Wednesday 1 - Shadows (Cont'd) (COMPLETE)

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran
"There's no time!" Ran snapped imatiently. "We can't afford to deal with anyone they send to clean this up! Come on!

He jogged back to the rubble, hauled Omi to his feet. Ken he knew was fine. "Help him!" He snapped at Ken. He turned on his heel and jogged back through the rubble, slow enough to make sure they followed.

Omi
Silence. It'd been silent for what seemed like eternity.

Omi was confused to see Aya. Hadn't he already left with Yohji? Surely with Yohji as injured as he was...

They'd all stayed behind to try to find him? Then what had happened to Yohji? Was he--?

Anxiety swelled in his chest. "Where's Yohji-kun? Isn't he...?"

Ken
Ken barely held back the impulse to shout something childish at Ran.

~Do you think we're having a tea ceremony back here?!~

He swallowed the urge to retort and turned to Omi instead.

"Here," Ken looped one of Omi's arms around his shoulder. "You can use me for support, it gets unstable further up. If you shine your flashlight it should make things a lot easier."

Omi
Omi wasn't reassured by the lack of any word on Yohji. What had happened?! No time?

Despite the swell of frustration and desire to protest again, Ken pulled him from the chance. Though he still felt terribly bothered by it all, without further complaint (whether Omi liked it or not) they were fleeing the scene.

Yohji had better be in the car, or Ken and Aya were leaving without him.

Ran
Ran reached the car first, rapping on the back window before he slid into the driver's seat.

"Yohji," he said roughly. He glanced back.

The other man had /better/ still be conscious.

Yohji
The sharp noise made Yohji jump. He'd been trying very hard to keep his focus outside of the car. But as the minutes ticked by, the fuzziness of desired sleep kept creeping up and threatening to drag him down. He'd catch his eyes sliding shut against his will before startling himself awake again.

"Not dead yet," he answered quietly.

And it looked like the others weren't either, he was relieved to notice.

He caught himself tugging at his makeshift bandage in a pain-inducing, and counterproductive way. He still hadn't gotten a good look at the damage.....

Ran
Safe against anyone seeing his expression, Ran sank into a worried frown. "Stay that way," he snapped. His fingers tightened on the wheel as he started the car.

Ken
As Ken and Omi approached the car, Ken felt something in his throat tighten, as if it were being held in a vice grip. What if they got back to the car only to find Yohji gone? He couldn't remember how deep the cuts went or how badly he was bleeding. There was only the anger, shock and cold seed of fear taking root in the pit of his stomach-

~One step at a time Hidaka. Get Omi to the car. You can do that much at least. One step at a time~

The chocking sensation only loosened a fraction when he saw Yohji slumped in the front seat, tugging at a makeshift bandage and looking woozy as hell.

He wondered, briefly, how Ran and Omi would punish him for this, and whether the penance would ever do justice for the crime.

Yohji
"Well, when you ask me so nicely...."

Yohji's response to Ran was automatic, spoken without any real conviction that he might have a choice in the matter. Well, its not like he was trying not to, anyway.

He watched with relief as Ken and Omi finally reached the car. Omi looked like he had seen better days though.

He hoped that someone would fill him in on what had happened. Although he didn't really have the energy to ask.

Omi
For Omi, it was relief enough to see Yohji not only in the car, but conscious. Good, they could truly leave then. He moved into the back seat with him, not bothering with a seat belt, or asking if Yohji was okay. The answer to that was obvious. Instead he shined the flashlight on the blood-covered orange jacket. It would certainly be better not to move that until they had better treatment available.

"Close your eyes for a bit, ok?"

Once he had, Omi moved the beam of light over Yohji's face for a good idea of how much color he still had in his cheeks.

Yohji
Yohji followed Omi's instruction, all too happy to oblige an order allowing him to rest.

Everything turned reddish orange as the flashlight beam filtered through his eyelids. it was as if even asleep, Yohji couldn't escape from all the blood.

It was such a relief to feel the car finally retreating from that nightmare of a mission.

Mod
The car containing the four members of Weiss sped away from the building, still blowing trails of smoke
toward the sky.





Back at the Koneko...

Aya-chan
Pencil moved against paper as Aya-Chan mechanically wrote her homework. It was as if the words were writing themselves, and if she had actually took the time to read the paper, Aya-Chan would have realized that the sentences and paragraphs made no sense. The pencil dulled, and she reached over for a small knife. She felt numb; unable to think. And she didn't notice that she'd been shaking.

Blood... from her fingertip, dripping off of the little knife and the pencil, and leaving small dots of red on the paper beneath. Ordinarily, it would have been no big deal; the cut was already beginning to heal.

She screamed. The small knife in her hands slowly morphed into the katana she'd seen earlier in Ran's room. She dropped it in horror and, still shaking, pushed as fast as she could away from the table and ran.

The house seemed so foreign; Aya-Chan wasn't sure where to go. Everywhere she stepped reminded her of how un-welcomed she was here and the secrets that had been kept from her for so long. She somehow found her way to the living room and crawled onto the couch. Familiar smells hit her - flowers, cigarettes, beer, and sweat... exhausted, she buried her face into the couch and drifted into an uneasy sleep.

Ran
The car ride went quickly, and passed in tense silence. It was late into the night, and the streets were deserted save for the odd car that passed by from time to time in a blur of light.

Ran pulled them into their garage, and exited quickly.

At least it was so late that Aya-chan would surely be in bed. Of anything, this was what Ran wanted to shield her from most.

The aftermath of his job.

The real danger each mission posed to each of them.

Ran opened the back door hastily, then paused.

It would be better to do this now, out here, so he didn't wake up Aya with the noise -

Ran clenched his teeth and braced himself, then slammed swiftly into the wall of the garage. His
shoulder popped back in place with a crack. He just barely cut off the yell.

He felt a wave of relief. He hadn't been sure it wasn't broken. It was still throbbing, but it worked.

Ran jerked forward again and grabbed Yohji under his armpits, carefully helping him out of the car.

Aya-chan
Somewhere in the darkness, Aya-Chan heard the sound of a garage door. And then, a soft thud. It took a moment to figure out where she was, and then, the events of the evening rushed back to her.

Groaning, Aya-Chan flipped onto her back, feeling a dull pain from having slept in an odd position. I should probably get back to my room...

Yohji
Yohji winced as the movement caused his bandages to shift against his wound. He stayed silent though, hardly about to complain after watching Ran's treatment of his own injury.

"I can...." he struggled to stand on his own, although ended up with most of his weight still staggered against the shorter man. At least he wasn't being supported by both of Ran's arm's now though. He looked at the formally dislocated shoulder that Ran had just so cavalierly 'fixed' with suspicion. "You don't need to do that."

He made no effort to actually move however. Although he desperately needed treatment, Yohji wasn't exactly in a hurry to go through the door and have to deal with the reality that lay beneath Ken's shredded shirt. He closed his eyes for a moment and tried to ignore the pain, focusing only on the (almost bizarre) experience of finding Ran being nice to him.

Things would probably be completely back to normal by tomorrow.

Assuming 'normal' incorporated a hell of a lot of painkillers.

Omi
Aya seemed to be handling Yohji. Omi eyed them for a moment, feeling a sense of responsibility in his own right to take care of his teammate-- it should be his job, shouldn't it? And yet, it felt wrong to interrupt them.

Thus, Tsukiyono Omi got out of the car and headed up the stairs to the back door, blackened with soot and dirt, sore all over, and sporting blood stains on his legs and cheek.

He unlocked the door and tiredly headed inside, very much looking forward to a shower-- and very much not looking forward to the mission report. Everything could have been perfectly fine if only Aya's sister weren't right in the line of sight from the kitchen.

Oh hell.

Ran
Ran stumbled through the door, Yohji doing a better job than he would have thought at supporting his own weight. He tossed a disbelieving look at Yohji's protest.

"Since when do you complain about groping me, Kudoh?" He said, but his tone was flat despite the
almost-joke.

Inside, Omi stopped in front of them, so quickly that they almost ran into their younger teammate.

"Get the kit-" Ran started.

It was a nightmare.

Aya-chan.

No.

What was his sister doing here?

No. This was the reality of his life.

And he had failed to protect her from it.

Yohji
"That sounds like an invitation," Yohji tried to smile.

He tightened his grip on Ran's shirt, briefly entertaining a fantasy of acting on Ran's quip. But he was too weak, and the moment was quickly lost.

You're half dead, man. How can you even still be thinking about that.

With his mind still stuck on Ran's comment, Yohji didn't even see Omi, let alone expect to be suddenly stopping. He stumbled, and blindly grabbed at Ran's arm in a somewhat futile effort to regain his balance.

"Fucking hell," he repressed a gasp of pain with the expletive.

Aya-chan's presence failed to even register.

Aya-chan
Sounds. Footsteps. Voices... Any lingering sleep was immediately gone as Aya-Chan heard familiar voices. She bolted up.

Ran was alright.

And then... she saw them.

A small gasp escaped from her lips, and she suddenly felt dizzy. All she could do was sit, frozen, and stare.

Omi
It was all entirely wrong. She wasn't supposed to find out-- not like this at least. He wanted to say something to her, but when he opened his mouth, nothing came out, not for several moments.

What a sight it must be-- the blood, the injuries, the dirt and soot, the tired faces-- it was nothing new to him, but seeing the look on her face...

And yet, all he could manage was an exasperated, "What are you doing still up at this hour?!"

Amazing how that question had evolved from the thought, "What an upsetting sight this must be for her."

Aya-chan

Aya-Chan flinched involuntarily from the question. "I." she swallowed,
unsure what to say, feeling a little like a child that was being
scolded for
doing something horribly wrong.

The blood.

And then, something snapped inside.

"Well, I wouldn't have been up if you hadn't been so loud." It came out all wrong. but god, it felt so good to be taking her frustration out on someone.

Omi
The comeback took him just as off-guard as his question had. Omi worked his jaw, visibly fumbling, and worriedly looked over his shoulder at the brother. Did he have any ideas how to handle this?

Meekly, he looked back.

"Sorry we were noisy but-- we thought you'd be in your room."

Aya-chan
Her gaze switched from the shocked Omi to the injured Yohji behind him, choosing to skip over Ran. Part of her wanted to run away in horror, but she grounded herself instead. Whatever these people did, and whoever they were, the only thing she knew at this moment was that they’d been nice to her, taken her in after she’d been in the hospital. And that deserved some sort of payment in return…

“I remember seeing some bandages in the upstairs bathroom…”

After she patched them up… she’d definitely beat the crap out of them.

Ran
Ran swallowed thickly.

"You're not going to be involved in this," he said to his sister. His eyes flicked down to Yohji, his wounds, then back up. Passed over Omi, and rose to meet his sister's.

Her response had floored him, but how would they explain that this had been done by one of their
own?

His stomach tightened. And had this just been a reaction of adrenaline and instinct, or was Ken unsafe
to -

Later.

There was a note of desperation in his tone that surprised even him.

But Yohji was still bleeding. There was no time for this. He turned and strode quickly the sink and
retrieved the first aid kit from underneath.

"This will be easier if he's laying dow," he said to Omi.

Yohji
This was not happening.

Yohji watched the transaction between Aya-chan and Omi, and then Ran in absolute horror.

She is going to know now. She is going to know everything, and it was going to be his fault.

This is not something Ran will get over.

He watched as Ran blankly stared at his bloody chest and then looked down at it himself.

This is not explainable.

Luckily, he felt that his current condition excluded him from being the one attempting to explain. At least for the moment.

"Easier for whom?" he whined.

Shit, this was going to hurt

Aya-chan
“You said we’d talk today.” Anger was beginning to get the best of her. Anger from being shut out, the little information she had, and a little bit of anger at Ran for allowing himself and the others to become this beaten up. “I am not a child anymore, and I’ve been living here for long enough. It is not my fault that you do what you do.” A voice in the back of her mind was screaming at her that she was all wrong, and that she wasn’t old or mature enough for the details. And… it was her fault… but she pushed the voice away and steeled herself. “I was involved when you allowed me to live here.” Where had this surge of courage come from? It was almost as if Aya-Chan had removed herself from her body and was now just a spectator, watching a group of strangers. “I think I deserve to know the truth.”

Ken
It took the entirety of the car ride for the coil of adrenaline and panic to wind down. The silence helped and made things worse all at once. Ken didn't know where to look. The idea of meeting anyone's eye was scary enough that he just stared at the floor mats.

It was even worse when they arrived at home. In the garage, there was light to expose yet again what Ken had done to his comrade. Somehow the hasty and haphazard first aid was more painful to look at than the wound itself. Was it because it was made from the shredded remains of *his* shirt? The ragged strips looked like a flag, shouting "Hey world! You won't believe what trouble Hidaka's gotten himself into this time!"

~Gonna make it a habit of slicing up all your friends, Hidaka?~

He caught himself sitting in the car long after the others had gone inside. He got out, but hesistated to go inside. He was sorely tempted to give in to cowardace and just crawl back inside the car. That would be pointless. He'd have to face things sooner or later, and hiding wouldn't do him a lick of good.

"I remember seeing some bandages in the upstairs bathroom."

"This will be easier if he's laying down."

"Easier for whom?"

This was bizzare. Ken's jaw dropped and promptly snapped shut. To see Aya-chan taking part in this, flowing into the gruesome aspect of their lives with all the finesse of a war nurse, damn near floored him. Even though it looked like she'd done this a thousand times, Ken still had to choke back a cry. It hit him as hard as if it were one of his soccer kids standing there. Ken silently moved back away from the scene,crouched down on the floor where he wouldn't be noticed, and watched.

Ran

"It is not my fault that you do what you do.”

His sister's words froze Ran by the sink, his frame jerking noticeably into a standstill.

"I was involved when you allowed me to live here. I think I deserve to know the truth.”

She was right.

It made it all the more painful. His own life - he was aware that by this point, it wasn't worth much, except to protect his sister. But his sister's life -

He'd gambled with hers, too.

And he'd failed to protect her from this.

He turned, laid bare, his eyes finally full of the pain he carried. Something he also tried to shield her from, but she wasn't allowing it.

And wasn't that her right?

"Fine, Aya." He said, softly. "We'll have to talk later, please. Yohji needs help."

He held out a roll of gauze to her. If she wanted to help -

Her choice. He obviously couldn't make any for her any longer.

He bent with the antiseptic and peeled off the bloody rags and clothes quickly.

Aya-chan

Her resolve died a little as she stared at the gauze. It suddenly dawned on Aya-Chan that she had absolutely no idea what she was doing. She took the gauze in her hands. Looking at Yohji's wound made her shudder, so she looked away. She sent a few side glances at Ran - refusing to look at him completely, simply because she was still holding a small grudge - to make sure that he was alright, and then she turned her gaze onto Omi. What do I do? she thought.

What if I'm just getting in the way...?

Omi
Having been stunned into silence from Aya's replies, Omi watched the scene unfold without contributing to it. He blinked as righteous anger turned to uncertainty, and as she looked from the others to him, he couldn't help feeling a little sorry for her.

"Ne, are you okay...? If you don't want to stay down here, you don't have to. It could get a little messy."

Ran
Ran glanced up at his sister. She was avoiding his eyes. "Aya," he said, softly, "You can give it to Ken."

The soccer player had come in silently, and out of all of them, he should be helping fix what he'd done to
Yohji.

Yohji
Yohji had been bracing himself for when the dressing came off. His blood had congealed so that the shreds of cloth where haphazardly bonded to his skin and the open gash. Ran's quick removal of the treament ripped everything open again, and the trail of blood that had slowly been ebbing began streaming anew. It didn't seem like he should have that much left.

The funny thing was, it suddenly didn't seem like nearly such a big deal.

The appearance of Aya-chan, and the consequent display of emotions across Ran's face almost felt like more of a trainwreck than the disasterous mission. He watched the two of them, not even bothering to look down and evaluate the damage now that it was unbandaged and unobscured by the veil of shock and bloody clothes. He didn't flinch as the aniseptic clashed with the wound and foamed in stinging trails down his chest. He felt completely detached.

"It's not that bad," he said, looking at Aya-chan. It didn't really occur to him that she could see exactly how bad it was, making the lie rather meaningless.

Ken
"You can give it to Ken."

Ken's eyes widened in shock, but not for long. Of course Ran would've noticed him. The room tilted a little as he got to his feet, but he stood and walked over to the rest of the group. He removed his bugnuks one at a time as he walked, grimacing a little as the clumps of dried blood stubbornly crackled and peeled away from his arms. He put them down next to the sink and quickly washed and dried his hands, refusing to make eye contact with any of his teammates.

Aya-chan was a different story. Ken raised his head to look at her, saw how pale and unsure she looked, and felt strangly reassured. A deep breath calmed his nerves a bit, and he even managed a grim half smile as he took the bandages from her.

"If you watch what I do, then you should be able to learn." He spoke in low, quiet tones, but not in a condescending manner. He turned to face the wound he inflicted and began to work. "The most important thing is to take your time. Rushing won't fix anything, and when you act hastily you end up hurting the victim worse." He cleaned and dressed the wound slowly and gently, as though Yohji were a ten-year-old with a badly scraped knee instead of a gaping slash wound.

Aya-chan
”You can give it to Ken.” Aya-Chan released a breath that she didn’t realize she’d been holding as Ken freed her hands of the bandages. As much as she wanted to help, she wasn’t sure how she possibly could, and suddenly, she felt like a burden. The pure severity of their injuries hadn’t even registered in her mind. She felt sick, and had a sudden urge to run out of the room.

But that wouldn’t help the situation. Instead, she tried her best to listen to Ken. However, Aya-Chan found that as soon as she set her gaze onto Yohji’s wound, she was unable to tear it away. Shaking uncontrollably, she took a few steps backwards, staring so intently at the others that she almost bumped into Omi.

Omi
It was hard not to notice how upsetting the sight of Yohji so injured was. Ran might have given her permission to stay, but Omi couldn't help feeling it wasn't the right thing for her to do just because she had it. He stepped out of her way and gently redirected her to the stairs.

"It's very kind of you to want to help. Please don't feel an obligation to, though. Okay? The caring itself is meaningful."

Aya-chan
Aya-Chan opened her mouth to protest, but one backwards glance at Ran, Ken, and Yohji killed the arguments. She let Omi lead her towards the stairs, feeling dejected and useless and fighting the urge to cry, both from frustration and fatigue.

Half way up the stairs, she found herself stopping, and then turning to face Omi. His injuries were apparent, though not at all as severe at Yohji’s. “Could I be of any help to you?” She was going to help someone tonight…

Omi
Omi looked like he'd been hit with a petrification ray.

"I... Ah-- that is..."

Oh, crap, this was not part of the plan! He laughed weakly and nervously glanced back at his teammates, then up the stairs again.

"I--I'm fine! Really! It's just a little..."

Aya-chan
Aya-Chan sent Omi a no-nonsense glare that could have rivaled one of Ran’s. Her gaze softened as she glanced at his injuries. “Even if it’s little… I want to help.” She looked up again and met his eyes, hoping that he’d realize just how much that meant to her.

Omi
Oh, how was he supposed to say no to that?!

But saying yes was absolutely terrifying for about half a dozen different reasons.

But if that expression was any indication, saying no wasn't an option even if he attempted to again.

"But I..." And despite his wishes that a suitable declination follow, nothing did. Awkward and grimacing and rather regretting his accompanying Aya all the way to the stairs, Omi started up them himself.

[Aya-Chan and Omi exit to Wednesday 1.2]

Yohji
When you act hastily you end up hurting the victim worse.

Victim.

Ken's words almost seemed like some sort of joke.

Yohji was inclined to smile, but his mouth felt twisted and wrong. Well, at least he could blame it on the pain.

Aya-chan had barely been able to look at him. Was it really that bad? He didn't want to know.

He continued staring at Ran, watching the other man's face as his sister retreated. It was steeped in emotion, and yet almost impossible for Yohji to read. He reached out and closed his hand around Ran's arm. He could blame it on the pain.

Potential excuses and reasurances raced through his head. We could tell her it was a car accident. Aya-chan wasn't stupid. She's taking it well, it will be fine. That's not what Ran needs to hear.

Yohji stayed silent and tried not to watch Ken's ministrations.

Ran
Ran watched Ken's administrations guardedly.

What was the other Weiss thinking?

What had he been thinking when he did this?

But Ken made quick work of the wounds he'd inflicted. As long as Yohji didn't do anything stupid, he felt
that the wounds should heal.

His sister had paled. He felt a mixture of gratitude toward Omi, frustration towards himself and the situation, and an overwhelming sadness as Aya-chan left upstairs with the younger Weiss.

It was inevitable. And now irrevokable.

The feel of fingers on his skin called him from his thoughts, and the empty stairwell. His eyes passed
over Ken, whose hands were still full, and he looked down in surprise at Yohji, forgetting to mask his
thoughts.

Yohji
"Sorry."

Yohji felt self-concious for his actions with Ran staring at him. He almost let go, but hesitated. He looked surprised. But his distress didn't seem particularly directed at Yohji.

Perhaps distress wasn't the right word. Before being eclipsed by the surprise, Ran's face had simply looked sad. Wearily sad. Like he'd just given up on a battle he'd been fighting, and losing for a long time.

Contary to his initial instinct to release, Yohji tightened his grip around a wrist that seemed far too small to feesibly be capable of his deadly sword work. If possible, the atmosphere seemed even heavier than before.

"Looks like you got off scott-free," Yohji tried to lighten the mood, "it doesn't look like I'll be going on any dates anytime soon, that's for sure."

Ran
Ran's eyes widened, effectively distracted.

Dates.

Yes. There were other issues besides his sister, besides Yohji bleeding, besides his worry about Ken -

"I want to be around you all the time and not get pushed away or shut out. I'd like for someday it to not be such a bad thing if I fall asleep in your room."

Words Yohji had said to him not long before the mission. A day ago? Two? Not a lifetime, Ran had felt eternity, and it was much worse than that. A lifetime was waiting for a sister to open her eyes to florescent lights.

He was acutely aware of Ken's presence.

And despite it all, it seemed like Yohji was determined not to forget about the club.

"It will be an excuse for them to bring you flowers in the meantime." He said finally.

Ken
Ken soaked in the goings on around him with only a muted awareness, like a parent listening to their children ramble while trying to wash the dishes at the same time. By the time he finished, the urge to slink off and retreat to his room was too much to take. He gathered the remaining materials, packed them back in the first aid kit, and did his best to get out of the room while Yohji and Ran were still being civil to each other.

Yohji
Yohji frowned. Damn. Ran was determined to skirt the issue and pretend nothing had happened. After all the day's events, all of the trauma, all of the problems that were already present from pretending things weren't wrong. Why was he surprised?

"Like I really need more goddamned flowers."

He hadn't meant it to come out with quite so much irritation. It was his own fault for opening the floor for another chance to be rejected.

He avoided looking at Ran, his eyes following Ken's attempt at subtly dissappearing. Something was still off about Ken. Letting the other man slink off without a word suddenly seemed like a very bad idea. He'd been too focused on his own petty hang-ups to even think about how Ken must be feeling after what he'd done....

"Ken," he interjected, "are you going to be okay?"

A pointless question. He got the feeling Ken was the least okay of all of them.

Ken
Ken winced a little. "Am I going to be ok?" He repeated slowly. "I don't know. I think so. I messed up. You're hurt. I didn't mean to do that, you surprised me." He locked eyes with Yohji finally, the full weight of his guilt and sorrow laid open for the world to see. "You know I wouldn't do that on purpose, right?!"

Yohji
Yohji was surprised with himself. He shouldn't have hesitated, his reassurance should have been automatic.

Of course I know you wouldn't do that on purpose.

Obviously he wouldn't. Right?

He felt like a deer in headlights. But only for a moment. Just as quickly he shook it off.

"I messed up." He corrected. "It was my fault, I got in your way."

He meant it. From the moment the mission started, it had seemed like every action he took was moving him towards disaster. That all four of them were even still alive seemed like nothing short of impossible luck.

"Entirely my fault," he reitterated, as if that could make up for his telling pause.

Ken
Ken's hands started forming into fists involuntarily. That pause, that small hesitation seemed to last forever, and Ken felt lost in it.

"You're trying to be kind, Yohji, but don't lie about it." The fists started to become white-knuckled. "It isn't your fault at all. I thought you would know by now that I wouldn't-"

Ken turned his gaze to Ran, unsure if he was trying to convince them or himself.

Ran
Ran watched the exchange, crouched on his heels. Ken
looked ragged, but not in the same way he had earlier.
His brown eyes were worn.

"We need to find out why this happened." His gaze
intensified on Ken's, both concerned and questioning.
"But we all need rest."

Find out why it happened, and fix it. Before
Kritiker does.

He pushed to his feet. Reassurances would get none of
them anywhere tonight.

"Help me carry him to his room," he requested.

Yohji
"I've had quite enough of lying, actually," Yohji snapped. He was too drained to deal with this. No one was actually listening to anything he said, each was simply reading their own meaning into his words, whether it was to confirm their guilt or avoid their insecurities. He was getting sick of it.

"It goes without saying that you wouldn't do that on purpose."

He struggled to get up, only now realizing that all this time his hand had remained fastened to Ran like a vice. He abruptly let go.

"Why don't you find a nice flowershop girl to carry me up? Then she can give me some fucking flowers."

It didn't matter that not long before he had been incapable of even standing without Ran's support. He was damned if he was going to let the other man carry him now.

Ran
Ran stumbled with the release of his arm.

Or maybe it was from Yohji's cutting words, at last.

Yohji struggled to raise himself on his own.

"Ken, help me," he hissed. He recovered, reaching down
swiftly to support Yohji.

Yohji
Yohji tried to push Ran away, but lacked the strength to do so properly. He felt helpless, and that was almost worse than the throbbing of his injury.

He struggled, even knowing that Ran's grip was too strong for him to escape.

"Put. Me. Down."

It was like adding insult to injury.

Ken
Ken jerked out of his shocked daze and quickly made his way to Yohji's other side. "Wait, Yohji, you'll make it worse. Let us help out." He gingerly positioned himself to support Yohji's weight. "Ran, count of three, stairs. One, two, three."

Yohji
Okay, he was getting really pissed off.

Yohji felt like he was pretty tolerant of the way he was generally treated. He let them assume things, occasionally insult him, generally ignore him, everything that went along with allowing the others to think he was more or less just some sort of lazy and flaky whore. He was okay with that.

He was not okay with being treated like a child. Like a weak child, to make matters especially intolerant.

He was not okay with Ran ignoring his words only to look at him with pity and treat him like...well, like Aya-chan.

He was not okay with Ken hurting him and then suddenly stepping up to the plate like he was some kind of saviour.

He was especially not okay with his complete and utter inability to prove that they were wrong in doing so. Because, if he really was honest with himself, they were doing exactly what he would be doing if the situation were flipped around. Yeah, not okay.

"Put me down," he growled, "or I swear to god I will kill both of you when I get better. Not with my wire, I'm going to kill you with my bare hands."

So he was being melodramatic. He felt a little bit entitled.

Ran
Ran's eyes flicked to Ken's, then to Yohji's.

He opened Yohji's door, dragged his teammate across the room, and dumped his half of him on the bed. He stopped short of throwing him, still mindful of the tears in his skin. "Why wait until you're better! You don't seem to care if you get better!" Ran hissed, fists clenched at his sides. "Use your weapon, and try to kill me now, Yohji, if that's what you want!"

His voice rose into a shout.

Ken
Ken could feel his jaw clench. That tiny itch that was starting to signal trouble was starting to flare up behind his eyes. He
was determined to overcome it; this wasn't the time to lose control over his temper.

"Don't yell at him," he snarled at Ran, his voice only a few notches lower. "He's in pain, he didn't mean it." Ok, so that wasn't *great* but it didn't come out as badly as it could have.

Yohji
Yohji's eyes widened slightly in shock. He hadn't quite expected Ran to rise to his baiting like that. He should have known though.

For a frightening moment he felt his hand automatically move towards his wrist. When he realized what he was doing he paled, and went limp. He didn't want to fight. He didn't want to explain. He was suddenly very glad to be on his own bed, in spite of failing to get there under his own power. It suddenly hit him just how exhausted he felt.

"You're right," he said blandly. He was looking at the ceiling instead of making eye contact with Ran or Ken. "I don't especially. But that's not your problem, you should go and talk to Aya-chan."

He closed his eyes. "Don't even worry about it Ken. He's right, and it's not your problem either. I'll be fine."

Ran
"He's in pain, he didn't mean it."

Ran relaxed. He was angry at the situation, he hadn't slept for over 24 hours, and Ken was right. Of all people, he should know not to let Yohji get to him.

But he was adept at doing just that, and that was the whole problem.

"I don't especially. Yohji tumbled the words in with a lot of others, but they were still there, threatening to destroy the calm yet again.

"Ken. You should go to bed." Ran said. He turned to him, weary.

Go to Aya-chan.

She had gone with Omi. If he admitted it to himself, their younger teammate would probably do a better job at explaining this situation that he could. It would be better to talk to his sister in the morning, after they had all slept -

He gave a nod toward Ken, indicating that he would follow him to the hallway.

Ken
Ken took one last look at the pale, worn figure on the bed, then shuffled out to the hallway. This night was far too long and too ugly.
They all needed a chance to retreat to their respective corners before-

~Before what Hidaka? You say things you don't mean? You try to kill each other? Bit late for that, don't you think?~

The image of Yohji reaching for his wrist made him grind his teeth a little. He wiped his hands on his pants and hesistated in the hallway, a tad twitchy about being alone with Ran.

Ran
Ran dropped a hand, gently, on Ken's shoulder.

"I think he'll be all right," Ran said. He fought with what he wanted to say, and what he needed to. "You should try to rest, but someone still needs to stay with him. Would you -" he pressed past the images of his sister's pale face. What could he possibly say to her, now? " - let Omi know where I am, in case he or Aya..." he trailed off.

Save the other discussion for tomorrow. Ken looked like hell. He was frustrated not to know what was happening with his teammate, or how to stop it, but it would help no one for him to talk to Ken about it when they were both so obviously frayed.

Ken
Ken glanced at the hand on his shoulder, then at Ran's weary expression. This was a good a time as any to call truce.

~Wow. He really does care...~ The thought blindsided him; he nodded mutely and trudged down the hall, examining the (admittedly obvious)
revelation around in his brain. He knew that tragedy often brought out the best and worst in people, but he never thought it would have to
get this bad before they got to this point.

Then again, they were all stubborn bastards. That's why they survived so much.

Ken almost smiled at that. He decided to run this last errand, crawl into a scalding hot shower, and fall asleep somewhere in his room,
bed, floor, didn't matter.

[And over Ken goes to Wed 1.2!]

Ran
Ran looked after him as he left, grateful that for once, Ken had taken his comments as he'd meant them.

He waited until he was gone to let out a heavy breath, running his fingers through his hair.

He put a hand on the door and pushed it open gently. With any luck, the thought was wry, Yohji wll be passed out.

[Ran and Yohji transport to Wednesday 1.3]