Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Watch Me As I Fade Away ❯ Cake and Parsnips ( Chapter 10 )

"Just let me pay for these flowers," the hippy-man says, "and then you can follow me back to see Aya. You from around here?"

"Um…" how do I explain knowing Aya when this guy lives with him and doesn't know me?! "I lived here a very long time ago, and just moved back."

"Ah! Childhood friends!" he says cheerfully.

"…yeah." I say, feeling very weird about this.

"I've lived here almost all my life!" he says, "great place to live!"

Could this guy be any more upbeat?

"Do you like colcannon?" He asks, "I'll make some if you want to stay for dinner."

"I've never heard of it." I say. This guy doesn't even know me, and he's inviting me for dinner? I could be some kind of murder for all he knows!

Wait a minute. I am 'some kind of murder.' Go figure.

"Oh, I bet you'll like it!" he chirps, "unless you hate parsnips!"

"Um, what are parsnips?" I ask.

"Finest vegetable there is!" he beams, "I positively won't let you leave until you try some!"

Er…okay.

Hm. This street sort of feels familiar. But I can't place why I'd know it…

"Here we are!" he says, knocking on a brightly painted door.

Wait, even this door seems familiar….this is kinda creepy….

It swings open to reveal a plump smiling woman.

Holy fucking shit.

"Ruth?!"

Both Ruth and the hippy guy look surprised.

"Jei, dear! Have I met your friend before?" She asks, questioningly.

"No mom," says the pale man, whom it is slowly dawning on me must be…no way…Farfarello?! "He's a friend of Aya's. Can you get her?"

Wait. HER?!

"Sure thing, dear," says Ruth, "why don't you help your friend to some cake. I just made a fresh batch!" She turns to me, "don't worry, it's low fat. But you'd never guess by the taste!"

Oh my god. What should I do? I want to freak out…is he safe? Should I try to get Aya away from him? Oh shit oh shit oh shit….

Suddenly a girl with long braids appears in the hallway.

"Jei Sempai!" She cries, and runs and hugs him.

Who the hell is she?

"Aya-babe!" Farf-no, Jei says, grinning, "I brought ya flowers! And a friend, too!"

He finally looks over and notices the way my jaw is hanging slack.

"You okay, dude? You look like you were expecting someone else."

"I…sort of was," I answer, still kind of numb.

"Who were you looking for then?" he asks.

"A man named Aya Fujimiya. With…red hair…and…."

The girl named Aya frowns. "That sounds like you want my brother," she says, "but I have no idea why you'd think his name was Aya. That's me."

Brother?

"What's…what's your brother's name, then?" I ask, tentatively.

"Ran." She says, "Ran Fujimiya."

Ran.

That's what…that's what Omi and Yohji called him the first time things changed! Is…is that his name where I'm from too?

"Can I see him?" I ask.

"Sure," says the girl who's really Aya, "but you'll have to wait until after dinner, the hospital doesn't have visiting hours right now."

"The hospital?!" I gasp.

"He's been away for awhile," Jei explains, rubbing Aya's shoulder, "he doesn't know about the accident yet."

"Oh," says Aya, frowning again, "I guess we'd better tell you about it then."

"Yeah…" I say, "…tell me all about it…."

* * * * *

Okay, so I'm sitting at a table. Eating Ruth's cake (but I saw Ruth die!) Staring at a bizzaro version of Farfarello (No, not Farfarello, 'Jei.') and Aya's little sister, who just happens to be named Aya too, learning that my Aya (no, not 'my Aya'!) is actually named Ran and was hit by a car and lying in a hospital in a coma?!

"And so after the accident I was all alone and had no way to pay the hospital…." Aya is saying.

"And the newspapers and TV did stories about it, you see," Jei continues, shoveling cake into his mouth.

"And Ruth saw the story," Aya says, smiling at Jei.

"And so mom had the church raise money so we could take her in," says Jei.

"And take care of Ran too!" Finishes Aya.

"Uh…wow." Is all I can manage.

"As soon as I graduate, I'm going to get a job so I can pay her back," Aya announces.

"Nonsense," says Jei, around a mouthful of cake, "you're part of the family, you don't owe us anything."

"Oh, but Ran will want us to pay you back when he wakes up," says Aya, "he'll never forgive me if we don't."

"If Ran wants to pay us back," Jei says smugly, "he'll say yes when I ask his permission to marry you."

Aya blushes and jabs him in the ribs, "don't talk like that until he's back! I told you I won't give you an answer till he wakes up!"

"Sure, sure," Jei says, with a smile.

I'm starting to feel like a bit of a third wheel here.

For a few minutes everyone just chews in silence….

Until I notice that Aya has been looking at me funny.

"Is there something wrong?" I ask.

"Well," she says, thoughtfully, "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were Ken Hidaka. I swear, you could be his long lost twin or something."

I nearly choke. Crap! How does she know me?!

"Wow, you're right!" Jei says, "I knew he looked familiar!"

"Wh-who?" I ask nervously.

"Ken Hidaka," she says, "you know, the famous soccer player."

Oh thank god! She only recognizes me from soccer!

"Never heard of him." I say, wondering how convincing I sound.

"Never heard of him?!" Aya sounds shocked, "but he's all over the television! He was the spokesman for J-phone! And Aquarius! Well, before he died, of course."

"I've been out of the country for a while," I say, "he died, then?"

"Yeah!" Aya says, in a tone far too gossipy for my taste, "murder!"

"Murder?"

"A jealous teammate!" Aya says, "it was a huge scandal!"

Kase, that bastard!

"At first they thought it was an accident, but another teammate went to the reporters and broke the cover! I can't believe you didn't hear about it!"

"I'm afraid not," I say.

"Ran was heartbroken!" Aya says, "I really wish he was awake, he'd be so excited to see someone who looked just like Hidaka san!"

"Uh, really?" I ask, dumbstruck.

"Uh-huh," Aya says, nodding, "he was a huge fan…."

Aya? Watching soccer?!

"but I'll tell you a secret," Aya says, looking smug, "Ran wasn't exactly a sports fan…."

she giggles, "he just saw Hidaka san on a talk show one day, and got, well, infactuated."

Say what now?

"Next thing you know, he was watching soccer every night, had all Hidaka's trading cards…."

Uh….

"I'll tell you what I think," Aya says, "I think it was a crush!"

"Is that what you think?" I say, dumbly.

She nods wisely. "When the news broke about his murder, Ran cried. How many boys your age would cry over soccer?"

Hey! I've cried over soccer….

…but I'm not Aya….

…who doesn't even like soccer.

Well, shit.

"Hey!" She says, "you haven't even told us your name yet!"

"Ke…." Oh crap, I can't tell them my real name!

"Keisuke!" I save, "Keisuke…Tsukiyono!" Please let them not know Omi, Please let them not know Omi….

"That's a nice name," says Aya.

Suddenly Ruth appears in the room.

"Dinner's ready kids!" She waves us into the dinning room.

I catch something out of the corner of my eye.

Ruth's hands….

When Ruth waved, I got a look at the palms of her hands.

There's scars on her hands.

Those scars should have been from when she stopped Farfarello from stabbing her…

If Farfarello never went crazy, and is living with her as 'Jei'….

Then why does Ruth still have scars on her hands?!