Wed 1.51- Mistakingly Playing Hero

[plotbunnytiff.livejournal.com]

This might be one of the dumbest decisions Ken ever made in his life. As he dodged and wove through the streets in his pursuit of Berserker, niggling doubts began to nibble at the edges of his plans.

 

The asshole was probably leading him into a trap. Even animals knew that you shouldn’t lead a predator back to the home. What if Ken ended up following him to a dead end? Or worse, what if they both ended up getting caught? That was assuming that Schwartz was even keeping Yohji in their home at all. They could have him squirreled away in a dank warehouse somewhere-

 

~never beaten so badly in his life can’t move fast enough fire everywhere and the warehouse door is sliding shut~

 

Ken blinked the memory away just in time to keep from colliding with a group of giggling high school girls. As he apologized quietly and dodged through them, a thought occurred to him. If this was indeed a trap, or by some miracle he happened to find the enemy’s lair, it would be good if the others knew where he was. No matter how dire the situation might be, there was no way he could just sit on his laurels and let this oppertunity pass by. 

 

He waited until the Irishman was stopped at a busy crosswalk to hurriedly send a quiet and brief text to both Omi and Ran’s phones.

 

#Tailing Berserker 2 find Y. Will call w/ details.#

Comments

[bloodyfarfie.livejournal.com]

Farfarello was pretending to look at a display in a window as he waited at the crosswalk, when in truth he was using the window as a mirror to see the brunette. He could make out that he was using his phone, though he didn't lift it to his ear. Likely telling the others what he was doing.

The urge to lead him on a wild goose chase was strong, but he wanted to get the kitten back home. The poor thing had to be hungry after all.. He picked up the pace when the light changed and they could walk, wanting to get the little guy home and wondering if Nagi had chosen a name yet.

[plotbunnytiff.livejournal.com]

Ken slipped the phone back into his pocket after setting it to vibrate when someone tried to reach him. He was starting to wish he had Yohji's superior skills in trailing and tracking. Ken was pretty decent at stealth when it was required, but he felt much better as an up front action sort of guy.

He couldn't quite wrap his head around the newly termed "Kitten Situation." Was it a joke? Could Berserker actually be a cat person in disguise? Perhaps it was a symbol.

An image of the mad Irishman leaving the baby cat on the doorstep of the Koneko, a collar with the tag "Yohji" around its neck, popped into Ken's mind unbidden. They would be the sort of assholes who would do something like that.

[bloodyfarfie.livejournal.com]

Farfarello kept walking at a fairly brisk pace now, knowing he wasn't far from the apartment. He mentally called out to Schuldig, trying to get his attention. He figured, at the very least, he should warn the others that he was bringing two kittens home now.

//Schu, give Crawford a head's up for me; Hidaka was at the pet store while I was there, an' is followin' me home. Figured he'd want to know, but I doubt it's a big deal. It's just a kitten.//

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

A mental growl was Schuldig's first reply.

//As much as I would love to rend his mind from right to left, we've got bigger issues. Ditch him, and get home as soon as possible. Or kill him. I really don't care.//

It was strange for Schuldig to be so... agitated. Especially considered that just an hour ago he'd gotten laid. By Brad. Whom he'd been trying to get into bed for as long as Farfarello could remember.

[bloodyfarfie.livejournal.com]

A frown appeared on Farfarello's face, his pace picking up as he started weaving his way through the people on the street. He had no idea what was going on, but something was definitely wrong if Schuldig was acting like that.

The Irishman hurried, purposely trying to lose the kitten now, and actually starting to run when he got enough room in front of him to do so. He didn't ask Schuldig what happened, not wanting to piss him off further. Besides, it didn't really matter; he had to get back to the apartment, that was all he needed to know.

[celtic-kitsune.livejournal.com]

Omi blinked as his phone went off again. Picking it up he read Ken's message. His eyes went wide and he felt as if his heart had jumped into his throat. He was half way through dialing Ken back when he paused. It was unlikely that Berserker didn't know Ken was there. But if he didn't and Omi called there was the chance that Omi would give Ken away.

"Ken-kun you're so stupid." Omi said to himself as he sat in a chair and tried to think about what he should do.

Omi finally settled on texting Ken back.

Ken-kun, where are you? I can come and meet you. You shouldn't be following Schwartz alone.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

[as a head's up, Ran just heard his cellphone and shouted for Omi over in 1.48]

[plotbunnytiff.livejournal.com]

Ken felt his phone vibrate, but he waited until he slipped safely into a crowd before daring to check it and respond.

#7th&Tomoya. Heading SW. Hurry.#

He realized that he was having to walk a bit faster just to keep up with his target. Earlier the pace was steady, almost lesuirely. Now Ken was having to make frequent and longer dashes just to keep up.

The bastard probably guessed he was there. Ken jammed the phone back into his pocket, even more determined not to lose this game of cat and mouse.

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

A shrill mechanical whine jerked Yohji out of a light doze.

The lack of familiarity in his surroundings led to a momentary burst of panic, as his brain concluded that if he wasn’t in his own bed, then surely he must still be in the hands of Schwarz. Then his memory reassembled and he recognized Ran’s room in the dim light.

A broad grin spread across his face.

Ran’s phone was apparently ringing. Ran was nowhere in sight, and Yohji could only conclude that he was still talking to his sister.

The question of who might be calling Ran other than Aya-chan was simply too burning for him to ignore it. He picked up the offending piece of technology and flipped it open with jealous intensity.

When he read the message there he nearly smacked himself in the head.

“Shit,” he muttered, typing back as quickly as he could manage in the poor lighting.

#STOP. I’m HOME. –Yohji#

He stared at the screen for a second and then sent a second, less rushed one.

#Keep the fuck away from him Kenken not joking#

[plotbunnytiff.livejournal.com]

When Ken felt the vibrations from his phone, he wasn't expecting to see Ran's number come up on the screen. Carefully keeping most of his attention on Farfarello, he flicked his eyes over the message and kept walking. When the words finally processed mentally, his phone shook again with a warning.

Was it really him?

#When? How? You ok? Where's Ran?#

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

Yohji suppressed the urge to give Ken a sarcastic or gloatish reply. Well, mostly.

#ILL TELL YOU WHEN YOU GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE#

He hoped desperately that Ken wasn't stupid enough to keep trailing Berserker in spite of his intervention.

He felt uneasy.

[plotbunnytiff.livejournal.com]

Ken hesistated. Now that he knew Yohji was home, and (supposedly) safe, the impulse to overpower his target and attempt to beat the snot out of him was a headt temptation (even though he knew deep down he'd only get a few lick in before Berserker went...well, berserk and ripped him apart).

They didn't really having a bargaining chip anymore. There was no reason why he shouldn't try to use an element of surprise to simply bum rush the man. And it would feel so great to lodge a well place fist right across that insufferable, smirking face.

~...God help me~

He looked up, watching the silvery-grey head he'd been following slip furthur and further away. He steeled his, jaw, flipped open the phone again, and wrote a new message to both Ran and Omi's phones.

#On my way home#

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

Yohji let out an audible sigh of relief as he snapped Ran's phone shut and returned it to the nightstand.

His first inclination was to get up and alert all the others as to what he'd just learned.

His second inclination was that he wouldn't be giving Ken much credit if he made a large fuss. He'd said he was coming home, hadn't he? He'd already fallen ashamedly short when it came to demonstrating that he trusted Ken.

Plus, he wasn't all that eager to publicly announced that he'd just violated Ran's privacy, essential as it had been or not.

He hovered on the edge of the bed, unsure of what to do.

[celtic-kitsune.livejournal.com]

Omi looked at his phone again when Ken messaged him back. He dialed Ken's number now and waited for him to pick up.

[plotbunnytiff.livejournal.com]

It seems like his phone hadn't been in his pocket for longer than a minute before it buzzed again. With a deep heavy sigh, he reached for it and took a glace at the caller ID.

He flipped it open in a hurry and pressed it to his ear. "Hi Omi. You don't have to meet me after all, I'm going home."

[celtic-kitsune.livejournal.com]

"I was just calling to make sure you were on your way home. Ran just informed me that Yohji-kun was back. I'll talk to you when you get here." Omi said before hanging up.