And Sleep in Spite of Thunder

Chapter two: Whoever Knocks

Ken stumbled out of bed, the loud knocking seeming to echo inside his groggy head. "I'm coming!" he mumbled, risking a glance at the clock on the wall. Six A.M. It could only be Crawford. No one sane would come knocking at the door at six in the morning. Ken gave his sleeves an experimental stretch before fumbling at the bolt and chain. In the open doorway stood a very awake and grim-looking landlord.

"Hello Mr. Hidaka."

"Hi Crawford." Ken blinked.

"I am to understand you have acquired another tenant for your apartment."

"Uh, yeah?"

"Building policy requires that you pay an additional fee for every permanent resident in the apartment."

"What? Why? That's stupid."

"It's policy, Mr. Hidaka. You signed the contract."

"No way that was on the contract."

"You should read the fine print before you sign."

"Fine print? What are you, a lawyer?"

Crawford didn't reply to that.

"Look, how do you know he's a 'permanent resident'? He could just be staying with me for awhile." Why was that smirk making Ken so nervous?

"And is he?"

"I… don't know yet."

Crawford looked impatiently at his watch.

"You're lucky I'm in a good mood today, Mr. Hidaka. You are also lucky that I have a meeting in twenty minutes, and therefore no time to go over the fine print with you."

Ken grinned.

"I suggest you actually read the contract sometime and find out what it is you signed yourself to. Good day, Mr. Hidaka."

"Bye!"

Ken closed and locked the door quickly as the stern man in glasses walked briskly down the hallway. He leaned against the door wearily and muttered,

"Good mood my ass. If that's a good mood, I don't want to see a bad one."

Ken managed to make it only about halfway down the hall before he heard another knock on the door, this one much quicker and quieter. Defeated, he turned and re-opened the door only to be nearly blown over by the wave of solid energy that washed over him from the boy standing outside.

"Schu told me you had a girlfriend I came over to see do you have any breakfast I'll make breakfast can I meet your girlfriend Schu told me all about her."

"What? Don't forget to breathe, Omi."

The boy took a huge, deep breath, and continued,

"I brought chocolate chips because you didn't have any last time and they're really good in pancakes and I have about an hour before school so where is your girlfriend?"

Ken stepped backwards to let Omi inside, and it wasn't until a few moments later that the kid's violently rapid greeting finally made its way completely inside Ken's tired brain.

"Girlfriend!" He practically shrieked.

"Hello Ken!" An equally bright female voice called, making Ken jump.

"Aya?" Ken turned to the speaker and then the girl who entered the apartment after her, "Sakura?"

"Omi said we could come over for breakfast."

"We wanted to meet your girlfriend, too"

"Schu said she stayed the night!"

The two girls looked at each other meaningfully, while Ken attempted to splutter some kind of defense for himself. No comprehensible words came out of his mouth, however, so he attempted to shut the door only to find Ran blocking the way, glaring at him.

"Oh, hi Ran." Ken said, grinning nervously. The tall, red-haired man stepped into Ken's apartment, looking casually around. Ken managed to get the front door closed as the kids shuffled excitedly toward the kitchen, chatting loudly.

"So, Ken. Where's your girlfriend?" Ran asked casually.

"Yeah! Go get her! Tell her to eat breakfast with us." Omi beamed.

"I do not have a girlfriend! Schuldig is a retard for telling you that, because there is no way I…" But Ken trailed off as he caught sight of Nagi, looking ruffled and sleepy in Ken's pajamas, wandering into the room. It seemed to Ken like the next few minutes stretched forever as four sets of eyes widened and jaws dropped.

Suddenly, Aya burst in her high-pitched voice, "Awwww, cute!"

"That's not a girl!" Omi added, perplexed.

"I didn't know you were into boys." Sakura said slyly.

"I… no… I… It's not like that!" Ken stuttered shrilly, "You guys… He… I…"

"Let's go eat, or the kids will be late for school." Ran said quickly. He dragged Ken, whose face was blushing wildly, into the dining room.

Nagi stared after them.

The girls sat down at the dining room table as Omi went back to the kitchen to start breakfast. Ran pushed Ken into a chair before taking his own seat. Sakura and Aya looked at Ken, exchanged conspiratorial glances, and then giggled madly. Omi called out from the kitchen for assistance, and Ken literally leapt at the chance to get away from the maniacally giggling girls. He knocked over his chair as he rushed into the kitchen, and Ran picked it back up again as he followed close behind.

Aya and Sakura continued snickering into their identically-manicured hands. Nagi, dressed now in a long-sleeved tee shirt of Ken's and some jeans, tiptoed warily into the room, eying the girls with increasing trepidation.

"Oooh." They breathed in unison, staring at him. Nagi froze.

"What's your name?" Sakura prompted.

"How long have you known Ken?" Aya added before Nagi had a chance to respond.

"Isn't he a little young for you, Ken?" Omi asked, frowning slightly as he cracked another egg into the bowl of batter. Ken thought he caught a smirk on Ran's otherwise bored-looking face as Ken attempted yet again to defend himself from the most catastrophic misunderstanding to date. "He is not my… uh… well… he's seventeen, but that doesn't matter, because he isn't…" Omi cut off Ken's semi-hysterical rambling with a wave of his wooden spoon.

"You don't have to deny it, Ken. When two people are in love, it doesn't matter what gender they are."

"We are not in love, and he is not my boyfriend! No love here, no no no…"

"So it's a purely physical relationship, then?" Ran said coolly. Omi blushed, and though Ran didn't think it was possible, the bright red shade of Ken's embarrassed face grew brighter.

"That is not what I'm saying! There is no way I would… I… um…" Ken gave up, sighing his defeat.

"So, how long have you known him?" Omi asked, starting up the stove.

"A couple of days." Ken responded dejectedly. Omi paused, staring open-mouthed at Ken.

"I told you it's not like that!" Ken repeated angrily, reading Omi's expression of shock and distaste, "I mean it. I found him, and he didn't have anywhere else to go."

Omi gave him a skeptical look before he turned back to the batter in the pan. The sudden silence in the room make Ken exceptionally nervous, and he accidentally spilled the chocolate chips when Omi asked for them a few moments later.

Nagi blinked.

"How long have you known Ken?" Sakura repeated her friend's question as Aya cut in with a new one of her own,

"Are you in love?"

"How did you two meet?"

The two girls leaned across the table to stare fixedly at Nagi, who stood frozen in the doorway to the dining room. He returned the stare as he began to move his feet backwards in the direction he had come.

"Wait, don't go! We want to talk to you!" Sakura whined, her lower lip jutting out.

Aya flickered her eyelashes and sighed, "He really is adorable, like a little lost kitten." Nagi's dark-blue eyes narrowed and he backed quickly out of the room.

"Now look what you've done!" Sakura hissed.

"Me? I didn't do anything!" Aya retorted, sticking out her tongue.

"What is this about?" Ran said as he entered bearing silverware and glasses. The girls' eyes were fixed on the now-empty doorway, "Did you scare him away?" At once they erupted into a series of unintelligible protests.

Ken and Omi followed behind Ran, bearing a pile of steaming chocolate-chip pancakes.

"Where's Nagi?" Ken said suddenly, looking around the table. His inquiry was followed closely by mad giggling. Ken ignored them and left the room. He found Nagi sitting in the guest room on the bed.

"You have to come eat breakfast." When Nagi just stared at him, Ken continued, "Don't worry about Aya and Sakura. They're teenage girls; they're all crazy like that. They won't hurt you or anything."

Nagi stared warily at Ken before following him into the dining room.