Memories Forgotten
Part One: Mystery of Anger
Yohji stepped into the shower stall still half asleep.
It took him three tries (since he refused to open his
eyes) before his hand finally connected with a water
knob. Without bothering to see which one it was he
twisted, turning the water on. Suddenly, he was
yelping, jumping away from the frigid spray. He
glared at the knob he’d turned, a little more awake
now, and realized it had been the cold water he had
turned on.
::Sheesh, I guess I’m lucky it wasn’t the hot water::
He reached out and turned on the hot water. When the
water was a more humane temperature he stepped back in
to the spray, sighing as the warm water pounded down
on him. He turned to let the water fall on his back
and suddenly he was yelping again, pressing himself
against the shower wall and away from the water as
fire seemed to explode along his back and shoulder at
the water’s contact. He glared balefully at the water
knobs, wondering what on earth he had touched *this*
time. After a few minutes he decided *he* hadn’t done
anything. He turned to glare at his own body.
His eyes widened in alarm as he got his first look at
what had caused the pain. A purple so dark it was
almost black on his left shoulder was the biggest,
ugliest bruise he had ever seen. Gently he touched
it, then winced. It hurt! And there seemed to be
blood on it. Frowning, he stepped back into the spray
of the shower. He cleaned it of all the encrusted
blood, wincing as he felt the water fall in a stinging
spray all up and down his back. He promised himself
he’d check *that* out as soon as he was done.
After what had to be the shortest shower in history he
stood, his back to the large mirror, staring at the
four long, thin, red stripes that ran down his back.
Slowly, he began to grin. He looked down at his
shoulder again and the grin grew wider as he confirmed
that, yes, the ragged edge of the wound on the bruise
*could* have come from a human bite.
::Yohji, you dog. You obviously drove some poor,
young thing wild last night.:: Grinning, and suddenly
in a much better mood, Yohji quickly cleaned and
sterilized the wound on his shoulder. He placed a
bandage on it then dressed.
A few minutes later, whistling merrily, he made his
way down into the shop. Omi was on the phone taking
down what looked to be a rather large order. Ken was
handling the cash register as Aya stood in one corner,
quietly and efficiently working on a flower
arrangement that seemed to include whin, belladonna
and burdock. (1)
"Ohayo, Yohji-kun. You seem to be in a good mood this
morning," Omi said as he hung up the phone.
"You’re awake! And in a good mood! And it’s not even
noon yet!" Ken said, clutching at his heart as if he
were having a heart attack.
"Well, Ken-ken, if you’d had a night like mine you’d
be in a good mood too." Yohji said, grinning.
"Did you have a good time last night, Yohji-kun?" Omi
asked innocently.
"You don’t know the half of it, bishounen. I had a
*great* time. Found myself a real wildcat. I can’t
remember all that much about her but she must have
been a real sex fiend. Left marks all up and down my
-"
"Yohji!" Ken reached over and covered Omi’s ears,
shooting Yohji an outraged look.
"-back." Yohji finished his sentence then frowned at
Ken. "What did you think I was going to say? Oi,
what kind of pervert do you think I am?"
"The kind of pervert that would speak of such things
in front of a child."
"I am not a child!"
"I am not a pervert! Just because you never think
about anything other than -"
"ENOUGH! You are here to work. So...WORK." The
anger evident in Aya’s tone made all three of them
wince. Shooting daggers at each other with their eyes
Ken and Yohji went their separate ways leaving a
pouting Omi to tend the register.
"I am not a child."
~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~
"I’m sure she was tall." Yohji was saying again,
later. "With soft skin that tasted sweet and light.
I’m sure of it. She must have had sultry eyes and -"
"Would you put a sock in it already?" Ken interrupted.
"You don’t even know her name!"
"Jealous, are we, Ken-ken?" Yohji asked in a too
sweet tone.
"Of what? Some woman you dreamed up? You don’t even
remember what she looked like."
"Maybe my mind doesn’t but my body sure does."
"Yohji, shut UP." Aya said, violet eyes flashing as
he glared murderously at the blonde. "Go into the
back room and finish the inventory. Ken, these
arrangements are ready for delivery."
Yohji, who’d been about to continue going on about his
mystery woman, shut his mouth with a loud snap.
Pushing away from the counter where he’d been leaning,
doing nothing, he shrugged and went, whistling all the
while.
Ken stomped across the flower shop, snatching the
delivery list off the wall. "Fine. I’ll go.
Anything to get away from him." He stalked out of the
shop, slamming the door behind him.
~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~
A couple of hours later, tired of doing inventory,
Yohji walked back into the shop. It was empty of all
except Aya.
"Hey, where’d Omi go?"
Aya looked up from what he was doing to glare at him,
dark eyes seeming to command him to drop dead where he
stood.
"Hey, what’d I do?" Yohji asked, defensively,
completely taken aback at the anger in the violet
eyes.
Aya’s glare grew darker before he pointedly turned
away, shoulders and back stiff. Yohji frowned at him,
curious. Then he shrugged and looked around, trying
to find some clue that would tell him where the kid
had gotten to. The bell above the door suddenly rang
and the object of his quest walked in, several bags of
takeout weighing down his arms.
"I’m back and I have lunch," Omi called cheerfully.
"Great. I’m starved." Yohji immediately moved to
follow Omi through the back door that lead into the
rest of the house. "Hey, Aya, you coming?"
He got no response.
"A-ya? Did you hear me? Are you coming?"
"Not. Hungry." The cold voice said in clipped tones
and Yohji frowned, coming back into the shop. Aya
stood before one of the work tables, his back to him,
the sitting stool pushed to one side, unused. Yohji
was about to question him again when he stopped,
something about the way Aya was moving, had been
moving all morning, struck him as odd. He focused on
Aya, trying to pinpoint what was different. Arms
moved slowly as Aya worked on an arrangement of long
stemmed white roses.(2) Aya’s movements were
controlled and elegant as always, each action
performed with the maximum efficiency in mind in a
slow, easy flow. Slow. That was it.
"Hey, Aya, is something wrong? You’re moving kind of
stiffly." Aya froze, body going visibly tense at the
sound of his voice.
"I’m fine."
"Are you sure? I mean-"
"Leave me be, Yohji." There was a dark undercurrent
of threat to the voice that made Yohji pause. He
stood there, watching Aya who still stood with his
back to him, hands now firmly planted before him,
clenched on the table. Yohji noticed that one of
Aya’s fists had inadvertently crushed down on one of
the roses, long thorns digging into pale flesh. He
gave a small gasp and was about to step forward when
Aya spoke again. "Yoh-ji."
Just that, one word, nothing more, but it caused him
to pause. He looked at the stiff back, at the
clenched hands. ::What did I do?:: Yohji wondered, a
frown marring his face. After a minute he shrugged
and gave an internal sigh. ::Probably nothing. He
must be in one of *those* moods again.::
"Okay, Aya. We’ll save you some. You can have it
later if you want." No response but then again, he
hadn’t really expected one. He shrugged again and
went to join Omi and the food in the kitchen.
~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~
Yohji moved about the room, slowly inspecting the
floral displays for any wilting that would mean it
would have to be replaced. Omi had gone off to finish
up some homework that was due the next day and Ken had
already taken off for his afternoon game with the
kids. As he moved near Aya a faint scent tickled his
nose and his memory. Stepping closer he took a deeper
sniff. ::Lavender. Lavender. Where have I smelled
that before? Aya. I wanted to ask Aya something
about lavender. But what?::
"Oi, Aya. Is that lavender you’re wearing?" Aya
immediately stiffened. "I think I meant to ask you
something about lavender but I can’t remember what or
why? Do you have any idea?" At his words Aya went
completely pale, all color drained right out of him.
"Hey, Aya, you okay?"
"I’m fine."
"But you’ve gone all white. Is something wrong?"
Yohji reached out a hand, concerned, afraid that at
any moment Aya would fall away in a faint. Aya
slapped his hand away.
"Leave me alone. Go bother someone else with your
stupid questions."
"Sheesh. I was just making conversation. Bite a
guy’s head off why don’t you?"
"Fine. If you won’t let me get any work done you can
tend the shop yourself." Aya stalked away.
"What is his problem today?" Yohji asked,
exasperated. ::Yes, Aya is always moody. Yes, Aya is
always a pain in the a-- but today he’s worse than
usual.:: Yohji glared at the closed door through
which Aya had disappeared. Then he shrugged and
returned to pretending to work. When he realized that
he was all alone and that that meant nobody would
pester him if he didn’t work he grinned and simply
lounged against the counter until it was time to
close.
~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~
Yohji gave himself one last glance in the mirror. The
brown leather pants he wore were like a second skin,
hanging low on his hips while the loose, dark vest he
had on barely covered anything. ::Perfect.::
After having had to close the shop up on his own he
had decided he would reward himself with another night
of clubbing. Now, dressed and ready, he winked at his
reflection before he gathered up his keys and jacket.
"Are you going out tonight, Yohji-kun?" A young voice
greeted him as he stepped out into the darkened
hallway.
"Of course, bishounen. I can’t deny the ladies my
presence now can I? They might riot."
"But I thought you were besotted by the wildcat you
kept brining up earlier." Omi teased lightly.
"I am but I doubt I’m going to find her here. I’ll be
going to the same club I went to yesterday. Maybe, if
I run across her, I’ll recognize her or she’ll
recognize me. Either way, I plan to have fun
looking." Yohji winked at him. Omi shook his head
and laughed. Yohji grinned.
"I’ll see you later, Omi. Don’t stay up too late,
okay?"
"Ja, Yohji-kun. I won’t." Omi waved goodbye. Yohji
put on his coat and made his way down the stairs. Omi
entered his own room.
As the door closed behind the younger man Aya took a
step into the hallway, away from the shadows which had
hid him from the other two. He glared down at the
door through which Yohji had disappeared then moved to
his own room, fists clenched at his sides.
~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~
Yohji walked into the kitchen the next morning, eyes
half closed in deference to his hangover and the
pounding headache that made it feel like the entire
cast of Riverdance was tapping away the finale inside
his head. Wincing at the morning light streaming in
through a window he was able to distinguish a slight
figure moving about the kitchen, the smell of cooking
eggs and frying bacon making his poor stomach queasy.
"Morning, Aya." He said, guessing.
Aya raised his head, startled, eyes wide. "Yohji!"
"Shh, not so loud." Yohji clutched at his head.
Blinded by the hangover he reached out, searching for
the coffee pot. Instead, his hand accidentally landed
on Aya’s arm. Aya hissed as if in pain and pulled
away, stepping out of his reach. Yohji frowned at
him.
"Something wrong with your arms, Aya? I’ve noticed
you’ve been rather protective of them lately."
"They’re fine."
Yohji looked at him. Aya was standing rather stiffly,
arms close to his body as if he was afraid of any
accidental jarring, the long sleeves of the shirt
looking a bit bulky as if Aya had padding on
underneath. He shrugged, figuring it was none of his
business. Besides, a man with a hangover was not
qualified to do any sort of detective work until he
had had at least three cups of coffee and an entire
bottle of aspirin. Ignoring the mystery that was Aya
he reached again for the coffee pot and this time
actually managed to capture his goal.
The others came down to breakfast and Yohji greeted
them with a tired smile. Ken raised an eyebrow at Aya
before shrugging and sitting down next to Yohji.
Yohji frowned, wondering what the look was for. He
looked over at Aya and suddenly realized something.
Aya was sitting in the wrong seat. Okay, so
technically there were six chairs and one could sit
anywhere one pleased but, after all this time of
living together, they had all sort of developed spots
that they thought of as their own. Like that ledge in
front of the large window in the living room that Aya
always sat at when reading, or the long couch Yohji
almost always claimed so he could spread out on when
watching TV. Spots they unconsciously thought of as
theirs. And when sitting down for a meal Ken and Omi
always sat next to each other in the chairs closest to
the hallway while he and Aya always ended up taking
the seats on the other side, closest together. Yohji
had once joked that it was so the older and wiser
could gang up on the two younger bishounens. Today,
perhaps accidentally, Aya was sitting next to Omi, in
the spot furthest from Yohji: Ken’s usual spot.
Yohji frowned and tilted his head so he could look at
Aya more closely. As if sensing his gaze Aya looked
up from his plate. Seeing Yohji watching him Aya’s
eyes narrowed and darkened in anger. Yohji realized
that he had been staring and smiled in apology. Aya’s
glare hardened and he abruptly stood. Taking his
plate of barely touched food he placed it in the sink
then went to the door that led into the flower shop.
Yohji blinked, confused once again at almost constant
anger Aya was displaying lately.
"Ken, I expect you in the shop in ten minutes."
"What?" Ken asked, startled, as he looked at Aya.
"You’re to open the shop with me." Aya told him.
"What? But why? You and Yohji are supposed to open
the shop today."
"I changed the schedule. You and I will open. Yohji
will close along with Omi."
"But I promised the kids I’d teach them some new
tricks this morning!"
"Hey, why didn’t you say something earlier? I could
have stayed out longer last night and even stayed in
bed later. Plus, I have to go out again tonight. I
have to search for my wildcat!"
Aya didn’t acknowledge Yohji, instead he glared at
Ken. "Enough. It is set. Omi, you will be late for
school. Ken, I expect you in the shop in ten minutes.
Yohji, clean up the kitchen."
Ken and Yohji were left fuming as Aya went through the
door to begin getting the shop ready for opening.
"Who died and made him emperor?"
~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~
"Damn that Aya. Always thinking he can boss everyone
around. What is his problem lately? I mean, yes Aya
is always a pain in the butt and yes, he is always
angry about something or other but for the past two
days he’s been even worse than usual. Maybe its all
those long sleeved shirts he wears. How he can stand
those things in this heat is beyond me." Yohji
frowned as he placed another plate to dry in the rack.
"Come to think of it I don’t think I’ve seen him in
short sleeves for a couple of days. Who in their
right mind wears long sleeves in this heat?"
Yohji took a rag and wiped down the table and counter.
"Maybe it is just the heat that is making our oh, so
esteemed leader, so irritable lately. But then why
not just wear short sleeves? And why change the
schedule all of a sudden and not warn anyone? You’d
almost think he didn’t want to be alone in the same
room with me." Yohji snorted at the thought and took
out the broom so he could begin sweeping the kitchen
floor.
"Well, I guess Aya will be Aya. Hmmm, I wonder if
I’ll have any luck finding my wildcat tonight? There
was no one in the bar last night that could have been
her. I mean there was not one single girl hot enough
or wild enough to have left the marks on my body that
I found. No, this chick must be something pretty
special. I can feel it." Yohji grinned as he
absentmindedly lifted up the corner of the rug and
swept all the dirt under it. "I wish I could remember
something about her though besides the fact that she
rocked my world. What did she look like? What was
her name? And why can’t I remember what must have
been one hell of a hot night?"
A flash of pale skin and dark eyes suddenly came to
him. Yohji stilled. Pale skin. Dark eyes. He tried
to bring the memory back but it was gone, not even
enough to tell what color the eyes had been only an
impression of heat emanating from them. Yohji sighed
and decided, since he had a couple of hours before he
would have to be in the shop, he might as well take a
nap.
~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~
"Yohji, shove it already."
"Oi, Ken-ken needs a girlfriend. Jealous, Ken?"
"Okay. That’s it. Come here you. I’m going to beat
you into being quiet." Ken, frustrated, closed the
soccer magazine he’d been trying to read, without
success, ever since Yohji had wandered into the
mission room after his shift with Omi, and reached for
the tall blonde. Yohji easily danced out of his
reach.
"You and what army?" Yohji teased.
"The army of my fists. Come here!"
"Why, Ken-ken. I didn’t know you were like that."
Yohji winked suggestively at him, posing his long body
against the doorframe. Ken blushed as he realized
what Yohji was implying.
"You-! Agh!" Ken lunged at Yohji. Yohji laughed and
easily evaded him by moving to the other side of the
couch, keeping it between them. Ken lunged again but
tripped and landed face down across the couch. Yohji
laughed and tousled his hair before moving out of
range again. Ken growled and threw himself off the
couch after him. Yohji again danced out of reach.
Ken somehow managed to cut him off from the safety of
the couch but with a grin Yohji turned and headed for
the door. He spotted Aya a bit too late and tried to
stop himself but, his headlong flight combined with
Ken’s sudden pounce, sent him hurtling forward,
straight into him.
Yohji grabbed onto Aya’s arms to keep himself from
falling. Aya made a strange sound in the back of his
throat as if he were in pain and roughly shoved Yohji
away. Yohji, off balance, fell backward, only Ken’s,
catching him keeping him from falling.
"Ow! Aya!" Yohji hissed, his hand going up to his
the shoulder that Aya had pressed on when he had
shoved him off. Aya’s eyes narrowed at his reaction.
"What’s wrong with your shoulder?" Ken asked, still
holding him upright. Yohji climbed to his feet and
smiled at both Ken and Aya.
"Oh, nothing. Just another of my wildcat’s mementos."
Yohji winked at Aya.
"Idiot." Aya spat the word at him before angrily
stomping down the hall and into the kitchen leaving
Yohji and Ken staring after him. They looked at one
another and shrugged.
Ken walked back into the mission room and plopped
himself back down on the couch, his magazine open on
his lap once more.
"What’s gotten into him lately?" Yohji followed Ken
back inside. He reached for the remote control and
flicked the TV on as he took a seat next to Ken.
"Eh, you know Aya." Ken shrugged unconcerned and
turned a page in his magazine.
Yohji shrugged also and changed the channel, looking
for something to watch.
"Oh, by the way," Ken suddenly turned and hit him over
the head with the magazine.
"Hey!" Yohji cried, startled, and pushed him away,
glaring at him playfully.
Ken grinned unrepentantly. "That was for earlier."
Yohji shook his head and laughed, turning back to the
television. Ken returned to his magazine, a small
smile on his lips.
Yohji pretended to concentrate on the TV program. A
few minutes later, when Ken had become engrossed in
some article or other he casually reached over and hit
him on the back of his head with an open hand.
"Ow! Yohji!"
~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~
"Ne, Omi, you need to hit it with the side of your
foot. The side, not the front. There, see, great!
You’ve got it."
"Okay, now something a little more difficult. I want
to see you do a head butt." Ken threw the ball at
Omi. Omi stood there and let the ball come to him.
At the last instant he tried to hit it but it was more
like the ball ended up hitting him.
"Itte!" He rubbed his head ruefully.
"No, no. You’re supposed to hit the ball not let *it*
hit you."
Aya paused in his work to watch, a small smile playing
across his lips as he watched the two younger members
of Weiss. Ken threw the ball again and this time Omi
missed it completely nearly hitting his head on one of
the hanging pots in the shop. Aya bit his lip to keep
from laughing as Omi pouted down at a hysterically
laughing Ken.
Yohji, drawn by the sound of laughter, peeked into the
room. Seeing what was going on he grinned and leaned
up against the doorjamb, watching. Ken got himself
under control and tried again. Again Omi missed.
Yohji laughed out loud and looked over to Aya who,
sensing his presence, looked up. Their eyes met and
locked for a second then Aya looked away, scowling,
the smile that had been on his lip but a moment before
vanished.
"Enough. You’ll damage one of the plants. Take it
outside or get to work." Aya said icily before
resuming his own work.
Ken and Omi shared a confused glance. They turned as
one and looked at Aya, then Yohji, and then Aya again.
Yohji sighed and stepped into the shop. He reached to
get his apron off the hook and put it on.
Ken frowned at the two oldest members of Weiss. Then
turned back to share another confused look with Omi.
Sighing, he put the ball away and moved to retrieve
his own apron.
Much later, when only Yohji and Aya were in the shop,
Omi’s shift over and Ken out delivering arrangements,
Yohji decided to breach the topic of Aya’s recent
attitude.
"Hey, Aya. You shouldn’t be so hard on the kids.
They were just having fun. You don’t have to be such
a hardass all the time."
"Shut up, Yohji."
"Man, what is your problem lately?"
"I said shut up."
Yohji huffed an angry breath and glared at him. Aya
ignored him and moved off to a different corner of the
flower shop, away from Yohji.
For the next couple of hours the scene remained thus,
Aya working in the corner of the shop quieter than
usual and Yohji trying to figure the man out. At last
Yohji sighed, giving up and looked around for
something to do. He picked up the watering can and
began to go about the shop, half-heartedly watering
any plants that look like they might benefit from his
meager attentions. As he drew closer to the corner
where Aya was working he saw the red head’s back
stiffening. As he drew closer still the pale hands
paused in their work. When he moved behind Aya to get
at the red columbines and syringas he saw the hands
clench and Aya’s back go rigid. (3) Yohji frowned.
"Aya, is something wrong?" He reached out a hand but
Aya pulled away before he could touch him.
"Nothing." Yohji, stubborn, reached forward again,
intent on touching the tensed back. Aya abruptly
stood, stepping away, effectively sliding out of
range. He looked up at Yohji then quickly away again.
"I need to check the green house." Before Yohji could
say anything Aya squeezed between the table and wall
so that he didn’t have to move past Yohji, and left.
Yohji was left staring after him. He looked down at
the workbench. Aya was usually anal about putting
things away in their proper places less someone
accidentally hurt themselves. He was so anal about it
in fact that he sometimes put things away before
others were done using them. Yohji frowned. Strewn
across the worktable where Aya had been working
several flowers lay scattered along with the tools
needed in preparing them for arrangements. He looked
back to where Aya had disappeared through the back
door. Still frowning he quietly picked up the flowers
and tools and put them away in their places.
~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~
Omi and Ken came back into the shop to find Yohji
looking pensive, absent-mindedly twirling the flower
Aya had crushed between his fingers.
"Hiya, Yohji-kun. Is something wrong?" Yohji looked
up startled at the voice, then smiled.
"No, nothing. At least nothing that I know of. Hey,
Omi, have you noticed anything different about Aya
lately?"
"No. Why? How?"
"I don’t know. He seems quieter. Skittish almost.
Angrier than usual."
"Now that you mention it... I think so but only..."
Omi stopped and looked away, blushing slightly.
"What?"
"What Omi is too polite to say is that Aya seems that
way only around you. Did you two have another fight
or something?"
Yohji shook his head no to the question. "Only around
me? Are you sure?"
"Yup. Remember yesterday? When I was trying to teach
Omi how to play soccer? Aya was actually smiling.
Until you walked in that is. Then I could almost feel
the temperature drop. What did you do this time?"
"I didn’t do anything! At least, not that I know of."
Yohji frowned thoughtfully and left the shop, leaving
the two younger members to close up. He walked up the
stairs, staring moodily at the flower he had
unconsciously brought up with him. At the top of the
stairs he paused. Straight ahead of him, just down
the hallway, he could see Aya’s room. The door was
closed. He looked at it a moment, frowning. ::Is it
true? Is Aya angry at me. But what did I do? I
don’t remember doing anything different than I usually
do. How did I make him angry? What did I do?::
Still frowning he opened his own door. With one last
glance towards the other door he stepped in and locked
the door behind himself.
~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~
"Hey, Aya, look. I bought some of those pastries that
you really like from down the corner." ::And they
cost me an arm and a leg so you better appreciate
it.:: "Do you want one?"
"No."
"No? But you love these. I bought them especially
for you."
"Why?"
"W-why? Ahhh... I... just did. Look, I found your
favorite: strawberry!" ::Actually, I had to promise
the bakery girl a date so she’d make them. They were
out of strawberry.::
"No."
"But –"
"I said no." Aya stood up, and giving Yohji one last
glare, left the kitchen. Yohji looked down at the
pastries. "Now what. No one but Aya likes these
things."
~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~
Aya walked into the Koneko then paused as he saw
Yohji. Aya glanced at the schedule with a frown and
confirmed that yes, this was supposed to be *his*
shift along with Ken. Not Yohji.
"Look." Yohji said a bit nervously seeing the
confused and hostile stare Aya was giving him. "Why
don’t you go relax or do something else? I’ll take
your shift today."
"Why?"
"Just because."
"Forget it, Yohji. I am not covering your shift
tomorrow night."
"That’s not why I’m doing this."
"Then why?"
"Can’t I just do something nice for you for a change."
"How come you never do stuff like this for me?" Ken
asked.
"Oh, shut up, Ken. Look Aya, I’m just trying to be
nice, okay?"
Aya just glared at him. Ken looked from one to the
other. "Well, if you both insist on working then
there’s no need for me to be here! Ja ne!" Ken
quickly grabbed the soccer ball he always kept under
the counter and ran out the door, not even bothering
to take his apron off as he made his getaway.
"Hey! Come back here you shrimp! I am *not* covering
your shift! Ken! Ken-ken!!!"
Too late. The soccer player had already disappeared
down the street. Aya stiffly moved to the rack where
the aprons where kept and pulled on his own. Yohji
sighed and looked over at Aya. Aya ignored him. The
redhead moved over to the work bench furthes away and
set to work an odd arrangement of whin and
love-in-a-mists. (4)
~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~
Aya paused in the doorway of the mission room as he
saw Yohji lying across the couch with a small frown on
his face as he watched television. Yohji looked up,
spotting him. He immediately sat up. "Aya! Hey, did
you want to watch the TV? I’ll change the channel if
you like, I’m not really watching anything, I’m just
sort of flipping channels."
"No, thank you." Aya told him curtly. Yohji caught
the glance Aya cast over at the large window and
finally noticed the book Aya held in one hand.
"Oh, you wanted to read? I can turn the TV off if you
like. That way it won’t bother you."
Aya shook his head in the negative and turned to
leave, lips pressed together in a tight line, the
knuckles of the hand holding the book white as he
clutched at it.
"Wait, Aya, where are you going? You, ah," ::Think,
Yohji, think.:: "Hey, you want some tea? Aya?"
Seeing him getting away Yohji quickly vaulted over the
couch and went after him. He caught at Aya’s shoulder
and Aya whirled around, knocking his hand off.
"Stop hounding me! What do you want? Leave me
alone!"
"I don’t want anything. I just want to know what I’ve
done. Why are you being so meant to me lately? What
did I do?"
"What did you do?" outraged, Aya glared, the anger so
thick around him it was nearly physical.
"Yes," Yohji, exasperated, asked, "what did I do to
make you so angry?"
Aya, incredulous, glared harder, violet eyes drilling
into verdant, his knuckles going white from their grip
on the book which was the only thing preventing him
from striking the other man. Yohji just stared back,
hurt and angry at Aya’s unexplained, and he felt,
unprovoked, attitude. Aya’s glare slowly shifted to a
frown, he stared into Yohji’s face, dark eyes drilling
into his as if searching for something. Whatever it
was he seemed not to find it. Aya looked away, his
frown turning puzzled and the anger which had been so
palpable in the room but a moment before seemed to
lighten, to almost dissipate. The tense shoulders
slumped as he seemed to loose himself in thought. Aya
looked up and gave Yohji another questioning glance.
"You don’t... you really don’t remember, do you?"
"Remember what?" Yohji asked exasperated. Aya
continued to search his face then, as if he had
reached some decision, his whole body just...
untensed. For the first time in several days Aya’s
stiff stance relaxed.
"Nothing. Nothing." Aya gave him what could be
qualified as a smile if one were being generous or a
smirk if one were not. Aya slowly brushed past him,
their bodies almost touching. With a start that
caused him unexpectedly to tense, Yohji realized that
this was the closest contact they had had with each
other in days, almost as if Aya had been avoiding not
just his presence, but also his touch. He fought down
the sudden urge to grab at Aya, to touch him just to
prove to himself that Aya would no longer tense and
pull away. As Yohji frowned, puzzled at his own
reaction, he was almost sure he heard a soft laugh as
Aya moved away from him but Aya, laughing? Masaka.
tbc
=====
ShadowMist