Here it is; the last part. Sorry it took so long to update, I'm horrible, I know. The sappiness in this fic kills me, I was not far from gagging as I wrote certain parts. So the ending is just craziness. I hope you have enjoyed this as I have really enjoyed writing it (though I take forever, I know). Thank you for all your lovely reviews, too. I am much honoured by you all and always very delighted and happy to receive them. :)

There are some additional character notes that explain the details about what happened to both Ran and Ken before this fic on my LJ (in my bio), if you get this a while late the date to look for is listed below. Sorry in advance for Aya chan's hideous OC-ness.

(25 May 2005)

Together
by Seph Lorraine

The two hadn't fallen asleep until the early hours of the morning and had slept deeply without disturbance for much longer than what Ran was accustomed to. The redhead was awakened unpleasantly by the heat of the late morning sun beating down against the green sheets of the small bed. It was unpleasantly hot and stuffy, and everywhere he seemed to turn gave him no relief from the unnerving temperatures. The brunett, still sleeping peacefully beside him, made no indication that the heat bothered him, though a light sheen of perspiration was visible on his exposed back.

He lay still, despite the heat, staring blankly at the other man's back for a while, wincing at the sudden soreness he felt from moving. 1

He was surprised when the brunet suddenly began to move, kicking the covers away from his overheated form. Bearing down with his arms, he began to lift himself a bit. After a moment of hazy blinking at the sunny wall at the head of his bed, Ken yawned and stretched a bit mumbling something unintelligible and sitting up.

"It's hot in here." He stated blankly, his back to the redhead.

Ran simply snorted and pulled himself up a bit, pulling the sheets to his waist somewhat modestly considering the open window directly beside him. Had that been open the evening before?

The brunett turned a bit to blink at the other man lazily, "I gotta' get a shower."

Violet eyes made no adjustment, simply staring at him expressionlessly without response.

"Are you coming?"

His lips tilted a bit and he felt himself being pulled from the bed by a pair of eager hands.

An hour later, both of them sore and tired again, yet inevitably clean, the two men sat on the sofa, mugs of tea in hand and TV spouting senseless news about sunny skies until tuesday and three people being stabbed to death in a nearby apartment complex. There had been very little conversation in the morning thus far, what had existed between them as of yet had been nothing but moans of pleasure and witty barbs directed at one another for various reasons of teasing. They knew what was to be done, had settled it the evening before, just not how to do it.

It had been late when the decision was made, both bodies tired and mere footsteps from sleep when the brunet has asked in whispered tones, "What will I tell Aya chan?" and the redhead had responded with an accompanied constriction of his arms around the other man's thin waist, "Just tell her you can't be with her because you're with me."

There had been no argument about it.

So, Ran was very surprised when Ken spoke up, as he sat himself carefully down with his tea, "I've got to work at one. I was thinking I would go by and see your sister when I get off."

"And what all will you tell her?" The redhead trained his violet gaze on the other man carefully. The brunet was back to his baggy-attire. He wore a thin green soccer jersy and some loose, wrinkly jeans that completely concealed his white-socked feet. Everything about him was calm and pensive. Hard to believe that not an hour ago they had been fucking in the shower.

"Everything."

Ran was still, the warm edges of his mug heating his hand as he gripped tighter, "Ok... Just do me a favour, if you do."

Brown irises observed him questioningly.

"If my father answers the door, just leave and call her to meet you somewhere else."

"Why?"

"Just don't get involved with him. It's more trouble than it's worth." The redhead didn't turn to meet his eyes. "He doesn't like me, and I know he'll hate you."

Knowing instinctively that his lover wasn't about to elabourate Ken nodded, "So, I take it you guys aren't on good terms."

Without thinking the redhead bit back, "Well you can't tell me your parents are fond of you. Look at how you live."

The brunet stared at him boredly, "If I had any I might have been offended by that."

Ran was silent for a while, trying to smother the guilt that now stained his violet eyes, finally he made as if to apologize but was cut off brisquely.

"But I don't, so I'm not." He paused before continuing, "What about your mum?"

"She's fine."

"Aa, I see. So if your mum or Aya chan answer, it's a go. If it's Fujimiya san, it's a run while you can."

"My father is very skilled with a katana."

"So it's a 'run away screaming'."

Resisting a smirk at the mental image that provided, it was suddenly surprising how different the other man was now that he was on comfortable grounds with him. Ken was a perfect balance between the teacher's pet and the trouble maker, a lofty class A charmer whom, while his predecessors handed out roses and expensive smiles, seduced a plethora of people unconsciously with his natural wit and attitude. No wonder he'd been so suspicious of him at first. He was a rare find. And it just made him wonder all the more.

"What happened to your parents?"

The brunett blinked at him, caught off his guard by the question, and shrugged, "Not sure, I never knew them. I grew up in a shelter."

Nodding quietly, Ran continued, "And you dropped out of school?"

Ken hesitated slightly before responding to that one, but he had expected this one, "Yea, there was this guy, two or three years older than me. 2 We were just a bad match, and I made a lot of mistakes because of him. I started getting into a lot of trouble when we were seeing each other, and it came to the point that I would either have to drop out or be expelled. If anything, I still had my dignity, so I dropped out. It's ok, now, though. He's been gone for almost a year, and I haven't missed any of it since he left."

The redhead watched him quietly for a few more moments. Why did that story sound so familiar?

They both left the small, trashy apartment at about fifteen past noon, heading out onto the crowded city streets, each going their seperate ways. As Ran headed towards the University to find some poor classmate to intimidate some missed lecture notes out of, Ken took the train to to the Koneko no Sumu Ie wondering why train radios were so fond of the Astroboy theme lately. 3 The air of the city seemed unusually fresh somehow.

The day passed quickly to get the story to the next scene, leaving the employees of the small flower shoppe a bit confused when only a paragraph later it was quittin' time. One by one all two men and a little old lady clocked in their hours and headed off for the evening. It was only a brief walk and about 20 minutes from there that Ken found himself at the door of the Fujimiya home.

Brown eyes trained themselves on the closed door directly before them. He muttered a reminder to himself beneath his breath to run if he were in sights to be accosted by the Fujimiya father, "Run away from the homophobic dad. Run away from the homophobic dad."

He rung the bell quickly and dug his heel into the rug, prepared to start a good sprint at a second's notice.

After a moment the door swung open, revealing the warm light of the genkan as it leaked through the cracked doorway onto his shoes, creeping slowly up his legs as the door opened wider. The house was rather quiet, though the sounds of a television hummmed familiarly from the den and a kettle's muffled whistle resonated from the kitchen beyond that.

Aya stood quietly and guardedly in the doorway. She was dressed in a pair of wrinkly grey track pants and a pink t-shirt, her hair in it's usual pigtails, but despite her usual sweet appearance, her eyes were careful and observing. She wasn't smiling.

Somehow, though he had no idea how that would be, she already knew.

"Konbanwa, Aya chan." He spoke quietly, bowing a bit.

She nodded, "Ken kun."

"I was hoping I could speak with you for a minute." Brown eyes looked up at her hopefully.

The dark-haired girl hesitated for a moment before nodding and stepping out and closing the door softly behind her. She followed him to the front step and copied as he sat, facing the small area in front of the house.

They were silent for a moment before she spoke up, "I know why you're here."

"You do?"

"I saw you two in the yard, right here, that night that it was raining." She glanced at him for a second before looking directly ahead again, "He was handing you something and you kissed him." She spoke slowly and calmly, as if she had done a lot of thinking on the matter. "So I knew, that when you came here next, it would be to break up with me. Am I right?"

Ken watched her, frowning. That explained it, he hadn't received any calls from her since that day either, now that he thought about it, "Yes."

She nodded and when she spoke next her voice was icy and she refused to look at him, "So did my brother convince you that you were guilty of some horrible dishonour, then? Or do you just really not like me?"

"That's not it." He shook his head, "I do like you, Aya chan. You're brilliant, you make me smile, and you're understanding enough not to just have hit me when you saw me at the door." He frowned, "But that may still come later, I don't know. It's just that I don't like you like I like him."

Aya nodded sombrely, and then as if just catching on to what he had said, she blinked at him, "You actually like Ran-niichan?"

He nodded, unfortuantely understanding why that might seem sort of strange.

"Well I guess it's about time someone did." She huffed.

Ken sniggered quietly, by the slight tilt of her cherry lips it was obvious she was joking.

"It's just..." She sighed, sitting up straight to look him squarely in the eye, "Ran's been through some serious stuff with my dad about this kind of thing. I don't think he's going to be very pleased."

"Homophobic dad?" The brunet smirked, "He didn't really say much about that, but that's what I figured. Oh well, it's not anything big, like getting married or anything."

She wrinkled her nose a bit, looking thoughtful, "Well, it's not so much that as what happened when he found out about Ran."

Ken turned to her, listening quietly.

"A little over two years ago 'niichan started going out a lot in the evenings, and he wouldn't really tell anyone where he was going. 'Kaasan just started to worry, as usual, but our father became suspicious. So he started bringing Ran into his office at the bank to do some work for him, but then it turned out Ran would go missing for hours at a time while he was there, too." She looked at him intently, "When our father finally found out what was happening, he completely lost it. It turned out that Ran was seeing one of the University interns at the office, this guy he called Botan. Anyway, the guy ended up getting a transfer somehow to another office and 'niichan was almost disowned- 'kaasan would never have allowed -that- to happen, though. Ran was really upset about it afterwards and stopped seeing people, 'niichan and our father have not been on good terms since."

That was certainly a bit forboding.

The brunet stared at her quietly for a moment, "I never would've thought he had it in him."

Aya smiled suddenly, "He he! Ran-niichan's so full of surprises!" She pulled herself from the step with a flourish and grabbed his hand

"So you're not angry?" He asked as she pulled him to his feet. She giggled as she tried to brush the dust off his backside and he battered her hands away.

"I can't be, if you're happy." She smiled lightly, "But tell me, are you together?"

"Yea..." The brunett frowned. He thought that was sort of assumed.

"Then you must come meet my mother! And 'niichan has been waiting for you to get here for, like, an hour and I'm sick of being mad at him."

Ken quirked an eyebrow, "You could have mentioned that a little earlier, you know..."

Sticking out her tongue playfully, she pushed the door open with zeal, cringing only slightly as it slammed into the wall, "'Kaasan!" She pulled him in through the foyer and the den, stumbling to keep up with her into the brightly lit kitchen of the Fujimiya house.

A rather short woman stood at the counter holding a kettle in one hand and a mug in the other staring at them blankly.

Ran's head, from where he sat at the table, hit the hard wooden surface with a thunk, "Aya-chan, you weren't supposed to bring him-" But she cut him off.

"Look, mum! It's Ran's boyfriend!" She wriggled her eyebrows suggestively before bouncing to take another seat at the table.

Ken, unguarded and not paying full attention, looked over at Ran and mouthed, 'What are you doing here?'

The kettle clashed as it hit the floor, closely followed by the mug, but before the brunet could turn to look the short woman had barrelled into his stomach and was hugging him tightly, "He's so cute! And he's got a sweet smile! And such a firm ass!"

Ran, pale and mortifyed from his position at the table mouthed a subtle, 'I'm sorry. I really am.' back to his 'cute boyfriend' and returned to wishing he wasn't alive.

"Now, there's one thing you need to know if you're going to date my 'niichan, so listen very closely." From her chair, Aya's dark eyes were suddenly smouldering with intensity as they regarded her ex and her brother's current boyfriend in a very Ran-esque manner, "I believe we all know your intentions with my brother, and his thusly with you. But if you ever hurt him in any way, shape, or form, I will hunt you down with a flaying fork, flay you, beat you with one of your own dismembered appendages, and bury you in our front yard. Then I will kill you."

Ken blinked.

Ran sighed.

They all lived happily every after.

together

1 Is that a bit of Seme!Ken induced love? Yes. Yes, it is.

2 Everyone know's it's Kase, right? More info in the explanation I mentioned.

3 Aha! One of my friends was in Japan just recently and while he was over there he kept sending me emails about how he would hear the Astroboy theme everytime he rode the train. It amused me.

Thank you... to all of you who reviewed this fic, left me comments on LJ, and e-mailed me! I adore you all- :X

HeatherR - Mwa! I'm so happy you liked Youji! He's so fun to write. And I'm happy you caught on to the chapter titles, I didn't know if many people would since no one said anything. I am especially thankful for your reviews; you always give me such thoughtful comments and I always really appreciate them. Thank you so much!

M4r1-chan - Well, it wasn't a Yoshiki poster, it was one of those 7-11 convenience store calendar things (I'm not sure if they even have them in Japan). I had no idea what would be on one in Japan, and I had just watched that 7-11 commercial with Yoshiki on it, so I stuck him on it. But yes, there are some bad J-Rocker nudes out there and some good ones (much naked-Hakuei love!). Sorry there wasn't more Schu like you requested, but I really wouldn't have know how to stick him in there. Thanks for your reviews, 'tis so awesome to talk about J-Rock with interesting people.

Zeto - Ahaha! I'm so happy you liked the Youji imagery. He's just an awesome guy, and if I honestly had more plot ideas I'd write a fic about him. Sorry about the lack of lemon. It probably would've been better with one, alas I am unfortunately disable when it comes to that part. When it comes to lemons, I sort of freeze up and forget my name and how to breathe for a while. But, one day...! Thank's so much for your reviews!

Atsureki - I'm very happy that you took the time to read this, given you mentioned not reading WK anymore. I'm quite happy that you've enjoyed it too. Hope this last chapter wasn't a disappointment, I know it was tres late. Thank you so much for reading!

StrawberryPockyPoo - "unconventionally written fanfics"? He he! I love that! Thank you so much for reading, I'm happy you enjoy my RanKen fics (it is the Holy Pairing, after all). Another J-Rock fan! Haven't seen the Yoshiki commercial? Well if you ever want to see it, I can send it to you, if you like. It's really bizarre and has absolutely nothing to do with 7-11, yet it is a 7-11 commercial. oO; Yes, Gackt has some strange commercials (the Weatherman one for E-ma candy is especially hilarious). And Plastic Tree is love! Hurrah for PuraTuri fans! Thanks so much for reading! Happy RanKen!

Until they were all quite suddenly eaten by a pack of vicious, starving wolves.
Reviews are appreciated.