Author's Note: A note to everyone, I have finally updated the hotlink in my profile for the long-awaited homepage of my works. It's a better detailed listing of my fiction project campaigns and updates. You can go see better detailed previews for upcoming projects by hitting the link in my profile, or just copy-pasting the url I'm going to place here for you all. Feel free to comment on those entries with anything you want to say! If you have an account, be sure to sign the anonymous comment with your screenname so I know who's keeping up with my projects and who's interested, and so on...

Here's the url: www. livejournal . com / users / saikenyuu

Get rid of the spaces between the url to go there. I had to space it out or the url wouldn't show. Stupid, I know.

Disclaimer & Warnings : Everything was listed first two chapters.

Pairing: RanOmi, one-sided SchuKen, developing YoKen.

Fic Note: This fic is going to be 10 chapters long, as I've finally decided. I'm going to see how much I can finish today. Welcome to chapter 6, everyone!

Anschlag

"Watch out!"

Ran had swiftly turned only to widen his eyes in slight shock as the enemy's bullet went through Ken's shoulder and barely grazed his own shoulder after going through Ken with such force. Ran caught Ken's fall, and Ken looked up at him and winked, one hand on his injured shoulder. "You should be more careful, you know..."

Ran didn't say anything and put Ken in a safe place out of enemy view while he took care of the other enemies. Ken could still fight, but he'd wait until Ran would run into any other trouble before doing anything. Sometimes Ran just like taking care of things on his own to protect him, even though he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself.

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Ran had been completely mortified when he saw Schuldich kiss Ken, which was probably everyone's inner reaction on both assassin teams. Even Ken seemed disgusted by the action. Only Schuldich seemed to be behind the times, thinking everything was going to be all right for him. Ran didn't understand it himself, but before he knew it he was running after Schuldich and Ken with some strange feeling boiling inside of him. He wasn't sure whether to label it anger, jealousy, or just plain protectiveness. Whatever it was, it made him feel slightly guilty to Omi, but he was pretty sure for the most part that his feelings for Ken were now entirely platonic. Yet he constantly felt he owed the brunette something.

He felt Omi charge after Yoji, where he should have been helping too. After all, Yoji was not only outnumbered he was fighting the stronger of the two Schwarz members. Still somehow, he couldn't help but instinctively charge after Ken, like the old days. The battle didn't last long after that.

Schuldich kept his distance from Ken, frustrating the younger boy as he was trying to get into closer range. "Come on, kitten...won't you just listen to me?" Schuldich asked.

"No! There is nothing to hear!" Ken shouted back, too frustrated to even think his words.

Crawford's voice interrupted Schuldich's thoughts, "It's too dangerous now. Take Nagi, and let's get out of here."

"Nani! What about the experiments?"

Crawford did not sound happy, "We were sloppy. We have to abort this mission. We've lost this time."

Schuldich wasn't ready to go just yet, but then in the slight moment of distraction with Crawford, he felt a sword go through his shoulder. Following that surprising blow he felt Ken's bugnuks slice a gash down the side of his arm. Schuldich screamed in frustration, now he was pissed off. He recoiled away from his pursuers and went to pick up Nagi. He narrowed his eyes and hissed at Ken. "I have no idea what I was thinking. You're nothing but a lowly kitten. You'll pay for those blows."

Schuldich then went quickly to Crawford's side. Ken and Ran were hot on Schuldich's trail, but were blocked by Farfarello holding Omi by the head with a blade to the boy's neck. Yoji was pinned down by Crawford's strong power. The two free Weiss were frozen, not quite sure what action would be effective to take. Crawford seemed to say something to Farfarello in his mind, causing Farfarello to drop Omi abruptly as the Schwarz members teleported out of the building, leaving all of the vital items of Esstet behind. Without hesitation Ran did the next best thing he could, destroy all of the vital Esstet components at this base.

Omi wasn't injured too badly this time, and he limped over to check on Yoji who appeared for the most part fine save a few scratches and bruises. Schwarz had been too distracted to do any critical damage this time. Ken meanwhile was looking at his hands in slight shock and horror. The old Ken was resurfacing, and he was coming to his senses. Ken was feeling really sick now. The blood was for the most part dried on his bugnuks, but that didn't comfort him. He felt the blood of all those people covering him, and he was suffocating. Ken grabbed his head and tried screaming, but his mouth would only open with no sound.

The scenes from the recent months were all playing in his head. He couldn't believe how much he had lost his mind over love. He had wanted to be loved and needed so badly, he had gotten so deep into new problems he had created for himself. He had gotten involved with an enemy, severed his relationship with Weiss and its members, and he was becoming a mindless murderer. The guilt was overwhelming. So was the pain.

The last thing he remembered before passing out was his fellow Weiss members rushing to his side.

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He was dreaming of playing soccer. He was so happy. He was following his parents' car with his soccer ball, and then watched in horror as the car burst into flames. Suddenly he was in an orphanage and playing soccer with the kids there. He was everyone's big brother, because he was the oldest. No one was older than him, so he had no one to lean on when something happened. The younger kids would offer to give comfort, but it just didn't feel the same.

He dreamed of his old foster family that he had left after the incident with Kase. He remembered meeting Kase for the first time. He remembered killing Kase, the blood of an old friend-turned enemy on his claws.

He was in the middle of his favorite playing field, playing with his soccer ball when suddenly it got dark and he was surrounded by people. Schuldich was sneering at him. Ran was walking away, with Omi at his side telling him to go away, that Ran was his now. And then there was Yoji, accusatory Yoji. Asking him why he kept leaving Weiss and then coming back.

They all turned and walked away eventually. Ken was left all alone in his field with his soccer ball. He felt so empty.

Ken woke up with tears in his eyes. Everything was coming crashing down on him now. All of his recent mistakes were definetly haunting him. "So you're awake."

Ken looked around and spotted Ran leaning on the stairway pole where Yoji usually would be during their mission briefings. That would mean that Ken had woken up on the couch. Ran walked up to Ken and tried brushing away a few strands of Ken's hair, but Ken only recoiled. Ran put his hand down at his side and bent down next to the couch, looking at Ken. "How are you feeling...?"

When Ken didn't respond, Ran sighed. He didn't know when it happened, but it seemed as if Ken had become pretty distant from everyone, especially him. Ran patted the couch out of slight frustration, he still wanted to comfort Ken somehow, even though it was no longer his place to do so. "All right...all right...I'll send someone else to check up on you then."

Ran got up to go towards the stairs to get Omi to come down to comfort Ken, the two had been pretty close as well. Ken stopped him. "Not...not Omi..."

Ran sighed. Of course he had forgotten for a moment that Ken might feel awkard seeking comfort from Ran's current lover. "Yoji then?"

Ken hesitated for a moment. He needed comfort badly now, but he didn't like the idea of Yoji, who always seemed to be so right with his advice coming down to comfort him with more advice that would probably come true and make him feel even worse later. Ken shook his head, "No...no one. I'm going home..."

Ken got up slowly and made his way past Ran. Ran decided it was best not to stop Ken, but he followed Ken upstairs silently. It was late afternoon at the flower shop, which meant slow business. Omi spotted Ken and ran up to the older boy, smiling. "Ken-kun! You're awake!" he said cheerily.

Ken didn't even smile or acknowledge Omi's presence. His only concern right now in his mind was getting on his motorcycle and going straight home. Omi looked hurt and confused as he watched Ken leave the shop. "Ken-kun...? Ken-kun...?"

Ran shot Yoji a glance and the other Weiss assassin got the message. He followed Ken outside the shop. Ken went around back to get his motorcycle. Before he could get on, Yoji grabbed Ken gently by the shoulder. Ken sighed and turned around, looking very tired. "What is it, Yoji...?"

"Where are you going, Ken?"

"Home."

"You're in no condition to go home."

"Well, you can't stop me."

"True...I can't, and I won't. But at least let me take you home. I don't know if you've noticed, Ken, but you've been in bad shape for a while now."

"Shut up, Yotan," Ken snapped, using the nickname he used sometimes to annoy Yoji and warn the older man to back off of him.

"You can't make me, KenKen," Yoji countered.

Ken sighed, exasperated. "All right, fine. You take me home, then will you all leave me the hell alone for a while?"

Yoji smirked. "Sure thing, KenKen."

He got on the motorcycle and Ken blinked. Yoji looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Well? Are you going to get on or not? Or did you expect us to walk?"

"Uh..."

Yoji snickered. "Or do you not trust me with your bike?"

Ken frowned, "Partly that..."

"And?"

"And well...isn't it kind of weird? I mean, it's normal for two guys to be in the same car and all, but it looks kinda weird if two guys are on a cycle..."

Yoji grinned. "Don't worry, Ken, it's not like we have a 'Just Married' sign flying behind this thing."

Ken rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "I still think it's kind of weird...can't we just take your car or something?"

"Nope."

"Huh! Why not!"

Yoji smirked. "Because, KenKen, unlike you-who only partly doesn't trust me with this cycle, I don't trust you at all with my car."

Ken grew flustered. "Hey! I won't even be driving!"

"I know. But knowing you, you'd still damage something."

They argued for a while, but it developed into mostly playful banter. The mood seemed to loosen up between them, and Ken seemed a bit happier again. Eventually Ken was convinced to go on his cycle with Yoji, who negotiated with Ken by allowing Ken to be the one to wear the helmet to hide his identity. Ken was hesitant at first, but he eventually got behind Yoji and wrapped his arms around Yoji, melting into the other assassin's warmth. He rested his head gently on Yoji's back, and closed his eyes for most of the ride as they went off towards Ken's apartment after Ken gave Yoji some simple directions.

Ken hadn't felt this comfortable and safe in a long while. It was almost ironic. To find a small comfort in the straightest playboy on the planet, and the one person Ken never seemed to stop arguing with. Yoji knew how to push Ken's buttons to the point where Ken couldn't tell the difference between being annoyed and being furious. Probably the same way Yoji's dates felt about him, Ken figured. He could picture Yoji flirting with women, he just couldn't picture Yoji doing anything right in order to keep them for more than a day. A week, at most.

When they finally made it to Ken's house, Ken was half-asleep. He had been so comfortable that ride. He thought he heard Yoji say something, but he was too tired to understand or respond. Eventually he felt Yoji park Ken's motorcycle and felt Yoji take his helmet off. He could barely recognize Yoji. He only saw fuzzy colors of white, yellow, and peach. He heard small amused laughter, and felt himself being lifted up and carried.

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It took Yoji about ten minutes to figure out which place was Ken's. As Yoji figured, Ken was very friendly to everyone. He managed to find a little boy going into his house and asked him if he knew where Ken lived. The boy kindly told him before going into his own house. Eventually Yoji reached Ken's door and opened it, letting himself in along with Ken, now growing a bit heavy on his back.

Finding Ken's bed, he placed Ken on it and looked silently at Ken's peaceful face, and it seemed to bring him some sort of peace as well. It had been a while since he had seen the boy's face so at ease. Ever since Ken had killed Kase, things seemed to have gone downhill for Ken. The problems Ken had been running into didn't seem that huge to Yoji, since he had already done things like that before, but of course this was all Ken's first time experiencing confusing relationship up-and-downs. It was almost adorable to Yoji. Yoji sat by Ken's side for a while, pulling up a chair to the side of the bed, contemplating. It was a shame that people seemed to keep on turning Ken away, he wasn't a bad person.

Yoji eventually got up to go back to the flower shop, as it was getting late. He needed to walk and reach the flower shop before it got too dark to see. The last thought that ran into his mind before he left was that if Ken had been a girl, he definetly would have given him a chance. Hell, someone with Ken's personality could probably put Asuka out of his mind. His personality was so different from Asuka's, there would be no way in the world Yoji could be able to confuse the two.

It was odd that he was actually saying to himself that Ken was attractive in some way, but Yoji figured it was just the way he was that made him think that way. So without a second thought on the subject, he headed back to the shop where his car would be so he could head home himself.

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Ken woke up to the cold of his room. Feeling a strange pit in his stomach, he ran into the bathroom, sliding across the floor a bit, sliding to the toilet and slamming the lids open. His body shook, and he threw up nothing at first, but eventually the thick bile ran up his throat and went into the toilet bowel. He sighed and flushed the toilet and leaned his head against the cold wall, breathing hard. His face was very pale, and he put a hand to the wall, trying to push off to get up but found he was just too tired to.

He really needed to get a grip on himself, but so many emotional confusions and turns was not something Ken Hidaka was built for. Even he was used to being optimistic and cheery, not because he was pretending, it was because he really was that kind of person. He did feel better after releasing what had been bottled up inside physically at least. It gave him slight peace of mind.

He heard the soft music playing from his alarm clock. That meant it was 5:30 in the morning. Ken normally would have done his morning jog before making it to the flower shop by 6am. He had been thinking about ways to get up for work, when he drifted off to sleep, the music from the alarm clock playing a soothing Mozart tune.

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The sun was warm on his back. Oddly enough, he didn't have his soccer gear on, nor did he have anything soccer related with him. He was on a beach, and the sky was clear for the most part with the most beautiful puffy white clouds overhead. The wind was gently brushing through his hair, and he smelled the natural salt of the beach. Ken hadn't felt this relaxed in a long time. He was wearing only swimming trunks and a pair of sunglasses. He put his hands on his hips and took a look around the people on the beach. A man walked behind him and accidentally bumped into him, dropping a wallet. Ken turned and saw a tall man that looked like a lifeguard walk away from his post, since another woman seemed to have taken his place. The man was heading for a motorcycle.

Ken bent down, picked up the wallet, and chased after the man. "Hey!" his voice seemed to echo in the dream, "Hey, mister! Wait!"

The man didn't stop. Ken found himself running faster, and feeling the wind rushing around him, almost hugging him. Ken smiled as he chased after the man. Even if he could never reach the man, this running felt so good. These past few months, Ken had forgotten what a great feeling it was to just get out and run like a maniac. His natural speedy instincts kicked in, however, and he finally managed to reach the man. He grabbed the man's shoulder.

"Hey...!" he managed to puff out.

The man turned, but his face seemed mostly blocked out by the sunlight. The man's mouth moved, asking Ken a soundless question that Ken seemed to understand anyway. He smiled and handed the wallet over. "You dropped this, mister."

The dream seemed to focus on the man's smile. It was soothing and reassuring. Ken hadn't been smiled at like that in a long time. It made him feel so good. Ken was easily satisfied with simple gestures like that. Somehow, he found himself getting wrapped up in some kind of conversation with this person. He seemed so interested in what Ken had to say.

Eventually, somehow, this man gave Ken an invitation to come with him to some restaurant. Since it was a dream, Ken somehow skipped a scene that should have happened in the dream, and suddenly jumped straight to being fully dressed in casual wear. He was wearing sandy cargo pants, sneakers, and a red tee-shirt. The man was laughing at something Ken had said. Ken blushed, but not out of embarassment, just pure bliss. He hadn't been able to make people smile in a long time. Lately all he seemed to be able to do was create tension. The man got on his motorcycle, and Ken went behind of him. The man asked him something about if he felt awkard riding with him, and Ken said it was all right.

The man started riding off with Ken, and Ken found himself leaning into the man's warmth. A warmth that seemed so familiar to Ken, but he just couldn't place it. He wrapped his arms around this man's sturdy waist and relaxed the whole ride.

The scene eventually switched to being at this man's house. It was a townhouse. They were sitting in the living room, drinking coffee and engaged in a happy conversation. Eventually the mood got a bit more serious. The man moved over to his side, and got closer to him. Ken didn't feel nervous at all. He was so at peace right now with this person. He saw the man's lips move and say something before leaning down closer to him. He felt the man's warm hands against his shoulders. He was slowly closing his eyes as their lips were getting closer together to touch, when suddenly there was a loud banging noise followed by a series of rapping noises. Ken jumped, and the man pulled away and laughed. Ken blushed, embarassed, as he realized that someone was fixing a roof next door. The banging seemed to be getting louder for some reason, however. He felt the man's protective hold over him when suddenly he felt a huge rush of cold all around him.

Ken's body recoiled as he woke up sprawled on the cold bathroom floor. He realized that he must have fallen over in his sleep. Ken was pretty sure he was awake, but he was still hearing the loud banging from his dream. There was muffled screaming from the entrance. Ken got up a bit shakily and made his way towards his front door.

The muffled screaming was a bit louder and not so muffled anymore. Ken glanced at the clock a minute before reaching the door. It was 10:45am. "Ken!" he heard from the other side of his door, "Ken! I swear if you don't open up this damn door I'm going to kick it right in!"

Ken's eyes widened slightly, he recognized the voice but he wasn't completely sure who it was since he was still a bit dazed. He opened the door swiftly, trying to prevent the person on the other side from actually implementing their crazy suggestion. "Ran...?"

Ken looked at the man standing on the other side, who was breathing hard. It wasn't Ran.

It was Yoji.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Saiki.Kensuke.Yuuta: So how about that? I was going to keep going with this chapter, but I felt that this was a good enough ending for this chapter. I've decided to just continue this scene a different way than planned in the next chapter. Look out for it!