Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Mend my Heart ❯ Third Wheel and a Phone Call ( Chapter 12 )

"Kase…" Ran could hear it now, the longing in the brunette's voice and he felt like he was intruding. But he was shocked to hear the choked response.

"K-ken…." They stood there for a long moment. Slowly, one of Ken's hands released Ran's shirt and reached out for the other brunette. Kase immediately took the invitation and rushed up to the goalie, swooping him up in his own embrace. It almost seemed as if he hadn't even seen Ran standing there. Tears flowed freely from both men's eyes. "Oh god, Ken….. I thought…. " The words just wouldn't come so he reverted to actions.

The next motion left the redhead feeling a few things he hadn't ever considered before. Kase had leaned down and claimed the younger man's mouth in a fierce kiss, which Ken seemed to answer. Turning beet red, he averted his gaze and struggled with the sudden feelings of shock, hurt, anger, and - a wish that it was him instead. The last thought hit him so hard and unexpectedly, it took most of his reserves not to stagger back into a chair.

They came up for air gasping. Once again it was Kase that spoke. "Oh god, how I've missed you. I thought I would never see you again. I didn't think you would ever wake up." He pulled the trembling boy closer to him.

"Kase…" Ken whispered in heartfelt response. But Ran also noted the strain in the tone and the trembling of the younger man’s body.

Moving up to them, he offered a mild suggestion, "Ken-san, you should get back in bed now."

Reluctantly, he glanced over at Ran and blushed. He then nodded slightly and Ran immediately moved over to help him get back in the bed. All the while he felt Kase's piercing gaze on him. "Who the hell are you, anyway? You don't look like a nurse."

Clearing his throat, he locked violet gems with murky seas asking silently for understanding, before answering. "Aya Fujimiya." He noticed the unspoken curiosity and hoped Ken would let him explain later. Just that his instincts again told him to use his new 'pseudonym.' "And I'm just a friend who wants to help."

"Don't give me that bull shit. You have five seconds to get out of here before I get security up here to remove you.” Kase barked stepping forward in a threatening manner.  “He's not going to be your mealticket, ya got that?"

Ran automatically bristled at the threat and scowled.  "For your information Kouichiro-san, I don't need a mealticket. I don't expect anything from Ken-san. I'm here because I choose to be. He needed help and I was happy to provide it."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Standing up tall, he cryptically answered, "Sometimes they need someone to guide them out of the darkness. Since no one else was around to help, I took it upon myself to see that Ken-san woke up."  Hard violet eyes watched his challenger.  And he hoped that the man picked up on his subtle accusation.  When the man’s body tensed he knew that it was received.

Dark eyes narrowed.  A finger came up to punctuate his words.  "Look, you have no idea what you're getting into here. So now that you've done your good deed, I suggest you get out of here now."

"I have no intention of leaving as of yet."  Ran was a stubborn man and would not easily be dismissed.

"I don't care.” Kase shouted, jerking his thumb toward the door. “I said get lost."

"I'm not here for you. I'm here to help Ken-san. I'll go when he asks me to." The two immediately looked to Ken, who had been too exhausted at the moment to really expend the energy to stop the fight. Besides, he doubted that his protests would matter right now. 

Now that they had forced him into the conversation though, he looked between them uncertainly.  In many ways, he wanted to just give into his lifelong friend but the mere prospect of Ran no longer by his side left him shaken to the core.  He didn’t exactly understand the feeling but he trusted it.  Looking apologetically up to his fellow J-leaguer, he offered softly, "He's been very kind to me."

Kase threw his hands up in the air, turning on his heel to begin a curt pacing. "I can't believe you. Can't you see this guy's only here to bleed you dry? People don't just show up and help others out of the benevolence of their hearts. He's scamming you." If looks could kill, Kase would have fallen ten times over from Ran's glare.

Ken remained unfazed by the outburst and was even a bit defensive, "That's not true."

"You're too trusting.”  Kase stopped folding his arms across his chest.  He gazed down at his best friend with a sharp scowl.  “He's gonna walk all over you and use you. You want that?"

Frowning, Ken had long since grown tired of this age-old argument and the coma did nothing to stop that. "Oh, like no one else has ever tried to use me." Two pairs of dark eyes bore into each other. The tone held an accusation that locked them into a stand off.

Not bothering to look at the redhead, Kase asked through barred teeth, "Could you please leave us alone for a while, we need to discuss a few things." It wasn't really a question, Ran was politely being kicked out and he knew it.

Violet depths glanced over at the figure on the bed. Ken easily met it and silently added his request for privacy. But there was also a hint of 'don't go too far' in it as well. At last he said, "I've got a call to make anyway. I'll be right outside if you need anything. Don't hesitate to call me, ok?"

"I will." A hint of a smile played at the brunette's lips at the obvious protective quality of both Ran's tone and words. Kase's features hardened even more. Ran returned the harsh glare with one of his own, promising death should anything happen to Ken. Patting a foot at the end of the bed, the redhead walked out. He shut the door almost all the way closed. Enough that he could easily hear a call for help should the need arise but still allow them their privacy.

Sighing, he pulled out his cellphone and dialed the number for the Koneko. After a couple of rings, Omi's cheerful voice came through, "Thank you for calling Koneko no Sumu Ie, this is Omi, may I take your order please?"

"Omi, it's Aya."  He was surprised to find himself relaxing a bit at hearing the blonde’s voice. 

"Oi! How's Ken-kun?? Is everything ok?"  Omi was excited to learn how Ken was doing after being told of his awakening the night before.  But he could also tell something was not exactly right too.

Ran lied. "Yeah, fine."

And Omi wasn’t buying.  "Are you sure? You sound tense."

"That's not a surprise," he mumbled.

"What's wrong?"

"To be honest,” the redhead sighed as he fell back against the wall behind him, “a lot. But I can give you all the details when you get here."

"So Ken-kun doesn't mind me visiting?"  Ran heard both the hesitation and the eagerness in the younger boy’s tone and almost smirked, almost.

"He doesn't really know what to think but he said it would be ok,” he answered truthfully this time.

There was silence for a moment.  Omi was apparently mulling over the hint of information the redhead fed him and came up with the one question that would provide a wealth of answers.  Of course, also raise a whole slew of new questions, but it still needed to be asked.  "Does he remember anything about what happened?"

Ran sighed again.  This mystery was beginning to tire him out.  "At this time, I would have to say no. I'll ask the doctor about possible memory loss when he stops by later."

Omi accepted the observation for the moment, but felt there was something else underscoring the whole situation.  So he voiced his concern.  "For some reason I don't think that's the only thing bothering you, so what's wrong?"

Letting out a sarcastic snort, Ran was once again taken aback by how observant the florist was.  "You'll never believe who decided to show up."

"Who?!"

"Kase."

"Oh."  The word was drawn out echoing the mix of emotions the revelation caused.

"I think Ken and Kase were more than just friends."  He tried to make the comment as nonchalantly as he could, but still failed to hide all of his frustration.

"Why do you say that?"

"I don't really want to talk about it right now. I'm still trying to figure a few things out."

"Ok.”  Omi let it go for now, changing the focus of conversation enough to get the redhead’s mind off of what ever was bothering him.  “How did Kase take you being there?"

"Not well."  At that, Ran did smile.  For some reason he felt great satisfaction in pissing Kase off.

Omi began to doubt decision on his visit.  "Do you think I should still come up if Kase is there? He may not like my presence any better considering we're both trying to find out what happened to Ken."

"The thing is, I haven't even said anything about that.”  He tried to alleviate some of Omi’s concern, figuring that the florist assumed that was the reason for their friction.  “Although, I did hint about his absence in Ken's recovery process thus far. I don't think he appreciated it."  The smirk returned as he recalled Kase’s anger.

"No, I doubt he would.”  The young blonde suddenly remembered something he did want to say and quickly changed the subject.  “We'll have to discuss that more later though. I was actually hoping to speak with you alone anyway.  So I guess now would be my best opportunity.  I was able to get a copy of the police report."

"And?"  Ran accepted the change and was now curious as to what the florist found.

"Well, the only thing I can say for an absolute certainty is that it's falsified."

"What? You mean that some of the information has been changed?"  He wasn’t entirely surprised to hear this.   He expected that it didn’t reveal the whole truth.

"No, actually,” he corrected in an even voice, “What I meant to say is that the report itself is fake." 

Ran pushed off of the wall abruptly, not expecting Omi to discount the entire report so pointedly.  "Fake!? How can you be so sure?"

"I've read a lot of reports in my day, and I can tell you this is just screaming fake."

"I still don't know how you know that."

"Ok, trust me here. You know how in school they teach you the 'proper' way to do things? But after you've taken the tests and done the book work, you adapt your own style to the process. Well, the same goes for cops too. They are taught in the academy how a proper report should be filled out. But most of the time, in the rush of getting things down, pieces are over looked or forgotten all together. Well, this report is picture perfect. Everything is in it that should be."

Ran was still a little confused.  "So what does that mean? Maybe it was a rookie or something doing it for the first time."

Omi laughed briefly before continuing.  "It's possible but no. First off even rookies make mistakes, this was just perfect. And second, I know the officers who were involved. I don't think these guys ever filled out a report this thoroughly in their entire careers. No, there's no doubt in my mind. They made it up."

Long moments passed in silence as Omi allowed the information to sink in.  Everything just seemed so surreal to the redhead.  He felt as if he was playing out some novel he had read.  Conspiracy. The word kept playing over and over in his head, he just couldn’t believe he was caught in the middle of it.  As if to clarify in his mind this strange twist of reality, he had to ask, "They were covering up what really happened?" 

"Bingo. But with this on their file system, getting the truth is going to be even more difficult to discover. And it will be practically impossible to dispute hard evidence like this should we find something."

"So what do we do now?"

Omi sighed, feeling that with everything they’ve learned so far, they’ve taken three steps backward instead of forward.  "Well, I would have suggested finding out from Ken-kun, but you said he doesn't seem to remember, so now I'm stuck again."

"Perhaps his memory loss will only be temporary."  The redhead suggested softly.  It was really just blind speculation at this point.

"I hope so, or else we'll never know."

They sat in silence for a minute mulling over everything.  In the end it was Ran who decided to switch topics again, asking about the third member of their little group.  "Have you told Yoji about Ken?"

"Yeah, did he tell you about Fujikawa?"

"Yeah."  He answered sullenly.

Worried about the answer, Omi asked tentatively, "Have you told Ken about any of this?"

"No. We haven't really had much time to talk about it. Besides, it's not like it's a topic you can just strike up out of no where. And he needs to focus on his own healing right now and not Fujikawa's possible death."

The comment left the genki wondering.  "Shouldn't he be up and about soon? I mean, probably some PT but then he'll be running around again like normal, ne?"

Ran slumped back against the wall, suddenly drained of energy.  "Unfortunately, no."

"What's wrong?"

He tried to recap everything Doctor Makoto had told them only short while ago.  "His knee will be his biggest setback. Apparently, it was shattered. Most of his other injuries have healed though. And he will be dealing with atrophy as well. I can give you details later."

"Sure. I'll try and stop by this afternoon. Do you think you'll be ok til then?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, what if Kase….."

"Look, I already told him that I'm not leaving.”  Some of his previous anger returning at the mention of Kase.  “He can fuss all he wants but I'm staying by Ken's side for as long as it takes for him to get better."

Omi smiled.  "You know, he's very lucky to have someone like you around, Aya. I hope to one day be a friend like that to you two too."

"You already are."  Ran said encouragingly. 

But Omi's response was drown out by a sharp cry of pain coming from the room behind him. A second later another sounded and slowly formed a word that sent the redhead racing back into Ken's room. "raa-aan!"
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  I know this chap didn’t seem all that long but it was still on par with my other chaps, just that it was mostly dialogue.  As always, thanks for reading everyone!  Now go REVIEW!  Reviews make the muse’s world go round!  PLEASE!
  - shiki receives death glare from Ran -
  S-k:  Yes?  Is something wrong?
  Ran:  I would like to know what you’re doing.
  S-k:  What do you mean?  I’m just finishing up my chap for posting.  What does it look like I’m doing?
  Ran:  Ken.  What did you let that bastard do to him?
  S-k:    -scoffs- I’m not telling you that, it would spoil the whole next chapter.
  Ran:  I don’t care.  –pulls out his katana-
  Yoji:  It would probably be wise to tell him.  I know, I’ve been on that end before.
  S-k:  Fine.  – throws hands up in surrender-  But not here.  Like I said, I’m not going to spoil it.  Can we please discuss this as soon as I’m done?  – Ran lowers sword slowly – Thank you.  Now if you two don’t mind I would like to finish up here.
  Ken: You mean you were going to stop before I showed up?  -obvious hurt-
  S-k: No, Ken sweetie, it’s just that they’re trying to spoil my cliffie.  And that would just totally disprove my title. I like being Queen of the cliffies.  It’s one of the few things I’m good at.
  Ken: Oh, well that’s ok.  –turns to the others- You guys should be nice.  If there’s anyone to blame it would be the muse.  She’s just writing it down.
  S-k: Thanks, Kenken.
  Ken:   - moves over to snuggle Ran’s side – Now, why don’t you keep me company ‘til next week.  I can help you polish your sword or something.
  Yoji: Oh god. And they say my lines are cliché. 
  Ken:   – blushes and sticks tongue out at Yoji – It’s not like that.  I noticed some flecks of blood on the blade probably from the last mission.
  Yoji:  –rolls eyes- Yeah, right.
  Ran: Come on, Ken. Let’s go. –wraps arm around brunette and glares at playboy-
  Yoji:  Have fun you two, cleaning his sword.  Just be careful not to strain yourselves.  –receives another glare from redhead-    –laughs-
  S-k:  I don’t know why you bother.
  Yoji: Because it’s fun riling up ol’ stick in the mud.
  S-k: Nice.  –glances around quickly- So where’s Omi?
  Yoji:   –BIG Grin-  Sleeping off what we did after last omake.
  S-k:  I shouldn’t have asked.  –shakes head-  Alright, that’s enough.  It’s time to go.  You folks be good and don’t forget to REVIEW!  Thanks again for reading!   :D