Disclaimer: I am not Japanese or male, nor do I have red hair, nor am I a voice actor with crooked teeth. Therefore my name is not Koyasu-san, therefore I do not own Weiss. (Not hating on the teeth at all, by the way, I think they're cute.)

Notes: I...don't know how I like this. I feel like it's not badly written, but I'm not sure if some parts are too awkward. Anyway. I promise after this I will post up something fluffy. Or at least vaguely fluffy. I think I might eventually write the fic I've been thinking about every time I hear Michael Wong's "Fairy Tale".

This fic is end of Gluhen. You need to at least understand the basic premise of the show to get the story.

Also, there is angst. Be forewarned.

I had a discussion with fire_mystic about Gluhen and Side B a bit ago. She said she didn't like the idea of Yohji getting amnesia and then just being happy like that. Except, in my view of the WK universe, Yohji probably always always caught snippets of the past but couldn't remember more. And I think the rest of Weiss sort of need to tell themselves he's happy like that. So, I guess, the point of this rambly bit is that I don't necessarily think Aya's choice is great, but he tried, ya know? And even if he believes Yohji's happy now, it's not necessarily really true. So.

This wasn't written as shounen-ai, but I do like the Aya/Yohji pairing, so you can look at it either way.

Choose

It was dawn when Epitaph's destruction finally quieted down. Dawn, when Aya finally reentered the ruins of Koua Academy. Dawn, when he silently made his way to where they had last seen Yohji.

But it was afternoon before he managed to heave away the rubble that blocked up the half-collapsed chamber, inside of which he found an unconscious Balinese.

And it was nearly midnight by the time Aya managed to move Yohji into the car and all the way to a Kritiker-affiliated hospital.

He never meant to drift, but he had already gone nearly two days without sleep. So, as the staff rushed around Yohji in emergency care, Aya's mind blanked in and out of consciousness, and he drifted.

He was back in the old Koneko no Sumu Ie, back when they all lived right upstairs, and Ken was cheerful and Omi was motherly, and Yohji was…not quite so broken. But he, Aya, was shattered from the bleakness in his life. He wanted his sister to wake up, wanted to go back to living like a normal boy, wanted never to have to kill again to keep his world together.

And then the scene shifted, and his sister was awake now, and she was happy working at the store, but everyone else's smiles faded. Omi turned away, crying, and, as he passed the doorframe, his t-shirt and shorts suddenly changed into Mamoru's trench-coat and suit. Meanwhile, Ken's eyes grew wild and wilder, and he grinned fanatically, but as he dashed out the door, swinging his claw, he alternated between sobs and laughter.

Finally, Aya turned back to face Yohji, who simply stood beside him with a glazed look on his face. 'Yohji?' Yohji opened his mouth, smiled happily, and tried to reply, but only incoherent gibberish reached Aya.

"Sir? Sir?" Aya looked up to see a pretty nurse shaking his shoulder. "Sir, your…ehm…friend?" She looked unsure as to what Yohji's relationship was to Aya. "He just came out of emergency care." And Aya discovered he was standing up and walking down the hallway. The nurse made no move to stop him.

Yohji was still unconscious when Aya entered the room. Two doctors were consulting in the corner, and Aya tried to ignore them as he stood by the sickbed and inspected Yohji's state of health. Aya was relieved to find that Yohji seemed much improved.

The doctors' conversation floated to Aya's ears as he stared at Yohji's sleeping form.

"…damage to his head, probably causing a concussion, which may mean he'll never regain his memory."

"Still…you never know."

"If his family were to give him stimulus for long enough, it's always possible, just not certain."

When the two doctors looked over at their patient, the mysterious red-haired man was gone.

In the hallway, Aya sat down on a bench and tried not to think. He was only supposed to remain at the hospital until everything was settled, and that shouldn't take much longer, especially with Omi footing the bill. He just wanted Yohji to wake up before he left, wake up so Aya wouldn't be concerned anymore.

He didn't mean to drift, but suddenly he was in the empty shop again, and Yohji was standing beside him smiling dazedly.

'Yohji?' Aya tried again, and this time he understood Yohji's answer.

I choose this. I choose Weiss. I choose you.

Yohji smiled again and reached out a hand. As Aya instinctively tried to take it, he found that Yohji's form was growing insubstantial. 'Yohji?!' Aya tried to hold on to the disintegrating body, but Yohji was rapidly becoming a pool of light and air.

I'm sorry, Aya. I didn't want to let go.

'I didn't want you to let go either.'

Promise…

'I will. I will!'

"I will…" And he talked himself awake, and Yohji was gone, both in the dream and in reality.

Aya returned to Yohji's hospital room and took a last look at the other man. He had never wanted Yohji to choose to let go, but if life chose for Yohji to let go, then Aya wouldn't fight it.

Back in the day, the team had followed many of Aya's decisions, a habit begun by Yohji himself, no less. On one of their earliest missions as a team together, they had ended up being flooded with the dark beast's backup. Aya immediately saw an opportunity and shouted into the intercom, "Omi and Ken, move from entrance two to entrance four, then double back through the main hall to the gate. Yohji, maneuver to entrance five and blow up as much of that side of the building as you can."

He was met with silence. The team was unaccustomed to taking Aya's orders, and they might have run into disaster that mission had Yohji not suddenly answered, "Understood. Balinese out." and done as Aya had told him. Omi and Ken quickly acknowledged after that, and the four of them had made it out without large mishap. After that night, there were no more pauses when Aya made a decision for them.

And now, Aya was going to choose for Yohji, one more time.

Reaching down, the swordsman gently unhooked the white cross from Yohji's neck. If there were no stimuli to erase the oblivion, Aya knew, Yohji could possibly be truly happy for the rest of his life. And it would be a long life, not the ridiculously brief lifespan they had half-sarcastically predicted for themselves.

'No reminders, Yohji. You'll be happy, I promise.'

He couldn't remove the katana. Yohji's grip on the blade refused to loosen with any amount of soothing. Aya left it. A sword that didn't even belong to Yohji…it couldn't possibly remind enough to wake him.

Aya tied the white cross around his own neck, making it his own burden forever.

When he left, he did not turn back.

After all, he'd promised. And Yohji had smiled.

***

several months later

Aya knew he ought to have forgotten his past, but some things he just could never put down. Maybe it was the fact that Yohji still had Aya's sword. Even though the weapon had never meant much to Yohji, Aya supposed he had continued to hope its presence might bring Yohji's memories back.

When Ken appeared that day and handed him the katana, Aya knew he had hoped all along for something ridiculous and impossible.

He'd known what he was doing when he made the choice, and he knew it was the right one.

No reminders.

At least Yohji was smiling.