Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ This is Not My Life ❯ The children woke up, and they couldn't find them ( Chapter 5 )

"The children woke up, and they couldn't find them"



-KEN-



BAM! BAM! BAM!

Agh. I swear, my stupid alarm clock somehow manages to get louder every morning.
My hand reaches out blindly in attempt to shut the blasted thing off. I wish I could kill whoever invented alarm clocks.
Too bad they're probably already dead.
On the other hand, whoever invented the sleep button was friggin' brilliant.
My hand automatically slams down upon the aforementioned blessed button.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Crap! Why the #¢@%` isn't the noise stopping?!
[A/N: No, that's not censored. Ken is in fact, actually thinking "#¢@%`"]

Oh wait.

That's right. I didn't set my alarm last night.
...I don't have morning shift today....

Oooh...whoever is making that noise is gonna *die*.

It's an easy guess to who it is, too.

"HELL NO AYA! I'M NOT GETTING UP."

BAM! BAM! BAM!

"There had BETTER be a five-alarm fire going on out there!"

Ah, shit. Now the door's starting to open. I really need to remember to start locking that.
My first instinct is to hide under the covers and ignore the intruder...but I'm pretty awake right now-not to mention pissed off-so I decide it will be far more fun to react with violence.

I grab my soccer ball up off the floor, and sit up with it balanced over my head; poised to throw at my disturber.
I see a flash of blond hair.
Ah ha! So Yohji's the culprit!
Well, I certainly won't feel bad about knocking him in the head with a soccer ball! Heh heh.

"Die, you bastard destroyer of sleep!"

And without another thought, I let the ball fly at my adversary.

Now, I didn't actually intend to nail Yohji in the head. I was really aiming for his chest. But by some unexplained phenomena, Yohji seemed, well, shorter today.

He lets out a muffled cry that sounds very un-Yohji-like....
And I finally get a good look at my intruder (as he slumps to the floor)....who is most certainly not Yohji.

Oops.

AH CRAP! I just decked Omi in the head!

"Ah! Omi! I'm so sorry! I thought you were Yohji! I didn't mean-"

He's not responding! Could I have hit him harder than I thought? Maybe he has a concussion! Shit!

I kneel down next to him and just barely catch myself before succumbing to my instinct to violently shake him (and thus cinching the possibility of a concussion.)

"Speak to me Omi! Don't fall asleep! Can ya hear me, Omi?!"

Suddenly he snaps out of his stupor...and starts to shake.
Shit!! I'm such a jerk!

"Oh, Omi! I'm sooo sorry! I really didn't mean to hit you! I wouldn't have thrown it if-"

"They're gone."

"They're....eh?"

"They're gone."

"What? You mean you're not upset cause I hit you?"

"You, um...hit me?"

He seems confused. And he didn't even notice my soccer ball arsenal! Wow, I've never seen Omi this...out of it. Hey, wait a minute-

"What do you mean 'they're gone'?"

"Aya kun. And. Yohji kun. Are. Gone."

"What?!!"

"The shop is closed, and Yohji kun's car is gone."

"Maybe they're making a delivery?" I suggest hopefully.

"I've been waiting for two hours. If they had that big of a job they would have woken one of us up to cover for them."

"Uh...maybe they got stuck in traffic or something?"

"Aya kun still would have called and asked us to cover!"

I try to think up another logical explanation, but I'm drawing a blank. But hey, cut me some slack here, it's like the break of dawn!

Ok. So it's actually eleven a.m.

I don't like thinking before lunchtime.

Omi is slowly shaking his head. It looks like he's trying to hold back tears...wait-tears?! Omi, crying? Yeeesh...this is really starting to unsettle me. I've only ever seen Omi cry once, and that was right after that mess with his brothers and Ouka....and even under those circumstances it was weird to see Omi break down....

Omi + tears = something really bad happened

Assumption: really bad thing = ( Aya + Yohji ) = gone

Aya = X, Yohji = Y, Gone = N

( X = N ) = less than probable; ( Y = N ) = less than or equal to probable

[ X allowing ( Y = N )] = less than probable

.•. [( X + Y ) = N ] is unequal to probable

Conclusion: Aya and Yohji can't be gone.

Conundrum: Omi wouldn't cry if Aya and Yohji weren't gone.

Revised conclusion: I suck at math.


I put my hand on Omi's shoulder in a lame attempt to calm him down.

"Listen Omi, I'm sure they'll show up soon, and we'll all laugh when we find out what stupid errand they got sucked into."

He's still shaking his head though.

"No Ken. I have a really bad feeling about this." A brief pause, where Omi casually rubs his eye, trying not to draw my attention to the brimming wetness. "I don't think they're planning on coming back."

He's doing a good job acting calm. But I can still catch the slight waver in his soft voice.

"....At least Yohji kun isn't..." he adds, "his room is cleaner than I've ever seen it before. Like he doesn't plan on using it for a long time."

I'm gonna make one last ditch effort at optimism.

"Maybe Aya yelled at him for being a slob."

Yeah right. Yohji bending to Aya's nagging....I didn't even succeed at convincing myself with that one.

Another gloomy shake.

"No. He took his picture of Asuka with him."

Woah. Now that gets my attention.

"What picture of Asuka?! I've never seen a picture of Asuka around!"

Omi scrunches up his eyes and I can almost hear him mentally slapping himself. Methinks he hadn't intended to divulge that tidbit of incriminating knowledge.

"Um...that's because he keeps it in his drawer. I, uh...don't think Aya kun knew about it either."

Oh ho. Now that's certainly interesting. So Omi has some sort of intimate knowledge of the contents of Yohji's room, eh? Hmm.... I momentarily forget that I'm trying to be tactful and reassuring.

"Mmm...so just what brings you this privileged enlightenment on the constituents of Yohji's drawers?"

He he. 'Yohji's drawers.' Did that ever sound wrong.

Omi's cheeks go from pink to crimson.

"Hey! Don't make it sound so scandalous!" Omi scowls, "I was just doing some laundry, ok? And I found one of his shirts mixed in with mine, and it was his favorite shirt, too, you know, so I knew he'd want it right away, so I took it to his room-but he wasn't there-so I decided to put it away for him and his dresser was open so I-"

I wonder if Omi is aware that he has a habit of nervously tapping his pointer fingers together whenever he's lying? Sadly, now is not an appropriate time to tease him mercilessly. I'll have to file these details away for later though....

"Calm down Omi, it's okay. I understand, all right?"

Omi slumps forward and buries his face in his arms. I've never seen him look this...dejected before. It's bizarre. Omi is always so bright and exuberant.... There doesn't seen room in my mental characterization of him for this depressed side he's revealing. Omi has always been Weiß's pillar of moral support. How the heck do you cheer up the person who cheers everyone else up?

I think the gods of reason decided to take pity on me, because I was suddenly granted an uncharacteristically logical stint of clear thinking.

"So, there was no note or instructions left behind by them?" I ask.

"Nope. Nothing." Omi replies, his voice dripping with gloom.

"Well, don't you think they would have left something if they weren't planning on coming back?"

"Who knows" mutters Omi. "Maybe they were afraid of being traced."

"No, look. Aya would never desert his sister. I'll call the hospital and then Sakura. If he didn't contact either of them about his sister, then that means that not only is he coming back, but he doesn't expect to be gone for long either."

Omi brightens a little. "Yeah, you're right."

"Of course I'm right. When was I ever wrong?"

Omi opens his mouth, probably with the intention of giving me the exact date and time of day of my most recent screw-up (or even a list of the past ten or so), but I clamp my hand over his mouth before he gets the chance.

"Uh-uh. That question was rhetorical. Answering it will completely disintegrate what remains of the thin illusion that is my self-esteem."

Omi manages a weak smile as he follows me down the stairs and into the kitchen.

I pull the phone book out from its usual place of repose and start flipping through the pages.

"What was the name of Aya's hospital again? 'Super Taxi'?"

Omi lets out a snort and then dramatically bangs his head against the table. I don't give him a chance to answer.

"Oh, no. It was 'Flying Carpet' hospital, wasn't it?"

The banging ceases in favor of muffled giggles. "You are such a dork, Ken kun."

"Well, every gang requires a 'token dork'," I reply, "and the three of you are too cool for that, which just leaves-"

The all-too-brief smile instantly drops off Omi's face with the mention of 'the three of you.'

Rats. I was so close to cheering him up, too.

"Just hang in there, Omi, I'm dialing the hospital now."

* * *

Five minutes and two phone calls later we have established that Aya made no special arrangements regarding his sister. While this was enough to give me peace of mind, Omi still doesn't seem completely convinced of our co-worker's intentions to return. I don't really have any doubts though. I mean, it's not like when I tried to leave. I was totally infatuated with Yuriko, and I was leaving for her, not for myself. And in the end, it was for her that I stayed. Aya and Yohji can't be following anyone. All of Aya's ties are still here. And I don't think Yohji even has anyone at all...unless....

...Hey...I wonder if Aya and Yohji had secret girlfriends?!

Nah. As if Yohji could keep a girl a secret. He'd be showing her off the first moment he got the chance. And I just can't imagine Aya ditching his sister for another girl....
Heh. Sometimes I really let my imagination get carried away....

But that's not important right now. Well no, Aya and Yohji's disappearance is important...but Omi is the more urgent issue. Nothing to do but wait for Aya and Yoj' to call or return. But Omi spazing out isn't going to make that happen any quicker. So my first call of action is to get Omi back to his normal ol' genki self....

And I have just thought of a brilliantly irresponsible way to accomplish that! Heh heh...

"Hey, Omittchi! You know what no Aya and no Yohji means, don'tcha?"

"Near certain death on our next mission, and a pissed off Manx?" he sniffs.

"Ah, cut the dramatics!" I pout, "It means no one to get mad at us when we ditch work today!"

"Which is what we're gonna do." I add, nudging him in the arm. "You like arcades, right?"

Finally! The first hint of a genuine smile all day!

"Yeah," he answers softly, "I like arcades."