So I'm back! Yay! I will be in the office today and Monday, so hopefully I'll get some chapters in asap!!! We do what we can!

Hmm, ok. Not many notes this time. There isn't much that will need to be clarified I hope. Just Ran. And Ken. And bonding. Here we go!

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Chapter 4B

"Long shadows –
crow with broken wing
keeps its distance"

　　　　　　　　　　Richard Stevenson

Edo

Ken woke up once again to unfamiliar surroundings. He blinked in the pale light of dawn pushing through water-stained shoji and found himself staring up at a ceiling run through with beams of cedar wood. Frowning in confusion, he slowly tried to push himself up into a sitting position, and found he could not. His arms trembled weakly, and one of them was wracked with electric waves of pain that ran from his neck, over his shoulder, to the tips of his fingers and back again. He swallowed over the rock that was in his throat and tried turning his head experimentally. It worked, although it caused him an almost unbearable amount of pain. Straightening carefully, he frowned at the ceiling once more.

So what had happened then? This was becoming a disturbing pattern in his life; waking up without knowing where he was or what had happened. The last thing he remembered was…waking up in that shack. Right. He'd grabbed his weapons, and went to find Kase. Ken's heart lurched painfully in his chest at the thought of Kase. He shoved the feeling down and refused to acknowledge it until he had some sort of reasonable explanation for what had happened.

So what next? He remembered pulling the blanket over his shoulders, and brief snatches of wandering around…town? He couldn't be sure. There had been people at some point, he remembered that much. They had given him a wide berth.It had been raining. Hard. He remembered stumbling into…into…some kind of place. He remembered that it was darker and out of the rain and full of people. People who'd stared at him.

A pang of embarrassment filled his gut as he remembered trying to attack some random stranger because all he'd seen was the man's red hair. He'd remembered the red hair of the foreigner that had taken Kase, and hadn't thought twice about it until he'd seen the man's eyes. They had been a startling violet, and not the cool jade green that he'd remembered seeing on the man who had taken Kase. He'd meant to apologize, and wondered if it had gotten out of his mouth in time before he'd passed out.

Ken released another sigh and tried to move again. This time, sharp pains from all over his body flared together in brilliant symphony and Ken cried out in pain before falling back to the mattress with a groan and laying very, very still. He concentrated only on breathing. It was all he could have hoped to think about.

"Awake already?" a bland voice intoned from somewhere beside him. Ken jumped and regretted the knee-jerk reaction immediately as he winced in the oncoming wave of fresh pain. Suddenly a pale, cool hand was on his forehead, and he was surprised to find how quickly it soothed the heat trapped within. He hadn't realized his head had ached so until now.

"You should rest more, you aren't nearly ready to be up and about." there was a frown in that voice. Ken forced his head to turn so he could look up at the speaker. He was proud of himself for managing to do it with relative ease. Red hair, violet eyes, and pale skin greeted his somewhat dim vision. It was the man he'd attacked yesterday. Ken was assailed with a sudden guilt. The man must have read it in his expression, for he released a low chuckle.

"Even for an injured man you've got quite a right hook." he said softly. "Although I don't think I've ever met an opponent who apologizes after striking me and then passes out on the first hit." Ken frowned crossly.

"Hey, it wasn't like I meant to strike you!" he growled weakly. One crimson eyebrow rose in sarcastic question.

"Ok, so I mistook you for someone else. But I was after that someone else, not you!--" he wanted to say more but he found himself coughing and then panting, a horrible weight in his chest constricting his lung capacity. He coughed experimentally once again and groaned as fire seared his chest and throat. Suddenly there was the feeling of cool, moist pottery against his lips and he felt himself gently lifted from the futon into a sitting position.

"Drink." it was a simple command that Ken was delighted to obey. The water was cool and felt good, easing the ache in his throat. When he could breathe a little easier, he closed his eyes blissfully for a moment before opening them to focus on his caretaker once more. He asked the first question that popped into his head.

"Why are you taking care of me?" Red eyebrows arched in slight surprise.

"Because you passed out in my arms." he replied easily. Ken's face flushed redder for a moment beneath his embarrassment.

"So? You could have dumped me out in the street. I punched you across the face for no good reason." he shot back evenly, still embarrassed and feeling guilty. The man gave him an incredulous look.

"You think I was going to throw an injured, fevered man out into the gutter? During a rainstorm no less?" he sounded insulted. Ken shrugged, the action muffled by the many blankets lying atop him.

" I would have deserved it." he said quietly, looking at the wall beside him instead of at the stranger. A heavy silence followed. Finally, the man spoke.

"Why would you have deserved something like that? You didn't even knock me over with that punch. And you apologized even as you were passing out. I don't even have a bruise." Ken snorted, still refusing to turn his gaze away from the wall.

"You don't know me. You don't know what I've done. You should have just thrown me back out onto the street." he mumbled quietly. He was startled when he felt a cool touch on his fevered skin and felt his head being turned to face the man who'd taken care of him. He found himself looking into an intense violet gaze.

"Try me." was all the man said. His voice sounded angry. Ken frowned and tried to look away, but the man wouldn't let him. He felt the corners of his eyes burning and tried to twist his head away again as he felt the tears build. Gods he was so ashamed. He didn't want to have to look at this stranger and deal with his own colossal failings while he cried like a little girl. The stranger, however, was not willing to budge, and Ken was forced to remain still or hurt himself further. Silence settled like a heavy blanket around them, and Ken felt himself getting sucked into the man's gaze against his will. He was lost somewhere between white, hot pain and clear, cool amethyst when the stranger spoke again, startling him.

"What happened to you?" the voice was cool and calm, and it seemed to somehow wash over his mind and sooth. There was no pity, but there was no disgust. Only calm collection. Ken forgot his head hurt.

"They-they destroyed my clan. My family. Somehow, they surprised us. Everyone is dead." even his own voice sounded dead. "Except, of course, for me." the final statement was one of self-accusation, its tone bitter and hopeless. His voice sounded hollow, like the voice of another man. Surely he could not speak of his clan so emptily? Of his failings? It hurt him so much to talk about. To even think about it tore at every fiber of his being. How could his voice sound so empty? "It was my fault. I-I should have known; I should have been more careful. There must have been something…" he trailed off, his voice weak and breaking; hoarse with fever and pain. The stranger did not negate or accuse. He only pressed on calmly, forcing Ken's gaze to meet his own. The man still had his chin in a firm grip.

"Who did?"

Ken hesitated. "I-I don't know. Th-they were foreign men. One of them had red hair; like yours." a small, eerie smile flitted across his face as if towards some inner twisted humor. "I wounded one man. With white hair. It was so white, you know? Like snow on the mountains. I hope he bled to death. They took Kase." the last few sentences were delivered with a viciousness that brought a sudden strength into Ken's voice. He hoped sincerely that what little damage he had managed to inflict on those men had caused them great amounts of suffering. He missed the light of recognition that appeared suddenly in violet depths.

"These men. Were there four of them?"

"Yes. And Kase. They took him. I have to find Kase. " Panic was slowly working its way into Ken's voice. This time, when he tried to sit up, he managed it with great effort. He turned and gave the stranger an odd look, as if suddenly remembering he was in the room. The man frowned and pushed him back down with ease.

"Find him later. You're in no shape to do it now." he said firmly. Ken struggled against the hand that pressed him to the futon weakly. Fire exploded in his chest and he arched against it, moaning loudly with the pain.

"You don't…understand…I have to find him. I have to…I can't let them…hurt him…can't…" Ken lost his voice, coughing. Above him, he missed Ran's frown.

"Perhaps it is you who does not understand. You are in no condition to even sit up, let alone search for this Kase, and fight his captors. If they have escaped you once, you are not in condition to fight them until you heal. Cease struggling now unless you wish to cause yourself more pain." To Ran's utter and complete surprise, he stopped struggling. Ken lay beneath his hand, panting and still. Ran could feel the erratic beat of his heart beneath hot, clammy skin. Finally, after a few moments of tense silence, Ken's soft mummur came almost like a blow.

"You're right of course. Gods, I'm such an idiot. How could I have thought…?" Ken shook his head absently, a bitter smile of self hate twisting itself onto his handsome face. His voice was full of misery and venom. Ran frowned, not understanding what Ken was getting at, and suddenly not liking the direction this conversation was taking.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'll never reach him in time. They'll have killed him already…Even if they don't, I won't be able to save him before they do….Gods Kase, I'm so sorry. " Ken turned his head, and Ran suddenly found himself sunk into warm brown depths tinted with such grief and self-hatred he had to hold in his shock.

"Kill me. Please." This time, Ran didn't bother to hide his surprise.

"Pardon me?"

"I said kill me. Please just do it. If you won't, I'll do it myself. Although it'll probably be messier."Ran's brain worked furiously to trace the connections in their conversation and figure out what the hell had triggered this rather morbid turn-of-mood. How on earth had they gone from discussing Ken needing to rest to this matter-of-fact discussion of ending this man's life so quickly?

'Although it'll probably be messier.' Ran shuddered and looked back at Ken. Brown eyes still full of those intense emotions looked at him determinatley. The pain in them took his breath away. Ran wondered if this was what he had looked like when he had come home that last night. When he had seen his house and his family. He didn't think he'd ever seen that kind of raw emotion just sitting in the open for anyone to read. It was so rare in a society like the one he lived in. And usually it was accompanied by drunkenness. Who was this man? Without hesitation, Ran gave him an answer.

"No." Ken didn't even blink. It was as if he'd been expecting that response.

"I understand. You don't want to taint your sword. I'll do it myself then. Where are my weapons?" Ken tried to move to get up, but Ran kept him pinned; not that it was difficult. His gaze bore into Ken's intensly and the young man stopped struggling, brown depths beginning to fill withtraces of confusion and curiosity.

Ran was confused; he was very confused, and a terrible fear was beginning to work its way into his chest. He didn't like this. He had never dealt with this kind of want for honorable suicide before. He'd never had the desire to do such a thing himself. What the hell inspired others to be so rash and wasteful? Why? His stomach turned, anger suddenly fighting for domination of his fear. Takatori. Always it was Takatori. How could one man be capable of ruining so many innocent lives? First, Ran's own family. Then, an entire village. And now, this one soul; the only survivor, who was ready to give in so easily. No. Ran was absolutely not going to allow the Shogunate; no, Takatori, to take another decent soul from this plane. He found himself wondering again, wondering about his father. Was this what his father had been like when he had done it? When he had murdered his wife and daughter? When he had written that final letter to his only son? When he had…

Without thinking, Ran grabbed the injured man by the shoulders and shook him once. "Don't you dare!" he roared blindly. "Don't you dare do that to me! Don't you let him win!" Ken grunted in pain and Ran froze like a deer before a hunter's arrow. Scowling darkly in self-anger, he set a now bewildered looking Ken gently back against the futon, peeling back some of the larger bandages to see if he had caused any damage in his stupidity. He was relieved to find none. Although he had probably caused Ken a good amount of pain. He winced internally and turned to look at Ken's face. The self-hatred that had occupied it moments ago was now completely gone. In its place was an almost child-like expression of curiosity.

"Let who win?" Ken asked, raising one dark-brown eyebrow. A slight blush chased over Ran's cheeks and he turned to look out the window, scowling when he found the shoji blocking his view and making it clear he was trying to hide his embarrassment. He was about to bite out that it was none of Ken's business when his mind was suddenly full of that self-hating expression in warm brown eyes. Scowling deeper as he thought better of it, he instead grated it out an irritated reply. Maybe if he gave Ken someone else to hold responsible..?

"Takatori, who else?"

"Takatori? That Daimyo? Isn't he pretty high on Shogun-sama's favorites list? What's he got to do with this?" a measure of suspicion was working its way into Ken's tone. Ran's eye was practically twitching at the mention of shogun and sama spoken in consecutive order.

"Unless I miss my guess." he ground out, and turned from the shoji to pin Ken with an irate glare. He regretted it minutely when the man flinched beneath his gaze. "Takatori is behind the attack on your village. The men you described; what little you described of them, sound like the men he's hired as body-guards." Ken's expression went from curious and unsure to outright rage in about a half second flat. He shot upright without seeming to make the slightest effort, and leaned towards Ran.

"You know who's responsible for slaughtering my—my—clan?" he choked, leaning forward to grab the collar of Ran's gi. Ran frowned in disapproval and disengaged Ken's fingers none-too gently.

"I don't know for sure. It's only a guess. I wasn't there. You're going to have to describe those men to me. In either case, I didn't attack your clan, so you'd better watch who you're taking your temper out on. Once was acceptable as a mistake; I won't be so forgiving if you do it again." he growled. Ken blanched and suddenly leaned back, looking down at his lap. The fight seemed to drain from him suddenly and Ran watched as his wounded shoulder began to tremble beneath the strain he had put on it. Here and there, splotches of crimson were beginning to bloom against the white of the bandages. Ran was going to have to terminate this conversation soon; it was proving to be ill for Ken's health.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I just--, I can't—" here Ran cut him off, gently pressing pale fingers against his lips.

"Killing yourself is not an honorable way to revenge your clan. Or to even honor your clan. If you're here, they probably made some kind of sacrifice for you to be. The least you can do for them is stop this sort of thing from happening to others. The force that wrecked your village is most likely Takatori. He is powerful, but he can still be over taken. Wait and rest. Plan. When you are ready, and he is not, strike. Do not run head long into battle and hope you will land a lucky hit. It is a waste of energy. And killing one's self is only a coward's way out."

Ken blinked at him. He swallowed heavily and then looked back down into his lap, watching his hands tremble as they clenched at the blankets in a detached manner. He didn't know what to think. Everything in his head was screaming at him to kill himself for the disgrace he was. But there was another part of him—that always optimistic part, that told him he could not turn his back on the clan and take a coward's way out. Which was, he realized, exactly what suicide meant. It was a poor excused to get out of his duty to his men ; to Takeshi and Ryuuta-kun. He frowned in disgust. An irritable sigh sounded somewhere beside him and this time Ken allowed himself to be lowered back to the futon gently, body trembling. The stranger's hands prodded his bandages carefully, checking his injuries. One pulled the blankets up to his chin while the other rested against his forehead. It stayed there, its cool presence soothing Ken while the two men sat in silence.

"Ran." when Ran felt Ken start in surprise beneath his hand, a slight smile turned up one corner of his mouth. Weary brown eyes blinked up at him questioningly. He studied the worn and scratched tatami beside the futon.

"My name is Fujimiya Ran. Takatori—" Ran bit his lip, unsure, but pressed on at the encouraging nod Ken gave him. "Takatori ruined my family. He killed them. I—I'm hunting him for revenge. I will have it. I will have blood for blood." he finished in a growl. He felt Ken nod again beneath his hand. When he looked down, he wasn't surprised to see that the man already had his eyes half closed, despite the now bright light of morning.

"Maybe we should work together. We'll be stronger. And stand more of a chance of defeating our enemy." he offered tentativley. At Ken's slightly surprised look, he frowned. "Unless you'd prefer to work on your own. But I'm not letting you go anywhere until you're healed." he grumbled, suddenly hating the way he felt so unsure. Hating the way he wanted this man's company; the way he still wanted to escape being by himself. He'd thought maybe if they were after the same goal…

"I'd be honored to work with you Fujimiya-san. I just—are you sure you want to work with someone as burdensome as me?" there was such gratitude in the man's voice that Ran stopped and stared at him. And then he frowned.

"Unless you plan on being an invalid forever or trying to kill yourself, you won't be a 'burden' for long." he grumbled. And the reward would hopefully be someone who was capable of taking a good deal of the burden of finding and eliminating Takatori and his servants from Ran's shoulders. It was a burden Ran bore gladly, but if he had someone to share his load with, then perhaps he would stand that much more of a chance of reaching his goal.

"I'll do my best Fujimiya-san…" Ran turned to tell the man not to call him by his last name, but found Ken's eyes shut, the man already fast asleep. Sighing to himself, he re-soaked another compress and turned towards the cloth sack to find some acceptable poultices and teas. Ken was going to be a valuable asset in his quest to eliminate Takatori, and he wasn't going to let the man leave his sight. If Ken was so important that Takatori had had his entire village eliminated, there had to be a reason. Ran was determined to find it out. And maybe, in some deep part of himself, Ran wanted to spare another human soul the suffering his had been through. Maybe if Ken wasn't alone, if they weren't alone together, it would make the horrors of the past easier to bear.

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Yohji was scowling darkly as he rode off to the Fujiyama Inn. It figured. It bloody well figured. He'd been gone for only one evening, and his luck had decided to run out Not only had Ken run off on him, but he'd managed to attack someone, and wind up beneath that person's "care". Manx was not going to be happy with him. And if anything had happened to Ken, Yohji was going to be in double trouble. Poor Yuriko. She'd looked so guilty. As if she could have stood up to a ronin armed with a sword. Right. He'd reassured her as best he could, but then he'd had to hurry off to make sure that Ken was going to be ok. Thank Buddha today had been one of those days that he'd managed to be up and about early.

He came to a barreling stop at the Inn's entrance, handing his reins off to a servant who'd stood at ready when they had caught sight of Yohji's fine clothing. He threw open the doors and slipped out of his shoes and onto the ancient polished wood floors in one fluid movement. The deep blue silk of his kimono fluttered around him gracefully, adding to his prestigious appearance. Without delay, he headed towards the barkeep, intent on finding out who had Ken.

He was stopped, however, mid-stride by a young man who appeared from nowhere and thumped him on the back rather heartily. "Masaki, you old devil! Where the hell have you been!? It's been ages since I've last seen you!" So saying, he steered Yohji over to a table at the back of the Inn.

Yohji let himself be steered. He hated to admit that he didn't know if he should be grateful or fearful of the fact that Kritiker's agents were already here. He sat cautiously, a companionable expression on his face as he ordered hot sake from the passing waitress. Without any preamble, the young man across from him leaned forward, a scar marring one side of his handsome face.

"He wandered in here late yesterday afternoon and attacked a ronin sitting in the corner. After that, a woman showed up and argued with the ronin for a bit before they both took the ninja upstairs; presumably to the ronin's room. The young woman was certain you'd be by to check on the ninja this morning." he finished with a slight smirk. Yohji nodded.

"Yeah, and so I am. What's going on now?"

"As it turns out, Kritiker's also been tailing the ronin for some time. Name's Fujimiya Ran. His father killed his wife and daughter and then committed suicide over some kind of scandal. Ran's been wandering around since then looking for any means of revenge." Here Yohji nodded again and leaned forward.

"What does Kritiker want to do now, Botan?" he asked in a low voice. The man across from him smirked.

"Right now, they don't want to do anything. We're going to tail the two kids and see what happens. This gives Kritiker an excellent means of observing them further to determine what kind of people they are." Botan leaned back, taking another shot of sake with him. Across from him, Yohji leaned forward further, and frowned. The waitress came and left, her presence unaknowledged with the exception that Yohji poured himself a shot of hot sake.

"How long do they plan to wait? If they wait too long, they'll lose him." Botan only shook his head.

"Long enough Balinese long enough. Right now, you're going to go up there, and check on them, seeing as how your little lady friend gave you an excuse to. You will be the means of contact for Kritiker when it is needed between the ninja and our organization. As per orders of Manx herself." Yohji snorted to himself. Lovely.

"So then I take it I'll be busy upstairs this morning? Anything in particular I need to say or do?"

"Just check on the ninja; see how his health is, make sure the ronin isn't trying to kill him, although we're pretty sure that's not a risk. Poke around, see what you can find out, if anything. You know how it goes. He's in the last room on the left side at the end of the hall." Yohji nodded.

"Got it. I'm on my way boss." he tossed back the rest of his sake, regretting he'd only had one shot of a very fine bottle, and stood up, casting it a longing look.

"Don't worry, it's not going to waste." Botan informed him with a smirk, reaching for the mostly full bottle. Yohji scowled at him and he laughed. "You'll have plenty of time to throw some drinks back later. In the mean time, no drinking on the job." Yohji couldn't help but chuckle at the comment, remembering how much 'drinking on the job' he'd done last night. Judging by the light in Botan's eyes, he'd intended the comment to be sarcastic. Yohji sighed and shook his head.

"Sending me off to do all your grunt work while you sit here and drink my sake…" he trailed off in mock irritation.

"Damn straight. Get to work, grunt." They exchanged another good-natured chuckle before Yohji turned and strode up the stairs, this time absent of the anger he had come in with.

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Tehe!! That's the end of 4B. Next to come: Yohji, meet Ran. Ran, Yohji. Ding Ding! (Okay boys, I want a clean shot all the way through and remember; come out fighting!) Err….Right. Anyway, Get ready for possessive Ran who's trying NOT to be possessive and a teasing Yohji who likes throwing it in Ran's face. Ahh, what fun! .

Thanks again to all of my reviewers. It's really spectacular that you're leaving comments. I really didn't think I'd get so many glowing remarks! I'm sorry I haven't responded to you all individually, but I'm trying to save time so I can update more chapters! Stick around 'cause the ride's just starting!! Ja na!

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