TITLE: Transcendence
FANDOM: Weiss Kreuz
AUTHOR: Simply Kim
GENRE: AU/Yaoi/Angst/Drama/Humour
PART: 01
WORDS: 3,519
DISCLAIMERS: The series solely belongs to Koyasu Takehito and Ohmine Shoko. Although I aspire to have endless dump trucks of cash, I unfortunately do not get dibs on the fortune generated by this series.
NOTE #1: Blah or Blah is for emphasis. /Blah/is for conversations over the phone or flashbacks (if any). /Blah/ is for the conscience or whatever inner voice there is talking. Blah is for thoughts or random Japanese words.
NOTE#2: This series fic, though mostly Kryptonbrand Side B, shows much of the former parts of the Weiss Kreuz series, especially Crashers, Knight & Ran and Glühen. This one's pretty ambitious, but I'm sure I'll be able to try making a decent piece out of a very twisted plot. Please be aware that since Weiss Kreuz is an underground-based plotline, this fic would carry much of the violence and evil that is true to the series' setting. That's about it. Enjoy!
01: THE AGE OF NOTHINGNESS
"Chloé, dammit, stop sucking on that stupid rose of yours and help me carry this!"
If it was any other day, Hidaka Ken would have not bothered asking for someone to help him carry the daily flower deliveries, however, considering that the Kitten's House was packed to the brim with British school girls in their short uniform skirts and knee-high socks, it was another story. What he had been dreading just came true – it was like Japan all over again.
And now, instead of a stupid womaniser holding conversation with the prospective and the not-so-prospective buyers, in place was an equally stupid sweet-talker, who, in his opinion seemed to fare better in getting into younger women's panties if he wanted to. At least, his old partner in crime, figuratively and not so figuratively didn't take much notice of women under the age of eighteen. But this guy...
Seething, he tried to control his temper, trying to avoid a melee that might start once he threw the heavy crate he was hefting on his shoulders and it collided with the stupid jerk's blonde head. He swore, if he didn't step up, either he would tell Aya so he could deal with him in one of their daily powwows, or ask Free to haunt him or something.
Ken glared.
Glared.
And glared some more.
However, it seemed not to have any effect other than him becoming short of being cross-eyed in the process. Muttering curses in Japanese, he decided to stew, and just tough it up. After all, he was once part of the soccer world, right? He was as strong as the proverbial bamboo; he was mighty as the wind...
Now if only he could feel his shoulder.
It seemed it had been numbed from carrying too much baggage this early morning.
GOD. He hated it when he was shifting in the flower shop with poster boy over there. He always ended up doing all the work!
Muttering some more, he made his way cautiously inside, careful not to step on any of the gaggling girls' feet even though he wanted so much to do so just to keep them away and leave them to work in peace – or at least, something resembling peace. But this group of fiercely raging teen and pre-teen hormones were vital in the success of their lives, double or nay. They were sources of more than adequate pocket money. Love for flowers weren't restricted to Japanese school girls it seemed.
I hate Mondays. He grumbled inwardly, losing his footing for a moment before fortunately regaining it and succeeding in making his way to the delivery drop area of the shop.
Where Yuki was lounging around and trying to find a sense of normalcy in all this.
He wasn't even helping.
"A little help?" He almost begged, trying to achieve his most pitiful look. However, seeing that the younger boy just gave him a thoughtful glance before moving away and leaving him to his own devices, he knew he failed. He should give the boy some leeway... after all; he was not currently on duty since he worked double shifts yesterday afternoon to cover for Ken's ass as the latter played his routine soccer game with the local orphanage children.
Setting his heavy load down, he stretched for a bit before taking a deep breath and resuming work.
Five crates more... He said to himself, trying to quell another homicidal urge as a sudden titter of female origin rang I his ears. He's still at it, the jerk!
Ken was going to have to talk to Chloé personally if this keeps up.
I will have my way, dammit!
OxxxOxxxO
"But Aya, he was not helping!"
Fujimiya Ran's brow twitched as he listened to another bout of Ken's whining during the afternoon shift. It was relatively quieter this time of day, and only a few customers would come in, sometimes chat him and his co-workers up before taking their orders and leaving. He had never known anything this annoying ever since he started in this new flower shop in this country that he was still adjusting to.
The moment the schedules were settled and the shifts printed out, Ran knew it was going to be hard for the two people who were least affiliated with each other. And now, Chloé had gotten away with his flamboyancy virtually unscathed and Ken was here, working up a sweat whining to him about how horrible it was to work with someone as vile and repulsively menkui as, as Ken quoted, 'The German Jerk'. He hated it when people whine so much. Ken had been known to burst into these kinds of fits whenever he was working with Kudou Youji way back, but now, seeing this display for the third time this month, it was as if everything he had been dreading surfaced – it was like Japan all over again.
Now, instead of Ken whining about how unfair and perverted Youji was being, he was whining on how unbearable it was working Mondays with the guy. Earlier, Ran made a mistake of asking why, and was presented with a string of complaints as long as Michel's 'Christmas Wish List'.
Ran tried to keep himself in check and not burst out of the shop's back door in complete desperation. If only he wasn't alone. Subtly, he glanced towards the filigreed wall clock that hung above the door and sighed inwardly. He supposed he had to wait for an hour more before Free started his shift with him. Maybe he would come earlier than usual.
Hopefully.
"Aya..." Ken intoned once again; making Aya grasp the edge of the newspaper he was rolling the bundle of flowers with, crumpling it with vengeance. "What do we do?"
"We?" He shot back. "There is no 'we'. You have the problem, so you do something about it. Talk to him or something."
"But he would listen to you more!" came the irritating response. "You know how he is when you're the one doing the 'disciplining'!"
"You make it sound like I'm his father." Ran glared, twisting the wire that held the bouquet tightly.
There was a momentary pause before Ken grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head uncomfortably. "Umm, well..."
By now, Ran's red hair was matching the fire in his eyes. That was disconcerting at least, and at most – unforgivable. "I'm not talking to him." He declared with finality. With agitated motions, he placed the bouquet in the cooling rack, preventing it from drying out before his shift partner's delivery an hour or so later. "Go ask Free when he reports in for work."
"But I already did!" Ken groaned. "He said he didn't want to do any 'haunting'!"
"He's not a ghost, idiot."
"I know, but knowing he delves in the supernatural, who knows what he might come up to combat that evil German Jerk!" Ken cried out as he splayed the upper half of his body on the counter, shaking it until Ran's nerves were so frazzled he was close to being homicidal.
"Ken..." He growled, fingers twitching, aching to hold anything to clobber the maniac disturbing the peace of his afternoon. "Stop shaking my table. You're upsetting the arrangements I have just made."
"But this is my table too..."
Fortunately, before Ran could do something painfully drastic just to get the whining miscreant out of his face, Free came bursting in, earlier than usual. The face usually void of any emotion now painted in different hues of both alarm and bewilderment.
"Aya... The cards speak of unspeakable horrors..."
Ran swore under his breath.
"Too late."
Chloé is responsible for this. He gritted his teeth in annoyance. I'll do anything to make sure this doesn't happen again or I wouldn't be able to have my peace.
OxxxOxxxO
Yuki had always been an obedient child.
He obeyed every single thing Alison and Akagawa told him to do without question, which was probably the reason why they told him he was so easy to like and live with. However, there were times too when he was known to directly disobey any order. Call it 'judgment', but if he thought that such order, or request depending on what the case may be, would put most people, especially himself, in imminent danger, he would not do so.
So going back to this morning, there he was, observing the chaos that was the flower shop early in the day... He knew that Ken was having a tough time working alone while Chloé chatted it up with the prospective customers. From his point of view, both men, grown-ups as they may be, were not even capable of running a business. This was concretised by the lack of dedication in the blonde man's part, and lack of endurance in Ken's, especially when he suddenly asked him – no, begged him – for help.
Of course he deliberated carefully for a good few seconds, but immediately, his brain told him not to do it. After all, he had just filled in for the guy the day before and it got him just a measly salary of fifty-eight pounds.
He was not going to waste his time putting his ass on the line and just getting less than five percent of what he normally acquired after every successful mission! So he just ignored him and wandered away, back to the confines of his room where he could balance the shop's books in peace.
Yuki figured that it was time for those two to sort things out on their own.
Besides, Aya would probably do the same thing, so why bother?
OxxxOxxxO
It was late when the Kitten's House closed. They had to make the most of it after all; they didn't have a mission for the rest of the month as a measure to recuperate. It was, as KR relayed to Mihirogi, the time for them to get to know more about each other. Know more about each other, my foot. He thought, growing more irritated by the second. It's only succeeding in driving us crazy.
Why am I even doing this? He was making his way to what Yuki called "The Dracula's Room" when he literally bumped into the crux of the problem. Swearing under his breath as he rubbed his smarting shoulder, he looked up and glared at the one who stood a couple of centimetres above him. "Watch it." He grumbled.
"Oh, sorry Aya." Came the almost supercilious answer. It was nothing like an apology, and Ran bristled even more. "I didn't see you there."
"You can't just say you didn't see me – you never bump into Michel." He accused. "And he's small."
"I'll make sure he knows you just called him that."
There was tense silence as Ran scowled, irritation and a tad bit of uncertainty painting his face. It was not as if he wasn't sure he could deal with him, but he was always wearing that small knowing smile... and it reminded him of things he shouldn't be reminded of.
Like Yuushi.
That was why ever since that fateful phone call a while back, it had been hard for him to look at Chloé.
They did not look the same entirely, but there was something about him that screamed 'one person'. Maybe it was the air of total confidence, and the superciliousness that was hard not to notice.
And thoughts of Yuushi never failed to make all the harboured guilt surface.
"You have a stunning glare." Chloé's voice cut through his thoughts. "It wouldn't be good parading it around like some face model. People might go ahead and keep you all to themselves."
There was a momentary lapse of silence before Ran could finally get his wits back and think up a good comeback. Unfortunately, before he could even open his mouth and say it, Chloé had wandered ahead, leaving him with his mouth open in the middle of the hallway.
Irritation filled his system and he had half the mind to stalk after the idiot, but found himself unable to do so. It was as if the energy was zapped out of his body and he couldn't even move. What was it about the Romanian idiot that drained him so? Sighing inwardly, he gathered his thoughts and started his way up the stairs.
Wait a minute...
He halted mid-step.
It was only then that it occurred to him he had missed his chance to lecture Chloé on the merits of good behaviour and camaraderie.
He fully botched his most important peace mission yet.
Dammit.
OxxxOxxxO
"Oh my God! Even the German Jerk eluded you?" Ken was aghast, his future flashing before his eyes. Michel giggled, burying his face in the sleeve of Yuki's jacket to prevent himself from outright laughing. Ran thought the whole scene was just comical, which was always the case whenever Ken was around and was acting twice below his age. He snickered inwardly.
"Oh, but technically he isn't German." Yuki butted in, trying to wrestle his jacket away. "He's from Romania."
Ken gave him a sidelong glance and huffed. "I know that! It's just that he keeps spouting all those German words I can't even understand!" He sulked. "And you!" He pointed straight at Ran, making him blink twice as his eyes instantly focused on the index finger directly in front of the bridge of his nose. "You tolerate him, that's why he always acts so high and mighty! And what were you two talking about in English during our past missions anyway, huh? It's hard enough keeping track of what each of you is saying with how fast you're pronouncing things!"
"We weren't conspiring against you if that's what you're hinting at." He answered, brows narrowed as annoyance began rearing its ugly head inside him again.
"AYA! Whose side are you on anyway?" Ken growled, giving him the most evil look he could muster. And of course, it set Michel laughing even more, writhing on the marble floors with much mirth that Yuki, whose sleeve he was clutching bowled over with him, protesting all the way. Free wasn't even doing anything to stop them – or Ran and Ken for that matter.
It was ridiculous.
"You're being so accusatory." Ran started, keeping his temper in check. "I told you before, you talk to him. Why do you keep harping about someone I don't have major problems with?"
"AHA!" Ken crowed triumphantly, as if he just found out the missing link of a major criminal conspiracy. "So you're admitting that you don't have problems with him! That's why you don't reprimand him seriously! I knew it!"
"Shut up." He retorted, the ever-lethal Fujimiya Glare back full force. "You're not making any sense."
"Oh, I'm not, am I, why I oughta –!"
"My, I'm certainly popular today."
Heavy rustling materialised by the living room doorway, and all turned around to see the devil himself standing there, a coy smile stretching his lips. There was an amused glitter in his eyes as he surveyed the current inhabitants of the huge Victorian space, settling on him for a moment before finally focusing on the still-laughing Irish boy that lay haphazardly, entangled with the infuriated Yuki, on the floor.
"Ach! Michel, I can see your underwear from here – it's pink!" Eduard Krotznik, the infamous 'Chloé', gave his most brilliant smile, pearly white teeth shining under the chandeliers' light. "By the way, have you seen our beloved Ms. Mihirogi?"
Ran raised a brow, perplexed. "She's dropping by?"
"Ja." He answered, tucking a lock of blonde hair behind an ear. "She called this afternoon while you were working your shift. I think she missed us."
"Well, let's just wait for her then. Around dinnertime?" Yuki asked, finally succeeding on untangling himself from Michel's pale limbs. "Maybe we should be thinking of what to cook for dinner, right Ken?"
"Un." The domesticated diva sighed, standing up and momentarily forgetting his ire. More important things had to be done first before anything else. "But all we have are potatoes and cabbages and sausages... Now that Kurumi isn't here anymore, I feel so lost in the kitchen..."
Chloé was sporting a weird look on his face, Ran noticed. It was as if he was hiding something important... His brows narrowed, and he cast him a very suspicious glare.
"We really don't have anything left in the refrigerator?
He didn't know why, but he was actually expecting him to ask that. His suspicion was growing. He glanced at the other worried faces around him. They didn't think Chloé was acting strange?
"I'll be taking a short drive before dinner. Maybe Aya here could go and buy some groceries to tide us over for the next few days."
At this time of night? Ran was about to voice out his disbelief when he was forcibly hauled up by those seemingly fragile hands and dragged away from the group. Everything whizzed by him and he found himself with an oversized coat hanging on his shoulder, being pushed out the front door, and then pulled again onto the street only to be pushed inside Chloé's car in the end.
Still disoriented, he straightened in the passengers' seat and tried to regain his focus.
"Aya? Chloé?"
Startled, Ran looked up, and saw the confused features of Mihirogi, carrying something big and steaming, something that looked like...
"Ah, the elusive Ms. Mihirogi, how nice it is for you to grace us with your beauty." Chloé enunciated, voice full of quiet pride that rang so true in Ran's ears it even made his guts twist in awe. This guy is good... He thought absently, turning towards his companion. "But alas, beloved Nana, we must depart, Harrods awaits us – we must shop!"
"Oh, but what about –"
Ran didn't get to hear what she had to say, for Chloé revved the engine and they screeched out of the driveway.
And as they sped down the corner, he swore he heard a scream of pure agony from the direction of their so-called home.
And it was Ken.
OxxxOxxxO
"SLOW DOWN!"
Ran was about to blow his top. It was one thing to drag him away from the house, but to speed down the narrow street this time of night? He gritted his teeth as Chloé made his eighth swerve in the past ten minutes. It was a miracle they weren't pulled over by the police yet!
"You sound like an old man!" His companion laughed, finally stomping hard on the brakes. Ran almost kissed the windshield if not for the painful tug of the seatbelt. "Well, we're here."
Nerves jumbled, he immediately straightened himself and looked around; eyes sharpening as he took in his surroundings. "This isn't Harrods." He turned and regarded whom he perceived as his current 'captor'. "Bring me home."
"My, Aya, you really do have a stunning glare... even in this darkness your eyes gleam sharply!" Chloé took off his seatbelt and leant against the cushioned drivers' door, a hand on his chin, eyes surveying him slowly, a small smile on his lips as if amused. "They're sensational indeed..." Then, he shook his head and drew away from the door, settling back on the plush leather seat of his luxury car. "But alas, I cannot do that."
Ran's gaze sharpened even more. "What do you mean you can't?" He barked. "Just turn this thing around and we'll be back there in no time!"
Chloé had a satisfied air about as he turned to him. "Hmm... Well, do you like our beloved Nana's fish pot?"
The redhead's face scrunched up in distaste. "It doesn't taste like fish at all." He muttered, shaking his head to rid himself of the unwanted memory. "All the things in it tasted like overcooked potatoes."
Chloé chuckled. "That's a nice way to put it." He remarked good-naturedly. "Well, there goes your answer."
Ran's eyes widened a bit before understanding dawned. He threw him a sly look before a small smile filled his lips. "Don't expect me to thank you."
"I'm not expecting anything like that, Aya." Chloé grinned back, fingers snapping his seatbelt on once again before he revved the engine. "So, Italian?"
He thought for a moment and shook his head. "Japanese. I miss my onigiri."
"What a waif-ish dish!" The blonde exclaimed as they peeled off the bushy area they were in towards the main road. "I'm having sushi."
"At this time of night?" Ran asked in disbelief. "The fish isn't as fresh as it was in the morning!"
"Well then, I'd like those soft-looking yellow things that look really pretty and scrumptious – what are they called?"
"Omu-rice." Ran allowed. "How are we gonna pay for my meal? I haven't got any on me."
Chloé waved his concerns and smiled brilliantly. He produced a card from his breast pocket and waved it in the air, careful to keep a hand on the steering wheel. "Haven't used this in a while, but it's all worth it. Let's eat slowly..."
Ran nodded slyly, eyes sparkling. "Until Mihirogi-san gets tired of waiting."
Chloé chuckled.
"Well-said, Aya, well-said!"
TSUZUKU
A/N: It strikes me as odd, you know, Ran's behaviour. In Side B, he seems much like he was in Crashers, and a little bit livelier than in Gluhen. I think the feeling of contentment has something to do with it, as well as ease. I think he found freedom, associating with people who amuse him tremendously, and at the same time, need him in an equal degree. Must be why he's a bit closer to Omi than the rest of the Weiss characters, then there's Yuushi in Crashers, Sena in Gluhen and now, Yuki in Side B. Just a thought though. o
Anyway, thanks for reading this part. I hope you like it much that you'd look forward to the next chapters as well. Feedbacks are greatly appreciated!