Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Reminiscence of Antiquity ❯ Into the vibrant maelstrom ( Chapter 2 )

Title: Reminiscence of Antiquity

Chapter: 2 - Into the vibrant maelstrom

Rated: PG13 (drinking... phf! laaaame)

Warnings: Eventual shounen-ai ( AxY & KxO)

Legal stuff: Well... I think it's obvious but I'll state it anyway. I down own them! Please don't sue me? I'm poor... seriously...>_>;;

Author and Editor notes: This was a difficult chapter for me to write and we, the author and editor, apologize because we are still in the exposition phase of this story. It gets better in the next chapter.

Thanks to: My editor. Shaeric Draconis. The Squall x Zell + Aya x Yohji Yaoi fanfic group. Creators of Weiss Kreuz. My fellow Gypsies everywhere.

AYYA! Vive la Resistance!

~*~

Depression all over again. He could feel it in his blood, saturating ever last part of him that each vein wrapped around; feeding his body to the eternal pit of nothingness and sadness that all depressions sprang from. God he wanted out. A soft groan filtered forth past his lips and he turned on a CD loud enough to drown out the noise of children crying, however he minded not to play it loud enough to cause his adoptive parents to freak out. They were sort of anal-retentive about noise levels in the apartment. It probably had something to do with the fact the manager already hated them and was just waiting for a good enough reason to kick them all out. He, most certainly, would not be that reason. He didn't need any additional cause to make his adoptive parents dislike him more then they already did.

That was the problem with those two... he could never please them. As soon as he did one thing right they threw it back in his face with two things he did wrong. He gathered that's how a lot of parents were these days but not every parent could mutter under their breath that it was a mistake to take their child in the first place. Always feeling unwanted and unloved seemed like a new constant in his life... but what could he do. Somewhere he belonged... but that somewhere was not here and probably not anywhere near this place he was forced to call home. Damn. Why couldn't things ever go his way? Just once he would like for them to do so... just ONCE!

Glancing at the clock some time later, Yohji could see the bold red lines take the form of...one in the morning. Terrific... this naturally meant that he was going to be dog tired for school again. Go figure. Never being able to sleep at night did these kinds of things to you when you didn't have the luxury of sleeping in during the days. Being in high school sucked just a little more then normal for that very reason. All classes should never start until lunch has passed. Honestly, what normal functioning teenager (or as functional as a teenager can get) is truly awake anytime before 11 at the earliest? Obviously none that he knew of... well... unless you were counting those slightly freakish people who had natural clocks that woke them up at the crack of dawn but the word freakish should be stressed when describing them.

Giving up on any hope of staying awake any longer, and making it through the day, Yohji reached over and turned off his lamp then laid back against the cool sheets. He didn't have his own room normally but tonight the kids were sleeping out in the living room for some strange reason he had forgotten. He was sure that someone had told him the reason but he, frankly, wasn't exactly listening to who ever told him and considering his habit of never listening to his adoptive parents he decided it was probably them who had told him the news. Heavy lids fell over his jade eyes and he finally sunk into a dreamless sleep only to be awoken but the sound of the world's most annoying alarm clock. Another day of life. Another day of hell. It was going to be a wonderful day.

***

"Oro! Yohji! Wait up!" Ken called as he ran after the lanky teenager who was walking rather quickly down the street.

It had been a week and a half since Yohji first arrived at the high school and he and Ken were becoming really good friends... almost best friends even, much to Yohji's amusement of course. Why was he so amused? Perhaps because he hadn't expected to make any friends this time around. Or perhaps because he never had to really put forth an effort in order to receive Ken's friendship. Handed to him on a silver platter, Yohji simply accepted the friendship and smiled a little more because of it. Slowing down a little he let Ken catch up with him and walk with him down the street of the crowded city. People pushed past in a hurry to get to where they had to be but Yohji... Yohji was actually taking the long way home for rushing was the last thing he wanted to do when it involved the length of time it took him to get home.

"You're slow KenKen." Yohji laughed, knowing exactly how much Ken hated that nickname.

"Well if you didn't have such ridiculously long legs, Yotan, then I wouldn't have to run to catch up with you..." Ken poked at Yohji's side, knowing very well that Yohji disliked the pet name Ken had come up with as a counter to KenKen.

"Ah, well, I can't exactly help what's in my genes..."

Ken lifted an eyebrow, "Jeans? Oh, sure you can... you just say no."

Yohji turned and looked at Ken for a moment just before the two of them broke out into laughter. They walked together for a bit in silence, passing an old woman who was trying to get people to stop so she could read them their fortune or at the very least, give them a rune or tarot reading. Ken had only looked at the old woman once but wrinkled his nose at her nonetheless and quickened his pace so he could move past her without her trying to stop him.

"Damn gypsy low-lifes need to get a home and get a job." Ken muttered.

"Lay off Ken." Yohji hissed suddenly.

"What's your problem?"

"Put yourself in their shoes for just a minute, why don't you?"

"Why? They're just bums?

"They're not just bums. They have no place to go and they live a very hard life. They're just trying to make money like anyone else. For gawd's sake, they're the neglected orphans of the world, you can't just dismiss them as bums."

Ken blinked twice Yohji then frowned, "Jeez sorry, what are you, a gypsy or something?" Ken mocked a little but got no response.

"Amir?" The old gypsy woman questioned once the two passed her.

"Keep walking,." Yohji instructed Ken and Ken did as he was told.

In the back of his mind, Ken pondered why gypsies were such a sore spot for Yohji. Perhaps because Yohji was an orphan who had been forced to move so much that he felt like a gypsy? That was certainly a possibility. Ken and his older brother were orphans but he was never shipped off from person to person because his brother was old enough to take care of them both. In the end this caused Ken to lose his sympathy towards gypsies and not other orphans. Yohji probably knew this was the case and that must have been why he made the comparison that he did. Ken would have never thought of gypsies as orphans of the world but now that Yohji had pointed it out, it suddenly made a lot of sense. Ken suddenly found himself slowly regretting ever telling gypsies off when all they were trying to do was make a little money like everyone else. A sigh left Ken just before he and Yohji said their good-byes at the road that he had to turn on to get to his place.

***

The first school bell was about to ring in the next couple of minutes and Yohji was barely inside the building. Naturally the entrance he had taken was on the opposite side of the building from his locker. Perfect. He already had the feeling he was going to be really late to his first hour class, which wouldn't serve him well because after this tarty he would end up serving a punishment of some form; be it cleaning desks, chalkboards, floors - he didn't know but no matter what the punishment was, he knew damn well he wasn't going to like it. Running through the hall the blond reached his locker and began to desperately spin the combination so he could get into the little metal compartment and pick up his book for first hour all in order to avoid a chewing out from the teacher. Why didn't his adoptive parents take care of the kids in the morning? Why didn't they make sure that they were all up and ready to go to school or day care? Why didn't they walk their kids to the bus stop and wait with them to get on the bus and make sure they would be okay? Probably because they were lazy, irresponsible, no good-

"Yohji!" The voice cut right through his thoughts like a hot knife through butter.

"Ken?" Yohji blinked a few times and the locker clicked to tell him he had entered the right combination, "You're going to be late for class."

"What are you talking about? Class doesn't start for another ten minutes." Ken laughed lightly and Yohji just looked down at his watch.

"Damn, I guess my watch is fast." Yohji groaned then turned towards his locker, "Remind me to fix it sometime today."

"No pro- what is that?" Ken pointed to the objects inside the locker and Yohji just blinked.

"I haven't a..." Yohji started then stopped.

Carefully reaching in he slowly pulled out pieces of translucent material along with a harder object made of many different... things. An old spark plug, a black feather, horsehair, bits of fabric, bottle caps, grass and gods only know what else. Why would someone put it in his locker? Why would someone pull together odd mismatched parts to make... whatever it was. He turned the object over a couple of times then lifted an eyebrow when he was suddenly struck with the lightening bolt of realization as to what the object really was.

"Aren't you a bit old to be playing with dolls, Yotan?" Ken smirked while elbowing Yohji in the ribs. Apparently Ken understood what all the miscellaneous pieces formed at the same time Yohji had.

"What day is it?" The older blond murmured with an expression that was suddenly very serious.

"Excuse me?"

"I said, what day is it?"

"March 3."

"Damn."

"What?"

"It's my birthday."

"What?! You're birthday?" The soccer player gawked then shook his head, "You didn't tell me you had a birthday so soon! Why aren't you happy?"

"They found me."

"Who is they?"

"You'll see." Yohji groaned as he leaned against his locker, still holding the doll, "Five... four... three...two..."

"What are you-"

"AMIR!!!" A scream echoed through the halls.

"One."

Ken was looking around frantically trying to see who was screaming and why when he noticed a group of five people, in very strange clothing, running towards them. The sound of bells fluttering around the five like the brightly colored fabrics, which were wrapped around their bodies in numerous layers, were dead give aways that these people weren't exactly from there. Actually, the five appeared as though they should be anywhere but a thriving city in Japan though there they were... running towards them at high speeds in a public school in the middle of a thriving city in Japan. Oh well, never put too much faith in anything these days... least of all people. The five, who were moving down the hall with such flamboyancy, laughed as they ran then suddenly stopped just in front of the two, much to Ken's surprise and partial horror. Ken could only blinked at them before glancing over at his taller friend who seemed completely unfazed by the sight of these strange people staring at them. Did they know him? Did he know them? Did anyone know what was going on? He didn't.

"Amir!" One of the young girls in the bizarre group squealed with excitement as she threw her arms around him and pulled him into a hug, "Oh Amir, we've looked everywhere for you and we finally found you on your birthday! We're so lucky, no?" She grinned then backed away a little to get a good look at him, "My you've changed since we saw you last... for one... you cut your hair!" She gasped then placed her hands over her mouth to hide a grin, "It looks all right on you."

"Thanks, I thought it was a nice change from the waist long style." He shrugged and Ken was left to look between them as if they had all grown three heads and two extras arms.

"Amir..." An older girl, about Yohji's age with very short blue hair stepped forward.

"Asuka..." Yohji nodded then smiled "Long time no see..."

"Indeed... come. It's time for your birthday celebration."

"I can't-" Yohji started but was completely ignored as one of the five stepped forward and picked him up.

"Oh you've gotten lighter since I last saw you." The man who had picked Yohji up laughed and tossed Yohji over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and proceeded to carry him off. Yohji wasn't terribly heavy but he did weigh more then what the guy made it seem like he weighed.

A bit lost to what was going on, Ken could only watch four of the people and Yohji head towards the double doors.

"Are you a friend of Amir's?" The dark blue haired girl started then shook her head " I mean Yohji."

Why were they calling Yohji 'Amir'? "Yes." Ken nodded at this and turned his attention fully onto the oddly dressed girl before him.

"Would you like to come along with us?"

"Where are you headed?"

"There is an open field belonging to close friends where we have gotten permission to camp. It's not very far from here but far enough so that we won't cause much trouble when we celebrate Yohji's birthday."

Ken nodded slowly; so much information to take in. The school bell rang and the soccer player looked down at his watch. If he left for class now then he would only be a minute late but if he left with the girl...

"Lead the way!" Ken suddenly flashed the girl a grin while tossing his worries out the window. You needed to live a little sometime, right?

"I'm Asuka, by the way."

"Hidaka Ken."

"A pleasure to meet you Ken." Asuka nodded while they drifted towards the double doors that Yohji had been literally dragged out of.

"The pleasure is all mine, Asuka."

***

The trip outside of the city limits in the van could only described as the most excruciating uncomfortable silence Ken had ever experienced. Asuka had been busy talking to the driver the whole way up in some other language and the others were apparently busy with something else in the back. Ken had, at one point, turned to talk to Yohji but by the sour look on Yohji's face, Ken decided that might not be such a hot idea. So, up until the last five minutes of the trip, Ken stared out the window and watched the scenery pass him by.

"No way." The teen blond crossed in arms in protest as the van moved along the highway.

"No choice." Asuka smiled cutely then broke her smile for an evil grin.

"Asuka... I'm not wearing all of that." Yohji sunk into his seat while motioning to a bag with numerous brightly colored objects within its grasp.

"Yes you are."

"No I'm-" he didn't get much farther for the van had pulled to a nearly instant stop.

"We're here, everyone pile out!"

Without so much as a breath of another argument, Asuka gathered the bag and got out of her seat to walk to the back of the van where the doors were opened for her. She covered her eyes from the blaring morning sun then warmed her own face with the hint of a smile. All sorts of oddly dressed people crossed the field, which was scattered with tents, to walk towards the gate and the van. In the distance music could be heard and just beyond the music, singing, laughter and conversations. Ken stole a peek out from behind Asuka and simply gawked.

There, in a normal field next to a house surrounded by a fence and the countryside, stood tents and strange people a plenty. All sorts of spices and wonderful smells flooded Ken's senses while they danced in the air like the noise he had heard before he ever looked out of the van. What a wondrously strange sight it was to him - a boy who had never spent much time outside the city or with any person who was more abnormal then your typical high school student. These people were completely new and different for him... these people were true gypsies. A pause in Ken's thoughts caused him to look back at Yohji who was still hanging back like a poor sport on one of the van's many seats. Was Yohji a gypsy? Understanding dawned upon the dark haired teen after a moment more worth of thought and concentration. That was it. These people were Yohji's people and that made Yohji a gypsy! Feeling like the genius, Ken couldn't suppress the smile curling upwards on his lips.

"Is he in there?" A young child questioned once she had approached the unmoving vehicle.

Asuka smiled at the child "Yes... he's here. We found him."

With what appeared to be sparkles in the child's eyes, the little girl squealed and ran off towards a more distant group of children who were eagerly awaiting her return with news that they had probably sent her off to question. Only a few seconds had transpired in which she must have pushed out everything she had to say to the children her age all before, within the blink of an eye, they were all running towards the van laughing and calling to them in another language entirely.

"Amir!" Asuka yelled into the van, "Your fan club is here, get out of there and stop pouting! It's only one day of school that you're missing. Surely you are not still sore about that? Two years ago you must have skipped at least-" She was cut off by Yohji.

"I know how much school I missed, Asuka."

"Well then stop being a baby and get out here or I'm sending people in to get you!"

Yohji stubbornly held his place and didn't move, so Asuka as left with the only decision she could make. Hopping out of the van, the blue hair girl motioned for four rather large men to get the unsuspecting Yohji out of the van. Wordlessly, the four crawled into the van and drug out a highly irritated looking Yohji past Ken who had crawled out of the van only a few seconds after the four crawled in. The soccer playing boy continued to watch as the men, with less grace then he had seen in a dying seagull, began to remove articles of Yohji's clothing and toss them aside carelessly. Ken shifted and wondered why they would do this in the middle of a field when it was clear that Yohji didn't want it to happen. How was it clear? Yohji, in an unceremonious fashion, did not allow the men to deprive him of his clothing without as much resistance and noise as he could possible summon in the short amount of time he had been given. Upon finishing their task, the four men all left Yohji to stand in his underwear with a blush so red it could be the envy of hell's fire. Shortly after this, perhaps to save Yohji's withering dignity, a group of girls came forth and quickly set to the task of dressing him in odd clothing like theirs.

After placing a pair of black harem pants, a black vest, numerous amounts of jewels, flowers from only gods know where and plenty of eye make-up with designs to last the boy a lifetime, Yohji was finished... a bit ruffled but nonetheless finished and looking exactly like... a gypsy. It was then that Ken noticed the music really starting up as did the other interesting noise of voices in different tongues to accompany it. Be it song or conversation, different dialects from around the world littered the air causing Ken's sense of hearing to be utterly captivated and tantalized.

The dark haired boy slowly glanced around bewildered in awe of all the things happening. Children were playing games. Women and men were singing, dancing and playing the music. The older looking folks were talking and telling stories, which was obvious by the hand gestures they were using and some other people looked to be cooking, which, to Ken at least, smelled divine. So much to see, question and do that the poor boy was lost, confused and left to swim amongst all of this chaotic sea of happenings. The questions without answers drilled in his head simply to add more noise to what was already there. Why was he there? Did he belong? Would they hate him? Did they care? What did they think of outsiders? Where they nice? Where they evil? It wasn't until the angelic voice of creature, whose appearance was equally as resplendent, broke through Ken's hazed mind did the youth realize he needed to breathe.

"Amir!" Came the sing song voice that rivaled the sound of heavenly bells.

Ken and Yohji turned to see a young blond haired and blue eyed boy running towards them possessing the air of happiness which left most feeling like the boy was the essence of prozack. The blond was a little younger than them but not by much... probably only by a year or two however, in taking a few more looks at the boy, Ken soon came to the opinion that the youth could be almost any age for he had that certain look to him that broke the standards of judging age by appearance. Deep blue eyes filled with a high intellect yet a youthful angelic face filled with kindness and perhaps nativity. The youngest blond male threw his arms around the older one and instantly broke into a continuous stream of chatter in something that sounded... Middle Eastern? The two talked for just a minute before Yohji turned and looked at Ken.

"Ken, this is a good friend of mine, Omi. Omi, this is a friend from my new high school, Ken."

"Pleased to meet you, Ken-san!" the blond youth, now known as Omi, laughed while holding out a hand to Ken who was appearing a bit dazed from having all of his senses overloaded with all that was happening around him.

"Huh?" The dark hair boy blinked first before he shook the daze away and took Omi's hand in his, "Pleased to meet you Omi."

"It's nice..." Omi spoke up once he withdrew his hand from Ken's, "to see that Amir has actually made new friends."

Yohji's face twisted into a look of resentment in what Omi had to say but he didn't make a move to counter or respond, rather, he looked away and let his jade eyes drift over to where his people were. Ken, who happened to be watching closely for no real reason at all other than to watch for a response of some kind, noticed that under the sour displeasure upon the older teen's face there was the distinct look of familiarity and, if one searched harder, the distant look of contentment. This was where Yohji belonged, Ken half realized in his musings. Not in some run down part of a hopeless city. No, Yohji belonged with these people... with -his- people. A frown melted down Ken's constant smile when he felt a ting of sadness for his fellow classmate. Yohji was trapped in a world of strict city order, common rules, heartless business people and the critical classifications of distrust and disgust placed upon him because of his people's history. In an even more distant thought Ken wondered how much crap Yohji had to put up with in the past and present.

"So Ken, I don't suppose you know any other languages besides Japanese?" Omi's voice filtered through Ken's head and profound thoughts.

"Actually... I don't." Ken blushed a little, feeling slightly inept.

"Oh." The younger boy said flatly then instantly smiled again, "Well if you will follow me around, I will be more than happy to do some translating for you!"

The soccer player just lifted an eyebrow and shrugged, "Sure, why not." He paused for a minute to notice Yohji walking towards a group of elders, "Where is Yohji going?"

"He has to announce his presence to the elders and talk with them for a bit. No doubt he will be talking with them a lot today since there is much to discuss."

"Like what?"

"Oh... just lots of stuff..." Omi shrugged and Ken got the distinct feeling that Omi wasn't telling him something on purpose. Oh well, Ken knew it wasn't his place to question such things.

The day slowly moved on in a haze of dance, drink and fun. Ken couldn't remember having such a good time in a rather long while. He was relaxed and entertained and comfortable with the gypsies that played and worked all around him. It wasn't until the sun had fallen and the tribe had gathered around what appeared to be a bonfire set up earlier in the day that Ken knew the party was not about to end anytime soon. With fleeting care he guess that it was going to be an interesting all nighter that he wouldn't soon forget. In the place just around the bonfire there was a lot of chattering weaving through the air and after the younger kids were put to bed the chattering slowed down to a faint hum so a storyteller or a singer could entertain the group around the campfire. Every other person had a drum and at times the whole group would sing and play their tribal drums which, with the help of Omi, wasn't so bad for Ken. Omi. Omi was doing a great deal of work translating everything for Ken who would have, no doubt, been lost otherwise. Ken reminded himself to thank the kid later when they had a chance to talk more privately.

"You know..." came a half whispered voice to Omi from Ken as an elder storyteller started talking, "I have only seen Yohji maybe twice today..."

Blue eyes focused on Ken once Omi turned to look at him, "Yohji is very popular in this tribe and since we see so little of him, his attention gets torn dramatically when it comes time for his birthday."

"Do you have these kinds of celebrations for every member of your... tribe... on their birthdays?" Ken lifted an eyebrow pondering that more seriously.

"No, Yohji is just special." The younger boy smiled ruefully.

"Why?"

"Yohji will one day be the leader of this tribe." Asuka, who had been listening to their conversations the whole night, cut in.

"Why?" Ken asked again, turning to the girl who had spoken.

"Because the elders choose him to be our prince since he was very young." The blue haired girl shrugged half heartedly, as if Ken should have known that, "You see, that's why his tribal name is Amir."

"Amir means...?" Ken pressed.

"Amir means prince and since we're on the topic of Amir..." Omi cut in, "Where is he right now?"

"Over there, talking with the elders again." Asuka pointed to a small group of old men who were holding up the foot of a slightly peeved Yohji.

"What are they doing?" Ken chuckled as he watched the older men staring at the heel of Yohji's foot and arguing back and forth about what was on it.

"Who knows." Asuka shrugged then leaned back on the chair she had set up for herself.

Another song kicked up and Ken just leaned back in his chair as well, taking in all the surroundings and leaving the conversation he was having for death while he moved on to think of other things in the quiet of his mind. This life they all lead was such a different life than he was used to. There were rules, but they did not seem to be the same rules of the world he lived in. Yes there were similarities but to counter each of those similarities were differences followed by more differences that he couldn't even begin to fathom. Not saying the differences were bad, they were just... well... different. Deeper down into the workings of his mind Ken felt himself suddenly regretted making fun of gypsies in the past. Who was he to make fun of these people? Who was he to mock what he did not know? Music and song swirled all around him, forcing him to suddenly lose concentration on anything he had been attempting to keep attention on. Then it happened. For a moment in time he was at peace with everything and anything; extracting all negative thoughts and cares while leaving only two things he really cared about: life and happiness. Perhaps this was the way people were really meant to live... perhaps this was the way -he- was meant to live?

A new beat broke up the boy's clouded mind which in turn forced him to focus on a group that everyone else was focused on. Just outside the circle around the bonfire was a small circle of five girls, five boys and Yohji, who happened to be in the middle of the group. Yohji was clearly drunk but, as if by some act of god, he was still able to dance with his fellow gypsies. Was this a tradition or just them having a good time? It was often hard to tell because it seemed as if their traditions involved a great deal of fun for the most part. As Yohji laughed and danced with the group, Ken began to notice things about Yohji that he had never noticed before. The most obvious were tattoos.

Yohji had many visible tattoos upon his person and probably just as many currently non-visible ones: tribal armbands, bellybutton designs and a pair of large Celtic wings upon his back that had yet to be finished.

"Every birthday since he was ten, Amir has been getting tattoos." Omi noted, as if he was reading Ken's mind, "The current one he has been working on for a while is the pair of wings on his back. Over the last two years he would get more and more done on it. It'll probably be finished by next year."

"Since he was ten?" Ken gaped in amazement, missing everything else Omi had said. The young gypsy just nodding as a response.

The dance ended and the dancers scattered, or rather staggered, off to different locations in the encampment. Laughter and cheering followed them but it was doubted that any of the dancers noticed or cared inside their belligerently drunken state. Ken didn't see anymore of Yohji after that point until ten in the morning the next day when the older boy had come to wake him up. It was a beautiful Saturday morning. Too beautiful. Too morning. Ken groaned and rolled over, drawing next to Omi in the little tent they had claimed sometime in the night, which only caused Yohji to sigh in defeat. He wasn't about to fight with a sleepy Ken. Who would want to? Leaving the tent to head towards a late breakfast, the two boys didn't actually leave the campsite until well after noon once they had said their good-byes and thank you's.

"Is your brother going to get mad at you for ditching school and not coming home?" Yohji murmured to Ken as they rode in the van back to their respective homes.

"Na." Ken chuckled, "Omi took me up to the house so I could make a phone call to my brother to tell him what happened. He didn't seem to really care."

"Oh, that's a relief."

"Are your rents gonna get mad?"

Yohji shrugged, "Don't know, don't care."

Silence followed and both got the same feeling it was going to be a long day.