In the last chapter I named Omi's mum "Kyoko", which is not Omi's mum's real name. It started with a K, though. Kyoko is another woman Youji thinks is Asuka in episode 17 or 18, though. Ha ha! Anyway, sorry it took so long. I had issues with this chapter.
Warnings-- Nothing, really.
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Somewhat Damaged by Seph Lorraine
Act VI: Scene III: To Know Your Enemy
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The Smaragd Wald Drama Club wasn't exactly thrilled with the turnout for their annual presentation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. 1 They had assembled on the steps in front of the bell tower in the centre of campus, as was the tradition every year, only to look at a small gathering group of girls. The few guys that were there, only five or six of them dotted about the small crowd, were being forcefully pinned there by their significant others. They looked decidedly uninterrested.
It seemed the majourity of the school that afternoon was preoccupied with lurking around the main office for the verdict of the day's earlier fight. News had spread like wildfire through the school in less than an hour, sending people flocking to the front buildings to catch a glimpse of a possible continuation of the earlier violence-- or some cruel punishment administered by Mr. R Takatori, himself.
Their Tyblat had even abandoned them for the circus of students awaiting the verdict.
With a heavy sigh and a short apology, the Drama Club decided tradition would have to be postponed for the day.
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Mr. R Takatori was a barrel of a man. Not exactly fat, just wide, and hulking. He wore a suit of some indistinguishable hue between grey and navy and a broad yellow tie for only the gods know why. His hair was an obviously artificial black, though his mutton-chop sideburns were a very aged shade of white. He also wore a peculiar pair of sunglasses upon his broad, crooked nose, through which he now peered quite villianously at the two younger students before him.
The brunette paid him no mind, and the redhead was turned away from him with a look of digust.
"Who's he, Fujimiya!?" The man shouted, not necessarily because he was angry (even though he was), but because he didn't know how to speak otherwise. He thrust a wide finger in the sombre brunette's direction.
Sitting carefully poised in one of the leather chairs before Takatori's desk, Ran further narrowed his defiant glare, "What, you don't know all of your students?" His tone was low and scathing, though he was careful and attentive-- more like, ready to strike at any moment.
Already thoroughly miffed with the redhead, despite it being just the beginning of the interrogation, Takatori was very quick to snap back, "Only the ones that seem to continuously and purposely cause me annoyance."
Ran seemed unaffected.
Beside him Ken said nothing and made no move to look up from his gaze at the polished mahogany of Mr. R Takatori's desk. The other boy hadn't spoken a word since the fight half an hour ago. He had come out of his deadened state, but he still made no sign of voicing his thoughts any time soon, either.
Takatori pressed a red button on his desk-phone quickly, buzzing his secretary whom came bursting into the door as if there were a fire to be put out.
"Yes, Mr. Takatori?" The woman bowed frantically.
"Who is that?" He barked and pointed again at Ken.
As if by magic the woman was holding a folder, "His name is Hidaka Ken, just transferred from Japan. He's a sophomore, resident in dorm C12, moved from old room after roommate's suicide, current roommate is Fujimiya Ran-- class 12, discplinary file available for viewing at your disposal. He used to live Tokyo, and for a few years in Kyoto. Fluent in German. Not an English speaker. Has no registered driver's liscense or personal photo ID, no personal files or notifications of importance by the Japanese government, and if there were, Google's been acting up again so I couldn't translate them--"
"That will be all, woman!" The man barked again.
The door slammed shut and she was gone as quickly as she appeared.
Even Ran blinked.
Takatori smirked, "She's very efficient."
The redhead didn't quite have a response for that.
"Ken Hadaka, then!" The man looked as if he were about to laugh mischeviously for some unknown reason.
"Hidaka."
The principal paused and have the redhead a further glare.
Had Ran been any more impulsive he would have slapped himself for that slip.. He merely focused his eyes to the clock on the right wall and bit his tongue.
"You don't speak English, then?" Takatori was watching the silent brunette from behind his desk.
Ken made no response, but spared him a glance this time.
"Speak, boy!" The voice boomed across the office.
Silence.
"Just get to why we're here so we can leave." Ran sighed, not looking away from the wall. His voice was hard and sounded muffled through his clenched teeth.
Increasingly impatient, the principal turned his narrow gaze at Ran again.
"Tell me, Fujimiya, how you were disrupting my peaceful school, again. I heard there was a fight." The man raised a cigar to his lips, pulling an elegant silver lighter from his desk drawer. "You remember what happened during our last fight, don't you? Tell me what happened."
"It's none of your business." The redhead spoke lowly.
"The hell it is! This is my school Fujimiya and I won't have you fucking up my system like you've been trying for six years now! Tell me what the hell happened so I can get back to work!" Somehow the cigar remained stable in his teeth as he gritted the words out noisily.
"I've done nothing to you, Takatori, and this has nothing to do with you--"
"Tell me what happened!"
"You know what happened. There was a fight." Ran bit out, "That's it."
"What about?!" The man growled.
"It's not your business!" Swiping a narrow gaze at the brunette to his left, Ran felt sure that even if he could say, Takatori would be the last one to hear about it.
"WHAT ABOUT?!" The voice was even louder.
Outside in the hallway was a tittering of voices from the crowd of people accumulated to see what's going on. Every once in a while there were a few people visible from his angled view of the window. Though only his ridiculous fanclub and their large red poster-board signs that read things like, "Free Ran!" and "Fight the good fight, Fujimiya!" were distinguishable amoung the crowd.
"It's none of your--" The redhead, slowly lifting to his feet in his anger, was frozen at the sudden sound of a familiar voice.
"You caught me with your girlfriend." A smooth voice spoke in effortless Japanese.
Ran reseated himself, turning his glare viciously on his formerly silent roommate, „Nani?"
"I wrecked your car."
"What the fuck are you on about? I don't have a girlfriend, and you don't even know what car I--"
"You unintentionally insulted me." Ken continued, adding as an afterthought, "And you drive a white Porsche."
From his desk, Takatori watched the exchange between the calmly speaking brunette and the angry redhead, unable to gather a word. He looked quickly to Fujimiya, "What's he saying!? What are you saying!? What are you two talking about!?"
"I don't know what you're--" Ran began, but was interrupted again by his roommate's urgent voice.
"Pick one, and just use it."
There was silence for a moment across the entire office.
"Aa..." Violet eyes narrowed pensively.
"You caught me with your girlfriend." The brunette nodded, "Just go on that."
Slightly miffed that one of his enemy's was giving him an order, Ran turned back and spit the phrase at the principal in harsh English, "I caught him with my girlfriend."
Takatori growled, "WHAT!? All this over a GIRL!?" He glared at the window, obviously noting the signs of adoration floating amidst a sea of juvenile bodies, "What imbecilic woman--"
As if cued, Ken heaved a sigh with some purposely bad acting and randomly picked a girl from his German class, "Aa, beyutifuru Sakura Tomoe." 2
What little colour that had been present drained instantly from the redhead's face.
Takatori looked quite smug at that and pressed the red button again before Ran could snap at either he or the brunette.
Secretary Keiko burst through the door again, knocking over a potted plant in her hurry, however it didn't really matter as she had already cleaned it, brewed some coffee, and filed her nails by the time any of them had noticed it fell to begin with. 3 "Yes, sir!"
"Assign Sakura Tomoe a week's detention! And punish these two!"
Without a trace of where it came from, a whip appeared to be clutched in her right hand.
"Something remotely legal, woman!"
In her left she waved a few detention slips.
A dissatisfied sigh, "That'll work."
She saluted and was gone again.
There was a moment of silence.
Ran gripped the handles of his chair and forced himself up in fury, "Wait just a minute! You can't just--"
"Can't just what, Fujimiya!? I think you're missing the point! I'm your superior, I can do whatever the hell I want!" Takatori yelled back, before his tone became more intense, and he leaned forward in his chair, "I knew from the first time you entered my office that you were trouble. A pest. Something to be dealt with--"
"Then why don't you just expell me. Get rid of the fucking problem." Ran was on the verge of yelling, his fists gripped tightly on either side.
Takatori frowned at that and seemed to hesitate with something as he drew another puff from his cigar, "You best watch it, Fujimiya, or I will."
"Do it, then." It was obvious the redhead was not going to back down.
He dismissed the younger man's words and for the first time ever, Takatori lowered his voice, "I'm watching you, Fujimiya. Surely you don't think I've forgotten about six years ago, do you? You said that you had done nothing to me, and that this had nothing to do with me, but you've said that before, Fujimiya. And you were caught. Surely you remember what happened. What you did."
The room seemed to still. Even the crowd outside, whom had no real way of hearing what was being said, sounded quiet.
Ran was stricken silent, earning him a strange look from the brunette beside him. His mouth snapped shut and he seemed to will himself backwards without moving at all, "I didn't do that..."
The principal would hear no more, "Get out of my office! Both of you!"
Ken tailed the unusually pale redhead from the room with a curious gaze at his back.
Secretary Keiko handed them their detention slips as they passed through the doorway; a week for the both of them. They accepted them silently, and Ken accidentally thanked the woman in English. She gave him a strange look.
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Outside, the verdict of the hearing was being distributed and passed throughout the crowd, along with some information gathered by curious means. Sakura Tomoe, a blushing freshman and member of the Fujimiya Ran Fan Club, had instantly been promoted to vice- president with her new alleged "girlfriend" status, and she was enjoying every minute of it. Though she had to admit she was fairly confused by it all.
She had never even spoken with the guy before.
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Ran and Ken agreed silently to slip around the building by a flight of concrete stairs that lead up to the tennis courts. Neither was completely content with the other, both still somewhat shaken from the fight, yet it had to be admitted that the crowd outside was a step above overwhelming for the both of them. They moved quickly and next to a tall brick wall to avoid being seen; neither spoke.
Ken watched the redhead's jacket fan out behind his hurried steps, thinking silently to himself about the scene in the office. He had understood very little, but of course there were things he had picked out amoung the arguement. His roommate, now, was not even acknowledging him, instead he seemed to be thinking quite deeply himself, his skin more pale than he had ever remembered. Takatori and Ran seemed to have a more than turbulant relationship, and something the man had said really seemed to have shaken the usually quiet upperclassman.
His steps slowed a bit.
For not the first time, the stupidity of his predicament was obvious to him. He was in a foreign country, surrounded by gaijin, and the only person he could clearly communicate with was a stoic, moody, redheaded Japanese-American whom hated him. 4 Truthfully, it was somewhat funny.
Ken couldn't help it when he felt himself laughing suddenly.
A few steps ahead, Ran jerked out of his own reverie and turned around to glare at the younger man, "What are you laughing at? You just got the both of us detention for a week! And some innocent girl who wasn't even involved!"
The younger man was silent for a whole thirteen seconds before his laughs came even harder than before.
"What are you laughing at?!" Violet eyes were narrowed dangerously as they stared down at the apparently unaffected sophomore, a whole two feet below him from his position on the stairs.
Ken ignored him and continued to laugh for perhaps an entire minute longer before he finally began to calm himself, and looked up at the taller man, "Are you saying that I got us detention?"
Ran bit his tongue, not yet ready to digress into a verbal spar on whose fault this entire mess was, "Just hurry up before somebody finds us."
„Chotto!" trans: "Wait!" The younger man caught his breath and hurried up again to walk closer to his angry counterpart.
"What?!"
"I was just going to ask you where you come from."
Violet eyes blinked. That was certainly not what he had been expecting.
"Didn't my imouto tell you everything about us?" A harsh tone as the redhead finally reached the top of the stairs.
Ken ignored the question verbally but noted it mentally, "She said you that you and your family came from Japan, so you spoke Japanese, but she was born in America, so she spoke very little. I was just wondering where in Japan you came from."
Ran slowed his steps, glaring from the corner of his eyes, "It's really none of your business."
"I know. How dare I. We're supposed the be angry with each other." The brunette rolled his eyes, "It's not like it's a big question, really. I was just curious."
"I am still angry with you, Hidaka, and for reasons quite obvious. I'm not talking with you now, and I'm not telling you anything." His steps quickened again, pacing themselves across the wide tennis courts to the far gate that lead by the field house and back to the lawn.
"Fine, be angry; it doesn't really matter to me. But... Ne, Fujimiya san?" His tone had a light lilt as his brown eyes seemed to spark.
No response.
"Did you ever find those shoes you were looking for?"
Ran stopped walking midstride, causing the brunette to almost smash into him from behind. He whirled around and caught the younger man in a dark glare, "So you're going to admit it?"
"Admit what?"
"Where my personal belongings have been disappearing to!"
Ken feigned confusion, "There's more stuff missing?"
Silence.
Ken frowned, "Have you been letting someone into our room, who's been taking our stuff, Fujimiya san? Because I am also missing a toothbrush, as well. It was on my--"
Ran almost frowned, "You're missing things, also?"
A slight nod and a pair of crossed fingers carefully concealed in his pants pocket, Ken prodded the other man to keep walking with the tips of his fingers against the older man's chest. Well, it wasn't entirely false, he was missing a toothbrush, himself, and for all he knew, someone could have taken it from him.
"Anyway, as I was saying, I am very good at finding things. Always have been. I could help you look for them, if you'd like."
They were walking in step, now. Exiting the gate and starting through the lawn side by side as Ran thought about it.
"What's the catch?"
The brunette shrugged nonchallantly, "You tell me something about yourself. Like, where you are from, favourite colour, most annoying personal habbit, if you had were stranded on a desert island-- what three things you would take with you and why, why the cafeteria only serves doughnuts for breakfast, etc."
A snort, "Don't be ridiculous."
"I thought it sounded like a pretty good deal to me."
"You like making these 'deals'." The observation was hardly a murmer beneath his breath.
"I'll even tell you something about myself for everything you tell me."
Ran stopped walking, grabbing the brunette's arm to stop him in place, as well. From their first meeting he had begun to gather a series of intricate question questions about the other man. The very reason he had gotten himself into this mess, causing the other man to blackmail him by threatening his sister, had been his curiosity at one level or another.
These were things that had been eating at him slowly, wearing him down to bones, as he waited every night for the brunette to find sleep before he allowed himself to rest. He wanted to know what Hidaka Ken was, and what he was doing here. Ken had even stated, himself, "You must understand that I harbour no ill-will for either of you, personally. You obviously know I have secrets to keep."
Wasn't this the oppurtunity to answer those questions that had been plaguing him constantly?
He finally had a chance to get to know and understand what he was up against in Hidaka Ken. Despite the brunette's easiness in manner, he knew the other man was formidable. He had felt the beginning of the other man's heat when that fight had begun and had seen just how easily it had been extinguished into hollow darkness.
This was deeper than curiosity.
The brunette was now frowning, and trying a bit frantically to pull the redhead's grasp from his arm.
"Everything I tell you, you match it with something about yourself."
Brown eyes looked up, confidence fading as he saw peered into Ran's narrowed violet eyes, "Yes."
"And you find my shoes."
A nod, neither broke the gaze.
"Deal." He released the other man and began walking again.
Ken fell into step once more, as well, beginning to finally feel the cold air of the outdoors seeping through his jacket. He didn't want to do it, but this was the only option he had. This game had rules that didn't need to be spoken. If Ran told him something small and unimportant, he would do the same. To get anywhere deep into his past, the other man would have to reveal something just as deep. And if he had noticed anything about the other man, so far it was obvious that the redhead trusted no one (he didn't even trust Ken enough to fall asleep before him).
Almost as if he expected me to murder him in his sleep. Brown eyes winced closed. This was no time to be morbid. He couldn't spare the time for his depression to creep back up on him yet, as it always did periodically.
"What is it?"
Brown eyes snapped open at the unexpected question, „Nani?"
"You looked upset." Violet eyes didn't spare him a glance, yet remained looking forward and impassive, "Not reconsidering your 'deal' already, are you?"
"No."
"Then what were you thinking." It sounded vaguely like a command.
"How strange it is that you seem to think I'm going to murder you in your sleep if I don't fall asleep before you."
Surprise flickered across the senior's face, and he turned to quirk an eyebrow at the other man. He hadn't expected the other man to be so... Blunt.
Nor had he thought the other man to be so observant, not that he actually thought the other man would kill him, but he was cautious.
"Well, as long as I'm being honest, you might as well be, too." Ken continued, "Where are you from?"
Resisting a frown, Ran complied, giving the other man a piercing glare, "Sapporo."
"I'm from Tokyo. Have you ever owned a cat?"
"No." Ran felt his eyebrow twitch. "Have you?"
"Of course not."
"Then why did you ask?"
Brown eyes glinted mischeviously, "Because they like to hide under beds."
For the second time that day, Ran had absolutely no response for the previous comment.
Instead he just stood and watched as his... enemy? Parted paths with him with a wave and headed off towards the commons area. The man whom had threatened him and his sister was just making merry conversation with him like it was an everyday thing, and he was just supposed to follow through as if everything were alright?
Was everything alright?
He checked his mental checklist. Ken didn't appear to have serious interest in Aya, he hadn't asked him anything terribly personal, and had even offered to help find his shoes. Yet, as messed up as things seemed-- a bladed claw under a mattress, a mysterious intuitive 'feeling' he hadn't felt for years, telling him that there was something wrong with the other man-- they seemed to be at some sort of unexplainable standstill for the moment.
Nothing ever lasted, though. He had learned it early as a child when he had been forced to leave his own home for an entirely different country, and then accept the worries and griefs every little boy must endure when he hears he will soon be a big brother-- to a girl whom had never even seen his mother country or spoken his mother tongue-- and then to loose all of that to the reason that had started it all to begin with.
That had tought him, young, two things: nothing ever lasts, and running gets you nowhere.
Ran was unable to move as the thought hit him.
Running gets you nowhere...
His eyes quickly turned back to the path that Ken had ventured down, where the brunette's slight form was now vanishing from sight.
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Notes--
1 Most famous Shakespearian play ever, and undoubtedly one of his worst (in my personal opinion). It was a toss up between that and A Midsummer Nights Dream, which is my favourite work by Shakespeare, but RJ held more of the romantic connotation I am hoping to represent with the bell tower.
"Captain of our fairy band
Helena is here at hand
And the youth mistook by me
Pleading for a lover's fee-
Shall we their fond pageant see
Lord what fools these mortals be!"
-- Puck; A Midsummer Night's Dream
2 beyutifuru - Badly phonetic Japanese-English pronunciation of "beautiful"
3 Secretary Keiko was spawned from a sugar high. Don't confuse her as being important, though.
4 gaijin- foreignor(s)
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Thank you to my reviewers: (and, yea, Gackt posters to you all... if I had money and stuff to buy and send them!)
Lain1- Thank you very much for your grammer tips. I love learning about Japanese and I really appreciate it! I haven't seen "da" listed in any of my books, which is where I learn from, so that's probably why I haven't heard it before... I might go back and change some of it, later, but I'm kind of unsure. I kind of like the idea of Ran being at least a bit more formal with "Kutsu wa, dooko desu ka?", and Ken being the very informal slangy-type person to use phrases like "Kutsu wa, dooko?" or "da" if he's angry. :) Thank you very much! And yes, Crawford gardening! Couldn't you just imagine Schwarz watching as he freaks out one morning when he finds a weed in his roses? Ha ha!
HeatherR- Thank you so much! I always love to read your reviews! I'm very happy you liked the scene on the lake. I worked really hard on it and had to rewrite it a few times to get it at least satisfactory. I've been looking forward to writing it for a while. And you said you couldn't wait to hear about Ran's past! Yay! The next act is going to focus on that very subject! :D The end of this scene was like an intro to it, actually. Thank you so much for your spirited and uplifting reviews! Take care!
Narijima- I'm so happy you're enjoying the story! And thanks for your review! I'm happy you liked that line. You asked how many languages I speak? Well, I speak English, I'm semi-fluent in German, conversational French, and a modest bit of Japanese. :) Please continue reading and reviewing! I hope you continue to enjoy it!
The Weaver Atropos- I'm so happy you enjoyed the chapter, Weaver-san. Thank you very much for your review! Ha ha! I tried to make it at least a bit RanKen slighted. I'm hoping this chapter will be the turning point it's supposed to be so I can start including more enjoyable fan-girl moments. Hopefully the story won't run to far away from me, like it already is.
Whisper Reilman- Thank you kindly! :D Actually, I was thinking of making Ran and Ken sporadically violent with each other, yet seeing as how I've practically lost control of where I was going with this last scene, I don't know what's going to happen, either. Ha ha! It would be hilarious if they actually did start stealing the same object back and forth! Strangely, my original idea for this was to be a sort of dark-fic, yet the humourous elements that can so easily work for the situation always win out. Suddenly there's post it notes everywhere, Farf's doing illegal things in the art room, Ken's a cleptomaniac. I'm wondering if I should really schedule a RanKen mudfight or something... Thank you so much for your review!
ITSAME- Aa! You liked the YoujiAsuka bit, too? Hurrah! I've been dying to write that for a while, and I'm so happy to see it went over well! As for Crawford's break down, heh. It was inevitable, ne? Just look what the poor man must put up with on a daily basis. :) I love torturing the stoic, badass ones (Ran, Crawford, etc.) Thank you about the fighting comments, too! Please keep reading and I hope you continue to enjoy!
Laurel-Crowned- Thank you very much for your review! I'm happy to see Schu's Brad stick-figure drawing didn't go entirely unnoticed. Ha ha, I enjoy being completely random, sometimes. Thanks, again!
StrawberryPockyPoo- Thanks! :D I hate it when good writers abandon their fics, as well! It's a sad thing, and it's killing the fandom. ((Fandom: Bleeds and twitches a bit)) Thank you very much for your review, though! I hope you continue to read and enjoy the fic!
Zavijah- Aa, don't worry about Crawford, there. Takatori's not gonna' just let him quit like that. :) Plus, he wouldn't just go off and leave Schu like that. As for Ran's grudge with Takatori, I'm trying to bring up a way to really explain it in the fic. I'm still not sure how to get into it, yet, but the next act is actually focused on Ran's part of the fic, his past, etc. I'm hoping I'll be able to fit at least some parts of it into there. Thanks for reviewing! Please continue to read and enjoy!
Also, thanks to: Chitoshiya no Tohma, xXLil Yu JahXx, shini-kuma, Shlandria, BlackRose24, and Noboru Ryu Umi
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