Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Darkness Falls ❯ Peace Before the Storm ( Chapter 9 )

YO-HO!!! Minna-san!! Sorry it took me a while to upload - been a bit busy and kind of dead all around. X_X But I'm here now… so let's continue.

Enjoy!

Warnings: Possible (but probably light) shounen-ai hints?

Pairings: Um... well... leaning towards Ken and Youji... other possible pairing: Crawford and Reina. (Yeah, it's a straight couple, but yeesh... even I need a break too!!)

Ratings: PG-13

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Reina walked around the area, searching for a take-away restaurant for herself and Ken for lunch. She asked if she could go since it's been a while since she was in Japan; she read through the names of each restaurant or café she passed, sometimes having to stop to ask someone what the name was if she couldn't understand or read the character.

// Has it really been that long?? //

The dark-blonde walked down to the end of the block, before deciding on actually choosing a place rather then stare at one. She let out a worry sigh, before turning back around to pick out a place for lunch. At the same time she bumped into someone, having her mind somewhere else at the time.

"Ah!! Gomen nasai!!" She looked up at the person she'd bumped into; pausing in her speech as she slowly recognized the man.

"It's alright, Ms. Kudou... It was my fault." Reina blinked at Crawford, making a small noise in response, turning her head to face away from him. The two just stood there in the middle of the sidewalk, neither saying a word to each other; it wasn't until someone had accidentally rushed past Reina, literally knocking her down that broke the silence. Reina yelped as she fell forward; Crawford moved quickly to catch her in his arms, gently holding her against his chest.

"Gomen nasai!!" The person yelled over their shoulder, still running to wherever they were going. Reina didn't hear them, still startled from the fall; her breathing was slightly heavy, her pulse had quickened just a bit. Her breathing and pulse slowly returned to normal, recovering from the initial shock; she realized then that Crawford was holding her still, the side of her head lightly resting against his chest. Reina didn't move, she didn't want to move oddly - she could hear his heart beat in her ear, feeling the light thud against her face. She closed her eyes, feeling herself relax in the younger man's arms.

"...Ms. Kudou?" Crawford looked down at the shorter woman in his arms, seeing that she had made no effort to remove herself from him; in fact, if quite possible, she seemed to be content on just staying there. Crawford felt a lump in his throat when he tried to swallow, his pulse beginning to increase in speed; he began to feel rather - uncomfortable holding her, yet he didn't seem to want to let her go.

"... Reina...?" Crawford started, knowing he would be risking it by calling her by her first name; she didn't answer.

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Ken stood at the window of the room, the sun's rays shining through the open blinds; he looked out through between one of the blinds, seeing a small garden with a tiny pond outside. Beyond that tiny garden was the wall of the hospital; he noticed below some of the other patients, mainly younger children, outside with nurses playing in the grass.

He let out a sigh, turning away from the window to gaze at the blond asleep on the bed, just little way behind him. Youji was lying on his back, face turned away from the window, from the bright sunlight. Ken sighed again, silently going over to the other side of the bed, to catch a glimpse at the sleeping blond's face. He sat down on a stool nearby, moving it a little closer - just enough for him to reach out and lightly touch Youji's face. The brunet studied Youji's features, his face seeming so peaceful, so innocent it made the blond look more like a boy then a grown man. Ken smiled tenderly, carefully pushing back stray strands of light blond hair away from the older man's face, tucking it gently behind his ear. Youji made a small noise, moving his head just a little; Ken pulled back, afraid that he'd might have awaken the man, but he was still asleep.

// That was close. //

Ken let out his breath in relief; with the lack of sleep Youji has been getting, it was best to see the blond got as much when possible. The brunet smiled, standing to his feet; he looked down at his watch, seeing it was now ten minutes to one and Reina had not come back with lunch yet. Ken looked to the close door.

// Strange... Reina-san shouldn't be gone for that long! There are only so many places in this area... //

He heard his stomach begin to growl at him, since he just realized that Reina had not return with lunch. Ken scratched the back of his head, unsure of what to do; Youji was still asleep and if he left no one would be there if some thing happened. However, he couldn't let himself starve here waiting for the blond's sister to come back, and he knew hospital food wasn't really classified as `food' so to say. The brunet looked to Youji sleeping on the bed, letting out a sigh; as hungry as he was - he couldn't leave the man alone.

Ken let himself drop into the chair by the window, staring up at the ceiling, trying to ignore his complaining stomach. He closed his eyes, trying to think of things to keep his mind off food; his eyes snapped open, realizing he didn't have to leave Youji to get lunch.

He jumped up to his feet, quickly as he could, rushed out the room and found a phone somewhere down the hall. He hastily dialed number, listening to the ring tone as he waited for someone to pick up.

"Moshi-moshi?"

"Hai, Omi? Do you think you and Aya can come over for lunch?"

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Reina walked down the hallway, Crawford following by her side; it was about 1:36 and the dark-blonde was fairly sure that Ken was dying from hungry by now.

"Sorry if I distracted you from your task." Crawford apologized; Reina shook her head.

"It's alright... I - I let myself get off task..." He nodded, making a low noise in response. The two walked silently the rest of the way, till they reached the door where Reina's brother was staying. Crawford placed his hand on the door handle before Reina could touch it, getting her to look up at him. Amber-brown eyes stared down on her intensely.

"Ms. Kudou... Reina? I - I actually saw you walking down the street..." The dark-blonde blink, trying to pull back pieces from when they had bumped into each other back on the sidewalk.

"I was just going to tap you on the shoulder, but... you turned around and I didn't expect that. Which is why we bumped into each other - literally." Reina nodded, still keeping eye contact with the taller man; but somehow she felt a tightness in her chest under his eyes.

"When you fell - I expected that... however, I didn't expect you to..." Crawford paused, unable to force the rest of the sentence out; Reina understood though, she understood what he was trying to say, how she didn't move away from his arms, how he didn't release her or politely shoved her away. She understood how it went, but what she didn't understand is why it had went and why they - specifically her - didn't yell at each other.

Dark green clashed with the amber-brown; Crawford slide his hand off the handle, raising it almost perpendicular to his body on the door; Reina stood there in front of him, fingers wrapped tightly around the take-away bag in her hands. Crawford leaned in slowly to her face, Reina felt her breath hitch, her heart beginning to beat faster.

// He's not... //

Before Reina could finish her thoughts, the door they were standing outside of opened, taking them both by surprise and knocking them both to the floor.

"Itai!!" Reina yelped, gently rubbing the shoulder that had gotten hit by the door; Crawford cursed silently, one for the pain in his arm and two for the interruption on how close he had gotten to Reina.

"Ah!! Gomen nasai!!" Omi exclaimed, eyeing the two on the floor, rubbing the pain in their arms. Aya came up behind the younger blond, moving past him after surveying the situation; he moved to help Reina to her feet, carefully taking her by the arm and slowly pulled her up. She thanked him, picking up the bags with the food in them, handing them to Omi, who took it inside to give to Ken or the now awake Youji.

Reina dust off her clothes, while Crawford carefully stood to his feet, still holding on to his left arm that was stinging with pain. He hoped it was just from the pressure of being pushed that caused the pain and that it wasn't broken. He let out sigh, before looking over to where Aya was glaring at him, partially standing in front of Reina; Crawford narrowed his eyes at the redhead, before turning around and headed down the hallway to exit.

"Daijoubu ka?" Aya asked, turning around to face the older woman. Reina nodded her head, walking inside the room to see her brother up and talking, sitting up right on the bed. Youji stopped, turning his head to face his sister.

"O-nee-chan!" Reina smiled at how childishly he had said it, making her way to the stool and seated herself down. Youji held up the bag with the food she had brought, taking the containers out of the bag and handed one to the darker blonde; Reina took opening the lid, breaking apart the wooden chopsticks and began eating. She felt one of the guys place a hand on her shoulder; she looked up at the owner, seeing it was Ken.

"Ano... Reina-san? Omi kind of begged me to help out with the afternoon rush at the shop..."

"And so?" The dark blonde asked, setting her chopsticks down on the open container. Ken gave her a nervous look, shrugging his shoulders slightly.

"Well, I want to help out, but - I'm not sure if you and Youji will be alright..."

"Daijoubu Ken! It's day. I feel safer in the day." Youji spoke up; Ken glanced at the older man, giving him an expression that silently questioned the response. Youji nodded his head, repeating that he and his sister would be fine for the next few hours.

"Alright... if you say so, Youji." With that, Ken left with Omi and Aya for the shop. After the door closed, Reina and Youji sat in silence for a while eating on the take-away; Youji finished off more then half of what was in the container, setting it aside on the bed before smiling at his sister. Reina looked at him questioningly, finishing what food she had in her mouth before setting down her chopsticks.

"Something wrong, Youji?"

"You - You came here with Crawford, didn't you?" He asked; it didn't sound offense or harsh tone, more of a teasing or accusation tone. Reina felt a small smile appear on her mouth to the question, tilting her head down to the floor.

"Well... he actually came here with me. We bumped into each other when I was looking for a place for lunch." Youji smiled wider, noting the slight nervousness in his sister's voice.

"You two didn't... -do- anything, did you?"

"Youji!!" Reina looked up at him with a slight blush on her face, remembering how she had let herself stay in the dark-haired man's arms and what had almost happened outside not too long ago. Youji snickered; he made it a thing to tease his sister about boyfriends or friends who were guys before - all THAT had happened. Reina tried to control her posture, forcing the blush to go away.

"Well... I think, I'm not sure though, Crawford wanted to kiss me..." Youji's smile became a little more serious, knowing this was something very deep for Reina.

"Then - what happened?"

"He - we got knocked over by the door... Omi-san had opened it and, well." The lighter blond nodded, forming a vague idea of what might have happened in the situation. Reina sighed, not feeling very hungry any more; she could feel tears beginning to form in her dark green eyes, but she managed to force them back. She couldn't afford to breakdown now. Youji crawled out of the bed, standing up in front of her, tenderly embracing her in his arms; Reina stared at him in surprised, the container in one hand out to the side.

"O-nee-chan!!!" Reina could hear the frighten boy she heard 15 years ago, just after the fairy had striked. She placed the container on a side table, reaching her arms up and around Youji's back as her tears came. The sounds soon became audible as she buried her face into her brother's shoulder.

Youji held on tight to her, unable to keep his own tears from spilling; the two siblings cried on each others shoulder, just wishing for once for something normal.

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Ooo!! We're getting kind of close to the chase!! And the end of "Darkness Falls"!! ^^

Pls Review and stay tune for more soon! (Hopefully)

Emotional_Hikari