TITLE: Song of the Gentle Wind

CHAPTER: Six

BY: Simply Kim

GENRE: Yaoi (Angst/Humor)

CAST: The guys from Weiß and Schwarz… who else? ^_^ (And, Ehehe... yeah, I forgot to mention in the preceding part... the Crashers too. ^_^;

DISCLAIMERS: The series I'm referring to do not belong to me… ^_^

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CHAPTER 6: A Small Step towards Sanity

"Ran..."

"Crawford-san... Ohayo."

It was then that Crawford decided he liked the sound of his name... well, surname, actually... coming from Ran's tongue. Maybe he can make him say his REAL name instead of the polite enunciation of the word "Crawford" with a Japanese term "san" connected to it. He smiled warmly at the boy and walked towards him, seemingly amused at the sight of the redhead's skittishness as he took continuous steps.

"Mind if I sit down?" He asked quietly, touching a stiff shoulder with natural tenderness.

He watched carefully at the conflicting emotions painted visibly on the younger boy's features before settling on a none-too-heartfelt nod in reply. He quickly plopped down beside him on the rushes, and stretched out his long legs, leaning back on his arms as he gazed up into the dazzling night sky.

It was the perfect feeling of peace.

Crawford closed his eyes, feeling the bite of a particularly strong blast of wind on his cheeks that were too rosy after searching for a good deal of minutes.

"Have you ever felt this much peace in your life?" He asked almost inaudibly. "Like nothing would matter as long as you stay like this... in a place yet undiscovered and untold, a place that only you know alone?"

He felt Ran's questioning gaze on him. He knew the boy was perplexed over his words... maybe, he too was mystified... he had never said such words to anyone before in his whole life. Not even to his friends.

"I don't understand..." Came the quiet reply.

With a chuckle, Crawford straightened and rid his hands off grass slivers. He abruptly turned to Ran and gave him an astounding smile. "I always come here when I'm troubled." He revealed, watching the growing mortification on Ran's face as understanding crashed on him. "This has always been my sanctuary... the only place where I can think - and feel an inner sense of peace... my own Paradise."

"Kami-sama..." He heard Ran whisper, standing up in haste. "Gomen, gomen, gomen nasai!"

Without thinking, he reached out and gripped a soft cotton sleeve. "Hey, don't go..."

"Iie, Watashi wa -"

"Do translate." Crawford laughed in amusement at Ran's reddening cheeks. "I didn't understand what you were saying."

"Oh."

"Oh." He mimicked, pulling him down beside him. "'Oh' what?"

"I'm sorry for... I mean, this is your place... I shouldn't be in here... I've got to go..."

Crawford clamped a firm hand on his shoulder, rendering him immobile. "You're going to stay." He said with absolute finality. "You aren't going anywhere."

"But -"

"But nothing." Crawford finally loosened his hold and placed both his hands on his lap. "I did not bring the sanctuary thing up just to make you scram off somewhere." He looked up into the night sky again.

"I don't understand..."

"Yes, Fujimiya Ran, you don't understand many things." He said, nodding in self-satisfaction. "So let me explain what my motives are when I said what I did."

"I -"

Crawford held up a hand, halting the other's flow of apologizing words. "What I meant was that," He cleared his throat, glancing at the confused boy. "One must enjoy the peace he has found. I gather you found tranquility here."

Ran did not answer. He just looked down, concentrating on his fidgeting fingers situated on his lap.

"I'll take that as a yes. Anyway -"

"Iie."

He immediately stopped, tilting his head to the side in question. "Pardon?"

"No."

It was Crawford's turn to be confused. "I don't understand."

Ran sighed, his eyes straying back and meeting his dark orbs. "You wouldn't understand." He murmured, his eyes glistening, as if welcoming the force of a flurry of tears.

The American's eyes softened.

Ran looked vulnerable. The wonderfully intense amethyst eyes that had haunted him to no end were not visible. All he could see were damaged pieces of gemstones reflecting an equally damaged soul.

"Ran." He whispered... just that - his name.

And silence reigned in their paradise.

* * *

Ran was caught under the spell of those tender brown eyes. Even as memories flooded his senses, he could not escape the fact that he was breathless.

Everything was still.

Everything seemed to be experiencing the heavy bout of breathlessness that he was somehow feeling.

All were silent.

And then the whispered words.

"Pain. I can see your pain." Crawford's soothing voice intruded upon the blessed stillness.

<FLASHBACK>

"You have a beautiful voice, Ran-niichan!" A youthful female voice chirped through the early morning light. "Why don't you take up music in college?"

Ran smiled, shaking his head as he ruffled his sister's blue-black hair. "I can't, and you know it, Aya-chan." He murmured. "As much as I want to, I need to take up business courses for the benefit of our company."

"Eh? You can hire someone to manage it!" Aya protested, pouting prettily.

"Otousan and Okaasan won't approve." He closed his eyes and sighed wearily. "Sometimes I wish that they wouldn't intervene much in my life... they're practically living it..."

<END FLASHBACK>

"What caused that great amount of pain?" Crawford's question launched another set of scenes flying into his overused brain.

<FLASHBACK>

"Aya keep on running! Don't stop until I tell you to!"

"Demo, Ran-niichan! I cannot hold on anymore!"

"We're going to make it, please, try to keep up - if we don't do this, they'll get us for sure!"

"Niichan... *pant* my heart... Itai..."

"Aya!"

There was a flurry of footsteps. Ran knew they had been spotted. He had stopped to tend to his fallen sister, intending to just carry her - even with his injuries.

It was too late.

There was the reverberating scream of a loaded gun matching with an agonized shriek of a person in extreme pain.

Ran's eyes were blank. All he could see was the steady flow of warm blood that gushed down his pale arms.

"Aya..." He murmured inaudibly. "Aya..."

He felt an instantaneous slide of steel against his forehead. He looked up at the gun pointed and touching his flesh smack between the eyes.

"Ah, Fujimiya Ran - just like your cowardly father. Always running..." The squat man holding the gun to his head jeered. "Oh, and about your beautiful sister. She was left under my care for quite a while before you came to get her back. She's fragile - with her heart problems and all... However, wait - let me share with you a shocking secret...Do you know that she tasted so good below the waist? So warm... and so wet..."

"KISAMA!" He growled, dropping the lifeless body of his sister and lunging angrily at the gloating murderer. "Takatori Reiji - DIE!"

However, before he could land a deadly blow on his opponent, a leather belt was looped around his neck, choking him as it was pulled back.

Takatori laughed manically, his eyes glinting with pure evil. He sauntered towards him as he struggled against the two bulky men handling him roughly. The cold steel of the gun slid down his neck, making him shiver with something akin to fear. The perpetrator obviously mistook it for something else, eliciting a predatory look from the beady orbs.

"They say you have a heavenly voice, Ran." He murmured gruffly, pushing the barrel of his weapon against the pale chin, making the boy look at him straight in the eyes with full revulsion. "They say it's as close to heaven as you look. I wonder if that is true..."

Ran closed his eyes as he fought his urge to throw up, feeling a pudgy hand being insinuated inside his bloody clothes.

"Maybe you should sing for me before bedtime."

<END FLASHBACK>

By then, tears were dripping down Ran's pale cheeks.

Pain... when will this torture ever end?

* * *

The presence of tears spurred Crawford into action.

His heart pounded as he pulled him into his arms. His hands soothed the younger boy, rubbing his back gently, massaging one-handedly at the knots on the fragile shoulders.

He closed his eyes.

He must have had an unhappy life. Crawford mused, feeling tears prickling his own closed eyelids. His heart felt as if it was being clamped by an iron vise.

Tears sopped the front of his shirt, and he knew it would look like hell before he even washed it, but he did not care. All he cared about was making Ran's pain disappear. What could he do?

He held him tighter, murmuring endearments that he knew would somehow help calm the helpless boy. Ran clutched his thin shirt, crumpling it beyond repair. The tightening of the fingers' hold tightened the vise around his heart at the same rate.

Ran... what had happened to you before? Why do you break down now? Why?

He let out a shuddering sigh, pushing Ran a small distance away from him. "Ran... Shh... It's alright... everything's gonna be fine."

"Demo... demo... Watashi wa..."

Crawford had absolutely no clue as to what Ran was saying. All he knew was that the words were laced with a peculiar sense of desperation and utter loneliness that made him want to protect him from everything.

Gently, he wiped the tears away with his slender fingers and smiled reassuringly.

"It's alright." He whispered tenderly, ghosting a touch on a cold cheek before turning towards the still-starry sky.

"My mother once told me that pain is inextinguishable." He started, his eyes glazing in memory. "... That pain is a major part of every person's life..."

Ran stilled, probably, he thought, trying to gauge what he meant. He smiled softly and went on, one of his hands straying over to the boy's fiery mane, caressing the wisps with his questing fingers.

"She said that even if grief exists, one only has to believe to drive the unbearable feeling away... believe that even with all the insanity surrounding you, there will always be someone ready to catch you and keep you safe."

He looked down onto the thoughtful features of ran that was etched under the ghostly light of the moon. "You have to believe, Ran."

He smiled as the younger boy disengaged himself from his comforting hold.

"You only have to believe."

Ran gazed at him, his amethyst eyes beginning to show signs of life again.

Then, he smiled.

It was a miniscule smile, but a smile nonetheless.

"Arigatou..." Ran whispered, touching his lean fingers with a warm, yet shaking hand. "Thank you."

And in his heavy, problematic heart, Crawford found the strength to believe again.

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TBC

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