Price to Pay

by Tierry Leoine

It was quiet. Too quiet for the

one person still up and present in the flower shop. For that man the silence was

the overpowering silence of death. It hung around him like the despair he

carried in his heart. It was so still, in contrast to the cool, autumn wind

blowing on the balcony, where he currently stood. Bare footed, dressed only in

black pajama bottoms he looked like he was perfectly fine.

Maybe, just maybe he was so cold

inside, so dead that he simply didn’t feel cold anymore. That’s what he thought

anyway. The man’s glowing violet eyes looked up into the sky. That night was

clouded. No stars or moon shining.

A perfect might for those

like myself.

Someone once told the redhead

that stars were the symbols of hope and dreams. It was good, that they weren't

visible, since he had none, he deserved none.

Aya suppressed a smile before it

had a chance to spread into a hysterical laugher.

He had lost his sacred purpose.

In the end it turned out that Aya’s sacrifice was unnecessary, meaningless.

Ran Fujimiya had become the

White Hunter, Abyssinian needlessly, as the one, in whose name he killed was

dead. She died, because of the lives taken in her name. Aya-chan, the real Aya

had died two days ago.(1)

So now he was just a murderer,

without any excuse for his actions, without a name or a goal in his life. His

reason of existence died two days ago.

This night,

starless, cold and filled with solitude was perfect for his purpose, for the

murderer to leave and pay for his sins.

The redhead unsheathed his

katana and took a closer look at it. Though he hadn’t want to, Ran deep in his

soul knew that he had become just like it. Soulless, emotionless, cold, existing

only to cause pain, to kill.

Ran didn’t want to be like this.

He was always terrified of this unavoidable moment. Now, when he had become a

living weapon, was his time. Time to go.

And it was perfect. Just as it

should be. The only two that could still stop him, that held his last

attachments to this world weren’t here now, could do nothing. One was dead, the

other somewhere in town, drinking and dancing. Living. Aya almost smiled. It was

quite an irony.

But he knew his destiny. It would be fulfilled today. In

this dark, lonely night, when no one would come to see his final defeat, he

ultimately surrendered to the fate that had been decided four years ago.

Tonight, on the day of the 18th birthday of the one, in whose name he

had killed he would finally escape this mad city, give up to his destiny and

free both Aya and Ran from the never ending circle of killing.

Finally.

***********************************************************************************

Youji paced the corridor

nervously. This was driving him crazy. He didn’t know what to do. Both Ken and

Omi looked at him worriedly from their positions on the chair. They were all

tired and sick worried. It was so unexpected...NOBODY saw it

coming.

Especially if one knew Fujimiya

Aya as well as they did. Who would think he would want to commit

suicide?

Youji was the one that found

him. Luckily he had come beck from his date earlier than he had suspected to.

Probably that’s why Aya still lived. He was there half laying half leaning over

the bathtub with his hands in the water. He had cut his wrists. Deeply and in

several places. He was always very serious about anything he did, then as well.

Also very neat.

Youji would laugh at it, if it

wasn’t so depressing and concerning him. Even when trying to commit suicide the

redhead made sure he wouldn’t leave a big mess after him.

Right after discovering what

happened he dragged the younger assassins out of their beds and after taming the

blood loss from Aya’s wrists they rode to the hospital. Probably they had beaten

the world’s record in it.

The violet-eyed man was

immediately taken to intensive care and Omi contacted Manx. She had yet to

appear and it was almost an hour since they had called her.

Finally the doctor approached

them. He looked very concerned, which didn’t indicate anything

good.

"Your friend is in very bad

condition. Couple of minutes longer and he wouldn’t make it. He was very lucky.

The blood loss was mostly covered. What is strange is that he also has a cold.

But for now it’s a minor problem. He’s very weak now and will have to stay here

on observation for a few days. "

"Thank you, doctor. Could we see

him?" It was Omi. Through he still had sleepy eyes, the youngest assassin was

very conscious.

"I’m afraid that not today. He’s

probably not going to wake up until tomorrow, anyway."

"We understand. Thank you."

Youji said. "But please phone us in case he’s conscious."

"Of course."

"Goodbye,

doctor."

"Goodbye.’

************************************************************************

They were coming back from the

hospital much slower and in a complete silence. Even the radio was turned

off.

All three of them were thinking

about this night’s events and the reasons for it. Aya was always so strong. The

strongest one of all of them. And now he simply tried to commit suicide. HIM,

the fearless, emotionless, cold leader of the assassin group.

When they finally stood in the

livingroom of their house, Ken dared to ask quietly the one question all of them

were asking themselves, but not receiving an answer.

"Why? Why did he do

it?"

"I honestly don’t know Kenken.

We don’t know much about him or his previous life. He never told us anything.

Now go get some sleep. You’ve got school today Omi."

"I hope he’ll be okay." Almost

whispered the younger blonde before closing his door.

They didn’t open the shop that

day. None were in the mood to deal

with the squeaking schoolgirls and their questions like ‘Where is Aya-kun?’ or

‘What happened to Aya-san?’.

Omi came back from school and

without his smile went up do his homework.

Ken slept and watched TV almost

all day.

Youji, tried as he might,

couldn’t fall asleep for long. His dreams were constantly invaded by the sight

of Aya half laying on the cold floor with his hands in the water, red from

blood. What bothered him the most was how peaceful his face had looked. It could

seem he was asleep. Youji would know. He had the occasion to watch sleeping Aya

more than once.

He was scared. The playboy was afraid they, he would loose

Aya. The beautiful redhead. He was terrified of finding out what had driven the

younger assassin to that. But he had to know to make sure the redhead would stay

with him, stay alive.

So the next day as soon as he

was up, Youji went to the hospital.

He was led by an older nurse,

who warmly greeted him and informed of the condition his friend was

in.

Aya was, in a separate room,

half sitting on the bed and staring at the wall in front of him. He didn’t look

good. Paler than usually, with messed hair and dead eyes. Those two orbs

bothered Youji mostly. Couple of days earlier they would burn with raging,

violet fire and now they were empty. So completely empty. Not even a spark of

life was lighting them up.

"Hello."

The redhead turned to look at

him. Again, it wasn’t his usual emotionless mask, just disturbing

emptiness.

"How?" Youji barely heard the

low whisper.

"Huh? How,

what?"

"How did I make it?" Younger

man’s voice didn’t contain it’s usual authority nor strength. He sounded almost

like a frightened child.

"I came back quite early and

found you. So I took care of your arms and..."

"What for?"

"What do you mean ‘what

for’?"

"What did you save me

for?"

"WHAT?!"

"Why did you help me? Why did

you save my life?" That sad voice wasn’t any louder.

"WHAT?" Youji repeated. " Damn

you, Aya! What was I supposed to do?! Let you kill yourself?!"

"YES! Not interfere! Just let me

die! Who asked you to save my life?! WHO?! Certainly it wasn’t

me!"

"Fuck NO, Aya!! I came back and

saw YOU, of all people, with cut wrists! BLEEDING TO DEATH!!! I’m the one who

should be asking why!"

"And why do you care?! Would you

miss me or just the sex?"

That was a blow that Youji

certainly hadn’t seen coming. True, they sometimes slept together, but the

blonde didn’t think Aya would be so emotional about it. Because for the playboy

their relationship had been something to distract him, to help him deal with an

especially hard or bloody mission

"DAMN it, Aya! Of course I would miss

you! You’re my closest friend! WHY? Why did you do it?! What happened to the Aya

I know?! Aya! Do you even listen to what I’m saying to you?!"

"Aya, Aya, Aya, Aya...Aya’s

dead! You hear me?! AYA IS DEAD!!" Now the voice was different. Violent." So

just shut up and LEAVE!"

The blonde stared for a moment at Aya, then finally left ,

closing the door after him quietly.

It was then, that Aya broke into

tears, bending his head to hide it, as his arms were still to weak to lift up

and cover his face.

************************************************************************

Ken , when he woke up and came

down saw only a note from Youji telling him that the older man went to the

hospital, to visit Aya. It was a small surprise for him, as he saw that the

blonde was different when their leader was at stake. Last night proved it. In

the hospital Youji almost made a visible path in the floor while waiting. Though

the brunette didn’t know what exactly it was between them, the two older

assassins shared something more with each other that with him and

Omi.

He thought that maybe this way

Youji will be able to help Aya and it was better for the redhead, him and their

recent trouble if he didn’t go. Ken would certainly visit Aya, but not now when

he still could explode and shout at him. No, going there today wasn’t a good

idea. Trust Youji to handle the swordsman and his suicidal inclinations. Ken was

to terrified to want to know why the redhead had done it. What had been enough

to drive the Fujimiya ice-berg to attempt suicide.

Agreeing in his mind with that,

the soccer player settled for preparing the lunch for the three of them left in

the flower shop.

Manx didn’t come in the morning.

She didn’t either in the afternoon. Nor did Youji. Ken started worrying in the

late night, when still neither of them called or appeared. The younger half of

Weiss was confused, but couldn’t do much except wait.

They were seriously worried

about their oldest team mate when he wasn’t home in the morning.

Ken sighed. It was not like he

could do much. He only told Omi to turn the trace program on in case Youji would

need their help.

"I’ll ask Aya, maybe Youji is

still with him."

"Tell him to come back to us

soon."

"Will do."

************************************************************************

The brunette knew something was

wrong the moment he entered the room. Firstly, it was dark, the curtains not

allowing sunrays to give much light. Secondly, it was the face. Empty. Yeah,

well, maybe Ken wasn’t a genius when it came to noticing things, but this was

just too obvious. There was no statement, no lack of statement, the face was

simply dead. And thirdly, finally, there were red circles around the redhead’s

eyes. Eyes with dark shadows underneath, like he hadn’t been sleeping. It seemed

that impossible had happened. Aya had cried. AYA CRIED. Something Ken had

thought was impossible.

"Aya?"

The older man didn’t look at

him. He looked like he was oblivious to brunette’s presence, staring at the wall

in front of him.

"Yes, Ken?" The said man almost

jumped, when Aya had finally spoken up.

" Well...I came to see how you

were doing and ask if you wanted anything."

"No." The younger assassin

didn’t even blink. He was used to his leader’s short answers.

"Omi wanted me to tell you to

come back to us soon."

This time he didn’t receive any

response, even after a minute or so waiting.

"Ookay... I also wanted to know

if you have any idea where Youji could be. He didn’t show up in the shop after

he came here."

"No. Find him."

Kami-sama, this is getting freaky! His voice is usually

cold, but not like he’s talking about dead meat.

He’s behaving like he doesn’t

care.

And what if he doesn’t?

asked a small voice inside him What do you think

he’s going through? What does he want?

Ken just shook his head to chase

away those thoughts. He didn’t want to think about it.

"But where? There is no place I

can come up with except for our emergency hideouts and he wouldn’t use one of

those."

Silence.

"Aya?" Nothing. "Are you at

least listening to what I’m saying to you? When did he leave

you?"

"Before noon."

Thank you for finally

speaking up!

" That’s over a day...Maybe he

needs some time...After what he found..."Ken muttered more to himself than to

Aya.

"Go find him."

"Huh?"

"Youji. Find

him."

"And you?"

"He may need your help. I

don’t."

"You don’t? Well, the night

before yesterday all three of us could tell something different, when seeing you

laying on the floor with cut wrists." The younger man said angrily. He was

pissed off right now. The man, who tried to commit suicide was telling him, that

he didn’t need any help.

The fuck he

doesn’t.

The redhead just kept ignoring

him. With his face towards the wall, the Weiss leader drifted off, as his glassy

look showed.

"Fine." Ken growled and stormed

out of the room, receiving, after slamming doors, a glare from a nurse, who told

him that his ‘friend’ could go home tomorrow.

He couldn’t find Youji. On his

way back from the hospital, Ken contacted Omi and told him how the situation

looked. The youngest assassin set out to look for his oldest team mate in the

net.

He could only wonder how and

what had those two men told each other to make Aya, even in his current state,

cry and Youji to disappear. He mentally cursed all the bad tempered redheads and

blondes in the world. The Fujimiya ice-berg was fucked up, all right. Now Aya

wasn’t even similarly behaving to how he did earlier. The main question, he had

asked the night they took the redhead to the hospital, was why. And, as far as

Ken knew, he would NOT receive an answer different to ‘Shut up.’ or if royally

pissed ‘Fuck off.’

It was a problem for the whole

team, as only two out of four assassins from Weiss could now go on missions.

According to the doctor’s words Aya would not stop on one try. He would

eventually seek another occasion to take his own life.

Over my dead body, he

will.

Ken rarely admitted it, but he

trusted Aya and viewed him as a friend, a pillar that supported Weiss and each

one of them. Him and Youji did. It seemed strange, but every time the

brunette was depressed, the violet-eyed man kicked him in the ass. And it

worked. It helped him, as had their sparring sessions. So the ex-soccer player

didn’t want to see his friend dead. He would NOT see it.

So someone was needed to stay

and always watch the redhead not to try anything, when the team was on mission.

Because as he was told Aya wouldn’t be able to effectively and for longer

periods of time do anything with his hands. And they wouldn’t trust their leader

not to throw himself on the line of fire.

Ken sighed. He did that a lot

lately.

***********************************************************************************

The next morning Ken took Aya’s

Porsche to the hospital. When he entered the hospital, the older man was already

fully dressed in clothes he was brought there. The sleeves reached past the

knuckles, effectively covering the bandages over his wrists and on his

hands.

Without a word, only an

acknowledging nod, the redhead walked past Ken only to be stopped by another

red-haired person.

"Manx! We tried to contact you

for two days now!" Exclaimed Ken.

"I know."

"What do you want? I doubt you

came here just to see me and the team is in no condition for any missions." Aya

said in a flat tone. "You’re worried about them?" The woman sounded

amused.

"You can get them

killed."

"And you’re thinking about it

now, after you tried to leave them without a leader? It’s a little late, don’t

you think?"

"No."

"I think we should continue this

conversation later."

"I don’t see a point to." Aya

sounded like he didn’t care, like it didn’t concern him. Maybe it

didn’t.

"As you wish, Aya." The man

stiffened a little at those words, but not because of their harshness, it seemed

something else. "For now, until we solve our problem, I expect you not to

interfere in Weiss’s actions and better yet, move out as soon as you recover

enough."

"Fine."

With that the older assassin

left the two and headed towards the exit.

"Manx, we can’t leave him. Aya

needs our help."

"You can help him. But Aya would

probably be leaving Weiss soon anyway."

"Why?"

"Kritiker’s agreement with

Abyssinian isn’t valid anymore. I can’t have him endangering you

all."

Ken just shook his head. He

didn’t know what to say or do. Best would be nothing, he decided. It was Aya’s

and Kritiker’s business and neither side would appreciate interference from his

side. He just wondered what kind of contract the man had had with the

organization, that it could loose it’s validity.

The redhead was waiting for the

younger assassin by the car, leaning against the passenger side. His hand were

still too weak and limp for driving.

When they were on their way, Ken

timidly tried a conversation.

"Aya?"

Nothing.

"Um...I was wandering what are

you going to do...Manx said that that, because of some conditions of your deal,

you’ll be leaving Weiss. I thought that, if you want to stay with us you’re

welcomed. We could always use your help."

Silence.

The brunette decided to

temporary leave his friend alone with his thoughts. Only when they arrived at

the flower shop, he remembered something.

"Aya?"

This time he got a response,

even if it was only amethyst eyes turning to look at him.

"Do you know where Youji could

be? We couldn’t find him anywhere."

"Have you tried his

office?"

"What office?" The younger man

was surprised by the question.

"His office from when he worked

as a private investigator."

"I...um...No, we didn’t. I don’t

know the location. Where is it?"

Aya just shook his

head.

"I’ll go there. It’s not far.

Wait here for us." There was something in the man’s voice, that told Ken that he

wouldn’t try to jump off of nearest bridge. So the brunette nodded in agreement

and went into the flower shop.

***********************************************************************************

Ran left his team mate in the

direction of Shinjuku (2), where his best friend’s and lover’s old office

was.

It was quite a long walk, but he

didn’t mind. He needed some time to think.

The redhead regretted deeply his

outburst, back in the hospital. He knew that Youji was just worried about him

and still shaken by the sight of the younger man with cut wrists. He had

recognized the concern in the moss-green eyes, but he also didn’t want it and

certainly didn’t need it. There was nothing Youji could do, or their team mates

for that matter. Neither of them could bring back Aya-chan or make him feel

sinless, clean again.

All he was now was a murderer

and all he had was blood on his hands, sword and soul. The name of his every

victim, no matter how much deserving death, was burned within the walls of his

heart with fire. So how could they help? There was just no way for that. He was

damned and his angel of salvation was dead. The simple conclusion was that he

should die ass well.

Just not now. He had last duties

to his team. He had to help his lost and confused team-mates. Then he would

leave.

But first Youji. Ran’s first and

most important obligation. Part of the state the man was now in was most

certainly Ran’s own fault. The only person that could still stop him. That had

stopped him once already. Though Ran didn’t want to be saved, he had to

understand the man and his motives.

Knowing Youji, the blonde was

probably blaming himself for Aya’s attempt at suicide. Especially after the

redhead’s outburst. The older man was his lover and more important, his best

friend, if one could have a friend in a situation like this

one.

Still, Youji had to stop it, to

let go and live. Ran remembered how the man grieved about his loss of Asuka, how

he had helped the man. He also knew that a blow like loosing a friend and

another lover could and probably would crush the facade, the walls and hurt very

seriously, if not kill the vulnerable human being hiding

inside.

Ran wanted to die, but not pull

someone as important to him as Youji. No, that was the last thing he

wanted.

Finally reaching his destination , the redhead looked

around. Nothing had changed here since his last visit to this part of the city.

The buildings were all nicely kept, nothing indicated just how important this

place was for both Youji and Ran. For the first this place was the only

connection with the past. For the second it symbolized the beginning of a

relationship, that he had never, until now, regretted. And even now he did only

because Youji could hurt himself because of it and his attachment to

Aya.

No one looked at him with a

special interest, when he stepped inside the building. He had learned how to

become invisible and unimportant in the crowd. Especially useful with his hair

color.

Taking two, three steps at once, Aya

quickly found himself on the fourth floor, in front of wooden doors, that as he

knew were sound proof. They were locked, of course. They stood open seconds

later, of course. Ran didn’t pick locks, it was Youji’s specialty. Ran simply

had a spare key.

When the red-haired man stepped into the office, he was

assaulted by a strong smell of alcohol.

No wonder. Youji was here for

two days now. Because of Ran no less.

Now was the time for the former

Weiss leader to help him and drag him away from the place that was the symbol of

the blonde’s biggest loss: Asuka.

Ran opened the doors to the main

office. There on the sofa, was, half-laying, Youji with an empty bottle of

whiskey in hand. Eyes closed, the man looked like he was

sleeping.

Quietly, the redhead approached

him.

"Is it you, Aya?" Youji’s voice

was hoarse. It didn’t surprise the younger man, what did was that he was heard.

Aya walked very quietly, almost no one was able to hear him.

"Aa."

"I thought so." Green eyes

finally fluttered open to look at the younger and admire his

movements.

Ran sat down on a chair, close

to the couch.

"You shouldn’t come here. This

place kills you."

"You shouldn’t try to cut your

wrists. It could kill you."

Both men just looked at each

other, masks and facades dropped.

"Come." Ran stood up and held

out a hand to Youji.

The blonde looked at it, then into the violet eyes that held

a trace of worry in them and finally got up.

Slightly leaning on the younger

assassin, the playboy managed to come down the stairs. Then he closed the small

distance between them and kissed Ran’s temple and then cheek.

"Let’s go home." He

whispered.

***********************************************************************************

Youji didn’t know what to think or do. He hadn’t been so

confused since Asuka’s death, if not longer.

Aya was the sole reason behind

it. The man was a one, damn riddle before, but now...Damn, how can one person be

so fucked up?! He was the strongest, the coolest, most professional and

effective assassin, the blonde had ever come across, the one with best, most

infallible self-control. Until three days ago that is. Three nights ago, when he

came into the bathroom to see Aya.

Right then, he couldn’t believe

what he was seeing. The whole image of the redhead, that existed in minds of the

rest of Weiss, crumbled. A person as strong and cold, as uncaring as the violet

eyed man posed to be, wouldn’t try to commit suicide. The view of his fallen

angel, as he sometimes called Aya in thoughts, sitting, leaning against the

bathtub with his hands dripped in water that was slowly beginning to match the

redhead’s hair. Even after two days of VERY heavy drinking he couldn’t shake off

the picture of his lover. Still couldn’t fully believe it.

He intended on spending some

more time in his hideout, feeling perfectly safe, as Aya was in the hospital. He

wanted to be able to face Aya and deal with his friends. He was their support,

when Aya wasn’t. And in this case, the redhead couldn’t.

Youji wanted to overcome his

feeling of guilt. Because he didn’t see it coming. He missed all the signals Aya

might have given him. They were lovers for God’s sake! And Youji almost lost

Aya, this beautiful creature, that was like an angel, his personal savior. The

one that rescued him from drowning

in ultimate grief and despair.

And now the blonde was able to

finally admit it, at least to himself, that he loved Aya. Before, it was a very

strange relationship. One based on friendship and need for emotion. But not

love. Yes, the man was hard to like, even harder to love, but if someone knew

him deep enough, just like Youji did, he would know that the redhead was capable

of warmer feelings. Because he cared for Youji enough to track him down and help

him that time and he had come for the blonde now, while not being in something

resembling a stable state himself.

Yes, Youji wanted to help Aya.

Only, if he could. The redhead was far too proud to accept any help, no matter

from whom and what reason. But he at least had to try and show his violet-eyed

friend, lover his support.

Getting up took some effort, as

was calming down the spinning room. Because of the alcohol still in his veins

and the hangover that was just starting, the blonde had to move slower that

normally.

Carefully, the older man made

his way up to the doors of his friend, lover and most of all his personal angel

of salvation.

His knock met no response and he

knew that the redhead was inside. Youji opened the door, as they blocked Aya’s

lock, and stepped inside.

What he saw angered him

momentary. What he saw was Aya sitting on the floor and playing with his blade

and making cuts, some long or deep, all of them on his forearms. All

bleeding.

Furious, Youji knelt by his

lover and ripped the deadly sword out of his hand. The blonde rummaged through

Aya’s wardrobe and took out a towel to at least temporary stop the bleeding.

Then glared at him, barely holding himself from exploding.

"What, the hell, do you think

you’re doing?!"

"You just can’t leave me alone,

can you?" the younger man muttered.

"I would! The moment I was sure

you wouldn’t cut your fucking wrists! Why are you such a selfish bastard?! Can’t

you understand that I won’t let you leave me?! I won’t allow that a second time!

NEVER! I love you and I won’t let you do it!"

The younger man just turned his

head. There was nothing he could say to the admission. Nothing at all. Anything

would be trivial.

Neither spoke then for what

seemed like an eternity.

"Aya’s dead?" Youji finally

broke the silence with a barely audible whisper.

Ran looked at his blonde lover.

It was a sudden question, one he didn’t expect.

"At the hospital..." Youji broke

for a second remembering how harsh he was treated. "You told me that Aya’s dead.

What did you mean by that?"

"Just that. Aya’s dead. Died

five days ago. Little Aya-chan died two days before her

birthday."

"Who..." The blonde seemed

unsure if he wanted to know the answer to that question. "Who was

Aya-chan?"

"My imouto. My sweet, little

sister. She’s dead. I lost her, like I lost everything else. I have nothing

now...That date seems fateful for me..."

Ran knew he wasn’t very clear

and precise. Those sentences ripped of contest, the sad story of his life: how

his parents were killed, how and why he had joined Kritiker. He told the older

man everything. Including his hopes connected with his sister’s awakening.

Ran never wanted to tell that

story to anyone, but Youji....Youji had a right to know, because Youji said he

loved him and even if it wasn’t true, it mattered that he had said it to a

murderer.

. It meant something to

him, as, for the first time since that fateful day five days ago, he felt a

small warmth stir within his heart.

Yoji could

only stare at Aya.Stare at the man that had just told him the story of his soul.

At the one person whom even he had thought incapable crying, doing

so.

"So, you see,

I have to. This is the price I have to pay." Aya whispered, ducking his

head.

He let go of his friend’s hand

and dropped the katana on the floor. Instead he used his arms to tightly hug the

beautiful creature.

The blonde understood now. Fully

understood his lover and his motives. Youji knew now why had Aya become so, why

he had wanted to do what he tried. It was sad, the story of this lost, fallen

angel that had lost his last strand of hope, the only chance to gain

salvation.

Youji kissed the redhead’s tears

from his cheeks. Kissed his temples, forehead and nose. Still embracing Aya, the

older man slightly changed position to kiss his lover on the

lips.

The violet-eyed assassin timidly

kissed back. They were both tender and slow, very different from what they

usually were together.

Youji wanted to give, to show

Aya his love, understanding and friendship. He wanted to give the beautiful

redhead just what he had needed. And this was the best way he knew of to achieve

that. To give Aya what the blonde had received some time ago.

Though they both knew, from the

looks they exchanged, that it would not be enough.

Youji broke the kiss for a

moment.

"What’s your real name?" He

whispered.

"Ran." The younger man answered

simply.

"Ran." Youji repeated with a

half smile." My orchid."

Pale arms snaked around Youji’s

neck and their lips met again.

Youji thought that laying with

Aya in the afterglow, hugging him tightly was him tightly was what heaven must

feel like. He never wanted to let go of him. Fortunately he wouldn’t have

to.

The redhead looked at him with

curiosity and surprise in amethyst eyes when the older assassin handed him his

watch. Strange, that Ran would be surprised now, after all Youji shown him, that

he refused to let the man go.

The blonde smiled gently and

nodded in affirmation. He embraced Ran tighter, so his lips almost touched the

ear of the redhead. Not being able to resist the temptation, and never being

good at it, the playboy bit the delicate earlobe.

"I know what you want to do." He

said slowly in a serious voice. "And I understand why now. I also know that you

have to, that it’s a price everyone of us has to pay. But I’m not going to let

you do it alone. At least now you’re not going to be alone."

"Why...why

do..."

"I do this? I told you A-Ran. I

love you."

And for the second time that

night Youji saw Aya, or rather Ran, crying. There was just one small difference

- this time these weren’t tears of despair, they were tears of joy. Because now

Ran felt complete. Like everything was in it’s place and what’s more important,

like he was not alone anymore. There was someone right beside

him.

"I know Youji. I know you do."

The faintest of whispers broke the quiet sobs and seconds later they were

silenced by a kiss. A very warm and delicate one.

They half sat on the bed, Ran

leaning against his blonde lover, but before that he picked the discarded katana

from the floor and placed it beside them.

Ran released the garrote, while Youji took the deadly sword

to his hand. Neither spoke. There was no need, they understood each other with

out them.

Wire was tangled around other

man’s wrists and deeply cut the flesh. After a moment the silver blade came

through the bandages and opened the still fresh wounds that had just started to

heal.

Both men leaned against the

headboard and entangled bloodied fingers. The redhead placed his head on Youji’s

left shoulder, so his cheek rested against bare chest. The blonde in return

turned his head, so his lips touched the crimson hair.

They didn’t have anything to say, so they stayed quiet. What

could be said in a moment like this? Everything would be trivial,

unimportant.

Ran turned his head to look at

his lover. Youji thought, that those eyes were never so beautiful... and

peaceful. And they were actually smiling, holding a spark that they hadn’t

before. The delicious lips were curled into a smile like no other.

Contentment, calmness and a

feeling of rightfulness, all those emotions were visible on the impossibly pale

and beautiful face.

Youji felt weaker with every

passing moment. He didn’t care as long as he didn’t have to move and was able to

admire his violet-eyed love. Though his mind was slowly starting to wander in

mists, he still felt the warmth of Ran’s body.

The redhead looked at him with

serious eyes and squeezed his hands.

The two assassins kissed gently

once more. After breaking the kiss Ran leaned on the blonde’s arm, still looking

at him.

"Thank you."

"Why are you thanking

me?"

"For loving

me."

"Always Ran. I’ll always love

you."

"I know. I love you

too."

Youji smiled. He had already

known that, but was glad to hear it, to hear and know for sure that he was

loved.

Ken went to open the doors. He

wasn’t used to it, but remembering the state the older half of Weiss was in,

thought that it was better for them not to open.

In the doors stood

Manx.

"Um...Hello

Manx."

"Don’t worry, Ken. I only came

to speak with Aya."

"Sure. His room is the first on

the left."

"Thank you." The brunette

watched as the Kritiker’s agent went upstairs and stopped in front of the door

to his leader’s sanctuary.

When after a knock that received

no answer, the woman turned the knob with said in a serious, but also concerned

voice:

"Aya? It’s me. We need to

talk."

The curly redhead entered the

room, but strange, she didn’t close the doors.

There was a complete silence for

a moment and then a loud sound of something heavy falling to the floor.

After a quick exchange of

glances, Ken and Omi rushed upstairs.

They stopped right after

entering Aya’s room.

Manx was kneeling beside the

bed, her hands on the bloodied palms of the two assassins.

Neither of the young men

standing there had ever seen Manx cry. Until now. They too felt like it.

1.I don’t know, when does Aya-chan have birthday. It was

convenient for me to make it like this.

2.The youth quarter in Tokyo. Again, it’s my own idea. If

the location has been mentioned in the anime, I missed it.

Retour