Time to Burn

Keeper: Please Mist.

Mist: No.

Keeper: Just this once?

Mist: NO!

Keeper: But. . .

Mist: Why don't you get Sephiroth to do it?

Keeper: But I don't want to fill out a foot of paper work.

Mist: You won't have to. Kat-Goddess is coming and she's dragging Sephiroth with her.

Kat-Goddess: I can't believe people actually reading and liking this.

Keeper: Can I get Sephiroth-sama to do an Aya impression for me?

Kat-Goddess: (glares at Keeper)

Keeper: Oh come on you're right here.

Kat-Goddess: Fine.

Keeper: Yay! Okay Sephiroth-sama I want you to throw your sword in the air and yell 'Takatori'.

Sephiroth: No.

Keeper: Come on!

Sephiroth: NO!

Keeper: Why not?

Sephiroth: I am NOT throwing Masasmune!

Kat-Goddess: (pulls out a katana and shoves it at Sephiroth)

Sephiroth: I hate you all. (sighs) CLOUD! (throws sword in air)

All: (blink, blink)

Keeper: That wasn't exactly an Aya impression.

Sephiroth: Well Taka-whatever his name is, isn't my enemy Cloud is.

Mist: He has a point.

Keeper: I guess. Remember AU, bad language, will be yaoi so if you don't like it there is the back button make sure it hits you on the ass on the way out.

Mist: Disclaimer Keeper.

Keeper: I refuse to do it!

Kat-Goddess: I'll do it. Keeper Does not own ANYTHING so if you sued her all you would get is some dust if you were lucky.

Keeper: Did you have to say it like that? Well I hope you guys like this chap.

Ken hated the silence almost as much as he hated the heat. At first he could care less if it was quiet or not but after Kase had betrayed him, he loathed the silence because that meant that he would think, he would remember and he really did NOT want to remember that time three years ago when Kase had set her on fire just like he had did to Ken. He had somehow managed to get out of the warehouse and put out the fire that threatened to consume him, but she had not been so lucky. By the time Ken got to and managed to pull her out of the burning house she was too badly burned. Her skin was black from being burned and was falling off he could see the bones in her arms, legs, and worst of all her face which were also black from being burned.(1) Her body was falling apart in his hands, she had some how managed to smile at him and she then made him promise her something and then she had died in his arms.

/I'm so sorry I wasn't able to protect you, it should have been me that died not you! Gods the only promise that I kept was the one to take care of your violin./ Ken thought as he started to cry. /I'm sorry that I can't keep my other promise to you because how could anyone love me? I'm damaged and if anyone found out what I really am they would probably try to kill me. Who would love a monster? You were the only one who could love me for what I am because you were like me./

Ken silently cried for about an hour before he stopped and decided that it was time to get out of the tub. He vaguely wondered how long he had been in there this time. He pulled the stopper out and let the water drain, he laid there until all the water had drained. Ken stood up and wrung his clothes out as best as he could with out taking them off then he got out and grabbed his socks and shoes and headed out.

Yohji had gone back down to the shop and told the silent redhead what had happened. He gave his usual 'hn' as acknowledgement that he had heard him. He was also wondering why Ken had not come back down yet. Aya decided to go check on Ken himself, he had been up there for over six hours and he never stayed up there for over an hour, something had to be wrong. Omi had come back from wherever it was that he had went earlier so Aya had asked him if he could stay and help Yohji in the shop while he went to go check on Ken, the young blond had agreed to stay in the shop. So the leader of Weiss headed up stairs to go see if the young brunette was alright.

Ken walked out of the bathroom and headed towards his room lost in his thoughts when he ran into something or rather someone. He was shocked that he had run into Aya, he just stood there staring at the sword wielder like he had sprouted another head for the second time that day. Aya had taken in the fact that the assassin's clothes were completely soaked which really made him curious. Why didn't he take his clothes off to take a bath? He arched a delicate eyebrow in question.

"Excuse me but I need to change my clothes." Ken said as he tried to go around the violet eyed man but was stopped when he stepped in the way.

"What?" He did not want to deal with anything right now, he just wanted to get back to his room turn on his stereo and not think about anything.

Aya looked at him for a minute longer before finally asking. "Is something wrong?"

"No."

"There has to be something wrong, you were in the bathroom for over six hours." He stated staring at Ken like the answer would suddenly appear on his forehead in bright flashing lights.

"I just got to hot, okay?"

"What does that have to do with you being in there for six hours?"

"I don't like being hot. I didn't mean to stay in there so long it just kinda happened. So can I go change my clothes now?"

He stared at the bugnuk wielder for a few moments before finally stepping to the side to allow him to get to his room. When Ken got halfway to his door Aya spoke up.

"You know you can come to any of us if you need help."

Ken stopped walking and turned slightly so he could see Aya from the corner of his eye but not giving him the full side profile of his face and stood there for a minute.

"You couldn't understand." Ken answered so softly that Aya almost didn't hear it and continued to his room.

/What did he mean that I couldn't understand?/ Aya wondered as he stared at Ken's door.

The tall man was worried with what he just heard there was defiantly something wrong with the younger man. He wanted to help him but he didn't know how, if Aya-chan was there she would know what to do but she was still in a coma. Out of the three other assassins Aya liked Ken the most because he was always cheerful nothing dampened his spirits or so he had thought. But that wasn't the only reason Aya liked him better, he could sense that Ken was different somehow like he was but not sure how he was different. He sighed and headed back down stairs as much as he wanted to help Ken he couldn't do anything if Ken would not let him.

As soon as Ken was in his room and locked the door he began to strip throwing his clothes in the hamper. He looked down at the scars that marred his body and traced them lightly with his hands. They were a reminder of betrayal and of what he had lost. He didn't think that he could ever trust anyone again for fear of them betraying him like Kase had and he really didn't think that he could love anyone because if he did find someone to love and they found out what he was, well they would either try to kill him or they would run away and he didn't think he would be able to handle that. He also did not trust himself, he was afraid that he would try to kill them when he went into one of his 'attacks'. After she had died it was becoming harder and harder to calm down after an 'attack'.

The soccer player snapped out of his trance of tracing his scars and walked over to his dresser to grab another pair of boxers and put them on. When he had pulled on his boxers, he reached to turn on his stereo which was sitting on top of his dresser. He turned it to the station that played classical music it had always helped him calm down especially if it was a violin. She had played the violin. She always knew when he needed to calm down so she would play her violin to calm him down, most of the time it had put him to sleep. But she was dead now and he had no one to play the violin for him. He missed her so much, when she had died a part of him died with her, there was a void in his heart that would never fully go away. She was his other half.

Ken walked over to his bed and laid down he stared at the ceiling for what seemed like forever. He rolled over on to his side and he look at his wall and sighed. It was littered with claw marks from when he got little 'attacks'. He had warned the others about coming in his room they agreed and not asked remembering the threat that he gave them about not working in the afternoons. He did not want them to see the claw marks on the wall because that would raise questions. He rolled over on his stomach sighing again, there were too many things that he had to hide from his teammates. He felt bad that he had to hide things from them. He didn't have to keep the fact that he was betrayed and almost burned alive and that Kase had killed the most important person to him a secret he just didn't want to talk about it, he didn't want or need their pity and hear 'That's horrible.' And 'I'm so sorry Ken.' That he was sure to get from Omi and Yohji and he wasn't really sure what kind of reaction he would get from Aya.

What the former goalie was sure of is the reactions he would receive if he ever told the others what he really was. He was sure that the two blonds would look at him in horror and never want to see him again and Aya well, he was absolutely positive that the taller man would kill him. Ken eventually fell into a restless but dreamless sleep.

As soon as Aya got back down to the shop Omi and Yohji practically pounced on him demanding to know if Ken was alright. He had told them what the soccer player had said as to why he was in the bathroom for so long. The blond assassins gave him a look that said 'you've got to be kidding.'

"So let me get this straight, he said that the reason why I almost got shoved through the wall was because he was hot?" The older man asked.

"That's what he told me."

"Maybe that's why he refused to work in the afternoons during spring and summer." The younger assassin said.

"Yeah well no one else likes to be hot, so why is he so special?"

"Yes, but no one else freaks out when they see a fire or gets hot like he does." The blue eyed assassin stated.

"That's true, but why does he freak out like that?"

"I don't know. Maybe he had a bad experience with a fire?" The little blond said not sure as to why their friend freaks out about a simple fire in the fireplace during winter.

The assassins grew quite doing their various tasks in the shop as they all became lost in their own thoughts as to why Ken hated to be hot so much that he would spend over six hours in the bathroom.

Ken woke up to someone knocking on his door he sensed that it was Omi on the other side of the door. He sighed and got up to find out what he wanted, he hoped that he wasn't sent up there to see if he was alright. The assassin known as Siberian grabbed a shirt and pulled it on he walked over to the door and cracked it slightly so he could see the younger assassin but not so he could see the claw marks on the walls.

"Yes Omi-kun?"

"Ken-kun, I'm not disturbing you, am I?"

"No you're not. Do you want something?" He said giving Omi a reassuring smile.

"Good, I just came to tell you that dinner is ready." The little blond said returning the smile.

"Aa. Thank you Omi-kun but I'm not hungry."

"Oh, okay. I save you some leftovers in case you get hungry later."

"Thank you." He said grateful that Omi had not come up there to ask him if he was okay. He was sure that if one more person asked him that, he would snap and rip their throat out and then rip an arm off so he could chew on it for awhile.

"You're welcome Ken-kun." The blue eyed boy said and turned and walked away.

After Ken had closed and locked his door he walked over to his stereo and turned it to some other station. The soccer player laid down on his bed with his hands behind his head staring at the ceiling. He was half listening to the radio when a song suddenly caught his attention. When he finally realize why the song had caught his attention his eyes widened in shock, it was one of her favorite songs she had always said described them.

A/N: I've never seen anyone burned so I was just guessing. I thought it would be more traumatic for him.

Mist: I don't think the readers will be to happy with that.

Keeper: Why not?

Mist: They want to know who that girl is.

Keeper: Oh well the next chap will be a little more informative.

Mist: Right. Why don't you thank the reviewers.

Raven's Light: Welcome to the family! I hope you'll enjoy this.

HeatherR: No he's not, he was just so hot that he felt like he would. You would think that he would catch it but he's not. I didn't know you could catch it in summer, huh learn something new everyday. But you gave me an idea so I'm going to work it in somehow.

Carrothien: I accidentally spelled your name wrong in the last chap but I fixed it! Sorry don't hate me! Thank you I put a lot of effort into that because it's important to the story.

Anendee: Hope you enjoyed this chap as well. Hehe if you liked that threat just wait he'll have more. Did you catch the one in this chap? Yeah Yohji is going to be a little bit of an ass to Kenken till he finds out his secret.

M4r1-ch4n: You were all over the new chap weren't you? I agree, I know if I was burned I would be traumatized, but honestly I wasn't even thinking about that when I wrote it but I'm really happy I made it seem realistic. You're not going to leave after the Schu/Ken action are you?

Stephy-chan and Jeny-chan: Again thank you for listening to this from over two thousand miles away. Sorry I didn't put the little spoof in.

Purdy-Puppy: Kou yelled at me cause you couldn't spell his name but I told him that it wasn't an easy name for people to spell if they don't know it.

Mist: You should give the reviewers a plushie.

Keeper: Good idea I know just the one to give them. (walks into closet)

Mist: It's not one of me is it?

Keeper: (comes back out) No it's a Ran/Ken/Schuldig set. With Ran dressed as Santa and Ken and Schuldig as reindeers.

Mist: That's cute. Well I hope you liked this chapter and please review and make my Keeper happy.

Keeper: YES please do! I thrive off of them.