Knock it off, Youji… Anyway, Ran is an old friend of mine and I haven't seen him in years. You, on the other hand, I see everyday."

"Well, that's not a very nice thing to say," Youji replied, folding the chair under the piano and crossing his arms. "And I how the hell do you know Fujimiya anyway? You couldn't have seen him in Koneko; you're on the afternoon shift."

"You work at the Koneko?" Ran asked and received a nod from the brunette. "Coincidence."

"Yep." He paused. He looked at Youji. "And of course I know him, we went to the same class when we were grade school. We took voice lessons from the same teacher and we were best friends!"

With that they heard the sound of wood being twisted in half. Looking at the source they saw the red headed German, on the floor in an Indian sit with a very sad leg of the easel in one hand. He smiled at them, eyes closed, expression nearly sickly sweet. Catherine looked frightened. She was looking at him like she wanted to escape through the windows. "My bad. My hands slipped, sorry."

"Anyways," Ken said and they went back to their circle of discussion. "My shift is done so I'm free to roam." He faced Ran. "Want to come with us? Grab a bite to eat?" Ran shook his head.

"Maybe some other time, Ken. I have someone I have to meet," Ran answered and Youji whistled, a mocking sort of sound.

"A girl?" he asked, disregarding human privacy. Ran glared.

"No, a friend invited me someplace." With that he looked at his watch. 28 minutes left… he looked at Ken, who seemed to be a little disappointed. "Sorry Ken, maybe some other time." He missed his old friend and being around someone he knew was always comforting. The brunette brightened; a smile formed once more.

"All right. Mind if I get your number?" the younger man asked.

"Sure." With that reply there was another snap of wood and they looked again at the German, who had taken into his grasp the other sad leg of the wooden easel. Now the poor device lay on the floor. They stared skeptically at him but he seemed unnerved as he looked at them, annoyed to the point that it was… suspicious.

"Damn these wooden things, not dependable enough…" Schuldig muttered, placing the leg beside the other broken and much longer one.

"What do you mean 'not dependable'! You practically SNAPPED the damn thing off!" the blonde woman yelled, still fearful. They bickered on and the three went back to what they were doing. Ran started fishing a pen out of his jeans. He got it and he clicked its end to reveal the point. He took Ken's arm, removed the jacket that covered it and began to write a number in clear black ink.

"There," he said and clicked the end of the pen again and returned it to where he had taken it. He walked toward his bag and took his things and poured them inside. He began his walk toward the door and vanished.

"Isn't he mysterious…" Youji said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Yeah. But that's just the way he is. He wasn't like that before but it suits him more anyway…" He smiled at the tall blonde and silence reigned.

"You like his sister-Aya was it?- Don't you?"

"Gaah! No,it's not like that!" Ken, taken by surprise by the question, jumped back a few meters, blushing madly. His arms waved around frantically. "No! I don't! You've got it all wrong!"

"Yeah… sure I do… Anyway, we have to get going." He turned back. "Well, sensei, we have- Hey where's the German?" he asked the blonde lady who looked very dazed and confused. Then she looked at him and pointed at the open window behind her.

llllll

He was thinking he'd get there in time. Not like he had to be, was just that he didn't want to be rude. He checked his watch again.It was5:35… 23 minutes left. Goody. He was already out of the gates and walking on the sidewalks. The sun would start setting soon and hopefully he'd get there before it was dark. He wasn't fond of buses and taxis… They had an eerie feel in them that he couldn't explain.

After some walking, he reached the much more silent part of the city, more like a place filled with houses than tall skyscrapers. It was quiet , maybe not truly peaceful but at least quiet. He preferred this route rather than the ones full of cars, people and stalls of sorts. He felt watched there and also this was the path to another park which he had yet to show Gabriel and through that park was where they were supposed to meet.

A studio, he presumed, but he was not entirely sure.

He stopped his trek and remained still for a few seconds.

"It's hard to ignore you, German." With his mind's eye he could see the man behind him, knowing he had his grin up as usual. But he didn't give a verbal response. "What do you want?"

"Want? I'm going toward the same direction as you are, Fujimiya-san." Schuldig replied, walking a bit closer, stopping only a foot away behind the younger red head. There was a hint of unfamiliar anger in his voice, something Ran wasn't expecting since the German was more manipulative than angry if anything at all.

Ran threw away the idea. "Are you?"

"Yes, as you can see."

"Hn." He smiled darkly that it was very uncharacteristic. He had a plan, no doubt. "Walk ahead of me then."

A pause.

"Excuse me?" Schuldig's voice came out a little shocked.

"You heard me, foreigner. Walk ahead of me, since you're not following me and all you should know where you'd go."

Another break from noise.

"I thought so. You are following me then, huh?" Ran said, rather proud, and turned back to meet a pair of green eyes… Angry, envious, menacing, green eyes… Ran thought he would choke in shock and with a pang he knew there was something ominous about why he washere and why he was staring at him this that way.

Then he couldn't react fast enough to the next scene that occurred. He was slammed into the wall, by the man known as Schuldig, his wrists gripped by powerful hands, his body under the other's. He knew he wouldn't be able to break away… but he tried anyway, yelling curses at him and thrashing about. But even as this happened their eyes were still locked.

A powerful pair of annoyed amethysts and a pair of secretly scheming jade.

"What the hell do you want from me!" Ran snapped. He had stopped wiggling around so much due to the added pressure on his wrists.

"What do I want from you? I think it's obvious now, my kitty," came a seductive slur. He neared the younger man's ear, and licked it. "All those people, watching you, looking at you, maybe even wanting to be with you…" he angrily whispered and subconsciously made his grip harder. "I hate them all. I hate others who can be this close to you. I hate others even thinking of being this close. I dislike the idea that you go places without me knowing…" He paused "I don't know where you're going or who you're meeting but when I find out who I will tear his heart out…

"Because you're mine, Ran. And I don't share things I own…" He moved a little to look at Ran in the eyes that showed that he was very much annoyed.

"You don't own me. No one does, you foreign shit," he growled. "And what do you have to do with what I do in my life, anyway? You're just poking your damn head into places you don't have to be," he said with anger but the other man seemed unfazed. "Get off me so I can-"

And his lips were captured in a warm tingling kiss. His eyes were wide with shock and disgust but as it deepened he began to melt and they closed, his body began to relax. This was something he never experienced before but he felt like he wanted more of it. More of this. His anger was diminishing… He forgot he was going to be late now and didn't give a flying cow…

But the contact ended too soon and he opened his eyes slowly to see serious green ones. That feeling was surreal almost fairytale-like. It was something he should fear but inside he was excited, wondering if there was more…

"I want you to be my inspiration, Ran. I want to able paint you. I want to see if there really are colors that can match your beauty and if there are really hands other than that of your gods and mine that can create you, remake you. If you model for me I will pay you; I know you need money." He let go and backed away. "Think about my offer before you turn it down. Just come to me with your decision." With that he broke away and walked to where he came from, leaving Ran breathless and shocked.

TBC…

I hope that was Okay… Sigh…

And by the way, to the review of Flame:

Your questions will be answered in time. Hehehe. Just keep reading reviewing and you'll see why.

Anyways, please give me feedback!

And to those who are enjoying the summer vacation…. I AM TOO! Yes! But then by the way, I might go abroad during the summer around the… 22nd I think and will have no access to a PC for a really long while. Hopefully, I'll come up with an update before that but if I don't you'll all at least know it's not because I'm as lazy as hell…

R&R please.