Seven Days of Smiles

Disclaimer: I don’t own Weiss. They are Koyasu-sama’s babies. (Damn fine babies too). And the songs that begin and end this fic are by two of my favorite bands.

Pairing: Ken x Omi

Rating: G

Dedication: This is for Arii, who was the 500^th visitor of my site. She requested angsty Omi and a Ken x Omi. Well, here it is! Enjoy!

* * *

~An angel face smiles to me
under a headline of tragedy.
That smile used to give me warmth

Farewell - no words to say
beside the cross on your grave.
And those forever burning candles

Needed elsewhere

To remind us of the

Shortness of your time
Tears laid for them
Tears of love

Tears of fear
Bury my dreams

Dig up my sorrows~

Nightwish “Angels Fall First”

* * *

For as long as I can remember, I’ve never had anyone I truly loved. Oh yes, there was Yuriko. But she didn’t last long. And I had a feeling I wouldn’t able to spend the rest of my life with her even if I followed her to Australia. It took me some time to realize she wasn’t for me. I’m sure she has found the right person for her in Australia. In any case, I’m going ahead of myself. What I’m trying to say is I never had a true love before.

But then I got Omi and my world changed. Literally.

Okay, I’ve known Omi for quite a while. But I had known him only as a teammate and a friend. At times, I treated him like a brother too. I treated him the way I treated Aya and Yohji, my other teammates/friends. I never thought our relationship could go beyond friendship. We talked during work, both day and night. But it was always about work. And once in a while, we spoke of something outside of work.

But something happened. The one thing that could tear us apart happened. And from that one thing, the romance between us blossomed. I stopped seeing Omi as just a friend and teammate. I saw him as someone I cared about. A lot. Despite our short time together, we were an item. I kissed him, hugged him, and loved him regardless of what the world would think of us. That’s why I was heartbroken when it all ended.

Needless to say, our love life made an interesting short story. I’m glad I got to know more about him and actually be able to love him as a boyfriend.

I only wished it lasted longer.

* * *

It all started with the wound. Omi’s arm was scraped during one of our missions and he was bleeding. Nonetheless, the wound wasn’t so deep so we washed it and wrapped it in bandages. For the next few days, things were normal. We worked during the day and some nights. Omi was still smiling, helpful, and outgoing as ever. He spoke with the customers and he talked with us. He went to school and went on missions despite his injury.

But I noticed changes in him. For one, he seemed a lot slower than usual. He almost let targets get away twice because he was reacting as fast as he used to. He was also growing more and more tired. He burned out faster than the rest of us, which was unusual. Then there was also that scrape that didn’t seem to heal. We changed his bandages but the cut hadn’t closed. After discussing it with Kritiker, we agreed to let a doctor examine Omi.

Well, it didn’t end at one appointment. They kept making us bring him back, telling us that they saw something wrong and needed to run some tests. So we let them do whatever they could to figure out what was wrong. All the while, we were hoping that he would be okay soon. When the doctors called us in to tell us of his condition, I kept praying that this was all a false alarm and Omi was actually okay.

The news turned out to be worse than what we expected: Omi had leukemia.

He hadn’t the worse stages yet but he would soon. He could take chemotherapy if he wanted to and he needed more tests. They also said they could give him a bone marrow transplant, which could help save him. Aya, Yohji, and I were all tested to see if we were matches. Sadly, not one of us was a match but they did put his name on the donor list. If they could find a donor early on, then he had chances of survival. He also chose not to take chemotherapy. I’m not sure if that was a wise decision. In any case, we did bring him home and hoped that a bone marrow donor would soon be found. The days were crawling and Omi became more aware of what happened. One day, as I passed by his room, I saw him crying on the bed. Half-embarrassed and half-worried, I decided to try cheering him up.

“Omi?” I walked over and sat down next to him.

He replied with a sob.

“Are you okay?” I asked. I draped an arm over his shoulders and squeezed him tightly. Patting him on the back, I added. “I know how you feel.”

That was an atrocious lie. What did I know of his feelings?

“I can’t believe this, Ken-kun.” He sobbed. “Why so soon? Why me? It’s just not fair!”

I pulled him closer. “Shh! It won’t be bad.”

“Won’t be bad?” He slipped out of my grasp. I knew I had said something wrong. “Won’t be bad?! I’M DYING! How can that not be bad?!”

I tried to redeem myself. “Omi, calm down.”

Unfortunately, my attempt was futile. “I can’t! I have only a few months to live! Do you have any idea, any idea at all, just what that means? I won’t be here anymore, Ken-kun! I won’t…I won’t…”

And, unable to finish his sentence, Omi burst into sobs again. I blushed, not sure what to say. It was an awkward moment and my last comment hadn’t done any good. All I succeeded in doing was making Omi remember what would happen. Then I made him cry. I made him cry, telling him that death wouldn’t be ‘bad’. What a lie.

The whole scene was bringing tears to my eyes as well. “Omi, I’m sorry. I was only trying_”

“To make me feel better. I know.” Omi gulped. “I’m the one who should be sorry, Ken-kun. I snapped at you for no reason. It’s just that I’m…overwhelmed…”

I kissed him on the forehead, understanding everything he said. “I figured just as much.”

Wiping his face on his arm, he looked up at me. “Ken-kun…”

I silenced him with another kiss. It hurt me to see him this way. His life was coming to a sudden stop and it wasn’t because of a mission. The whole situation was too much for anyone to swallow, especially for him.

“I hate what’s happening too, Omi.” I whispered. And I did. I was losing someone I loved again.

Holding back a sob, Omi forced himself to smile. God knew how much it pained him to do that. Seeing him smile was making me sad.

“I’m going to live everyday like it is my last then.” He sounded like he was making a promise to himself. Perhaps he was.

I returned the smile. “That’s the spirit. Enjoy life.”

But how can he do that, knowing he’ll die any moment? Sure, I could say those words. But what did I know of his feelings? I loved him, I cared about him, I’d do anything for him…but what did I know about his feelings?

“You’ll spend time with me. Right, Ken-kun?”

“Huh?” The question threw me off. I wanted to answer him right away. Looking into those hopeful blue eyes, I had to say something. Yet I was numb. The words just couldn’t come out of my mouth. I was left standing still and silent.

“Ken-kun?”

I shook my head. “Sorry, Omi. I drifted off for a second.”

Omi laughed. “Same old Ken-kun.”

I guess he was right. I tended to drift into my own world a lot. Thank goodness I never did that on a mission. I was always focused then. But now…now everything was losing focus. I was losing Omi.

And I was afraid of spending the rest of my life alone.

* * *

Omi’s second breakdown came only seven days after the first. It happened in the evening and I was the only one that witnessed it. We had no missions that night so everyone was resting up. Nonetheless, we chose to close the shop early (and Momoe-san didn’t seem to mind that). I’m not sure where Aya and Yohji were at the time. All I know was that Omi was watching TV upstairs and I, on the way to my bedroom, peeked in for just a second.

“Hey, Omi. What are you watching?” I asked cheerfully. The tone of my voice was enough to sting my soul. I hate how fake I sounded.

If Omi noticed it, he didn’t care. “I’m watching something in Spanish.”

“Spanish? Do you even know Spanish?” I was shocked. I didn’t even know we had a Spanish channel. The more I spoke, the more fake I sounded.

“I can understand what’s going on. It’s not that difficult.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, it’s a Spanish soap opera.”

“A Spanish…soap opera?” I think that’s about the time I stopped sounding so fake. I was seriously in shock.

“Yes. And I’ve figured out what’s happening. You see, this one woman is dating another woman’s boyfriend so she decides to blackmail him. He’s denying the whole thing, of course. But his girlfriend has the proof and the other girl is enraged. Then one of these guys got his eye poked out and everyone is crying. Another girl wants to know whether liposuction is worth losing her dignity. Meanwhile, a father and son ponder the meaning of life. And_”

It was too much. I started to laugh.

“You…you actually followed that?!” I exclaimed, gasping for air. This was definitely new and interesting! Tsukiyono Omi liked Spanish soap operas. I plopped down on the couch, next to him, and kept laughing. He just looked at me, confused.

“You mean to tell me you understand all this and liked watching it?!” I began coughing thanks to my laughter. Three seconds later, Omi joined me.

“I am watching something like this?!” He exclaimed as if he didn’t already know. “Oh my God! I’m watching people cheating on each other?!”

“Yup.”

“And I’m watching them make love in pools, ponder about liposuction, try to cure themselves of life threatening diseases, and_” He stopped. I knew something was wrong.

“Omi?”

Tears starting rolling down his face, one by one. “It’s…it’s…it’s not funny at all. Life threatening diseases…”

Before I could do a thing, he broke down again.

“Hey. Hey, Omi.” I hugged him. “It’s okay. I mean…”

“It’s not okay, Ken-kun. When someone suffers a life threatening disease, it’s not okay!”

And there he was, crying on my shoulder. All the while I wanted to cry with him. But as he was sobbing, I realized that both of us couldn’t break down at the same time. It was hard enough that he was going through this. Did I need to add to his suffering with my tears? No.

I cupped his face in my hands. “Look, Omi. I know it’s hard on you. It’s hard on me too. And I’m sorry I started to laugh over something that is serious.”

Omi blinked back his tears and just stared for a long time.

“It’s silly, isn’t it?” He finally asked me. “I mean, me getting upset over something on a soap opera…who’d have thought?”

I shrugged. “It’s okay. It can happen.”

“Promise me you won’t tell Aya-kun and Yohji-kun.”

“I promise.”

“I can’t believe I was actually watching a Spanish soap.” He said after a while. “What was I thinking?”

I snickered. “I have no idea.”

I kissed him and we started to laugh about the whole thing again.

* * *

For a long time, we didn’t interact with each other except at work and on missions. Omi must have been embarrassed about breaking down in front of me. That and I think he was embarrassed about watching Spanish soap operas. But I kept my word and didn’t breathe a word about it to Aya or Yohji.

But I also stopped talking with Omi for a while. In fact, I stopped peeking into his room. He was a big kid after all. He didn’t need me hanging all over him 24/7. He needed time to be alone too. That didn’t, however, keep me from thinking about him. I began having trouble sleeping because I was so worried. Funny feelings rose up in my body. I felt as though I couldn’t go on without him. Ultimately, it was eating me from the inside and I had to confront. I went to his room.

“Omi?” I asked. He was sitting on his bed, reading a book. When he looked up at me, the feelings came back and they came strong. Almost immediately, I found myself moving in on him, my eyes very heavy. Omi lowered his gaze for a second.

“Ken-kun…” He whispered, growing close to me.

And we kissed. It was the first time I ever put my lips against his.

When we pulled away, I didn’t know what to do at first. Then, my body reacted before my mind. I grabbed him, pulled him up so he faced me, and kissed him even harder. Shocked by my action, Omi kissed me back. His fingers were tangled in my hair. I forced my tongue into his mouth and down his throat. All the while, I could not control myself. For once, my body was doing everything against my will and I liked it.

“Ken-kun…” I heard him say as soon as I stepped away. Finally, I got control of myself and stopped. Not that I wanted to.

“You okay?” I whispered.

He nodded. “You’re feisty, Ken-kun.”

I blushed. “Sorry.”

“No need to apologize. I like this.”

I grinned. “So do I.”

“You don’t think Yohji-kun and Aya-kun will mind us…you know?”

I took a stab at what he was saying. “Being together like this?”

“Yeah. They won’t mind, right?”

“They shouldn’t.” One more kiss.

From that point on, we spent a lot of time together. For the most part, we made out. I chose not to move so fast with him because he was still a child. (Okay, he was seventeen but that did feel young to me). If Aya and Yohji were about us, they didn’t say a thing against it. That was a wonderful relief. I don’t think I spent a day without kissing Omi at least once. I was in love with him and he loved me. I felt as though nothing could tear us apart. Nothing. Even with his new found illness,

And then came the night. It had been an ordinary mission like any other. It was another serial killer on the loose and the law couldn’t catch him. He had a bunch of lackeys under him, all equally dangerous, and they all hid in an abandoned warehouse. We had been sent out after promising that we’d be careful. Later on it turned out promising wasn’t enough but I’m getting ahead of myself again.

We didn’t want Omi to come along with us. We had gone through a week of knowing that he had leukemia and it was our first mission since we found out. He should have stayed home where he would be safe. I had almost forgotten about the illness. But then he insisted on coming. He said it could be the last time he might be able to help us. We argued back saying that he could be injured far worse than the last time. Even Kritiker was a little unwilling to send him out. But he begged and pleaded with us. So we had to give in. Now that we were at the scene, I was feeling worse about this decision.

“Omi, I think you should have stayed.” I told him.

He rolled his eyes. “Ken-kun, I’ll be okay. I promise.”

“But I…”

“You’re worried.” He whispered. All the while, we didn’t know Aya was behind us. “Look, I’ll go help Yohji-kun. I think he has the easier job. Then I’ll meet up with you, okay?”

I kissed him. “Okay, you win. But be careful.”

“Yes, mother.” He laughed. And he ran off to help Yohji out. I sighed happily, thinking how lucky I was to have him and how I wished he’d be healed soon. Then I heard someone behind. Turning out, I saw Aya. The look on his face was not pleasant and his violet eyes fell on me like weights.

“What?” I asked.

“I saw that.” He said.

I shrugged. “And?”

“What do you think you’re doing? He’s sick! And we’re on a missions!” He hissed.

“I know but_”

“I have nothing against it.” Aya interrupted me. “I have a feeling you care a lot about him. But…”

“There are times to show him I love him and this is not one of them.” I finished off. Aya didn’t need to say a word or even nod. He knew I had figured it all out. “I won’t do things like that again.”

Suddenly, there were loud noises coming from the distance. Aya and I ran out to see what was going. Coming the opposite direction was Yohji and he looked very worried. He stopped and began breathing hard.

“Yohji, what happened?” I asked. “Did you get the targets?

“It’s Omi.” Yohji panted. “Targets still alive. Omi…he…he…he got hit.”

My heart froze. “Hit?”

“Yeah, I think he’s…he needs help.” Yohji started to cry. Aya ran off to see where Omi was and take care of the targets..

But I…all I could do was stay put in horror.

* * *

I waited all night back at the basement of the flower shop. For reasons they wouldn’t tell me, I wasn’t allowed to see Omi. Being too upset to argue, I went back and paced around the room for a long time.

“Well?” I asked. “Is he okay?”

Aya looked at me, his violet eyes lifeless. “He’s gone.”

And it ended there. With two words, it ended right there. I had a feeling it would all come down to this. I had a feeling I would not get to say goodbye to him. But they had only been feelings. They weren’t supposed to be real. They couldn’t be real!

“You…you’re lying.” I whispered.

Still looking indescribable, Aya shook his head. “I wish I was.”

He was telling the truth. Aya wouldn’t lie to me. And I can tell, despite how hard it is to look inside of him, that he’s hurting. He and Yohji, who was probably still at the hospital, were hurting. Omi had been their friend after all. He kept us together. He was always smiling and happy and just being the kid he was. And now he was gone.

Falling to my knees, I began to weep.

* * *

And that’s how it all ended. To be even more specific, that’s how our relationship ended. That’s how Omi, who was supposed to live for another year or so, ended up living for one week. That’s how I really lost the boy I loved. I didn’t get to hold him in my arms and tell him how much I loved him before he died. I didn’t get to hear his last words, whatever they were. I didn’t get to go out with him, take him around the places he wanted to go, or spend every waking moment with him. Why? Because I saved all that for a later time. I chose to wait until a week or so, being foolish enough to think Omi would last for a year. I forgot about our missions. And because of my stupidity, he died never being able to do a thing with me.

And now I sit by his grave, wishing I could go back in time. I wanted to kiss him again. And I wanted to see him smile. A part of me was glad I was able to get seven days of Omi’s smiles. But I wanted more. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him and his happiness.

“I’m sorry.” I whispered to the grave. I doubt he can hear me anymore. Actually, I don’t think he wants to hear me. I made him so many promises and I broke every one of them.

“Forgive me.”

I doubt he will. My love is gone and my life feels like it’s over.

* * *

~It still hurts me to this day
Am I selfish for feeling this way?
I know he's an angel now
Together we'll be someday

I feel it once again
It's overwhelming me
His spirit's like the wind
The angel guarding me
Oh, I know, oh, I know
He's watching over me

Oh, I know, oh, I know

He’s watching over me~

-Iced Earth “Watching Over Me”

~*~ OWARI ~*~

* * *

Go back to Fanfics

Email me: sweetandsourcyanide@excite.com