Nothing Gold Can Stay

Chapter six

*******

Yohji found himself rudely interrupted from sleep by the damn alarm
clock for yet another morning. The incessant droning sound was back.
Evil, it was pure evil, shaking him from such peaceful dreams.
Stretching out an arm, Yohji blindly searched for the comforter,
wanting to pull it over his head to muffle that awful noise.
Nothing, no soft warm fluffiness to be found. Nor, he belatedly
realized, no semi-soft, sometimes warm kitten either. Letting out a
groan the blond buried his head under his pillow.

Something then poked him rather sharply in the ribs. "Kudoh, wake
up. Now." Hoping it was some horrid nightmare disturbing him and
that it would just go away if he ignored it, Yohji pulled the pillow
down about his head even tighter. The poke turned into a punch,
making him yelp in pain. Finally sitting up he glared at his
attacker while turning the alarm off. Who unsurprisingly turned out
to be Aya. An Aya who still looked completely exhausted, dark
circles under the dark violet eyes. When all Yohji did was stare at
the man pale hands snatched the pillow from him and hit his face with
it.

"Ow, dammit, what the hell is your problem this morning? Do I
assault you when you first wake up?"

"Define the word `assault'. In the technical sense, yes you do.
Almost every single morning."

A leer appearing on lush lips, golden arms snaked out to draw the
short-tempered man closer. "What a lovely idea, think I'll get to
work on that." Aya evaded the grasp and whapped Yohji
again. "Dammit, Aya, what's going on? Why did you wake me up, other
than to abuse me?"

"We have to open the store."

"No, it's yours and Omi's turn. Ken and I run the afternoon shift."
The playboy suddenly felt uneasy at the very slight, very evil smile
gracing his lover's face. "Uh-oh."

Reaching into the closet for his yukata, Aya explained the situation
to the older man. "Since you woke Omi up yesterday, I told him to
sleep in today. That means you get to cover his shift."

"But I covered your shift yesterday! When do I get to sleep in?"

Yohji was just too cute, all frumpy and pouty, blond hair tussled
from sleep and body gloriously naked. But Aya didn't let the sight
get to him, Kudoh had to pay for last night. For the hour and a half
of hell that he had been put through, thanks to Omi wanting to `ask a
few questions'. "Tomorrow. Now if you don't want to do that
sleeping on the couch, get out of bed and get ready. If I come back
from my shower and find you asleep, you _will_ regret it." Threat
issued, Aya made his way to the bathroom.

Knowing that his lover wouldn't be gone very long and would live up
to that promise, Yohji first looked longingly down at his bed then
sighed and grabbed his cigarettes. Walking over to the window he
settled on the sill and had a smoke, enjoying the nicotine rushing
through his veins. Might as well enjoy a few minutes of peace and
quiet while waiting for the killjoy to finish washing up. In about
five minutes Aya returned, clad in his robe and hair still wet from
the shower. Flicking the almost finished cigarette outside, Yohji
pushed the smaller man down on the bed and commenced drying the
crimson strands. The ritual helped to put the blond in a good mood,
content with life even if he was up at some godless hour and not
getting any sex. At least not yet.

When that task was done he leaned forward and rested his head on
Aya's shoulder, taking a deep breath. "Mmm, you always smell so good
after a shower." About to kiss the back of a pale and tasty nape,
Yohji was startled when the redhead suddenly slipped off the bed.

"We don't have the time for this, we're running late as it is. Go
get your shower."

Taking a good look at Aya, Yohji tried to decide if the man was still
upset about last night, when he had thought that he had been cheated
upon. Cautiously getting up from the bed he walked over to Aya,
pressing forward as the redhead backed up against the wall. "What if
I say we have the time, hmm?" Hands fisting in the cotton robe he
held Aya still as he bent his head for a kiss. A part of him
expected the younger man to flinch or put up some resistance.

He was partially surprised when his kitten kissed him back, no trace
of hesitation evident in the manner that mouth attached to his.
Yohji felt a sense of relief that Aya wasn't angry at him anymore.
The emotion quickly turned into desire as long fingers threaded
through his hair and a slender body melted in his arms. Maybe he
could get that morning assault in after all. But before he could
work the knotted belt open the man managed to slip away
again. "Sorry, Yohji, but we really don't have the time." Checking
out the clock, Yohji noticed that the statement was true. "But, the
alarm just went off," he said, all confused.

"For the second time. I reset it earlier for another hour." There
was a trace of guilt on the smaller assassin's face, his boyfriend
knew how much Aya hated the thought of slacking off from work.
Though if Aya felt he needed another hour of sleep, then most likely
he needed a few more as well.

Crossing over to his lover, who regarded him warily, Yohji tilted up
a pale face and studied the shadowed eyes. "Why don't you just go
back to bed, love. I can manage the shop, been getting a lot of
practice lately. You look like you still have a bit of a headache."

Not denying the fact, Aya calmly replied that he had some special
orders to do that day. Rocking up on his toes to kiss the blond on
the mouth, Aya turned around and headed over to the closet. He
stopped to pull on a pair of boxers along the way, hanging his robe
back on the door. Yohji merely stared after him for a minute,
watching as the swordsman selected a sweater he had gotten him a
couple of weeks ago. It was a deep sky blue, thick and soft and a
touch too big. Seemed he couldn't get enough of the man looking so
adorable in oversized shirts and hadn't been able to resist buying
one a size too large. It was almost as good as Aya wearing something
skin-tight and tended to prevent too many people from trying to hit
on the redhead. Well, maybe just one or two of them, the damn
lechers were very persistent. Khaki cargo pants completed the
outfit, a welcome change from the usual all black or dark ensembles
the quiet man usually wore. Once more crossing over and giving Aya a
kiss, Yohji asked him to get a pot of coffee brewing while he started
to get ready himself.

Fifteen minutes later the blond man entered the kitchen and found a
plate of eggs waiting for him, just how he liked them after a night
of drinking. Over easy. Which wasn't something that he could
normally manage, usually Yohji broke the yolks when he made them
while suffering a hangover. Next to the plate was a mug of coffee,
the beverage's aroma filling the room. What wasn't there was a
certain redhead. Nor was there any sign of another plate in the
sink, soaking along with the pan. Quickly shoving the food into his
mouth, Yohji made fast work of his breakfast and headed out the back
door. Good thing Aya had him to look after the stubborn fool.

*******

Deciding that Yohji could put all of the `practice' that he had
mentioned earlier to work and have the honors of setting up the shop,
Aya quickly gathered the supplies he needed to get started on the
arrangements. There was always a lot that needed to be done on the
weekends, what with parties and other social events requiring floral
arrangements. The redhead was hoping that once he got the orders out
of the way he could return back to his bed for a quick nap before
they were to meet up with Stout and his boyfriend that evening. He
was still exhausted from yesterday, it usually took him a day or two
to completely bounce back from one of his really bad migraines, and
the misunderstanding last night hadn't helped things at all. Neither
had pushing himself with the workout, hoping to vent some of his hurt
and anger.

Shaking his head, Aya refused to think about the matter any more.
Yohji hadn't cheated on him, unless Tamema had lied to his face.
Which was something that the Crasher just wouldn't do. Neither would
Yohji. What it came down to was a matter of trust, just like Kudoh
had said. Whether or not he truly could trust his boyfriend,
something told the redhead that the relationship wouldn't last for
much longer if he let these nagging fears eat away at him. Fears
that he still didn't completely understand. Aya had never worried
about Yohji cheating on him before, why the sudden change? Growling
softly at his circular thinking Aya firmly settled the matter once
and for all. Kudoh wouldn't cheat on him, the man liked living way
too much to do something that stupid. That was final. No more
doubts. The sense of loss and anxiety that had been filling him the
past week could go to hell, he wasn't going to heed it anymore.

Now if only his boyfriend would get his ass to work. If he found him
back in bed, Kudoh was going to discover that there were other things
besides infidelity that could cost him his life. Like sloth, for
instance. If the lazy blond wasn't down here in ten more minutes,
Aya was going to search him out.

With two minutes to spare Yohji showed up for his shift, carrying a
small white box. Which was promptly set in front of the redhead.
Aya regarded it suspiciously. "What is this and where the hell were
you?"

"Getting some donuts from the café across the street. Thought we
could use a little sugar high to get us through the shift." Opening
the box up, Yohji picked up a cream-filled donut and waved it in
front of his lover's face. During the past few months he had learned
that Aya had quite a sweet tooth, and couldn't resist anything almond
flavored or cream-filled. It might not be the man's beloved cream
puffs but the pastry should do as a means of ensuring the stubborn
fool actually ate something that day.

The treat was snatched out of his hands after being stared at for a
few moments. Yohji smiled as dark violet eyes regarded the donut
hungrily and then Aya started to nibble on it. Gods he could watch
his kitten eat like that all day long. Well, maybe not all day, hell
just after a few seconds he was ready to drag Aya back to the
greenhouse and let him nibble on something else. As soon as the
smaller man finished off his breakfast Yohji moved in for the kill.

Brushing back the long bangs, the playboy let his breath hit Aya's
sensitive neck, expecting the man to melt in his arms as he always
did. For a second it seemed to be working and earning him a
favorable response, when the redhead went stiff and pushed him
away. "I know what you are trying to do, Kudoh. Save it for when
Omi needs some new pointers and leave me the hell alone."

"What? How could-." This was impossible; Aya had never picked up on
his tactics this swiftly before. Usually he only noticed he was
being seduced when Yohji started to drag him back to the greenhouse
or upstairs.

"It's not working this time. Among other things last night, Omi told
me about your little seduction techniques. Now go away and get the
shop ready, it needs to open in fifteen minutes." Aya glared at him
for a moment before resuming his work.

Yohji could only stare at his lover for a minute. "But Aya…"

"Go away."

Deciding to give it one more try Yohji pressed his body against the
slender figure seated in front of him, letting the man feel just how
in the mood he was. Bending his head to lick an adorned ear, the
blond wrapped his arms tight about his lover's waist. "Can do a lot
of things in fifteen minutes. Like make you feel all nice and warm,
hmm kitten?"

Aya leaned back against his boyfriend, titling his head to the side.
He let Yohji nuzzle his neck for a moment, and when the older man
started to lift him from the stool nailed him good in the ribs. "I
said no."

"But-"

"NO. Nor any antics in the greenhouse or storeroom or anywhere else
during work, not for a whole week." When it looked as if the older
man was going to argue with him Aya glared back threateningly. "Keep
pushing and it will be two weeks. And if Tsukiyono _ever_ corners me
again like he did last night, it'll be a month." That was the best
revenge he could think of, hitting Yohji were it would really hurt.
It had come to him in the shower when he had grimly thought about how
his boyfriend would most likely pounce on him in the shop since he'd
refused to have sex before work. Poor Kudoh was going to have to go
eight whole hours without any sex. Should be entertaining to watch,
and Aya stood a chance of actually getting some stuff done in the
Koneko for once. Like go over the inventory for the fall, do some
reorganizing, maybe crack open the books. There would be more than
enough work to keep him busy and prevent him from regretting his
choice of punishment. "Now set up the shop."

Thinking evil thoughts about his lover and even more evil ones about
the chibi, Yohji reluctantly did as he was bid. No greenhouse trysts
for an entire week. Dammit. Trust Aya to pick a punishment that
would get to him the most. Well, maybe just a lot. Being completely
cut off for a week would be unbearable. Yohji dejectedly pulled up
the shutters and unlocked the door, quickly sweeping the sidewalk
before dragging plants out for display. Why the hell was he the one
paying for Ken and Omi's messed up romantic lives? All he was trying
to do was help two friends get together, and now he was being
persecuted. By a man who supposedly loved him. Who he bought donuts
for and got out of bed early to cover his damn shifts. Life royally
sucked. No hauling his kitten into the greenhouse for 168 hours, and
if he knew the man half as well as he thought he did, Aya wasn't
going to set foot in there a minute before all that time was up. He
didn't know what it was about taking the man in the conservatory that
pushed his buttons, whether the fact that someone could look in and
see them, albeit only vaguely, the heat or the smell of all those
flowers and the dirt, but the next week was going to be hell. Now
that he was forbidden from having sex in there that was what he
desperately craved. Plus there would now be no way to break up the
boring tediousness of the shift.

Busy setting up the shop and sulking, the blond was startled when one
pale hand held out a croissant and another a mug of coffee in front
of him. "Stop sulking, Kudoh."

"I am not sulking," Yohji said bitingly, eyeing the offered treats
warily. "What did you do, sprinkle some poison on them?" Or
something even worse. Trust the man to kick him when he was down.
Why he'd fallen for such a vindictive lover, Yohji would never know.

Sighing, Aya resisted the urge to smack the idiot. "No, I'm too much
of a masochist to get rid of you so quickly." When that failed to
provoke a response from the older man he set the coffee and snack on
the counter. The redhead found himself relenting somewhat, never
able to cope with disappointing Kudoh for long. "Fine." Guess Yohji
took the punishment a bit harder than he had thought. "Just wanted
you to know I said no sex during work. Didn't mention anything about
none in the greenhouse at all, just not while we're on the clock."
Green eyes lighted up at that remark, Yohji's good humor restored.
If Aya had to guess he'd say that he'd be dragged back to the
hothouse every day for the next week the second his shifts were over.

Feeling a bit better at the news Yohji hitched a hip up on the
counter and pulled the redhead close. "I know, no sex, but that
still leaves us a few options," he remarked at the beginning of a
glare sent his way. Remembering the unlocked door he indulged
himself with one brief kiss before letting Aya go. Yep, the man
loved him, if some simple pouting worked to make Aya Fujimiya relent
a little. Still, Omi was going to pay for his suffering. Half the
fun of their work rendezvous was the possibility of their coworkers
catching them at any time. Well, at least on his part.

Hands free now that Aya had backed away he picked up the coffee and
croissant. The smaller man leaned against the counter beside him.
Yohji nodded his head in the direction of the pastry box. "There's
more donuts over there, better get them before the walking stomach
and the sugar addict wake up and report for duty."

"I'm fine."

"Right, that's probably the first thing you've eaten since the other
night. No wonder my clothes look so big on you. We need to fatten
you up, love."

Weight shifting to rest against a bony shoulder, Aya shook his
head. "Saving room for dinner tonight." At Yohji's blank stare he
elaborated. "We're meeting Stout and his boyfriend later, remember?
Getting that date he extorted from you out of the way."

Green eyes blinked at that statement, their owner confused over Aya
willingly submitting to the date. "What, you still want to go? Why
don't we just call up the pest and tell him you're not feeling well.
It's the truth, you still look like you need a couple more hours of
sleep."

"I want this obligation out of the way as soon as possible, Kudoh.
The longer we wait the more likely he's going to pull some insane
stunt on us. So we go this evening and suffer through whatever Stout
has planned." That said Aya pushed off the counter, determined to
get back to his arrangements and finish them so he could go lie down
before facing Stout later on. He felt that he would need all of his
energy for that.

A customer entering the store prevented Yohji from taking chase and
trying to talk some sense into his boyfriend. That signaled the
start of the weekend rush, keeping him busy on the floor while Aya
worked hard on the many orders. The pace didn't let up all morning,
and it was with a sigh of relief that the playboy spied Omi and Ken
show up around lunchtime. "It's about time, fellas. You wouldn't
believe how busy it's been today."

Aya glanced up from his table, where he was putting the finishing
touches on a special request from a walk-in customer. Now that Omi
was here he could leave any such others in the hands of the
teenager. Once the arrangement was done he handed it to his client
and started to clean up his station. The quiet man then walked over
to the other assassins, taking off his apron as he did so.

"Aya-kun! You look a little better today. Did you get enough sleep
last night?" Blue eyes stared accusingly at Yohji during that
remark, almost certain that the redhead hadn't gone to bed without
being molested first. Omi's scowl increased when he spotted the huge
bruise on Yohji's neck. That hadn't been there before the man had
gone out for the night. The older blond just looked over the head of
an elderly woman buying daisies and stuck out his tongue.

"The orders are done for the day. I'm going now." With that he
turned around and left the shop. Ken's punishment would have to wait
until Monday, it was too busy to do anything about it today. Aya
stopped in the kitchen for a glass of juice, then made his way
upstairs to his bedroom.

Back in the shop Ken had started to load the arrangements he needed
to deliver into the van. "Man, it's gonna take forever to get all of
these done. I hate running all over town; spend more time in traffic
than anything."

Yohji didn't feel a whole hell of a lot of sympathy for the
brunet. "Yeah, well you have three hours. I need you back here by
then, have to get ready for a date tonight."

As the teenage girls around the playboy started to squeal and shout
out questions about his plans and whom he was taking, Ken made a
face. Yohji caught it and waved a finger at the athlete. "Ah-ah,
Kenken. You've left early to play with your kids several times
already this month, so it's my turn for once." Brown eyes looked
pleadingly in Omi's direction. Ken had really wanted to sneak off a
couple hours early again; one of his kids' rivals was playing today
and he had planned on watching the game, seeing if he couldn't find
some weaknesses for his kids to exploit.

"Sorry, Ken. Yohji has a point. And since he got up to open the
shop yesterday, he deserves a bit of a break today." Omi wasn't in
much of a giving mood in regards to the brunet. Maybe if Ken had
gone out with him last night and not to the stupid sports bar, he
would have stuck up for the man. Defeated, the soccer fanatic walked
towards the waiting van, shoulders drooping.

When there was a lull in the clientele an hour later Omi stopped his
restocking of the lilies to ask Yohji a question. "Hey Yotan. Did
we have company last night? Could have sworn I heard the kitchen
door open and close."

"Mmph? Oh, yeah, I forgot something at the club, and Masato had
picked it up and brought it here for me." There was no way he was
informing the other two about his and Aya's fight. He'd just get
scolded for upsetting the redhead when he wasn't feeling well. As if
last night had been his fault. "Got a question for you now, chibi.
What the hell had possessed you to ask Aya for advice last night?
Are you nuts? He's the last person you go to for help about a
relationship, don't all of our fights register on you or what?"

"I still asked you, didn't I? Plus the stuff you told me hasn't been
working out very well; I needed to get another opinion. And, uh, I
had a few questions I wanted to ask of a, er, technical nature.
Thought he would do a better job of answering them than you." Omi
had to admit that it was nice to have all his questions answered
without any teasing involved at all. It would have taken forever to
get Yohji to help him, what with all the smart remarks the lanky man
would have been sure to make. Not to mention the sexual innuendos.

Stalking over to his teammate and putting the boy in a headlock so as
to ruffle Omi's hair, Yohji growled threateningly. "Well do me a
favor and never do that again. Aya's idea of seduction is not
dismembering his dates. Can't imagine what he told you to do to get
Ken's attention."

"Let go!" Struggling about the youth finally managed to get free by
stomping on his assailant's foot. When a few meters out of reach he
huffed and set his hair in order. "He told me to either get him
drunk, ignore him, or make him jealous."

Rubbing his sore toes, Yohji considered the advice for a minute. It
actually didn't sound too bad; he had even toyed with mentioning the
jealous part to the kiddo. "Well, if you want any help with getting
Hidaka drunk so you can take advantage of him, be sure to let me
know." That said he went outside for a cigarette.

Still trying to straighten out his appearance, Omi thought about
Aya's words a little more. Maybe the quiet man had been on to
something there. Only one way to tell, try out one or two of the
suggestions.

*******

Feeling the mattress shift underneath him, Aya instantly woke up.
Dark violet eyes opened to see a shirtless Yohji leaning over him, a
leer on the man's handsome face. It took him a moment to shake off
the vague dream he could barely recall and make sense of the sight
before him. He'd been standing in a garden, hadn't he? Waiting for
its owner to show up but she never had. The words `I'm so sorry' had
kept echoing through the air. "Aren't you supposed to be working?"
Not that the pale man was about to complain, it was so reassuring to
have Yohji near, clearly not in any threat of danger. A sense of
anxiety that he hadn't known that had been filling him fled Aya as he
gazed wearily at the older assassin.

"You aren't the only one who got out of work a little early today.
Now that we're both off the clock how about we have some fun, hm?"
The blond set about unwrapping his lover from the comforter, tugging
on the bedding impatiently. "What are you, half caterpillar? Swear
you're cocooning here, love." Aya just hn'ed as he rolled over,
assisting Yohji's efforts. As soon as he was freed he was jerked up
for a searing kiss.

Still half asleep, the swordsman didn't even try to resist his
seduction. A skilled mouth took his breath away, making him shiver
in pleasure and anticipation. It dimly registered on his addled
senses when his jeans were unzipped and pushed down his hips, and
only the fact that Yohji had to pull away from him to tear off his
sweater brought that fact to his attention. Aya lifted his arms so
it could be jerked over his head, then wrapped the limbs around his
lover's neck. A smile graced his lips as he lightly fingered the
dark bruise he had left on Kudoh's neck the night before, tracing
over the imprint of teeth. A golden hand lifted to stroke his neck
in return, just about the same area he was now touching. "Fair's
fair, kitten. I let you mark me, my turn now." Aya drew in a sharp
breath as a set of teeth took to nibbling on the side of his neck,
soon to be replaced by a sucking mouth. He went limp in the older
man's arms, humming softly at the pleasurable sensation.

The mouth trailed down his neck to the collarbone, stopping to nibble
and suck every few inches. "Huhn, I only left one on you, Kudoh."
Yohji pulled away from his upper chest, a smile curving the lips that
had just been torturing him so. Aya felt himself lowered to the bed,
a hand cupping the back of his head ever so gently. "Yeah, but you
don't have a set of claw marks going down your back like I do. I
think we're even now." The redhead just closed his eyes and hauled
his lover's head down for a kiss. After a couple of minutes he
grinded his hips upward, provoking a low moan from the older man as
their erections rubbed against each other. Aya took to nibbling on
Yohji's ear as the man's hands skimmed down his sides to his hips,
holding him still.

"Don't do that love, or this will be over before it's even started."
Yohji felt ready to explode at any minute, so hard that he ached at
the feel of Aya once more underneath him, the pale man now sucking on
the skin right below his ear. A shaky hand fumbled about for the
container of lubricant while the other stroked his lover's shaft,
eager to make the man just as desperate as he was. Aya gave up on
leaving him with another hickey to gasp out his name, pale hands
clutching at his shoulders. Yohji urged the long legs around his
waist to spread apart further as he pushed a slickened finger inside
the redhead, twisting it about until Aya writhed against him.

When a second finger had been added and scissored about for a few
endless moments Yohji pulled them out and starting to push into the
smaller man, panting with the effort not to slam his way in. It
didn't help that Aya was tilting his hips up while wrapping those
long legs around his waist so tight he was going to be bruised.
Shifting one of the pale limbs up onto his shoulder the blond rocked
forth, earning another gasp. Yohji picked up the pace, being driven
on by the low mewls his lover was producing, wanting to make him come
before he did. Once more stroking Aya's cock in time to his speeding
thrusts, the older man smiled smugly when he drove his kitten over
the edge. The expression didn't last long as the tight convulsions
around his shaft dragged him over as well.

Holding himself up off of the slender man on a trembling set of arms,
Yohji couldn't but smile tenderly at the slight curve on Aya's lips.
He watched as the dark violet eyes drifted open, wondering idly when
the man's eyes were going to return to normal, they had never been so
dark for this amount of time. The thought soon vanished though when
the pale man pulled him back down on top of him, hn'ing slightly as a
golden head rested on his chest. Yohji was more than content just
listening to his lover's heart slowly return to normal as Aya went
back to sleep. Before he succumbed to the urge as well he sat up
with a groan, reaching for some tissue to clean the two of them off
with. Someone whom he wasn't going to mention could be a right
grouchy bastard if he woke up all sticky. That taken care of the
blond double checked the alarm and pulled a sleeping Aya into his
arms, soon joining him in sleep.

*******

Old Man waited until the elevator door closed before turning to
acknowledge Smoke. "Well?" A wrinkled hand reached out and keyed in
an override, stopping the elevator car while preventing the alarm
from going off.

"I've just been informed that a member of Schreient has undertaken
surveillance at the Magic Bus Hospital."

"That didn't take long." Old Man stroked his chin, eyes looking
inward. "When do you think they will move?"

Smoke pulled a report out of her briefcase and handed it over to her
elderly co-conspirator. "Late tomorrow night, maybe Monday morning.
Most likely between the shift changes. I've arranged that the
midnight security shift will be understaffed due to illness, and for
a computer failure to occur. Even if Orchidee or his teammates think
of investigating the matter, they will find nothing but bad timing to
be the culprit of the girl's kidnapping."

"Hm." Weary eyes scanned the document. "Your precogs are being
highly vague here, even more so than usual."

"I know," Smoke answered in a sigh, resisting the urge to chew in a
hangnail in frustration. "It's as if something is blocking their
talent, all they can say for sure is that the girl will be taken but
not harmed, and that Orchidee will remain in the organization."

Tucking the papers into his own briefcase, Old Man reached out and
patted the woman's arm. "It's most like the boy's fault, they've
never been able to get that accurate a read on him. What about Dr.
Arai, is everything set up with her? This is a prime opportunity to
return Orchidee back to regular psychiatric evaluations, will she be
up to the task?"

"I believe so." Smoke nodded her head.

"Good. Then all we can do now is be prepared and see if Orchidee
will break out of his shell."

*******

Teddy sat at a low table, checking his watch for the eighth time. If
him and Koyu had been stood up there was a certain pair of assassins
whose lives were going to be sheer hell for the next several months.
Here he had actually gotten his lover out of his apartment for the
first time in what seemed ages for something other than work or
shopping. They even had plans for the whole evening, an unheard of
event ever since the man had lost his eyesight. To have the bastards
crush Koyu's hopes would be to invite the wrath of Teddy Stout down
on their heads. Wrath way past biblical proportions.

"Are you sure you told them the right time," the blind man inquired.

"Yeah, I know I did. Maybe they just got stuck in traffic or
something." They better had. Or be dead. That would be just as
acceptable.

Just then he saw their waiter slide open the doors to their private
dining area, Kudoh and Red in tow. "Ah, that's them now. Knew they
wouldn't forget about tonight." Teddy patted Koyu's hand
reassuringly, a little upset at the apprehensive look on the Japanese
man's face. "Don't worry, like I said you and Aya should hit it off
smashingly." Damn Aso for hurting the man. Koyu had been so full of
life and humor before his assault, most of which had been snuffed out
by the psychopath. Before his lover would never had even thought to
be nervous about meeting someone else.

"There you guys are, sorry we're late." Yohji sniffed in disdain at
the low table when he came up to it, much preferring to sit on a
chair and not the floor. "Just had to pick a traditional place,
didn't you Stout?"

Remembering the man's voice from the one time he'd visited the flower
shop, Koyu smiled nervously. "I'm sorry, Teddy chose this restaurant
because it is one of my favorites." He knew how much his boyfriend
was trying to make this an enjoyable evening for him, and felt a
little guilty at having his preferences inflicted on their guests.
But before he could apologize again he heard a yelp.

"Ow! Dammit, Aya, you always hit the same sore spot. We need to get
you on some Prozac or something before you break all my bones."

While trying to make sense of that comment Koyu suddenly smelled
lilies. "Our apologies for being late. Kudoh said you liked
lilies. I'm Aya Fujimiya. The restaurant is fine." There was a
rustle of paper on the table before him and when the blind man felt
around he found the flowers, wrapped in tissue paper. He swore he
heard a softly snarled `Kudoh, sit and behave' as he picked the
bouquet up and sniffed it.

"Koyu Saito. So nice to finally meet you, Teddy has told me so much
about you."

"I'm sure he has," Yohji muttered darkly. Easily seating himself on
the floor, Aya tugged on his lover's arm until the lanky man flopped
down beside him. When the blond looked as if to make another snide
comment about where they were dining a crimson eyebrow was arched in
warning. Getting the hint, Yohji wisely didn't say anything more
about the restaurant. "Well, here we all are, finally. So, Saito,
see that you haven't had those mental problems addressed yet. Still
dating Teddy."

"Very funny, Kudoh." If it wasn't for the smile on his boyfriend's
face Teddy would have ripped into the blond for that joke. Instead
he just treated the man to a dirty look, narrowed eyes widening in
delight as they took in a golden neck marred by quite an impressive
bruise. Then saw a matching mark on a pale one. "Hey, Koyu. Think
I figured out why the two are so late. Yohji has one hell of a
hickey on his neck, and Aya as well. Looks as if they nibbled on
each other before coming here. You guys have some fun and lose track
of the time or what?" He started to chuckle at the synchronized
glare he received from the couple.

Yohji protectively tucked his arms along his sides before snapping
back at the man. "Ha ha. You know what, Teddy? I vote we leave
your ass here and the three of us go out and grab some real food and
have a good time on our own." Aya just frowned at him as he picked
up a menu.

"Gee Kudoh, you are overwhelming me with the national pride there.
Just shut up and eat your damn raw fish. What a wuss, someday I'm
going to have to make you some haggis. Want to eat something really
terrible, that'll fit the bill."

"I am not a wuss, you snippy little cross-dresser," Yohji fired
back. "I just happen to love this handy little invention
called `fire'. Why the hell can't the food be cooked?"

"Eat it and maybe it'll put some hair on your chest. And it's a
kilt, dammit, not a dress!"

Koyu leaned over the table, pretty sure that Fujimiya was sitting
across from him. "Are they always like this?"

"Yes."

A bit taken back from the curt answer, the blind man sat back.
Catching a glimpse of the closed expression on the stranger's face
Aya leaned forward himself. "They'll be like this all night, better
get used to it." Koyu smiled and shifted in his seat again.

"No wonder Teddy likes you two so much, nothing he loves better than
a nice verbal spat. Though Kudoh seems to be doing well holding up
his end of the conversation." Both men paused to listen to Yohji
extol the virtues of prehistoric Asian culture, which was much more
civilized than a bunch of hairy men running around in Europe who
would spawn descendents that didn't know the difference between a
skirt and pants. While Teddy came up with a suitable rebuttal the
waiter approached the table again. Seeing the embattled pair, he
wisely decided to walk to the other side and ask Aya and Koyu what
they wanted to drink and if they were ready to order.

"We'll take a carafe of nigori sake and the eight course omakase,"
Aya decided. If Kudoh was going to be so easily distracted he
deserved to eat lots of raw fish.

Smiling, Koyu repeated the same order. When the man left he remarked
that Aya at least had to like sashimi. Pansy colored eyes glancing
sideways at his arguing boyfriend, Aya nodded his head. Then
remembering that his dinner companion was blind, quietly said yes, he
did. "This is a welcome change, we normally eat at Western
restaurants." Most times it wasn't worth the hassle of putting up
with Yohji ranting and raving about parasites and gas grills to get
his choice of where they would dine.

"I know what you mean, it's an inherent danger in dating a
foreigner. At least Teddy doesn't have anything against uncooked
fish, he just likes lot of variety. Though it seems all we do
anymore is eat out, since he can't cook and I-." Blushing slightly
the blind man dropped his head, not finishing his sentence.

Wondering why it was that he had all these conversations thrust upon
him lately, Aya asked a question. Anything to be distracted from
hearing Teddy's diatribe about how under appreciated Scottish culture
was. "Stout never said what you did for a living." He blushed a
little himself, it suddenly occurring to him that maybe the man
didn't work anymore. Aya really hated small talk, never having been
very good at it. Anymore he could let Kudoh do all the necessary
talking, much like Aya-chan used to do for him.

But Koyu didn't seem to mind the comment. "I'm a seiyuu. Don't do
any real popular characters or products, but if you watch much tv I'm
sure you've heard me a time or two before. Which brings me to
something I've wanted to say these past few minutes but was afraid
would sound very weird, you have a very nice voice. Bet I could get
quite a few jobs with a baritone like yours." He himself had a
lovely tenor.

Unsure of how to take the compliment, the redhead just grunted and
asked what work the other man had done. While Koyu was in the middle
of going through his list the waiter approached, bringing four dishes
of salmon tartar with caviar.

"- well at least Japan was defeated by a country a couple dozen times
larger than itself, not it's small next door neighbor. How many
times did England kick your ass? Your ancestors were probably too
busy drinking and trying to figure out who was male and who wasn't to
even know which end of the gun to – hey, what's this? When did we
order?"

"Ten minutes ago, Kudoh."

"It was during the whole Industrial revolution speech of TB's that
the waiter came back," Koyu explained helpfully. Aya nodded his head
and poured the two of them some sake, glaring when Yohji pinched him
and held out his cup as well. The blond leaned over and whispered in
his ear. "This stuff is giving me ideas, you know," referring to the
cloudy white beverage.

"Hn. _Everything_ gives you ideas, Kudoh. Shut up and eat."

Regarding his first course with some distaste, Yohji quickly gulped
the food down and washed the taste out of his mouth with the sake.
Then he looked around the private room and got an idea. Waiting
until Aya finished off his meal he reached out and pulled the smaller
man in close, silencing any protest over the action with a deep,
lingering kiss. Upon releasing the sputtering redhead he calmly
smiled at Aya. "Maybe I won't mind this too much after all, gotta
love these secluded rooms. Bring on the next course."

Hiccupping with laughter, Teddy quietly explained what had happened
to his boyfriend. "I knew you wouldn't be able to keep your hands to
yourself for any length of time, Kudoh. That's part of the reason I
booked us here, didn't want you frightening the other customers as
you mauled Red." Aya glared at the both of them while refilling
everyone's cups, liking it much better when the two men were fighting
with each other and not trading conspiratal grins. "Weren't you
saying something about guns?" he asked in a soft voice.

Debate sparked off again, Yohji and Teddy started at it anew. Off to
the side Koyu and Aya quietly continued their discussion. After
finishing their talk about Koyu's work they moved on to flowers and
then music, talking about the upcoming concert and various other
events coming to Tokyo. Every so often they were interrupted by the
waiter returning with another course and more sake, or a particularly
loud volley from either Yohji or Teddy. Those two had moved on from
history to politics, a disastrous change of topic. And of course
Yohji pounced on his lover after each course was done. At first Aya
gritted his teeth but soon good food, great conversation and lots of
sake had him not caring about being all but pulled into the blond's
lap and molested several times that evening.

By the end of the meal Aya was leaning against the older man, a lanky
arm snug about his waist and his head resting on Yohji's shoulder.
Teddy had an arm about Koyu himself, partially in effort to remain
sitting upright. Doing a quick mental count, Yohji was amazed at how
much liquor the four of them had put away. Dinner hadn't been half
bad after all, and this should count towards the next time Aya tried
to drag him off to a sushi bar. "Yeah, well I still say America has
a screwed up voting system. Everyone votes, but it doesn't really
count. What's up with that?" His lover elbowed him softly in the
ribs, growling out `shut up'. It took Teddy a moment to gather up
his befuddled thoughts and when he did the waiter luckily chose that
moment to present the foursome with the bill for the evening.

A set of green eyes widened in surprise when a grinning Teddy
promptly turned over the check to Yohji. He waited until their
server had left before protesting. "What's the deal here, Stout?
Thought dinner was your idea."

"I picked up the concert tickets, you can pay for the meal." About
to argue that he refused to pay for something that hadn't been cooked
properly, the blond considered how Aya had a prime angle for nailing
him in the side again. He slowly closed his mouth, glowering at the
American. When he saw the total, not helped at all by the amount of
alcohol ordered, the dirty look went up a notch. "You are so not
getting any more free flowers for quite a while, pest."

"Oh, relax Kudoh, I'm sure you'll have a nice, well paying commission
coming your way soon. Quit being such a tightwad. Now hurry up and
leave some cash, we need to get to the concert hall immediately."
Grumbling a little Yohji did just that, busy thinking of ways to get
the short brunet back for this. Maybe he could hit Aya up for some
suggestions; his kitten was very talented at that sort of thing.
Once the check was settled everyone more or less rose to their feet,
Koyu having to steady his drunk boyfriend a bit.

The couple followed Yohji and Aya out to the parking lot. "Oi,
Kudoh, can we bum a lift off of you guys? It'll take forever to get
a cab."

It was hard for the playboy to suppress an evil smile. "One
condition, Stout. You get to pick up the bar tab later." Yohji
barely stopped himself from laughing at the look on Teddy's face.
The man clearly wanted to tell him to go to hell but didn't want to
do it in front of Saito. So Teddy just hmphed and nodded his head,
long braids flapping about at the jerking motion.

The drive to the concert hall was uneventful, besides Stout's comment
about a certain Japanese man doing his frugal, i.e. really, really
cheap bastards of ancestors proud. Everyone settled into their seats
with just moments to spare before the concert started. Yohji took a
few seconds to give the three women up on stage a quick perusal,
captured Aya's hand in one of his and pulled it discreetly onto his
lap before putting on his sunglasses and promptly falling asleep.
He'd suffered through dinner, there was no way in hell the blond was
going to sit through an hour and a half of classical music, of all
things. Not when the trio up there were keeping their clothes on.
Just before he drifted off he heard a lowly muttered threat that if
he started snoring his ribs were going to be sore for a week.

Next thing Yohji knew he was being shaken awake as the people around
him stood up and filed out of the concert hall. "It over already?"

Aya nodded his head, trying to pry his hand out of Kudoh's. Koyu and
Teddy stood waiting for them in the aisle. Bringing the pale hand in
for a swift kiss, Yohji reluctantly let go of it and stretched as he
stood up. "That was quick."

"I can't believe that you slept through the whole concert," Teddy
remarked enviously. It had been no fun having to sit quietly and
still all that time, while the blond had been luckily unconscious and
Koyu and Red enraptured by the music. It would be worth his life to
pull a stunt like that with his boyfriend right next to him. Blind
or not Koyu would have picked up on it in an instant for some strange
reason. He was really hoping the man and Aya hit it off, maybe then
the two of them could go to all these stupid recitals while he got
stay at home.

"Yeah, well what can I say, I was really tired." Yohji winked at his
lover, who remained stony-faced. "Being nibbled on takes a lot out
of a person."

"Aw, and here I imagined you as having all this stamina, Kudoh.
You've dashed my sacred image of you and Red going at it non-stop."

Trying hard not to wrap his arms about the impassive redhead, what
with them being out in public, Yohji smirked at his friend. "Don't
worry, we're just recharging."

"You're encouraging him," Aya hissed out, hugging his arms tight
against his chest. The concert hall's air conditioning had him
shivering. Yohji held the door to the parking garage open for him,
bowing him through it. When they managed to get an elevator to
themselves he gave in to the urge and embraced the smaller man,
taking a moment to brush back the long bangs and tug on an eartail.
Aya was too grateful for the warmth to do much more than snarl.
Teddy smiled at the couple as he hooked his arm with Koyu's, having a
legitimate excuse to hold on to the blind man in public.

"I look at it as not so much agreeing with him as just pausing in
trying to make him see the proper reality of the situation," Koyu
added to the discussion. "There's the real world, and then Teddy's."

The American huffed and knocked his shoulder into his
boyfriend. "You're supposed to be defending me, don't you know.
Traitor."

A hand blindly searched out where it thought Teddy's chin was, found
and tilted said objective so an apologetic kiss could be
given. "Sorry, TB, but you have to admit that when you have an idea
in your head you're pretty tenacious. Nothing can make you let go of
it. Mickey and I's hair should be pure white by now, what with
putting up with some of the antics you think of." As soon as he was
settled into Yohji's car Koyu continued with his train of
thought. "You wouldn't believe the things he's pulled. In fact he
told me about this bet he started once, about someone at this
disreputable bar he used to work at a few months past. It involved
this reserved coworker of his and the man's insatiable boyfriend.
Teddy, hush, I'm telling a story," he said to his lover, who was
frantically tugging on his sleeve and saying `not now'. "Seemed he
got the whole staff to have a pool going on the two men having sex in
some back room or another, how long they would be in there and who
would come out first. Teddy won that one, didn't you TB? Mickey
told me that he thought for sure he'd lose a brother if the man ever
found out; the man had a very short temper. Trust Teddy to pull a
stunt like that, don't you think."

Yohji mumbled out a non-committal comment as he sunk lower and lower
behind the wheel, praying that Aya didn't look over at him.
Fortunately the redhead was too busy treating a reflected pair of
blue eyes in the review mirror to a shi-ne glare. "I think Mickey
was right," was all the pale assassin said. Teddy gulped and tried
to hide behind Koyu.

*******

Gasping in pain, Crawford clutched at his head. It took several
seconds for the vision to leave him, a jumbled mess that left him
frustrated and not very clear as to what was going to happen. All he
knew for sure was that a young woman was going to be abducted from
the hospital by Schreient. He recognized the girl as being both Aya
Fujimiya and the future host for the convergence. It seemed that
Fate was slowly moving the girl from the protective arms of her
brother and Kritiker, eventually to end up in Esset's hands. What
the precog could not figure out was what the rest of the vision had
signified. Once again something was blocking him from his talent and
he was getting thoroughly sick of that happening.

The American reached into his desk drawer and pulled out some pain
relievers. He swallowed several with the aid of a cup of coffee,
standing up as he set the cup back down on his desk. Crawford left
his office and made his way upstairs to Nagi's bedroom. Once there
he just walked into the shut room, not bothering to knock before he
opened the door.

Nagi looked up from his computer screen as he entered. "Crawford, I
was just going to come down to you. I've successfully cracked the
Kritiker database and found those files that you wanted. You were
right, the code name was `shadow', only in German. And you won't
believe the amount of files that I found on Abyssinian. Reams of
data, it'll take a couple of discs to download all-." The teenager
let his voice drift off as dark blue eyes stared at him calmly,
suddenly realizing that he was uncharacteristically babbling. Nagi
couldn't help it; he had never thought that Kritiker had any talented
agents, let alone so many. Even if they seemed to be lower level
talent, from the little he had checked. Neither had the telekinetic
ever expected to find one of their Weiß enemies to be talented as
well. "I have the data for you."

"Very good." Crawford crossed over to the computer, checking out the
monitor then pulling up a couple of screens. After several minutes
he spoke. "I see. So they think he's clairvoyant. Very
interesting." He continued to study the information for a while
longer.

"Don't you think he's one?" Nagi asked, a frown on his face. Hadn't
Crawford been the first one to bring up Abyssinian having power in
the first place?

Nodding his head, the man adjusted his glasses. "Yes, I think he
is. It would explain several things rather nicely. I'm just
wondering-." Crawford leaned in to better read a file. "Just
wondering if that is all he really is."

His young teammate looked at him in some puzzlement. "You think he
has more than one talent? Is that possible?"

Crawford reminded himself just how short a time Prodigy had been with
Schwarz. There was so much the boy didn't know about talents in
general, the team had focused mainly on educating him about his own
to spend much time teaching him about others. "Yes, it's possible to
have more than one talent. But before I decide one way or another if
Abyssinian is one of those rare individuals, I want to investigate
what you've found. Can you send this to my computer, I would much
rather read through it down there."

The boy nodded his head. "I can do that right now."

"Good." The American turned around and left, not saying another word.

Nagi watched his leader depart then turned back to his computer.
With a few keystrokes he started to send the various files to
Crawford's terminal, but made sure to copy each and ever one before
they were on their way. It appeared that there was a lot of things
he still needed to learn about talents, this would be as good a way
as any. When his task was done he got up as well to fetch something
to eat and drink. He thought it might be a long night.

On his way to the kitchen Nagi idly wondered if Schwarz was about to
get another member. Surely Oracle wouldn't leave the man with Weiß,
not now that they knew he was talented. Abyssinian shouldn't be left
with a bunch of normals; it never went well when the two were allowed
to mix. Besides, the teenager somehow doubted that Schuldig would
allow that to continue much longer, now that he had a legitimate
excuse to bring Abyssinian to them. Micro-waving a frozen dinner,
Nagi thought that it might be nice to have another person in the
house. Someone who would keep the telepath occupied and not such a
pest. Not to mention the fact that it would be nice to have another
Japanese person to talk to. It got wearying at times, living with a
bunch of foreigners. He would have to make the effort to be
courteous to the man from now on.

*******

"You call this a small, quiet bar Stout?" Aya inquired softly, his
eyes surveying the establishment that Teddy had directed them
towards. While technically small, it was packed full of people,
foreigners and Japanese evenly dispersed amongst the place. Music
could barely be heard over the din of chatter.

"Well, it usually is quiet, guess they have a new special going on
for the summer." Teddy waved at the bartender, another foreigner who
motioned to an empty table over in the corner. Nodding his thanks
the longhaired man steered his companions over to it. "Just thought
it would be a good place to have a few drinks at, where we could be
assured to have a place to sit. Mickey knows the owner, used to
bartend for him when we first moved to Tokyo a couple years back."
In a few minutes a waitress came over. "What is everyone drinking?"

"Anything but whiskey," Aya quickly tossed out, an arm around his
stomach. He didn't think he'd be delving into Yohji's stash of
Jameson any time soon.

A black eyebrow quirking at the comment, Teddy turned back to the
waitress. "Tell Pete to make us whatever he comes up with, as long
as it doesn't contain any whiskey." Order placed, he turned around
to face the three men. "That was a really crazy time back then, the
two of us crashing at all of these friend's places while Mickey tried
to earn enough for an apartment of our own." For a moment he
reflected sadly on the events that had precipitated that move before
shaking off the sense of melancholy that overtook him whenever he
thought of his father. "One of them lived in a rather shady
district, over a bathhouse of all places. Poor Mickey turned bright
red whenever he stepped out of the apartment, all of the girls had
the biggest crush on him. They kept offering him free `scrub
downs'." Having gotten a smile out of Koyu and Yohji but not Aya,
who was still trying to figure out an appropriate way to pay Stout
back for that bet, Teddy launched into some more stories.

Yohji countered by talking about past customers that would have
driven a saint crazy. The two men quickly started a competition,
trying to outdo each other with outrageous stories. Aya rolled his
eyes while Koyu laughed more at the verbal antics of the two men than
what they were actually saying. Several rounds of drinks were
brought to the table and swiftly dispatched, some red and blue
concoction that tasted like yellow cake batter but packed a whollop.
Aya refused the latest one set in front of him, pushing it over to
Yohji instead. Who was busy stroking a hand up and down his thigh.
When it got too high he'd kick the blond's shin, the hand drifting
back towards his knees only to roam upward again in a few minutes.

A pretty girl walked over to the jukebox stationed near their table,
spending several minutes making a selection. Aya only noted her
presence initially under the pretext that he thought it was a waste
of money for the woman to pay for songs no one could hear. At least
that was until she started to glance coyly over at the table.
Especially at the corner that Teddy and Yohji were seated at.
Burying his head in his hands, the pale man groaned `not again' and
started to wish he'd had that last drink after all. Anything to numb
the approaching sense of doom he felt. The feeling intensified as
she sashayed past the table, tossing an inviting look over her
shoulder.

Pairs of blue and green eyes followed her for a few seconds before
turning to look at each other. Yohji smiled smugly as he pulled
Aya's chair closer to his, surreptitiously sliding an arm around the
man's waist. Damn, but it was always nice to be reminded just how
much of a sexy bastard he was, especially when his kitten was playing
hard to get. Teddy noted the expression and wrinkled his
nose. "What are you grinning at, Kudoh? Hate to break it to you but
she was flirting with me."

Sotto voiced, Koyu asked Aya what had just happened. Aya just as
quietly answered him back. Meanwhile their two boyfriends started to
argue over whom it was that look had been intended for.

"If she was looking at you it would have been in pure curiosity,"
Yohji fired back, "trying to figure out if you were a girl or a
guy. Nope, it was definitely me she wanted."

Teddy rolled his eyes. "Hate to break it to you, but it was me she
was checking out, and she had no doubt about my sex. Japanese girls
just love gaijins, don't you know. Size does matter."

The playboy snorted. "Tell me about it, none of my dates have ever
had any complaints in that regard. Right, love?" He got a scowl for
that remark before Aya turned his back to him.

"Yeah, I can see how overwhelmed Red is. You know, I always thought
all those hormones of yours were trying to make up for an inadequacy
of sorts, you just try too hard."

Yohji's mouth opened and closed for a moment as he
sputtered. "Inadequate? Why you little transvestite, if I wasn't in
a relationship right now I'd show you just how `adequate' I am.
Besides, the woman has to be able to guess you're a guy to imagine
your equipment in the first place!"

"All right, Kudoh, time to put your money where your mouth is. I say
we go up there and find out just who she was after." Teddy shoved
away from the table and got to his feet. "You coming or what?"

The blond pulled his lover around. "Hey kitten, you mind if I prove
to this idiot just how mistaken he really is?" A pale hand waved him
gone. Yohji stood up and stalked over to where the woman was seated
at the bar, Teddy in tow.

"What's going on now," Koyu asked.

"Hn." Aya watched the exchange for a moment. "It looks as if Yohji
was correct." There was a crestfallen expression on the American's
face for a moment, before swiftly being replaced by a crafty look.
He said something to Kudoh that had the man shaking his head firmly
for a minute, until it stopped and a resolved look crossed the
handsome features. Yohji turned around to spare a glance at Aya. A
golden hand flew through a series of symbols and when the redhead
nodded he faced Teddy again, walking back to the bar. "We may be
here a while."

"What? I'm sorry, I don't understand what is happening."

Aya observed the two men for a couple of minutes, and taking in the
brief message his boyfriend had sent him came up with a
conclusion. "I think they are trying to see who can get the most
women to be interested in them." Yohji had sent `decoy', `five
minutes' and `have your back'. Guess the man was trying to reassure
him that he wasn't serious about the phone number he'd just
collected. Teddy scored one at the same time. The two men exchanged
a look and went back to work. "They'll be at it all night."

There was a muffled sound coming from the blind man. Not sure what
was going on with Koyu, Aya eyed him cautiously until he realized the
other man was trying hard not to laugh out loud. He lost the
battle. "Only Teddy can come up with something like that. Oh yes,
they'll definitely be there all night, I'm willing to venture neither
one is going to concede this battle until every woman and man have
been hit upon. We'll never get to leave the place." At that point
Koyu rubbed his head, not too happy with the idea of spending the
next couple of hours in a loud, smoky bar overflowing with people.
It got on his nerves, knowing that there were all these strangers
around him and that he couldn't see them or tell who they were.

Feeling a headache come on as well, Aya debated a thought for a
moment or two. "We can leave you know, I have a set of keys to the
car."

Koyu smiled, clearly relishing the idea of leaving the bar. "But,
what about Teddy and Kudoh? Do we tell them we're going? How will
they get home?"

"They have money." Aya said and gingerly cupped a hand under the
blind man's elbow, helping him out of the chair and around the
table. "Besides, they are the ones hitting on a bunch of strangers,
I think we're completely justified." Maybe a bit of panic upon the
idiots finding him and Koyu gone would teach them a lesson. Not that
the redhead was holding his breath, waiting for that to happen. The
two morons would probably not notice that their boyfriends had
abandoned them for another couple of hours.

*******

A woman stood in front of a huge cylindrical tank, filled with green
liquid and what looked to be the suspended body of Japanese man. At
her feet a young teenaged girl played with a stuffed bunny. The
leader of Schreient's eyes never left the distorted figure as she
heard the hushed sound of footsteps approaching her. "What have you
found out, Neu?"

"As far as I can tell, it doesn't seem to be a trap of any sorts. No
undercover guards or booby traps, just the expected security around
the girl. I don't think Kritiker has any idea at all that the
information has been leaked." The visored woman spoke in a flat,
uninflected tone of voice, her eyes riveted on the Masafumi Takatori
as well.

Hel nodded her head. "Good, then we will move late tomorrow night.
Abyssinian will pay for taking our beloved away from us. He will
soon learn how it feels to have his heart torn from his body yet be
forced to continue living."

"But not for long, right mister bunny? The nasty man will pay for
harming Papa, yes he will." Tot giggled in anticipation.

"Yes he will. Soon. Him and the rest of Weiß," Hel said as she
stroked the cool glass. "They all will suffer."

*******

"Here we are," Aya quietly spoke up as he guided Koyu into the
coffeehouse. The other man had sheepishly announced that he wasn't
ready to go home so early when they had made their way back to
Yohji's Seven. After thinking the matter over Aya had decided to
head over here for some coffee. As usual just walking through the
door helped to relax him from the tension that had been building in
his muscles all night long, the music soothing and the scent of all
the beverages divine. "The seat is to your right."

Once they were seated a waiter came over to take their order. The
redhead noted that it was his usual server, a young man named Max.
Who upon spying Koyu appeared very happy for some reason. "It's nice
to see you again, would you like your usual?" Aya nodded his
head. "And your… companion?"

"Can you make lattes?" When told yes the blind man ordered one with
hazelnut. He listened to the sound of footsteps fading away before
speaking to his new friend. "You come here a lot, Fujimiya?"

Aya glanced up at the question. "Yes." How odd, Yohji had asked
that very same question when he had brought his lover here for the
first time. Wasn't it obvious from the way Max regarded him? For a
second there was a flash of pain in his head, a feeling of something
snapping around him, the loss of constrictive ropes that he had never
even felt before, but the sensations faded quickly. Rubbing at his
temples he assumed that he had been pushing things too much, working
and going out so soon after such a bad attack. "Why do you ask?" He
suddenly felt the urge to hold Yohji, and fervently wished the idiot
was here with him instead of playing games with Stout.

Koyu wrapped a strand of his overlong bangs around a finger,
wondering if the other man could be that oblivious. There had been
real puzzlement and curiosity in that question. Well, if Fujimiya
couldn't tell something a blind man could, such as their waiter
having a crush on him, what with the way he had spoken had made that
rather obvious, who was he to enlighten him? No wonder Kudoh was as
jealous and protective as Teddy painted him. "Just wondering, I have
no clue what kind of place this is, and somehow I doubt that you are
the type of person to patronize one of those chains."

"No, this is as far from a chain as you could possibly get." Aya
felt a smile tug at his lips, distracting him from the aching pain
and longing. The server chose at that minute to return, and when the
pale man turned his face to thank him for the tea, the smile still on
his lips, the waiter sputtered and blushed. Aya gazed after him
curiously, trying to figure out what had caused that reaction. He
saw some girl in a plaid skirt that looked an awful lot like one of
Teddy's kilts pat the young man on the shoulder and give him a thumbs
up sign. Shaking his head, the assassin returned his attention to
his guest.

It was with a bit of a surprise that he realized how much he was
enjoying Saito's company. The man was quiet and intelligent, with a
self-depreciating sense of humor. Very different from Kudoh and
Stout. Not to mention the two of them shared many interests. The
redhead had done more talking tonight than to anyone other than Yohji
or Aya-chan in as long as he could remember. It was also a shock to
be answered back the whole time. His sister couldn't, lying still on
her bed in the grip of a coma. For a second the pain returned, only
to retreat away as suddenly as it came. <Don't worry.>

Aya noticed that his hand was shaking as he lifted the teacup for a
sip. What had he been thinking about? Oh yes, how nice it was to
have someone to talk to, and to talk back to him. Yohji and him
would carry on a conversation, but had so few little interests in
common that it was mostly small talk, or about their teammates or
mission. Not to mention that each discussion almost always ended up
with Kudoh cutting it short and hauling him off to bed or wherever
the man's perverted mind came up with. So this was an unusual and
unexpected treat.

For his part Koyu was sipping his drink, enjoying how delicious it
tasted. He wondered if Fujimiya would mind giving him the address to
this place so Teddy, Mickey or his sister Kade could bring him here
some day. The other man's silence didn't bother him, he got the
impression that Teddy's friend wasn't used to talking very much.
There was a sore rasp in that lovely baritone that made it apparent
that it wasn't used for very long periods of time. What a shame.
Finishing his coffee, the blind man spoke up. "What are my chances
of getting a refill? This was delicious."

"One second." Aya waved to the waiter, who scurried to their table
in a matter of seconds after making another latte. Koyu felt another
cup be placed on the table, and once again the waiter sputtered and
hawed at the quiet thanks he received. Oh the poor man had it bad.
Especially if what Teddy said about the couple was true; it didn't
seem like the two florists were going to break up any time soon.

Enjoying his coffee for a moment, Koyu once again broke the
silence. "So, what would you like to talk about now? The concert?
Two certain idiots who are probably still hitting on a barful of
unsuspecting people and haven't noticed that we've left yet?"

"Maybe one idiot in particular," Aya said as he leaned forward, arms
resting on the tabletop. If Yohji had been there he would have been
trembling in fear at the evil look on his lover's face. "I want you
to tell me all about Teddy, if you wouldn't mind."

Koyu wondered if he had imagined the purr in the other man's
voice. "Anything in particular about Teddy? Such as his likes and
dislikes?"

"His dislikes, most definitely his dislikes." Nothing like getting
some inside information on the pest, Aya thought with relish. He was
finally going to get some ammunition to use against Stout.

Nope, he hadn't imagined that purr after all, Koyu thought. Seemed
that his teddy bear had managed to antagonize the quiet man. Not a
surprise there. Pausing to sip more of his coffee, the blind man
started talking.

*******

Yohji threw open the kitchen door and barely paused to bolt it shut
before running upstairs. He made it to his bedroom in record time,
breathing slightly heavy from all the exertion. Again tossing open a
door he flicked on the lights and felt relief wash through him when
Aya sleepily sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. "Why the hell did
you leave, you sneaky bastard," was yelled out loud as the blond
dived for the bed.

The noise woke up both Omi and Ken, who dashed to the couple's
bedroom. Leaping through the doorway they found a drunken Kudoh
sloppily kissing Aya all over the face while repeating `sorry'
and `sneaky bastard' over and over again. "Uhm, guys, is everything
ok?" Ken wasn't sure if he should be laughing or concerned.

Aya, pinned between the mattress and an idiot, managed to free a hand
and wave away the younger two assassins. Somewhat relieved they took
their leave, making sure to close the door behind them. The redhead
assumed that a certain playboy was going to be bitched at for being
so noisy in the morning, and was relieved that Omi and Ken had
left. "Kudoh, get the hell off of me. You're slobbering all over my
face."

Pulling back a little, Yohji gripped his lover's shoulders and shook
the smaller man. "You have any idea how much you scared me when
Teddy and I went back to the table and found you and Saito gone? Do
you? I was afraid the Bastard had come and snatched you away until I
found my car missing."

"Why didn't you call me?" Green eyes blinked in confusion, the
pickled brain behind them slowly realizing that it had forgotten all
about possessing a cell phone. Aya snarled in disgust, trying to get
the leverage to toss his boyfriend off of him. Unfortunately Yohji
still had a good grip on him, so all that happened was the older man
rolled over and dragged Aya on top. "When exactly did you two idiots
realize that Koyu and I were gone?"

"Hmm, about an hour ago. It took forever to get a cab, then Teddy
and I argued over who was dropped off first. I won, was on the
way." Yohji smiled at winning that battle, while Aya wrinkled his
nose at the alcohol he could smell on the man's breath. "Why'd you
go?"

Aya rested his chin on the playboy's chest, hn'ing when a hand was
stroked through his hair. "Didn't want to stay in a noisy place
while you and Stout acted like a bunch of morons. Koyu agreed, so we
left." He felt so at ease now that Kudoh was home. Ever since he'd
dropped Saito off he'd been filled with tension, now it was slowly
evaporating. Yohji was here, with him, all was well. A quick call
to the hospital earlier had assured him that his sister was fine, at
least as much as she ever was. The fact that the two anchors in his
world were safe and in their places let Aya relax, to take down his
guard the tiniest bit. He inched up to nuzzle at his lover's neck,
breathing in the scent of cigarettes and sweat, spicy and purely
Kudoh.

It was slowly sinking in on Yohji's drunken mind that his kitten
wasn't yelling or hitting him, which he'd seriously expected the man
to do the second he stepped into the Koneko. Aya had to be pissed at
the way the night had ended, yet here he was nibbling his way up to
one of the blond's ears. Nowhere near inebriated enough to be too
drunk to pass this opportunity up, Yohji slid his hands under the
pale man's sweatshirt, stroking the smooth, soft skin he found
underneath. In the middle of tugging on hoop earring with his teeth,
Aya let go of it and moaned at the feeling of warmth massaging his
back. He suddenly sat up and pulled the sweatshirt over his head,
tossing it aside as he set about unbuttoning the tight shirt Yohji
had worn out that evening. When that was done he sank back down on
the man's chest, kissing him in desperation.

Not quite sure what to make of an uncharacteristically aggressive
lover, Yohji decided that change was a good thing and held the
squirming figure on top of him close, tongue delving deep into a
sweet mouth. Aya sucked it onto his, hands busy trying to open the
other man's jeans. He needed Yohji so badly at the moment, had to be
sure that the man was there with him and not leaving. No matter how
hard he tried the fear wouldn't leave him. So he went for passion
instead, burning away the dread.

"Please, Yohji." Please fuck him now, please never leave him, please
always be there. Never being able to put his feelings into words, he
was only able to get those two words out. But the older man heard
the desperate pleading in his voice, saw the uncertainty and need in
his eyes. Tenderly cupping the pale face between his hands Yohji
gently kissed the frantic man on the forehead and nose. "Shh,
whatever you want, love." The next kiss was a bit calmer than the
first but just as passionate, Aya tangling his fingers in honey blond
locks so Yohji couldn't pull away and end it.

After a few minutes Yohji rolled over, pressing his body against the
slender man's, reassuring him about his presence with his solid
weight. Kissing his way down a white neck he shoved his pants down
his hips, wriggling his legs so as to get the damn things off. Once
that was done he concentrated on the mewling man underneath him, his
lips moving ever so slowly down the pale body as his hand reached for
the lubricant. "Wanna stay here forever, just the two of us. Never
let you out of my reach again." Aya moaned out his name and clutched
at his arms, fingers digging into his muscles. Yohji grasped the two
hands and threaded their fingers together, holding the limbs down on
the mattress as he laved attention on a stiffening peak. "Never
letting you go." Lightly sinking his teeth into the nipple caused
the redhead to arch his chest and gasp. Sucking on the bitten flesh
Yohji shifted over to the other one, slowly repeating the action
before moving downward.

His tongue and lips caressed Aya's stomach, pausing to nibble here
and there. The slight chiming sound that was produced with each
writhe and shiver let Yohji know that his kitten had taken the time
to swap belly rings before falling asleep. He decided to reward the
man for that thoughtful action, spending several minutes licking and
nibbling around Aya's navel, tongue spearing into the indentation
every so often. He'd reduced the quiet man to pleading again,
however it wasn't until he couldn't stand it anymore, aching too hard
with the need to be inside the slender body twisting about beneath
his to even think clearly that he finally moved on.

Yohji had to let go of one of Aya's hands to pull down the boxers,
shifting about so they could travel along the long white legs and
join the other clothes on the floor. That done he lightly traced a
finger down the prominent blue vein traveling the length of the
smaller man's shaft, watching as it twitched at the touch and his
lover shuddered in need. Aya choked out another please, and eagerly
Yohji bent down to take the cock into his mouth. His name was
strangled out as he alternated pulling back and nibbling along the
length and deepthroating the member. A slickened finger stealthily
crept lower and joined in the teasing, circling the puckered ring
before pushing in and swiftly darting out. When the swordsman's
breath came out in harsh pants it pushed back in, twisting about as
it searched for that special spot. His boyfriend's body going stiff
was all the warning Yohji needed as he pulled back a little, catching
the shooting cum in his mouth as it pulsed out.

Wiping his lips as he sat back on his heels, a smug smile tugged at
the corners of the blond's mouth. Aya laid sprawled on the bed, eyes
closed and limbs akimbo, just trying to breathe. Gathering the limp
figure in his arms Yohji held the man tight, feeling two shaky arms
wrap around his shoulders. "How was that, kitten?"

Dark violet eyes opened and regarded him with the same amount of need
and desperation that they had earlier. "Yohji, please." It wasn't
enough, the pleasure didn't totally soothe his fears. Aya closed the
distance between them, kissing the older man, trying to draw him in
again. Groaning softly Yohji settled Aya higher onto his lap, hand
fumbling for the tube he had dropped minutes before. Aya pulled away
as first one finger than another entered him, only far enough so he
could stare deep into emerald eyes. This was real, Yohji looking at
him with love, part of him inside his body. When his hips were
grabbed and lifted the younger man eagerly sank down on the hard
shaft, pushing until it was as far inside him as it could go. The
small spark of pain was ignored as Kudoh moaned his name and held him
tight, hungry mouth seeking out his.

Oh gods, he felt as if would burst then and there. Yohji had to take
several deep breaths as he broke off the kiss, burying his face in
the crook of Aya's neck. "Oh love, gods I, oh yes. Love you." He
slowly started to rock his hips upwards, groaning again as Aya set a
excruciatingly slow pace, drawing out the pleasure until he felt that
he was one big exposed nerve, thrumming with bliss at each touch,
each glide of that slender body along and around him. The sound of
his name, interspersed with `please' repeated again and again filled
his ears until the sound of his thundering heart overwhelmed it. It
felt as if lightening ripped through his body as he came, shuddering
and a cry strangling in his throat. From a distance Yohji heard his
name once more, felt Aya tense in his arms, felt a flood of warmth on
his stomach. The two men leaned against each other for support, weak
arms holding on as tightly as they could.

With a slight groan Yohji reclined back on the bed, Aya falling down
with him. He felt the man tuck his head under his chin so he stroked
a shaky hand through damp crimson strands. "Love you so much
kitten."

Shifting about in the older man's arms, Aya curled up more securely
on Yohji's chest, basking in the man's warmth and scent. "Love you
too." So much that his chest ached with the emotion. He snuggled
closer, sighing as the blond's hold on him tightened. "Never go
away."

An eartail was tugged on in affection. "Promised you I wouldn't.
Besides, I'm not the one who abandons their lover in a strange bar."
That earned him a weak jab in the ribs. One hand combing through the
short-tempered man's hair, the other stroking down a pale back, Yohji
hummed for a few seconds. "I'll never break that promise to you,
Aya. Nor any others that I make. Only for you." Lush lips twisted
up in a smile. " Knight's honor."

"Never break yours, and I'll never break mine." Aya felt his eyes
drift shut, the promise appeasing the worm of dread that had taken
residence in his heart this past week. "Just always be there."

A soft chuckle rumbled through the chest beneath him. "Told you
before, the problem is gonna be getting rid of me. You want a
shower, love? Gonna be all sticky if you don't." For the life of
him Yohji didn't think he could move at the moment, but didn't want
to be the one blamed in the morning.

"Kudoh, shut up and sleep."

"I live to obey my sweet-tempered, gracious little kitten. Ow!
Dammit, we need to feed you more often so you stop mistaking me as a
chew toy." Yohji rubbed his bitten shoulder as Aya just grunted and
went to sleep. "Pretty damn bad when I'm tempted to wear armor to
bed."

*******

Perched on the opposite building's rooftop, Schuldig smiled at
Balinese's yelp of pain. Heh, it never paid to rub his tuberose's
fur the wrong way. One would think that the man-whore would have
figured that by now. Talk about a slow learner. As soon as Aya's
sleep evened out he ghosted through the man's mind, pushing back the
worry and sense of impending loss. Even chained and caged the
catalyst's power whispered to him, tugging on the threads he had tied
to his soul three years ago. But it wouldn't do the precious boy any
good, dear Aya-chan was as good as gone. Too many things depended on
the girl's abduction, not the least his heart's safety. With each
day the convergence drew near, the old bastards couldn't ever imagine
that a catalyst was alive and well, perfect for their purposes.

"The angel sleeps now?"

Stretching out his arms to relieve the ache in his back, Schuldig
nodded his head. "Ja. My angel sleeps, so off we go. Crawford
should be expecting us." He took three steps away from the edge of
the roof before he realized that the Irishman wasn't moving. "You
coming, Farfie?"

A golden eye stared at the Weiß's bedroom window. "I can see the
glow from here, so bright. God's pride and joy, sunk into mortality
and sin. His tears will come soon, the skies will darken with them
again."

"It's called rain, Farfarello. Read the forecast tomorrow. Now
come, Bradley-kins already suspects something, no sense in us being
late and setting his suspicions off again."

Pausing for another second or two the madman reluctantly turned to
leave. "Such a light, never to be seen in heaven again. Hell has
won this round." As he reached the telepath he smiled
hungrily. "Want to play again, when will I get some new toys?"

"Soon, don't worry your lovely knives will grow dull before the end
of next week. The bastards believe in keeping us busy, paving the
way for their long awaited future. Just wait another day or two."
At his teammate's disappointed sigh he patted the man on the
shoulder. "Poor Farfie, no patience at all. You know, I have a
problem on my hands maybe you could help me with, give you something
to do." Schuldig smiled evilly when a gleam of interest showed in
the Irishman's single eye. "This one will be a little tricky though,
we have to break her first. Make her lose all her faith until she
begs for the knife. What do you say?"

Farfarello nodded his head, licking his lips in anticipation. The
devil always gave him such great sport, this one would be no
exception, he could feel it in his bones. Sparing one last glance
behind him he leaped over to the next building, blindly following the
German.

*******

Cassandra stared at her cards, rocking back and forth. She had holed
herself up in her dreamhouse, ignoring the star child when he had
come calling that morning. He sought answers and she had none to
give him. None that could change what had to be. As it was she had
been so torn to warn him and send him on his way to protect his soul,
but had resisted the urge with more strength than she has thought to
possess. There could be no altering this, even if they were all
damned by it. The Fates had seized the reins, bitter at the catalyst
cutting through and reknotting their precious threads at his whim.
Now he would have to play the role They dealt.

Death was the bottom card, flanked by the Two of Cups on the right
and the Five of Wands on the left. At the center rested The Lovers.
Above on the right rested the Nine of Swords, on the left the Nine of
Cups, flanking the Five of Pentacles. Loss and anxiety and difficult
tests, the hope of love and commitment and happiness. The final
outcome was loss. All there before her, arranged by her hand. The
future crept upon the present, devouring it whole. The day had come,
the true beginning, as all things must have their births. Cassandra
wept to know that she would have to watch grow what she had helped to
conceive.

TBC

Retour Chapitre 7