Time to Burn

Keeper: Sorry, I know I'm a couple of days late. I have no idea what I was thinking when I wrote this chapter, but I blame it on lack of sleep and having to smell diesel fuel all day.

Bane: Keeper does not own the Weiss boys, she does however own the non recognizable people though. So you would be wasting your time if you sued her.

Keeper: Yeah cause all you would get is a uniform that has oil stains and smells like diesel fuel.

OoOoOoO

Ken walked slowly down the street with his head bowed. He wasn't in any hurry to get back to the stuffy shop and he needed to think about what had just happened. He sighed and looked around like he was waiting for an answer in bright flashing lights to jump out and tell him what he was supposed to do.

/What would you do antai?./ Ken thought as looked up to the sky.

He sighed and looked back down at the ground. He wasn't sure how long he wandered around aimlessly thinking if he should tell Schuldig about his past or not. Ken's head snapped up suddenly when he caught a familiar scent.

Blood.

He followed the scent around a building, when he rounded the building he saw a child about five or six sitting on the ground holding his knee. Ken growled lightly and began to stalk the child. When he was about ten feet away the child's mother went up to him to see what was wrong, making Ken realize what he was doing.

/What the hell was I doing! I wanted to hunt that kid just because he scrapped his knee and drew blood./

Ken shook his violently to get rid of the urge to hunt. He took of running suddenly, startling a few people as he ran past them. Ken was too busy cursing himself that he wasn't paying attention to were he was going and ended up running into someone. The person had managed to stay on their feet while Ken fell sprawled out on to the ground.

"WHAT THE FUCK! WATCH WHERE…"

Ken looked up from his spot on the ground when the person now identified as a male trailed off from his yelling. Ken slowly brought his eyes up the man's form starting at his boots which were black but if he looked hard enough he could make out a dark blue design in them. Dark blue pants were tucked into the boots around his left thigh was a black bandana and had a black belt around his waist. His shirt was a crimson red color with long sleeves. He had another black bandana tied around his upper right arm, wrapped around his fore arms were what looked liked bandages, which started in the middle of his fore arm and also included the end of the sleeve and ended at his wrists. Ken finally made it up to the man's head and saw that he had dark brown hair that mostly covered his eyes, but Ken could tell that his eyes were a brilliant green color like jade.

Ken had never seen anyone like him before. If Ken was asked to describe him later the only thing that he would be able to come up with to describe him would be breath taking. He was well-built but not overly so. The man held himself well like he knew he could handle anything thrown at him and he also had that underlying sense about him that said he would kill you if you so much as looked at him in away that he did not like. He had a power, an aura that Ken had never felt before and it scared him. The man smirked at Ken when he saw that Ken was staring at him.

"Well are you going to just sit there all day and stare at me or are you going to get up?" The man asked his voice sounding like the shadows if they could speak. He held his hand out to Ken.

Ken stared at the hand in confusion for a moment before it dawned on him that the stranger was offering to help him up. Not wanting to offend him, Ken grabbed his hand the man pulled him up easily like he weighed nothing.

"I'm sorry I ran into you, I was in a hurry and I wasn't watching where I was going." Ken said looking at the ground feeling a little embarrassed. From where Ken was standing next to the man he could easily smell him. He smelled like shadows and fire with the faintest hint of mist and also of blood.

The man laughed. "So it would seem. It's alright, just don't do it again."

Ken let out the breath that he didn't know he was holding. Ken looked up giving him an apologetic smile and met his… blue eyes? Ken's smile faltered and his brows knitted in confusion. Hadn't his eyes been green? He briefly wondered if he had been mistaken and realized that he hadn't. Before they were the color of jade but now they were the color of the clear blue ocean.

"Something wrong little one?" Amusement colored the dark voice of the stranger.

"N…no. It's just that I thought your eyes were green and now they're blue." Ken stammered out, there was something about this man that scared him. Ken could feel the power radiating off of him, it was overwhelming and Ken had the sense that this man in front of him was keeping his power in check. Ken had no desire to find out just how far the 'iceberg' went under the water.

"Yes they were green. My eyes change color so I have no definite eye color."

"Oh. I've never seen anyone whose eyes change color like that."

"Well now you have. You looked like you were in a hurry little one so you should be on your way now." The man moved up to Ken so he could whisper in his ear. "And besides we wouldn't want you to be late to wherever it is you need to be, now would we little shapeshifter?"

Ken tensed and his eyes widened in shock. "How did…"

The man laughed. "Tell me, can you sense the power coming from me?" When Ken nodded he went on. "It is the same for me, I can sense the power coming from you. And I know what a shapeshifter feels like. Well it also doesn't hurt that my partner is a true shapeshifter like you."

"Your partner is a… shapeshifter?"

"Yes he is, and he wants to meet you."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure myself; there is something he wants to find out."

"What could he possibly find out from me?"

"That is something you will have to ask him yourself." With that the man walked away.

Ken watched him until he turned a corner disappearing from view. Sighing again Ken turned and walked back to the Koneko.

/So there is another true shapeshifter in town. I wonder if he was the one that killed our target last night./

OoOoOoO

The dark haired man walked into his apartment that he shared with his partner. He scanned the room looking for his companion, his eyes stopped at the couch when he saw a leg draped over the back of it. He made his way over to the couch and peered over to see his companion sprawled out with his one leg draped over the back his other stretched out on the couch. One arm was slung across his eyes and the other was draped over the arm rest hanging down.

The man on the couch was wearing a grey sleeveless shirt that had a high collar and was 'v' cut so it exposed a little of his chest, tucked into dark brown pants and had black boots. On his left arm that was draped on the arm rest he had a dark blue arm band that went from the wrist to half way up his fore arm and on his right arm a black bandana tied around his upper arm and a red one was tied under it. A black cloth choker that had two pieces that had an 'x' between them adorned his neck. Each ear had a total of five small dark blue hoop earrings, on the right ear he had three on the bottom and two on the cartilage, his left ear was the opposite with two on the bottom and three on the cartilage. He had short black hair with two ear tails that reached almost to his waist, each ear tail was bound half way down the length of the hair with a dark blue metal clasp that had teeth patterns on the top and bottom making it look almost like a mouth. The clasps had two strings with tassels on the end that went down the rest of the length of the hair.

The man came around the couch and lifted up his partner's leg so he could sit down. The other removed his arm from across his face reviling his yellow-green eyes and four scars around his left eye, three on the bottom and one above his eye.

"Well Mist, I ran into that shapeshifter, or rather he ran into me." The man said as he placed his partner's leg on his lap.

"Is that so, did you kill him?"

"No, I was about to when I realized that it was him and if I killed him before you could talk to him you would kill me."

The other laughed sliding his other leg off of the back of the couch so it rested behind the other man. "I could never kill you, I would be pissed as hell but I could never kill you."

"That's good to know."

"So Kou, what did you say to him?"

"I just told him that you wanted to meet him and that there was something you wanted to find out."

"And what did he say?"

"He was a little confused and asked what could you possibly find out from him."

"You said he ran into you?" Mist asked propping himself up on a hand.

"Yes, he was running and ran into me as I came out of a shop."

"Then his scent should be on you." Mist leaned forward and began to sniff at Kou's chest. "Hmmm…he's a tiger but….there is something wrong…"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure I would have to meet him to find out what it is that is wrong."

"Do you want to go visit him?"

"No, not right now. I want to finish my nap that was interrupted."

Mist draped himself on Kou's lap. Kou chuckled lightly and began to pet him running his hand from the top of Mist's head down his back much like one would pet a cat. Mist began to purr softly and soon fell asleep to the soothing feeling of just being near Kou and him petting him.

OoOoOoO

As Ken walked back to the Koneko he kept thinking about the man that he had ran into just a few moments ago. The man was obviously not a shapeshifter and Ken didn't have the slightest clue of what he was. He entertained the small idea that maybe he was a vampire and then quickly dismissed it since vampires could not go out in the sun. Maybe he was a wizard or mage or something like that? He certainly had enough power to possibly be one, but somewhere in the back of his head told him that it was wrong. He thought about how the man had looked almost ethereal when Ken thought that, he immediately thought 'angel'. He scoffed at that when he remembered what the man's power had felt like, it was too dark and malicious to be an angels.

It never crossed his mind that the stranger could be a demon, because demons after all are ugly and foul creatures that had hash voices, right?

Ken made it back to the Koneko and went in. He decided that he didn't want to go around back so he went in the shop. He was greeted by Omi as soon as he walked in.

"Welcome to the Koneko…oh Ken-kun it's you. I didn't know you left."

"Yeah I went out the back way."

"So where did you go?"

"To the park." Which it wasn't a lie but wasn't the whole truth either. They didn't need to know that he was actually on his way to get another soccer ball but was stopped by Schuldig and then went with him to the woods in the park.

"Meeting a pretty lady?" Yohji asked from behind him.

"Not that it's any of your business, but no I wasn't." Ken growled at him and turned away to go upstairs.

"Man who pissed in his cheerio's?" Yohji asked glaring at the spot Ken had been standing at.

"Be nice Yohji-kun!" Omi scolded him.

OoOoOoO

Ken fumed going up the stairs. He had been fine until Yohji said something, for some reason the older man always seemed to grate on his nerves when ever he spoke. Omi was sometimes annoying when he got too hyper and he tended to worry too much, but other than that he liked the young blond. And then there was Aya, not that he spent much time around the quite redhead but when he did it was soothing. Ken had recently noticed that the older man had an aura that he had never sensed before and he wondered why he never noticed it before. The aura that Aya had was soothing it felt like a winter wind, cold and refreshing and it made him forget about the heat and calmed him. And the way he smelled--he smelled like winter itself, of earth, and death.

Ken walked into the living room to see Aya sitting in a chair reading a book. Never wanting to miss an opportunity to be near him and the soothing coolness that came from him, wandered over to him to see what he was reading.

"Hey Aya, what are you reading?" Ken inquired coming to stand as close to him as he could get.

Aya raised an eyebrow when he noticed how close Ken got to him but didn't say anything. He had noticed that the younger man tended to shift closer to him unconsciously when they were in the same room and he also noticed that when the brunette was around him, he seemed calmer.

Aya held the book up for Ken to see the cover. Ken immediately recognized the book, it was actually one of his and he had been wondering what happened to it. It was about a dragon king that was unable to transform into a dragon because his twin brother had stole something from him to prevent him from transforming into the dragon. (1)

"I was wondering what happened to my book." Ken said grinning.

"I saw you reading it and thought that it must be good if it caught your attention."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ken pouted.

"Nothing except for soccer holds your attention for very long." Aya replied with what looked like could be a smile tugging at his lips.

Ken laughed. "True, but when soccer season is over I do like to do other things like reading."

"Do you want your book back?"

"No, you can give it back when you finish. So do you like it so far?"

"Yes, it's interesting."

"Wouldn't it be cool if people could change into animals?"

The redhead quirked an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

"Wouldn't it be interesting if you could turn into an animal?"

"I suppose." Aya shrugged.

"What kind of animal would you be?"

"I don't know, I never thought about it."

"I think you would be a wolf."

"Why?"

"Well because wolves are loyal and protect those in their pack but they can also be loners. You're kind of a mix of both."

"What do you mean?"

"Well you're pretty much a loner but you would protect what you consider yours."

"May be. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"What kind of animal would you be?"

"Well that's easy, I would be a white Siberian tiger." Ken said grinning.

"And why would that be?"

"Because they are grace and power rolled into one. They are magnificent and beautiful creatures; there are no words to describe them when you see one in motion."

"You really like tigers don't you?"

"Yes I do. You know the White Tiger is one of the Four Heavenly Beings and it is also said that in China that the tiger was the king of all animals and lord of the mountains." (2)

"So are you saying that you want to be the king of all animals or a god?" Aya asked.

"No, I don't want to be anything like that but I must admit that it would be kinda nice to be a god." Ken said with a big grin.

"That'll be the day, a god that trips over his own feet." Aya said as he smirked.

"So you have jokes today, eh?" Ken asked laughing and started to walk away. "I'll let you get back to reading now."

/I wonder what put him in a good mood?./

OoOoOoO

Ken went straight to his room, for once not needing to take a shower to cool down. He paced around his room thinking about the man he had ran into earlier for about an hour before his mind wandered to Schuldig. He spent the whole time thinking if he should tell Schuldig about his past or not, he after all had trusted Ken enough to tell him about his past and Ken knew that he was telling the truth. Maybe Schuldig was right if he talked about it, it might help. Omi had came to get him for dinner and right after, Ken had decided to go to bed.

OoOoOoO

Ken was down to the shop before Aya was, so he opened the storefront shutter. When he did so he noticed his soccer ball sitting right in front of the door, he picked it up and looked at it for a minute.

/"Schuldig?"/

/"Yes, Tiger?"/

/"Ummm….Are you busy later?"/

/"Nein."/

/"….Do you think we could meet later?"/

/"Ja, where and when do you want to meet?"/

/"How about the same place at two?"/

/"Alright, I'll see you then kleiner Tiger."/(3)

OoOoOoO

/"So you're going to meet him later?"/

/"Ja. We're meeting at two at the same place."/

/"Finaly! This time no one better interrupt or else!"/

/"Or else? What are you going to do?"/ Schuldig asked sounding amused.

/"Uh…I don't know, but I'm sure I'll come up with something."/ Kumiko said huffing.

/"Sure you will. Don't worry I won't let anyone interfere this time."/

/"You better not."/

OoOoOoO

The day was uneventful and went by quickly for Ken. When his shift was up at noon he went up stairs to take a shower so he wouldn't be so sweaty when he met up with Schuldig.

Ken headed out the back way again and made his way toward the park. When Ken got to the park he stopped a couple of times to watch the children playing.

/It's been too long since I've played soccer with the kids./ Ken thought as he started walking to the woods again.

He made it to the tree that they had sat under yesterday. He noticed that Schuldig was not there yet so he went and sat down under the tree to wait for him. Ken didn't have to wait long, as soon as he had sat down and made himself comfortable Schuldig stepped out and came over to sit next to Ken.

"You weren't waiting long were you, Tiger?" Schuldig asked turning to look at Ken.

"No, I just got here myself." Ken replied as he looked at the clouds.

Schuldig studied Ken as he gazed at the clouds. He waited patiently for Ken to talk, he wouldn't push Ken to talk because if he did Ken would clam up and never talk about it. Schuldig didn't want him to feel pressured to talk but when he did feel he could talk about it, Schuldig made sure Ken knew he would be there to listen to him.

"You know," Ken said breaking the silence. "I barely remember my parents, they died when we were about five."

"We?"

"My antai and me. We were adopted not long after. Our adopted parents were nice at first, then one day it was like they became different people. For some reason they never liked my antai much they didn't like her playing the violin, they would always tell her that she would never be good at it. But she never let it get to her, she never really let anything get to her. She was always looking at the bright side of things. She usually managed to get me to look at the bright side also. After she died it's hard to see the bright side of things."

"How did she die?"

"She was burned alive."

"Who would do such a thing?"

"It was Kase. He was my best friend since I was little and we had been a couple for a little over a year when he betrayed me and killed her. He became jealous of the time I spent with my antai and from the attention I was getting in the league. He told me that he would never be recognized if I was there but now that I think about it, he was a good player but not good enough to stand out and get attention. So even if I wasn't there he still wouldn't have been recognized anyway."

Ken sighed and gathered his thoughts this would be the hard part, telling him what happened that day.

"One day Kase asked me to meet him at a warehouse, my instincts were telling me that something was wrong but I didn't listen to it because it was Kase and he wouldn't ever do anything. Oh how wrong I was. When I got there I asked him what was wrong and he told me I was the problem and the next thing I knew he hit me. I asked him why he hit and if I did anything wrong, he told me I did everything wrong I didn't understand what he was talking about. He yelled at me that everyone loves me and because of that no one notices him and that is why he'll never be recognized with me around and that's why he had to get rid of me." Ken stopped for a moment so he wouldn't start crying before he got it all out.

"So me being the idiot that I am, I thought he was talking about dumping me. After he hit me again I tried to leave that was when he made it clear that he wanted to kill me. Someone came up and grabbed me from behind so I couldn't get away…well I could have gotten away but I was so shocked and confused I couldn't do anything. He then told them to beat me but not kill me, and then he left and these three guys started to hit me. Kase eventually comes back and starts to pour something on me, at first I couldn't understand why the water was burning and then I realized it wasn't water it was gas. He tried to burn me alive and the he went and did the same to my antai. He sat our house on fire with her and our parents in there. I was able to get her out but it was too late, she…she was burned too badly her skin was black and falling off, an arm was hanging by just a piece of skin, a leg had fallen off, and her face…it…it was half gone I could see the bones in her face."

Now that he had finally finished telling Schuldig about his past Ken broke down crying. Schuldig pulled Ken to him and began to pet him to comfort and calm him down. When Ken finally did calm down, Schuldig decided to ask a question that was flying around in his head.

"Your antai is your sister?"

"Yes, my twin sister."

OoOoOoO

1. I was looking at my books trying to come up with a book for Aya to read, but unfortunately all of my books are something that I can't see him reading so I picked this one. It's called Dragon's Winter by Elizabeth Lynn. It's a good book you should go read it.

2. I found this somewhere when I was looking up tiger gods, but I can't remember where I found it though.

Keeper: I hope this chapter was okay. I hope I described Mist and Kou good could someone please tell me if I did okay describing them? I was typing up the next chapter and I realized that it isn't going how I wanted, but then I don't have it planed out well. So I made an outline for this.

Bane: It looks more like an outline of an outline of an outline and it's not even finished. (holds up an outline that is crying because it's pathetic)

Keeper: That wasn't very nice.

Shade: Why don't you thank the reviewers.

Heather: YAY! You get the prize! Ummm…If I had one. (looks around for something) I know! I'll Let you pet Mist again if he doesn't mind. I'll ask him when he gets back. I bet you didn't think it would be his twin did you? When I was reading your story and seen that you gave him a twin too I was like 'Crap! I hope she doesn't think I'm trying to copy or something.'

Constantine: I shall visit the places you suggested! Thank you. I know I see that too, they must have it written out or something already. I can barely get six pages out in a month.

Anendee: Your welcome! Don't feel bad, mine is shut down for ten months out of the year and I never have anything intelligent to say, just ask the guys I work with…Errr on second thought that might not be good for me.

Mistress of Muses: Thank you. I hope you read the rest of the chapter and that you continue to keep reading.

Keeper: Next chapter we learn a little more about Kumiko and why she is talking to our Schuldig-sama. And Aya is suspicious of Ken-sama.

Shade: Please review.