Disclaimer:

I do not own Weißß Kreuz or any of its characters. I just love them to no end and have a very twisted imagination. Please be aware that I am extremely poor so suing me will do you no good. Thanks.

Warning: Lemon Yaoi - Hints of Yuri / Violence (including Child Abuse) & Rape / Explicit Language / Angst / AU

Pairings: Ran x Yohji / Ken + Omi / Birman + Manx

FYI: Inner thoughts - [ Flashback ]

Author's Notes:

Hey everyone! Here's Chapter Three of Circle of Time. This chapter revolves yet again around our four bishounen but this time it also gives us a glimpse of the dark cloud that is approaching them.

Well guys, that's it for now. I hope you enjoy Chapter Three of Circle of Time! And because comments are always appreciated, I ask you to please leave a review.

Thanks again,

Forsaken

Circle of Time

"Alright everyone," Manx said as she surveyed the chaos just outside of the shop's door. "The boys are here only for the afternoon shift which doesn't start for another half-hour."

The crowd of girls that had been hovering around the shop's door and windows for the past hour gave a collective, "Awwww!"

Manx bit back a smile at the sight of so many fallen faces. She looked over to her lover and rolled her eyes.

Birman simply shook her head in disgust as Manx tried to delegate some order among the boy hungry teenagers.

"Now, now girls," Manx said. "It's not that long a wait."

The girls moaned in unison once again in obvious disagreement.

Manx blew out a breath, praying for patience. "Half an hour girls. Give us half an hour, alright?"

The girls merely blinked at the redhead, none of them moving a muscle.

"That's it," mumbled Birman, having had enough of this spectacle. "Go home...or wherever, but don't stand around here drooling."

Sensing a shift in power, the group of girls began to back away.

"You heard the woman," Birman stated as she moved closer to the crowd. "Come back in half an hour. You can drool all you want then -- As long as you buy something that is. Now get!"

The girls startled in fear and ran off in different directions.

"Mika! You are terrible," Manx managed to say between her chuckles.

"I couldn't take it anymore, Akemi," replied Birman, a grin playing at her lips. "I just can't believe that we've been going through this almost everyday for the past three weeks."

Manx nodded in agreement. "I know. I can't believe it either. It's like they've never seen a bunch of boys before in one place."

Birman snickered. "Well, it doesn't help that our boys are cute as hell."

Manx sighed. "You're right about that." The redhead gasped as a sudden thought occurred to her. "My God Mika, what if we have to put up with this for the next two years?"

Birman shook her head. "I really doubt it, love. Trust me, this isn't going to last forever. It'll all blow over soon."

"I hope you're right."

Birman placed an arm around Manx's shoulders. "Come on. Let's help the boys set up shop." She ran a finger down Manx's cheek, a lustful sparkle lighting up her dark eyes. "If we get them going fast enough, maybe we can cut out for a little while."

"You're a sex addict," Manx replied, smiling before she kissed Birman's finger as it slid past her luscious lips. "And I love you for it."

Birman grinned and moved forward to place a slow kiss upon Manx's ruby red lips.

"Shit!" exclaimed Yohji as he pricked his finger on a rose thorn …… again.

For over twenty minutes now, he'd been trying to take the thorns off a batch of roses with little success and he was getting a 'bit' frustrated. How the hell do these people expect me to do this without losing a hand?

Yohji looked at the newly injured finger before putting it into his mouth to suck on it, his gaze falling back onto the batch of roses. What the hell was he doing wrong? It looked so simple when Manx showed them how to do it.

"You're doing it incorrectly," a voice said from behind him.

Startled, Yohji turned around and almost crashed right into Ran. Violet eyes stared at him and their beauty once again distracted Yohji. Yohji couldn't help his reaction to the redhead. It was just automatic now.

At first, he'd been a little uncomfortable in the redhead's presence due to the embarrassing scene they had shared in the washroom but over the past three weeks of working and training with Ran the humiliating memory had begun to fade …… along with his self control.

He known for a long time now that he was a bi-sexual, his attraction to both sexes had been an obvious indication of that, but never before had he experienced what he was feeling toward Ran. With each passing day, his attraction for Ran was growing and he didn't know what the hell he was going to do about it. Sex he knew well, too well in fact, but this rush of lust, of desire, of need was totally foreign to him.

Ran lifted an eyebrow and Yohji blinked, realizing in dismay that he'd been staring. Shit, you're probably drooling!With a faint blush over his cheeks, Yohji willed himself to act normal and asked, "Dammit Ran, what do you want? You scared the shit out of me."

Ran smirked. "I didn't know you scared so easily, Kudou."

Yohji raised his shades off his face, placing them high over his honey-blonde hair and raised an eyebrow. "Did you come over here to insult me or did you have something useful to tell me?"

Ran moved to Yohji's right and looked down at what appeared to be a bunch of massacred roses on the worktable. Yohji almost winced at the sight.

"Here," Ran said, without looking up, as he shoved something blue at him.

Yohji looked down at the notebook Ran was handing him; he hadn't even seen the redhead carrying it. He reached over and took the blue covered notebook from Ran's pale hand. "What's this?" he asked with a frown on his face.

Ran simply looked at him and said, "Page fourteen." The redhead looked at the roses once more before he shook his head and walked away.

Confused, Yohji watched Ran walk out of the room, his golden eyebrows arched high. Holding the notebook in one hand and placing the other on his hip, Yohji wondered why he'd even bothered to waste his breath by asking the redhead a question. He shook his head and turned his attention back to the notebook in his hand.

He placed the thin notebook onto the worktable and began to thumb through it, noticing Ran's neat handwriting across every page. He frowned at first, not really understanding what he was reading and then he noticed the small numbers on the top left corner. Page fourteen, huh?

Curious to see what he would find, Yohji flipped through the pages until he reached the page he'd been instructed to look at. His eyes widened as he read the first sentence out loud. "How to remove the thorns off of a rose."

Amazed by what Ran had just offered him, Yohji looked over in the direction the redhead had exited and whispered, "Holy shit."

Wiping away at his worktable unaware of what had just occurred between his other two companions, Ken tried to concentrate on what he was doing. His turbulent thoughts, however, wouldn't let him.

His grandfather had once again gotten on his case this morning just before he'd left for school and Ken couldn't stop thinking about it. I should be used to it, dammit. Why couldn't he just get over it? They were just words. Just fucking words. Nothing his grandfather had said had been true. Why was he hurting over it? Why should he care?

Ken's hand stilled and he released a deep sigh. Who was he kidding? What his grandfather thought of him did matter. So much so, that his insides were churning and his heart was twisting from the pain yet another confrontation with the man had caused.

Ken pulled back his stool and sat down at the table he'd been cleaning. Leaning forward, he placed an elbow on the table and rested his chin on his opened palm, staring at nothing in particular. Dammit to hell.

Why did his life have to be so complicated? Wasn't it enough that his parents had been taken away from him far too soon? Wasn't it enough that he had been forced to leave his home, his school, his friends...the only life he'd ever known behind?

Why on top of everything else did his grandfather have to hate him? Why?

Ken closed his eyes, pain blooming in his chest once more. He knew why, knew without a doubt why his grandfather couldn't stand the sight of him. I look like Mom.

He had his father's coloring, but everything else about him was a mirror image, right down to the same shade of blue-green eyes, of the daughter who had disobeyed her father by marrying a man he had disapproved of. It was the only reason he could come up with that could explain his grandfather's animosity toward him. Dammit, why does he have to treat me like shit? It's not my fault that I look like her.

Ken sighed. He's never going to change his opinion of me. It was hopeless.

"What's the matter, Ken?"

Ken closed his eyes briefly when he heard Omi's voice and tried not to let his body tense. He stood up from where he'd been sitting and turned to face his friend. "Nothing's wrong, " Ken replied, captivated all of a sudden over how blue Omi's eyes appeared under the light. What ---- Why the hell am I noticing his eyes?

Omi frowned and hesitantly moved closer. "Are you sure, Ken? Because you know that you can always come to me if …… you know, you need to talk to someone."

Ken's heart clenched not only from the sincerity he could see in Omi's clear gaze but also from something ... else, something he couldn't quite identify. "I know, Omi and I appreciate it." Suddenly uncomfortable by his wayward feelings, Ken turned away from the other teen. "But nothing's wrong, okay?"

Omi nodded and smiled. "Okay, but remember what I said, alright?"

Relieved, Ken nodded and turned back to ruffle Omi's hair. "Sure," he replied, trying not to notice how soft the light brown locks were.

"Guys," Manx called out from the front of the shop. "It's almost time to open up."

Omi made a look and Ken tilted his head in question. "What's that look for?"

Omi released a deep and pained sigh. "It's just that ... well ... the girls ... they maul me, Ken. It's really embarrassing."

Ken laughed and shook his head. "Don't worry, Omi. I'll protect you."

He wrapped an arm companionably around the younger teen's shoulders and looked straight ahead as they walked toward the doorway, missing the telltale blush coloring Omi's cheeks.

Ran was totally confused.

His violet eyes tried to stay focused on Birman as the brunette proceeded to go over the new promotional sale they would be offering to their customers today. Stay focused. I have to stay focused.

But it was pointless. His mind just wasn't cooperating with him, choosing instead to think of the one person he was trying to forget about …… Yohji. Ran closed his eyes briefly as he once again berated himself for having given the blonde his notes.

Why the hell did I do that? If Yohji had been too lazy to take down notes, then he should've left the blonde to his own devices. So what if Yohji had been turning his hands into pincushions. It hadn't been his problem. He shouldn't have cared less, shouldn't have felt sorry for the blonde. But had he done that? Of course not. Like an idiot, he'd handed Yohji his notebook full of his meticulously written notes wanting despite himself to help the guy out. Stupid. Stupid.

"Well thank you for finally joining us Yohji," he heard Birman say sarcastically.

Ran swallowed and looked to his left. Coming from the direction of the back room, he saw Yohji shrug and smile at the brunette with his usual lazy grin.

"Sorry, Birman. I had to wash my hands off," Yohji said as he walked past Omi and Ken to where Ran was sitting.

Shit, why is he heading this way? His heart skipped a beat as Yohji's lanky form dropped into the seat next to him.

Tucked underneath Yohji's arm, Ran saw his notebook and he felt his heart skip a beat as a sudden wave of nervousness washed over him. Just ignore him. Dammit, ignore him.

But his eyes rebelled against him and against his will, Ran looked over to his left. His eyes widened when he saw Yohji's gaze upon him. Quickly he looked away and tried to swallow the lump in his throat. Why is he looking at me? Okay, okay. Stay calm. Keep your eyes on Birman and …… Stay calm!

"Hey, Ran?"

Ran jerked slightly at the sound of Yohji's voice. It was a miracle that he hadn't jumped up to the ceiling. Ran took a deep breath and turned his head.

"What?" he asked the blonde, thankful that his voice had sounded as cold as usual. Yohji grinned and Ran swallowed yet again.

"I just wanted to thank you for this," Yohji said as he motioned with his hand toward the notebook in his lap. "My hands really appreciate it."

Ran couldn't help it. He smirked. Yohji really was incorrigible. "I just didn't want you bleeding all over the place. It's not good for business."

Yohji snickered.

"If you two are done with your little chit chat over there, you could try paying attention to what I'm saying." Birman chided from across the room.

Both Yohji and Ran turned to look straight ahead toward Birman and slumped into their seats obviously embarrassed at having been called out in front of everyone.

"Thank you." Birman said, a humorous light in her eyes. The brunette turned away and continued with what she'd been saying.

Yohji looked over at Ran and grinned despite the red tingeing his cheeks.

Ran, unable to do otherwise, grinned back.

"Where is he?" a voice demanded as a pair of large hands wrapped around Ryoji's neck.

"I …… I don't know, man," Ryoji hoarsely replied, wrapping his hands over the man's wrists.

"Don't give me that bullshit!"

The hands tightened around his slender neck and Ryoji's eyes widened in fear. "I swear I don't know where he is!" The grip was becoming painful and Ryoji couldn't catch his breath. "But I know someone that might."

The grip loosened and Ryoji took in a breath.

"Who? Tell me, you little fuck."

"He's a cop. He asked me to …… to tell him when you got out."

"Why the fuck would he want to know that?"

"Cause he knows the guy who has the …… kid."

The hands around his neck shook Ryoji fiercely.

"What's his name?"

"Mason …… Mason Nakano," he managed to whisper despite his closing windpipe.

The man choking the life out of him suddenly smiled and Ryoji's heart nearly rammed out of his chest. Evil was plain to see in that smile alone.

"Nakano, you say."

Ryoji nodded as best as he was able to.

Suddenly Ryoji was released and he fell to the floor with a grunt. Coughing as he tried to breathe, Ryoji backed away in fear of the man still hovering closely over him.

"Did you hear that?" The man asked the other person Ryoji hadn't even known was standing in the room.

"Loud and clear," a voice answered from within the shadows.

Ryoji blanched at the sound of that deep voice. He wanted out of here. "Can I go now? I told you all I know."

The man in front of him snickered and looked over to where the voice had come from.

"He's all yours."

Panic intermingled with fear as he watched the man walk away just as a shadowed form moved forward. Metal flashed under the dim light of the room and Ryoji began to beg.

"No! I told you everything. Please!" he pleaded as he backed up as far as he could against the wall behind him, shaking his head frantically.

The man stopped and turned back to him, a grin playing on his lips as the light shadowed his face like an eerie mask. "Yeah, you did. And now, you're worthless to me."

Ryoji's eyes widened in dismay as the man turned away and disappeared into the shadows. He jerked his head back to where the shadowed form had been in time to see a long knife arch through the air. Pain exploded through him as the knife was embedded deeply into his chest. Ryoji slumped over onto the floor.

The last thing Ryoji saw as his last breath whispered past his lips were a pair of blue eyes the color of ice.

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