Ah… After weeks and weeks of not updating… . Gomen, gomen! I tried, I really did! Schoolwork is running me ragged these days… Never let it be said that your last year of high school means slacking off! >. Anyway, here's the 3rd chapter for everyone!
Also, I apologize for any grammar or spelling mistakes, here or during the previous chapters. Anyone wanna beta/hint hints/ XD heehee!
Oh; by the way, the italics indicate thoughts (except for the recap part, though)
Last chapter:
He opened one eye and tried to view the situation. It looked hopeless; he could probably easily take out the thugs if he tried, but he wasn't about to risk the kid's safety for that.
"Hey, look! He's still standing!"
The brunette could only close his eyes as he waited for the second blow to land...
Obloquy Chapter 3: Encounter
It never came.
Ken's eyes snapped open when he felt himself being pushed aside. "Aya?" he blurted out at the sight of a trench-coat clad back, and hair that seemed reddish in the dim streetlights.
His protector paid him no mind as the hoodlums were disposed of (a/n: like garbage…kekeke…XD) one by one. All too soon, Ken felt a pair of strong arms catch him right before he fell.
"Aya…?" he murmured blearily.
What about the kid? He wanted to ask— But his aching, throbbing head prevented him from speaking any further.
"He'll be fine, kitten." A soothing voice murmured into his ear.
Ken frowned. Soothing… nasal voice that was definitely…
NOT Aya's…!
"Who the hell are you?" the teenaged brunette leaped away from this newly identified stranger who'd been holding him.
"Schwarz…" he hissed, upon seeing another familiar redhead; one he'd wished never to meet alone.
"Aww, kitten… You wound me so." The German gave him a catlike grin.
"What do you want?" Ken growled in what he hoped was a threatening way, considering the fact that he looked particularly vulnerable, leaning against the wall like that and eyes slightly out of focus.
"I'm not here to hurt you, if that's what you mean." Hands were raised in a gesture of peace.
"Then… why…?" he couldn't ask the question.
Why'd you help me?
Why'd you come?
Why… help an enemy?
Schuldich laughed, leaning closer to Ken.
"Let me tell you a secret, kid…" his whispers sent shivers down the younger boy's back.
"There is no white, there is no black; there is only you—young, carefree and innocent, doing what you think is right—and then there's me… not as young, perhaps, just a bit more troubled and tainted, doing what I think is right. We are the same, you and I. Killing people isn't just a profession—it has become a part of life. It's what keeps us…" and he leaned back.
"Alive."
Ken's headache had gone to a dull throbbing as he went over what Schuldich had said. About killing. About life. About…him. He was frightened, of course. Had killing… become a part of him? Had it become the lifeline which he desperately clung to; this wretched excuse of a life? He was too young; innocent, as the German had so aptly described. And yet… taking lives in the darkness of the night seemed as simple as watering flowers during the day.
He had never thought of himself as a murderer before… Just someone who laid all the evils in society down to rest. And yet… was he not killing a son? A father? A lover? Someone's friend?
Ken shut his eyes tight, much to the amusement of the nearby German, who'd been reading every single thought that entered the boy's head.
"I'd rethink this whole 'good and evil' business if I were you, kid."
And just as fast as he'd come, the redhead disappeared into the darkness.
"Aya…" Ken murmured, knees finally buckling from underneath him, making him collapse on the cold ground.
Am I just… a killer…?
Damn it, Ken, where are you? Aya wondered for the hundredth time as he glared around at the emptying streets of Tokyo. It was nearing midnight, and the brunette was still nowhere to be found. And much as he'd have hated to admit it, he was getting… worried. For a teammate, of course.
Looking for someone?
The redhead immediately tensed, recognizing that all-too-familiar voice that had entered his thoughts.
"Schwarz…" he growled under his breath, giving the entire area a quick scan for the offending German.
A laugh. You won't find me, Abyssinian; but I'd be more worried about that other kitten, if I were you.
What did you do to him? Aya's footsteps quickened over the pavement as he frantically searched for the younger brunette.
Silence.
Nothing. As a matter of fact, I saved him when YOU couldn't. He deserves to know the truth, don't you think?
The redhead froze in his steps. What do you mean, truth?
Tsk tsk tsk… Naughty Abyssinian…Playing with such an innocent kitten's mind. You value your profession too much, did you know that?
"I'd look in that alley if I were you," A voice from behind him said.
Growling, Aya turned to face the smirking German. "You bastard." Aya spoke venomously.
"Hey," the German cocked his head sideways. "I'm not the one who's deceiving my own teammate."
Well… He could only glare in response. Schuldich glanced to the side, and amethyst orbs warily followed, widening at what they saw.
"Poor little Weiss kitten… Not to worry though, I think I've planted enough truth in his head. Time for you to fill in the rest."
Mastermind's voice continued to echo tauntingly in his head as Aya rushed to where Ken slumped against the brick wall.
"Hidaka…" he called, gently feeling the boy's pulse, wincing as he saw the boy's uneven pupils… concussion.
He probed the back of the boy's head with gentle fingers and grimaced when he felt a lump the size of a golf ball.
"Aya…?" Ken murmured. The redhead nodded in swift affirmation before hastily helping his teammate stand.
"Aya… is that…you?"
"Aa…"
Ken chuckled, a bit disoriented. "That's Aya, alright. The only…words…that ever come out of his lips… Aa… Hn… Get out…of the store… Leave me alone…You scare me sometimes, you know?" he laughed weakly.
Aya did his best to seem unaffected by the brunette's tirade of truths. Right now, getting Ken somewhere safer was what he needed to do.
His curiosity got the better of him, however…
"How…so?" he questioned cautiously, half-carrying the boy towards his car.
"Like... I never know… what you're thinking… Sometimes… it's like…you're a complete stranger to me… to us… Do you even feel… Aya? How do you manage… to kill so effortlessly…? Schwarz told me that killing… is how we stay alive… is it… is it true, Aya? If so… I don't want to live… not like… this. Not… anymore…" hazy brown pupils gazed desperately into his own, searching for some sign of assurance.
Aya could only look back in stunned silence as the brunette continued to take uneven gasps of breath. Then Ken's eyes slowly closed into unconsciousness.
"K'so…" the redhead muttered, snapping back into reality. He needed to get Ken back home; fast.
The brunette's words never left his thoughts, however, as he drove back to their apartment.
Sometimes… it's like… you're a complete stranger to me…
Am I…? I'm... sorry...
Do you even feel… Aya?
Sometimes… I don't think I do.
Schwarz told me that killing…is how we stay alive…Is it… is it true, Aya?
For me, Ken… but not for you.
If so… I don't want to live… not like… this. Not… anymore…
Don't say that…You mean too much to the world…
For the first time in his life, the Weiss leader found himself floored. There was so much he wanted to say; so much he wanted to take back… and yet, he couldn't. Could it be because the one who needed his words was unable to hear, much less, respond, at the moment? Or because his own pride, his own icy wall kept him from exposing such vulnerabilities to the world?
If so… I don't want to live… not like… this. Not… anymore…
Don't say that… you mean too much to the world…
You mean to much…
To me.
From underneath a street lamp, a tall redhead smiled serenely as he watched a white Porsche speed away into the night. Things were promising to be very interesting, indeed…
-tbc-
hmm… did you all get that last part? Hehe… it was sort of Aya's answers to the questions Ken was asking. Well, technically, Aya couldn't answer since Ken was unconscious, but that's what he would've said… Ah... It just means... AYa is finally warming up to Kenken! ...Am I making sense?
Aya: No, you are not. Stop rambling.
Ken/teary eyed/ Aya, I don't get it… /whine/ I'm confuuuused… .
Aya/huggles Kenken/ shut up, you… /glares at author/
Kyria-chan: meep! O.o /hides/
- heehee! Thanks to my reviewers! ) -.-, Brokn Innocence, HeavenGoddess, RedemptionMoon, Murasaki-Yanagi and Sachiko V. I love you guys! ) Well, till the next chappie! Ja, ne!
-kyria-chan