(13 March 2005)
Together
by Seph Lorraine
The evening had been side-stepping a virtual disastor as far as Ken was concerned. The pale redhead hadn't exactly been as much an object of fear as he was a disturbance. A disturbance to Ken's nerves and sudden desire for pacifism (despite the other man's eagerness to obliterate his own existance, he really wished the other man no ill-will).
Immediately following their entry of the small, curb-side house, he and Aya had removed themselves from her brother's view, closing the bedroom door despite his objections. Thus a battle ensued:
Aya closed the door.
Ran opened it.
Aya locked it.
Ran banged on it.
Aya threatened to call their mother.
Ran threatened to call their father.
Finally, Aya gave in and decided to keep the door open, as it wasn't like they were really doing anything incredibly demanding of privacy anyway (not that they didn't want to or hadn't thought about it; they weren't that innocent). Ken was perched at the end of her bed flipping absently through a box of CDs, as she sat on her floor drinking a Cherry Coke and finishing some Chemistry homework. They talked idly, just enjoying hanging out, every once in a while Aya would ask him "how the charts were coming" and what conclusion he'd come to about having a ramen stall at "the festival" to keep her brother out of their business, but Ran wasn't fooled by this.
Ken tried to make himself as unincriminating as possible, but alas, he was doomed from the moment he met Fujimiya Ran.
"You don't have any books with you."
The brunette looked up from where he was drawing a characture of the girl sitting before him, the same activity he'd been doing for almost 30 minutes, making the girl laugh and giving him excuses to reach over and silence her giggles quietly with a kiss before her brother came barging in again on his every-five-minutes routine to approve the absense of any "funny business". He hadn't even noticed the stoic redhead had returned, yet he had no way of really being surprised when he looked up and found that the other man had, indeed, re-entered the room.
"Books?" He questioned thoughtfully.
"Yes. I would think that to work on this festival project, you would have some sort of papers or books." Violet eyes were narrowed and calculating.
Ken shrugged, "It was raining... I didn't want them to get wet."
Aya stiffled a snigger by coughing into her hand and reaching for her soda.
The tall man was silent for a moment more before turning and simply walking out of the room.
The dark-haired girl began to giggle, dropping her pencil and calculator.
"Is he always like this?" Ken quirked an eyebrow.
She continued to smile, "Only when I have boys over. And sometimes girls that he thinks are a bit sketchy. Or when I'm too quiet..." She drifted off, "Or when I don't come out of my room for a while. Or when I'm on the phone too long. And sometimes when"
Ken thumped the book he was using to bear-down on lightly against her forhead, then drew it back with a grin, "Enough of that."
She smirked one last time and turned back to her studies, "You know you don't have to stay here if you don't want. I would suggest other things we could do, but I really doubt Ran would allow it. I didn't really think he would be this annoying when I invited you over, but it would seem he has surprised me again."
"Meh, it's ok. Anyway, they cancelled the match between Brazil and"
"Aa! You just want to hang out with me because they cancelled some stupid soccer game!" She pouted, scribbling down some nonsense about Boyle's law into her notebook.
He rolled his eyes and poked her, "Don't get like that, you know that's not true."
"I thought students weren't allowed to drive."
The room's two occupants froze and slowly their eyes drifted again to the door frame where the elder Fujimiya sibling stood for what could have believably been the 35th time that evening.
Ken felt his eye twitch and he turned to face the redhead, "Yes, Fujimiya-san?"
"I said, I thought students weren't allowed to drive." Violet eyes were afire with the embers of victory, and his demeanor was smug despite his face being as expressionless as ever.
"Well," The brunett paused for a moment before answering, "I don't drive it to school, so I guess I don't have to worry about that rule."
The redhead stalked off again angrily, sending Aya into yet another fit of giggles, "Gods, he's being bizzare today. I swear it's never been this bad before."
Ken rolled his eyes, feeling a bit tired suddenly, "Next time he's here, warn me."
"Next time he's here, we'll go to your place." She laughed lightly, closing her chemistry notebook and reaching for a different one.
Absently glancing at his watch, the brunette frowned, "I guess I had better get going. I need to get groceries anyway, and I have first shift tomorrow."
She frowned, "If Ran's really annoying you that much, you can just tell me, Ken-kun. I won't get offended, I swear."
He gave her a small smile, "It's not your brother, if it's anything it's your carpet, because it smells weird"
Mock-offense, "My carpet does not smell weird!"
"When was the last time you took a sniff?"
"Well, I can't say that's really a leisurely activity I often enjoy..."
He smirked, "No seriously. If I don't buy the food while I have my check, I'll spend it all on something else and be forced to live on instant ramen for another month."
"You seem like the type of person who wouldn't necessarily mind that, though."
Ken rolled his eyes and lifted himself up, setting down the book and papers on her bed, "That's beside the point."
She smiled up at him as he leaned down and gave her a kiss. It was a soft kiss with maybe a bit more pressure than earlier, almost a hint at something else, yet it was only a parting kiss. For the hundredth time that evening Aya mentally cursed her brother's constant presence.
He stood straight again, "I'll show myself out. If your brother asks, I'm hiding in his closet waiting to jump out and kill him when he goes to bed tonight." He winked.
She slapped his closest appendage, his left leg and gave him an "I wouldn't joke like that" kind of look before glancing at the door swiftly and smirking at the joke, "I'll pay you if you really do it."
He gave her a mock-startled look, and his voice thick with sarcasm as he made his way to the door, "You just play innocent! Aya-chan, I'm shocked!" He winked at her, "Good night!"
He made his way through the hallway, shuffling through his pockets for his keys. He set aside his borrowed house-slippers with the others by the door and stepped quickly into his own before opening the door. Or at least trying to.
It was locked.
A small movie-reel seemed to play itself through the brunett's mind in which Ran stood behind him with an axe as he frantically tried to open or break down the locked door. The redhead would ask him in that cold voice, as his piercing violet eyes boared holes into the back of his head, "Going somewhere, Hidaka?" And then he would cackle, and the room would be illuminated for a brief moment by a flash of lightening in which all the lights would go out and his last picture would be Ran lifting the axe and laughing evilly at him as he writhed and screamed against the locked door with utter terror and
"Going somewhere, Hidaka?"
"AAAAAAAAAA!" The brunette whirled around, throwing himself against the doorway with great zeal as he put his arms out to block his face, "PUT DOWN THE AXE!"
There was a brief pause as all life in the foyer went still.
Ran blinked, "Excuse me?"
Ken stood frozen for a moment before he slowly lowered his arms and glanced around quickly, eyes scanning the redhead's hands for any devices of injury. Finding none, he allowed himself to slump forward and breathe deeply, damning his over-active imagination, "So sorry about that, I guess I kind of got carried away for a minute."
The older man couldn't hide his amusement, "It would seem." A red eyebrow lifted highly in question, "Did you tell me to put down an axe?"
"Eheh!" The brunette wiped a bit of sweat from the side of his face, "No, of course not. That would just be stupid. Eheh..." Realising that his side seemed to be aching suddenly, he reached to his side and poked the left side of his abdomen, frowning when it stung.
"You jumped against the door pretty hard, I would imagine it hurts. However, if you have broken the door, you will be required to pay for it despite any injury you have just inflicted upon yourself by trying to throw yourself through solid matter." Hard eyes seemed expressionless.
"Meh, I didn't break your door, alright?" The slightly shorter man rolled his eyes, lifting a bit of his damp shirt lightly to examine his red-tinted side. It would probably bruise.
Ran could have smirked to see the slowly tinting skin on the side of the man's abdomen, but he refused to wear the joy of such a trivial triumph so openly around someone he hardly knew. His eyes paused from their gaze at the man's forming injury and drifted to what was exposed of the other man's bronzed stomach. He was well conditioned, obviously worked out, would probably look quite attractive in something that actually fit him, but that was all he'd say for Aya's taste in men. Yes, he knew Ken was something more than a schoolmate to Aya, in fact he was probably too old to even be in school anymore. That was something that deeply worried the redhead.
"Hidaka-san." He addressed the man cooly, his smug demeanor returning for the moment. Now was the time to make himself clear with the other man. The door was locked, and until he had his say the other man would not be released from the house, "I want you to listen closely to what I am about to say."
Tanned hands smoothed a white shirt back down, brown eyes lifting to stare at the man before him ready for a speech that really didn't even need to be given to be understood. He had sort of been expecting it all evening, with the other man's constant intrusions, yet when he had reached the door he had been relieved with the thought that he wouldn't have to deal with it. He had been quite mistaken, the other man had probably even locked the door for the very purpose.
"I believe I know what your intentions are with my sister, and I know her intentions with you. Don't think that you've really fooled me with what you've said this evening, because I haven't believed any of it. I cannot stop what is going on in a way my sister would deem fair in her naïveté, but," His gaze narrowed and his tone lowered, "If I ever find out that you have hurt her or done anything to her of a nature which I consider to be inappropriate, I will have the skin removed from your face and sewn onto the doormat as a warning for you and anyone else whom ever tries it again. Then I will kill you."
Ken absently registered that he was gaping and muttered tonelessly, "You are insane."
"Have I made myself clear?"
The brunette made to nod but paused before he could complete the action, suddenly appearing curious, "Wait a minute... What exactly are the kind of things you deem inappropriate? 'Cause, I mean, that's kind of subective."
Ran was taken off guard by the question, he really hadn't been expecting a response from the other man. He it shook off the surprise quickly, his eyes becoming little more than slits of icy violet, "Do you ever think of touching her, Hidaka-san?"
At that, the brunette raised his eyebrow, "I don't really feel like discussing this with you"
"Well, don't." His voice seemed to hit ice as he spoke the words. He stepped forward slowly with the appearance of a panther towards it's prey, and the brunett felt himself step back instinctively until his back was against the door. The cool and calculating man before him, however, did not stop until he was only inches away, and Ken could smell the slightly older man's cologne. Not breaking eye-contact for a moment, he set the key into the lock and turned it slowly, before backing up to a respectable distance, "Have a good evening Hidaka-san."
And then muttered sarcastically beneath his breath, "Don't wreck and kill yourself on the way home."
Ken simply stared for a moment, regarding the odd situation and salutation with a cautious mind. The elder Fujimiya sibling was a character not quite like anyone he had ever met before. Everything about him radiated a sort of calm, collected elegance, from the slant of his eyes to the distinctly feminine tilt of his hips as he stood by the door awaiting his exit.
"I'll see if I can avoid it." He tilted his head, not quite bowing, just an acknowledgement, before stepping out into the darkness of the front walkway.
Ran watched the man walk out into the rain with a strange dignity. He certainly wasn't like Aya's last few "schoolmates" of the male sex that had visited. Ken had managed to keep himself at least moderately composed (except he wasn't sure about what had happened when the brunette had completely flipped out and yelled at him), where as the others seemed to cower before him and leave at a sprint to get away. He never saw the others again, that was how effective his strategy of scare-tactics was, but something vaguely told him he wouldn't be too shocked to see Hidaka Ken back tomorrow.
Something else even more discreetly added he wouldn't be disappointed to see him again, either.
He snapped out of it and shut the door silently after noticing the the other man and his bike were already missing from the corner, and probably had been for a while. Sighing he locked it, setting the key on the table, and turning around to see his imouto standing in the hallway staring at him with a grim, calculating expression.
"You've been acting awfully strange tonight, oniichan." Her voice held a sage, yet admonishing tone, as if she knew something and were somehow ashamed of it.
He quirked a thin red eyebrow and headed in the opposite direction towards the kitchen, "I've had a rough week at university, only to come home and find out my little seventeen year-old sister is seeing older guys, whom probably aren't even in school anymore, and that she is lying about it, and getting them to lie about it directly to my face." He didn't pause in his stride, "What did you expect?"
She frowned as she stood in the door way, having followed him on his tirade, and watched him begin to prepare a kettle or tea, "Well what did you expect me to do about it, 'niichan? He's only twenty"
"And you're only seventeen." The older sibling cut in smoothly.
"It's just three years, Ran!"
He halted what he was doing and set his mug down firmly on the counter top, still facing the sink, "No, Aya. It is not just three years. It may seem like that to you, but I'm warning you, it's a lot more. You know I'm not the same as I was when I was three years ago."
"But your circumstances are... different." She hesitated on the last word, the fire dying in her voice.
He turned to regard her with a sharp eye, "And you know all about his circumstances, I assume. The most significant changes in life are during the years when you go out on your own, Aya. When you're forced to grow up. He's probably there, now, and that's no place for a high-school girl to be."
She was silently and did not meet his eyes, "But I know him..."
Sighing, and dropping his hardened expression, he slumped his shoulders and looked at her as if he were trying to explain something to a child much younger than seventeen, "What do you know about Hidaka-san?"
She frowned, pulling out a chair at the table and sitting quietly not surprised when he joined her soon after, "I know... He works at the Koneko no Sumu Ie selling flowers four times a week, he grew up in Tokyo, he quit highschool in the middle of his last year and has been doing menial jobs ever since. I know other things..."
"Menial jobs?"
"Yea, lifting boxes, he was a waiter for a while, and he coaches soccer in the park on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. He's really good at soccer." She looked at him, "But I know he's a good guy, 'niichan. He wouldn't ever hurt me."
Ran frowned, absently thinking that it must have been the soccer that kept the younger man so fit, and was silent for a while as if pondering what to say next. Truthfully, he didn't sound awful, but still a bit suspicious. He had been very familiar with the reasons by which many of his own peers had dropped out of school; drugs, alcohol, and criminal involvement were among them.
"Aya, a lot happens to people over three years." He looked up, his eyes searching out her own, "He may be a good guy, but the fact of the matter is that he's not in your state of mind, being seventeen and still in school, anymore. He may like you now, but relationships like this do not end up well, and it's always the younger person who gets hurt. You're setting yourself up for a lot of pain."
She stared at him blankly, "Just because you're always afraid of getting hurt, doesn't mean I am, oniichan. I am willing to take the risk that it may turn out well or bad, and I will. I do appreciate your concern, but I'm not a child, Ran. I can take care of myself just fine."
He watched her wordlessly as she stood and exited without another word. A few seconds later a firm slam was heard from her bedroom door, and another door was heard opening. That hadn't gone over like he had hoped it would.
Mr. Fujimiya entered the kitchen suddenly, covered in rain, and dropped his briefcase into a chair. He jumped slightly when he noticed his son sitting motionless at the table staring at the vacant doorway. The two met eyes for a moment in which the room's atmosphere seemed to harden and freeze. The older man regained his composure, nodding curtly, and left the room without word.
Ran just barely resisted snarling at the man before dropping his head onto the table with a thunk and wishing he had just stayed at school for the weekend. Even if his roommate did smoke like a chimney and was rarely seen sober after seven in the evening or awake before one in the afternoon. Even if every piece of furniture they owned, his bed probably included to his own disgust, had been soiled by the explicit actions of said man and some facelss girl named Kyoko/Ayumi/Akane/Sakura/Keiko/Yui/Megumi/etc.
For once Ran felt like he could totally handle that.
to be continued
Thank you...
Xellas - Yes, a romantic comedy! Hurrah for simple, light-hearted get-together fics! And yes, Ran makes such a wonderful older brother. Every girl should have one. :)
empyreal - I'm so happy it was amusing to you. As for soaking wet Ken, there is more of that to come, hopefully. Or atleast if this fic goes the way I have it in my head, anyway.
keishin - I think your review got cut off. It just ended suddenly on the word "I". :( Aa well, I'm happy you like the fic. As for the "long one", I dunno when that will update again. Maybe I'll get inspired one day...
siberian-emerald - I'm happy you seemed to enjoy the first part. Despite the unoriginality in the general idea, there are some fic ideas that have to be written anyway. Someone's got to make the idea unoriginal, and what better may than to write a fic using the unoriginal idea:D
Wan wingu no tenshi - (omfg! I love the orchestra version of One Winged Angel from FFVII! I totally didn't need to tell you that...) Thank you for your comments! I'm glad you like Ken; he rocks my face off.
HeatherR - Yes, I started something new, even though I already have so much going. Aa, well. I'm so happy you liked the first part. As for Aya and Ken together, it's supposed to seem sweet and innocent, really. Of course, Ken is nothing like that, so I don't think he'll be able to put up with that for long, especially if Ran's hanging around looking all beautiful and whatnot. ;)
M4r1-ch4n - Yes, over-portective Ran is adorable. :) And much abuse-able. I hope you enjoy!
Lk - Over-protective brother Ran just makes a lot of sense given how fond of her he is in the anime. It would make sense. Thanks for reading:)
Chitoshiya no Tohma - Thanks for reading!
dark - The legality I was referring to is that for a person to be considered "legal" they must be 18, the age of affirmed adulthood. Not the principle of years allowed between people who date. :) Thanks for reading!
The Weater Atropos - (Flinching at your pointing) I didn't tell you I wrote it because it was really sudden. As soon as I got the idea I wrote it out and posted, there wasn't really a break between my getting the idea, writing it, and posting it. :) The "her highschool" blurb made me giggle madly when I wrote it, too. Unfortunately, the website (which won't have itself named in text for some reason) took out Ran's ellipsical dialogue of nothingness and screwed up the format. RanKen coming soon!
Rapunzel4 - The Aya liking Ken theme... You picked up on that, eh? It's not so much that I like that idea as it is that jealous-Ran turns me to fan-girl mush, quite honestly. And I've been intrigued of how he would handle the situation of loving the guy his sister, whom he also loves, likes. It's just a very touchy situation. The RanKen will not be delayed for long, though:D Thank you for your comments!
Krysana - Yes, fan-girl envy at Aya-chan and her Ken-kissing! Aya's just fun to write, she's like the little girl who would have to be just a bit spoiled, but a bit sweet. She and Ken might actually be good together if she were taller and emotionless with redhair and... well, if she were her brother. / Meh, that was a tangent. Anyway, RanKen soon hopefully! (crosses fingers)
Rie - I'm happy you enjoyed the first part, and the character interaction. Thanks for reading!
kyria valkyrie - Yes, there has been a dramatic lack of RanKen lazy. Sometimes I feel it will drive me mad. :( I'm so happy you're enjoying this, though! RanKen is love!
Anendee - Happy you enjoyed:D
Silverfrost - Ran's like your dad? XD I guess he does seem sort of paternal like that. As for the significance to the quote at the end, there is none. The quotes are just pieces I had to cut from the part that I liked or thought were insightful/inducing to smutty thoughts. Sorry it confused you!
Narijima - I hope you liked this! As for SD, I dunno when the next update will be. I've pretty much lost interest with it, and I don't know quite how to get it back. Thank you so much for the comments, though! I hope you continue to readmaybe I'll finish this fic. Maybe I'll beable to get back into SD, too.
D-Star - No Dick and Jane for you then? Aa, you should see "Learning Yiddish with Dick and Jane", it will give you new respect for them and people who can sit around making amusing comments about Grandma whilst she's writhing in pain on the floor. XD Seriously, though, I'm happy you're enjoying the fic!
" You're a man, evidently a straight one by the way you dress, and all men have certain hormonal tendencies. You can't tell me honestly that the thought hasn't crossed your mind."
Reviews are appreciated.