Author's Note: I've been updating so painfully slow on this one. Class starting up isn't helping me at all. Eventually, I'll have less and less time for creativity. Sucks.
Disclaimer & Warnings: Refer to first chapter.
Pairing: YoKen, hints of RanOmi, and a little more post RanKen.
Fic Note: Please review! Without those, I never would have gotten this far, seriously. I'm surprised people have been liking this so far. And I'm glad they do.
Erinnerung
Ken had insisted staying in the corner of the flower shop instead of resting on the couch in the basement. The others let him, not wanting the ex-soccer player to feel cooped up. Ken sat in a corner in a chair, his arms crossed. He was leaning his head against the wall and his eyes were closed. He breathed in the air slowly as he sat quietly there the whole day, listening.
In the midst of listening to all the conversation, Ken felt a tug on his heart. He drifted off to a sort of in-between state of dreams and being awake.
Ken was in a different flower shop, different from the one he was currently in. He walked forward and swung open the door to the shop, entering. There, he saw himself clumsily arranging flowers. This was confusing him because he knew he had been doing the job very well lately.
A voice of a woman drifted in the room. "Manx!" Omi was whispering excitedly, "You came to visit!"
"Yes, I have…how is Ken?"
The smiling scene of the flower shop seemed to vanish for the most part. The store was getting darker, and he was heading down a set of stairs into the familiar basement where he constantly rested due to his lack of energy.
He heard familiar voices. Omi, Ran, and Yoji were definitely down here. He continued down the stairs and heard his own voice. He was also hearing a voice of a familiar man coming from the television screen. Ken stopped when he saw a woman with red hair in the corner. He recognized that woman. Somehow, Ken knew she was the owner of the voice he had just heard.
Ken wondered why they were here, and not smiling. Then he noticed what was on the screen. Pictures of dead people. He looked at all the Weiss. They were all holding some kind of weapons. Ken gasped. He was remembering this now. They had killed for justice. So why weren't they doing it now? Had it changed over the years? Was he imagining things?
Yet, he was sure that they had killed at some point.
"He's fine. He's Yoji's charge," the voice was Ran's.
Ken shifted uncomfortably in his chair.
"Ran! Ran! Let's go to the field tomorrow, okay?"
"Sure, why not."
Ken was watching his past-self, or he assumed it was his past self, run up to Ran and hug him. He half-smiled as Ran hugged him back. He was confused, he thought he had been with Yoji all this time. What was this, then?
"How come you don't talk as much in the store, Ran?"
"They understand me not by my words, Ken…but by my expressions."
"Or lack thereof!"
Ran laughed. The dream Ken smiled. "But I speak for you…because you don't seem to understand otherwise."
"Well, it's too hard!"
"Hn…"
The last customer had just filed out of the store when Omi started the store lock-down.
"So what brings you here, Manx?"
Ken relaxed. The voice was Yoji's. "I'm just here to see how you all were doing. I believe that Schwarz has lost interest in you all for the most part. Especially Esstet. They have their hands full with the new and larger Weiss."
"You made it bigger?" Yoji asked with slight disbelief.
"Yes. We figured they would have less room to bond and connect. We found that if they were as tightly knit as you all were, they would spiral down the drain the minute one of them falls."
The ex-assassins all remained quiet at this truth. Ken shifted uncomfortably again.
Everything seemed to be zooming by him so fast, but then suddenly his dream started to slow. Ken stopped in front of a sort of movie screen, and then looked around and realized they were all screens. Ken picked the closest one and touched it, finding that it was of liquid substance. He let his arms through, and then fell right in.
He was with a man named Schuldich in this one. Ken wasn't particularly fond of him. He looked behind them, and there was another Schuldich and the rest of a sort of team.
What had the name been? Ken watched the figures move silently, and the scene changed to a battlefield. Weiss. Their group name had been Weiss. They were fighting the strange looking men. The one with glasses and the one without an eye seemed the hardest to beat.
What were they?
Ken jolted from his seat suddenly. "Schwarz!" he screamed.
The rest of the people in the room stared at Ken in disbelief. They advanced slowly to Ken. "Ken…?" Yoji spoke cautiously, "Ken…? What's going on?"
Ken held his head, kicking the seat away from under him. He leaned against a wall and started sliding down it slowly. His head was hurting him like crazy, like someone was driving a nail in with a hammer.
He was in a nightclub. He was unsure of himself and how he should be acting. He didn't have to be for long. The familiar blond was grabbing his hand and rushing him out of the club with a panic.
"Yoji…? Hey! Yoji! What's going on?"
The scene flashed to Yoji looking into Ken's eyes before kissing the boy smartly on the mouth. The kiss sent electric sparks all through him, sticking him to the floor.
Ken slowly snapped out of it, but he was still breathing hard. He felt the blood on his hands, he remembered the pain in his heart. He was being shaken lightly by someone. He looked up slowly at no one in particular. "Ken!" Yoji's soothing voice was calling out to him in slight panic, "Ken! Are you all right?"
Ken started crying. He wanted to pass out, throw up, anything than remember any more. If you could call them memories. He was being held from all directions. Especially by Yoji. Ken buried his face in Yoji's chest.
He didn't know how long they had all stayed like that before he passed out. He slept in Yoji's house for the whole of the next day.
That very night, something seemed to click in Ken. He woke up earlier than usual, but he didn't move for a long time. He just waited until Yoji came in his room to check up on him.
"Yoji…"
"Yes, Ken?" Yoji went over to Ken's curtains and opened them.
Ken fell silent a moment, and then he whispered, "How many did I kill…?"
Yoji froze, then turned from the curtains, his eyes wide. "Who told you that?"
Ken bit his lip. "My dream…I dreamt that we used to have weapons…and we were always down in a basement, taking orders from a television…?"
Yoji shakily made his way over to Ken's bed. "You…you just had a bad dream."
Ken frowned. "Don't lie to me, Yotan!"
Yoji's eyes widened. Ken had definitely said it this time. "What was that?"
"I said don't lie to me."
"No, after that…"
"Yotan."
"Right…that's what I thought…" Yoji said to himself in disbelief, "What else did your dreams tell you…"
"I wasn't in love with you the whole time…I was in love with Aya too…but I called him Ran…he's with Omi now…and I'm with you…"
Yoji nodded slowly. "Yoji…I feel sick…tell me…tell me what those dreams mean…"
Yoji cupped his hands around Ken's face. "Ken…"
"Yes…?"
"You're…" Yoji gulped, "You're remembering…"
"Remembering what though?"
Yoji laughed and kissed Ken on the mouth. Ken's eyes widened slightly, and things seemed to fall into place. Yoji pulled away and looked down at a breathless Ken. "Oh…" the lithe boy rasped.
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Today was a day of much celebration. Everyone had rejoiced when they found Ken had his memory back. Today was a celebration of that, as well as a celebration of Ken and Yoji's wedding. It was to be a small, private one, but it was a wedding all the same.
Ken was incredibly nervous. "What if Yoji changes his mind, Omi?"
Omi laughed. "After all you guys have been through? All the sleepless nights and cigarettes that Yoji's smoked? I don't think he'll give up on you now."
Ken wrinkled his nose. "What do you mean, all the cigarettes he's smoked?"
"What I mean is, if you had any idea how much money Yoji spent on packs of smokes, you'd flip out."
"How many?"
"Enough to surprise me and Aya that he doesn't have cancer."
Ken laughed softly, mostly embarrassed that he caused Yoji's habit to worsen. He took a sharp intake of breath when he heard the organ being played. Ran was probably playing it, judging from the style. When they had gone out, Ran had played the piano for Ken all the time, and Ken eventually accompanied him on the violin. How blind Ken had been then, thinking that just because they connected with music, that he would have the kind of relationship his parents had. He had been wrong.
"Is Ran playing the piano…?"
Omi almost didn't recognize the name again, but nodded and smiled sheepishly, "Aa."
Ken burst out laughing. Omi was confused. "Ken-kun?"
Ken laughed. "I'm sorry, Omi, you just sounded so much like R…Aya just now," Ken caught his mistake this time.
Omi blushed. "Thank you, Ken-kun…"
"He's quite the musician, you know…" Ken added, fondly, "I'm sure if you ask, he'll play for you someday."
Omi shook his head and sighed. "I'm afraid Aya will only play for you, Ken."
Ken frowned slightly, "Well that's not fair, and that's not very nice of him either!"
Omi laughed. "It's okay, Ken. Actually I understand him. He told me once, that you used to play with him. He wants to be loyal to me from now on, so he doesn't want to do anything that reminds him of you and makes his thoughts waver."
"Oh, I see," Ken nodded.
Omi helped Ken up. "Okay, Ken-kun! Time to go!"
Ken smiled. Omi led Ken down the aisle, and Ran seemed to suddenly play a different and more lively rendition of the wedding march. They made it to the end of the hall and then everything seemed to stop. Ran stopped playing, and Omi was quiet. The priest who was at the front cleared his throat. Ken looked around, knowing he wouldn't be able to see anything. "Why did we stop? What's going on?" Ken asked worriedly.
Just then, someone barged into the church. Ken looked in the direction of the sound, and he heard heavy breathing. "Yoji! Where were you?" he heard Omi scold.
Yoji ran up to Ken and held the brunette's hands. "That…doesn't…matter…now…I'm…here!" Yoji managed to breath out.
Ken frowned at the person in front of him. "You're the one who set the date and you're late for our wedding!"
Yoji chuckled nervously. "Explain yourself!" Ken roared.
Everyone winced, and Yoji chuckled nervously. "Well, there was this woman outside the chapel that needed her car fixed and no one was going to help her so…"
"A woman!" Ken thundered, "That's why you were late!"
"Well, um…"
"Yoji Kudou! If you want me to change my last name, you'd better get on your knees and apologize for that! I did not come here all nervous and scared that you were going to change your mind only to find out you not only came late but it was because of some woman in distress!"
"You'd better do as he says, Yoji-kun…" Omi warned, "Or Ken-kun might get really mad…"
Yoji sighed and glared at Ran, who seemed to be trying hard not to smile. He got on his knees and held Ken's hands, tugging them down a bit to prove that he was down. "I'm…sorry, Ken."
Ken thwacked Yoji on the head, causing them all surprise. "Ow!" Yoji whined, rubbing his head, "What was that for?"
"Don't ever do it again!"
They all fell silent for a moment, and then they all laughed. Ken was relieved, and the rest were laughing at how adorable Ken had looked at that moment, so furious at Yoji. Ken eventually helped Yoji up. "We should get started…"
They wasted no more time after that. They exchanged vows, rings, and then a long kiss that caused the priest to turn away respectfully. Ran held Omi's hand, and Omi was trying hard not to squeal in delight. They had come so far, and now it was official. He was so happy for them.
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Ken sighed as the moved in the last piece of furniture into their large room. Kritiker, as a gift to them, had bought Yoji and Ken a large house as a wedding gift. Yoji had just finished hooking up strings everywhere, so that Ken would be able to find his way around the house without getting hurt.
Ken flopped onto his bed. When he heard Yoji come in the room, he smiled. Yoji ruffled his hair, and Ken leaned in to Yoji's touch. Yoji laughed. "That happy, huh?"
Ken smiled tiredly, "Yeah…"
Ken yawned, and then got up and stretched. "I think I'm going to go take a shower."
"All right."
Ken got up and found his way into the bathroom. Yoji followed him in, but Ken didn't notice. Ken shut the door, and Yoji locked it. Ken heard the click of the lock and frowned, since he knew he hadn't locked the door. He turned and ran into Yoji's chest.
"Ah!" Ken screamed, "Ahhhh!"
Yoji put a finger to Ken's lips, silencing him. "Relax, love, it's only me."
"I know, but why are you in here!"
Yoji laughed. "To help you take a shower, of course."
"No! Get out! Pervert!"
Yoji advanced on Ken. "Oh, let's be fair now, KenKen. We're married now. We're supposed to do these things."
"Yotan! Get ou-ohhh…"
Yoji grinned at Ken's reaction. That night, Ken found out what it was like to become a true married man. He couldn't even look at Yoji in the eye later that night when they shared the same bed. Yoji was grinning, resting his head on his hand, and propped himself up on an elbow. Ken was as far away from Yoji as possible, flustered, and trying to get some sleep.
"So did you have fun, Ken?"
"…"
"Well?"
"Shut up, Yotan."
"Aww, is KenKen mad?"
"Go to sleep, Yotan!"
Yoji laughed and wrapped his arm around Ken's waist. Ken blushed and muttered something about murdering Yoji in his sleep, but he gave into Yoji's touch, much to his dismay. Yoji smiled at Ken. Life was truly good.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Saiki.Kensuke.Yuuta: Yes, they did have sex, but instead of describing it in detail, I thought that for this fic, it would be far more powerful if I just practiced my power of suggestion. Appealing to the mood over the sexual tension.
Haha, though I can't say I made a smooth enough transition. I tried! I'm a bit rushed, trying to get this fic done before I lose the concept just because class starts. That would suck.
Time for the grand finale! Oh, but read the author's note in the next one, or you might miss something. hint hint!
