Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ A Midsummer Nightmare ❯ State of Mind ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter 6 - State of Mind

The shop was spotless.

Extra pots were put away on shelves, and the flowers were arranged to the side. There were no puddles, much less mud puddles, on the floor. Even the ribbons were neatly set aside.

Yohji smiled as he leaned on his mop, congratulating himself on such great work.

He had woken up early that morning, just to get the shop cleaned. He knew that he'll just be thrilled when he finds it He could already see his eyes light up a little, though not saying much. His silence would be enough.

Yohji blinked to himself. Wait a minute? Silence? Omi wouldn't do that. Omi would probably jump up with joy, then grin up at Yohji, saying how much he liked it. His amethyst eyes would sparkle……

Amethyst?

Yohji shook his head. Blue! Omi had blue eyes! How could he be mistaken? Omi had such wonderful cerulean eyes. Eyes that he would let himself drown in… And while he would be drowning in those eyes, Omi would lean up, giving Yohji one of his precious, incredible smiles. Yohji would meet his lips, and run a hand through his beautiful red hair-……

Red?!

Yohji ran a hand through his own hair. There was something wrong with his brain. He finally decided to stop fantasizing Omi's reactions.

He smirked to himself. He could already see the livid look on Ken's face at having been beaten out again. Just like at cleaning the room a couple of days back. He had to pick up all those papers on the floor, and check if they were valuable or worth throwing away. He couldn't understand how the clumsy soccer player would dare to take credit for the hard work that Yohji did. A low person like him didn't deserve the likes of Aya…………

AYA??

Yohji put his hand to his forehead as he started back to his room.

Damnit…

Maybe he woke up too early, and not enough blood was going to his head.

He needed to lie down.

Oh who was he kidding?! He'd been having this problem for a while now. He knew he head over heels had a thing for Omi. The first few days, he had tried several ways to win Omi over, Omi being the only thing on his mind.

In fact, Omi was the only thing he could think about back then.

So why the hell was Aya sometimes coming into his head now?

……………… And why was that making him smile more than when he thought about Omi?

-----*-----

Ken gave the ball another hard kick. It bounced off the wall and returned a short distance away. He ran to catch up to it and kick again.

Earlier he had decided that he needed some time to think, most particularly to decide how to win Omi over before Yohji did.

He realized that he thought best on the field when he was alone with his soccer ball. He was apprehensive about leaving Omi with Yohji, but then Aya was there. Ken hoped that Aya wouldn't allow Yohji to do anything to Omi while he was gone.

Things have been hell the past three days. He and Yohji were at war again. It started when Ken cleared up Omi's room, only to discover that Yohji tried to tell Omi that HE did the hard work!

Okay… So when he was cleaning, he accidentally knocked over some of the papers and scattered them more. But he cleaned it up again! Maybe… He didn't remember.

Though what he did forget was to leave a note for Omi to tell him he did it. And when he had remembered and returned to the room, Yohji had already left a note of his own, claiming that HE had cleaned up. The NERVE of that jerk!! Ken's teeth clenched and his hands balled into fists.

I'll show that Yohji! He thought angrily as he imagined the ball to be Yohji's head. He gave 'Yohji's head' a really hard kick. It flew through the air, rebounded against the wall and bounced back, straight for Ken.

Ken's eyes widened, "Ah shi- …"

[WHAM!]

The next thing Ken knew, he was on the grass, his head swirling. Tiny Omi angels floated about his head. He groaned. He looked up through somewhat blurred eyes.

Then, he smiled. An image of Omi was smiling back down at him, leaning over him the same way he had been when Ken first realized he was …………

In love?

Ken immediately sat up. A mistake because he groaned again, clutching his still aching head. He felt over his eye and winced in pain. He struggled to think straight again.

Was that it? Was he in love with Omi?

He brought his knees to his chest, and hugged them.

Omi… He can't possibly… be in love with Omi!

Yes, it's true that Ken was previously infatuated with Aya. But… that was Aya! Aya was his teammate. Trying something with Aya couldn't ruin anything… Aya already didn't speak much to him.

Okay… so it was bad thinking like that. Aya was sort of his friend too. But for some weird reason he didn't have the same apprehension with Aya. But Omi…

Omi was his best friend…

Omi was like… the younger brother he never had…

He liked what he had with Omi… Was he really willing to risk it? What if when he went to Omi, and he didn't feel the same way? It could ruin everything between them. They'd never be able to see each other the same way again.

Ken ran his hands through his hair, moaning to himself. He rocked himself back and forth as he thought.

He can't do this to Omi. Never. Shit, what was wrong with him?! What was he thinking?! Well, that's exactly it! As usual, the incredible Hidaka Ken wasn't thinking.

He might as well drop all sort of infatuation he had with Omi and return his attention to Aya.

That would be what he'd do. It was the only thing he could do. He never wanted to ruin his friendship with Omi, and Aya seemed to have already been fine with Ken running after him…

He'll go after Aya again. It shouldn't be hard. He liked Aya before he liked Omi, right?

……………… So why did it still feel so wrong?

-----*-----

"Aya-kun?"

Aya turned away from a novel to see Omi at his doorway. His first thought was that Omi had gone crazy too, and that now the boy was falling for Aya himself. It sure would match with the rest of the insanity that had been going on the past few days.

But he was wrong, for Omi looked up at him, "A-aya-kun… I've… got a bit of a problem…"

Aya raised an eyebrow. There was something wrong here. Omi would never go to him if he had a problem. Aya knew that Omi preferred to talk to Ken or Yohji, most particularly because the other two were better at handling his problems than Aya himself. The three were much closer to each other than to him. And for that reason, Omi always went to the other two. Recently, it was more to Ken for the same reasons only Aya knew.

Which brought him back to the original question in his mind. Why was Omi coming to him now? It was probably much easier for him to go to his other teammates. In fact, they'd probably throw themselves at him, begging to solve all his problems for him, considering their current infatuations with him…………

Oh… Right… So that's his problem…

"K-ken-kun and Yohji-kun…" Omi confirmed. "Th-they're…" He looked around, as if to make sure no ears were listening before blurting out, "They're driving me crazy!!"

Aya paused to put down his book, not sure what to say at first. So instead, he just let Omi speak.

Omi's hands were clutching at his blondish hair, "I-I… I don't know what's gotten into them! Before they were driving me crazy because they were fighting over you…" he looked up to see Aya react. He didn't. He realized Aya must have already known. He continued, "N-now they're …"

Omi looked at Aya in desperation, "Aya-kun!! They just won't leave me alone!! I-I … I have homework!! And my duties to the shop! Even my responsibilities as part of this team!!

"They're doing everything for me!! I haven't had to lift a finger since we left that stupid hotel, inn, motel, whatever!! It's driving me insane!! My room has been cleaned so many times in the past few days, I don't even know where everything is anymore!!

"They're taking my jobs, my arrangements, Ken-kun even offered to do my homework for me!! Can you imagine Ken-kun doing my homework?!!"

The kid sure talked a lot when he wanted to.

"And do you know how many gifts I've gotten?!!"

Aya didn't say anything, knowing that he would just answer his own question.

"My room is filled with stuff now!!" He ticked off his fingers, "Animal plushies, character plushies, chocolates, candies, flowers, and god knows what else!!" He threw his arms in the air. "The only reason why I've been able to move around in there is because they always manage to put everything aside again!!

He shook his head. "Aya-kun! Most importantly… Well .. to me at least… my book report… It's due next week… And I haven't even been able to start it!! Aya-kun! It's fifty percent of my grade! And with Ken-kun and Yohji-kun always interrupting me, I'll never be able to finish it in time! If I fail this subject, I-I could…"

Aya finally held up a hand, signaling enough. Omi quieted, obediently, his lip still quivering. Aya stared at him. The boy looked ready to burst into tears.

Aya stood up, walked calmly to the doorway, and tentatively put a hand on Omi's shoulder. Omi looked up, his eyes slightly watering, though Aya knew he was somehow trying to hold back the tears. He looked straight into the boy's eyes, slightly rubbing his shoulder.

"I'll see what I can do."

Omi brightened considerably. It even made Aya feel better. He calmly and gently pushed Omi out the door. Omi, intelligent as he was, immediately got the hint, and moved back, bowing a little in gratitude, "Arigatou, Aya-kun!"

With that, he started down the hallway back to his own room.

Aya shut the door and returned to his bed to think.

The promise he made wasn't just for Omi, but also for himself. The two idiots were also driving him crazy, though in a different way. It still confused him, how the two suddenly decided to switch the target of their antics. You could say they weren't themselves and that they were under some sort of … enchantment or something…

Or in a very wrong frame of mind.

That's when it clicked.

They must be playing some kind of joke on Omi!

Aya unconsciously clenched his teeth. What did they think they were doing, the bastards?? He knew that the two of them often liked to tease Omi, to make fun, to play little jokes… But going this far??

Not only that, Ken probably wasn't aware that Omi really was in love with him. And if Omi eventually falls into their trap, and later finds out, his heart would probably break a lot more than it already has.

Aya still didn't know why he cared so much. Maybe it was just that Omi, despite how old he really was, even showing wisdom and maturity beyond his years, still was the baby of the group. He supposed that they all must have some sort of instinct to protect him. Which made him even angrier at what the other two were doing to him.

Aya stood.

Well then… Looks like he needed to have a talk with the two bastards.

-----*-----

It's funny… Ever since last chapter, I actually started using an expression that goes like this: "This is freaking me out. I think I should just go imitate Omi and run for a pillow now.." or something to that effect…… Sure, people don't get it, but I laugh my head off after I use it.

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