They were partners, and they would defend each other from anything. Aki was Yusei's to protect. And then Kiryu came into the picture. He knew there was a reason why he stopped hanging out with that guy.

Partners

"Relax, Yusei." Aki said, wrapping black tape around both of her fists, and then sitting on the padded mats of the mansion's gym to do the same to her bare feet. "A week is plenty to let my wound heal. Besides, it's just a scratch."

"Scratch my ass." Yusei said darkly, standing over her and offering her a hand which she took. She stood up fluidly, and shot him a look.

"Why the hell are you so tall?" she grumbled, as she shoved his shoulder, making him back up a few paces.

"Genetics." He answered gruffly, still obviously displeased that she intended to strain her injuries. "I still don't like this."

"Well tough. When I'm out of the field, you're out of the field. It's better for all of us if I get back into shape." She pulled on a pair of lightweight black shoes. They were custom made for each individual agent, made specifically for training purposes, providing the best chance for muscles to easily learn and memorize new training moves. They had both learned the sword on these shoes, allowing them to perfect their stance in less than two days, while others were still struggling weeks later.

"All of us?"

She stretched her arms behind her, interlocking her fingers as she leaned down touching her nose to her knees. Her arms were straight above her head, and Yusei eyed the bandage around her right bicep. She groaned, low in her throat, and Yusei knew that what she spoke was truth. If she was stiff even after the minimal stretching she was allowed to do while recovering than she was really tense. "Yeah. The entire house. Haven't you noticed that they have all basically been avoiding both of us?" She released her hands, and her arms made a swishing noise as she allowed gravity to do its work and made them meet the floor.

He nodded, and hummed his agreement. He had noticed that lately, but he had been so distracted with Aki being hurt and all.

"It's because you're so grumpy and I'm so bitchy." She said sweetly, standing back up and smiling. He glared at her. They held a staring contest for a few seconds before Yusei looked away guiltily. "See? I knew you'd come around."

"Who are you training with?" Yusei asked, mentally forming a cunning plan so he could be train with her again. But she smashed that idea into little tiny pieces almost before she had begun to think of it.

"Misty and Carly."

"Both of them?" He questioned lightly, and eyebrow arched, but inside he was surprised at how conniving Aki was being. "Did I not get the memo, or does Misty not hate you now?"

"Oh no, she still does. But she likes Carly, and Carly likes me, and I like Carly so we are both trying for her sake. Now we just need to kick Jackass's ass for hurting Carly. The gods know, Kiryu isn't helping either." She muttered, continuing to stretch.

He growled, and his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Aki," he voice dropping as new recruits passed them by, looking at them curiously as they saw the top Special Ops team talking quietly in a corner. One of them, a girl with some crazy black and orange hair whispered excitedly to a boy next to her, "I hope we get to see them train. I've heard they took out an entire hierarchy of drug dealers with just their fists." Aki glanced at her discreetly, keeping a mental note to check up on the girl later. That was one of their more secret assignments, and they both wondered how she knew that. "Don't go near Kiryu. I don't like him."

"This is coming from his best friend."

"Former." He said coldly. His voice lightened noticeably as he steered them away from the topic of the other agent. "Are you going to look up the girl?"

"Yeah. If she hacked the mainframe to look at our files, then we'll be able to use her. If not, I'll shut her up." She grinned wickedly, and Yusei couldn't help but smirk.

"Just don't silence her for good. We have a reputation to keep, now don't we?" She winked slyly as she picked up her swords and padded quietly away. He ran lightly up the stairs to the balcony which overlooked the gym. Thankfully, it was empty. Turning, he leaned over the edge, and rested his forearms on the thick metal railing. He saw Aki grab the new recruit who was talking about them, and drag her off to a corner. He tore his eyes away, and watched as Misty's tall frame entered the room, with Carly's smaller and less confident stature following.

Misty, a former model, walked with seemingly endless confidence towards the weapons rack. While she very rarely went on assassination or combat ops (with her background it was better that she went on the high-class undercover ops. They had recently had to use her and Aki on a mission to bring down a drug dealing ring, the very same mission that Aki was discussing with the now very scared looking newbie) she was still very deadly with a weapon in her hand. Like all agents of the Agency, she only went out if it was proven that she could handle herself in the toughest situations.

Carly was almost Misty's complete and total opposite. Shorter, and with a hell of lot less confidence, she was a flurry of different emotions while Misty was mainly just a blank pretty face, which was all her covers allowed her. Carly went on almost as wide of a range of ops as Yusei and Aki did, because of her flexibility. She was deadly with a weapon as well, and she was the best sniper that the Agency had. Her glasses actually improved her eyesight to an almost inhuman level, and she was a mathematical genius, being able to calculate the trajectory of a bullet in less than a second.

Misty had originally been paired with no one, having come into the program later than usual, while Carly had been paired with Jack Atlus. But for some reason that no one divulged or knew about besides Misty, Carly, and Jack they had been separated and Carly had been put with Misty. Things had been tense between the former partners, and it didn't help that Kiryu, one of Jack's former closest friends, seemed to be shadowing Carly. Yusei had also noticed he had an unnerving fascination with Aki as well.

Aki, finished up with the girl in the corner, walked away from the girl. Her face looked ashen, and it seemed she was trembling slightly. Her lips held a slight grin though. Yusei looked away, pleased. It was more often that alliances were won, and were long lasting, when they were forged on equal parts admiration and respect. If the girl felt that she was actually needed, and that her skills were great enough to be asked to help them on occasions, then it was less likely that she would snitch. Besides, alliances built on threats rarely worked out. And Aki had mastered the ability to blend the two aspects.

He watched her jog over to Carly, who had grabbed a long, thin sword. Misty had picked up her usual twin daggers, while Aki had a short sword and a katana. Misty much preferred guns, but Carly had insisted on live steel. Aki didn't care either which way, and neither did Yusei. They both had been required to use both on many different missions. He checked the clock, and figured that they would probably be down there for about an hour. He glanced behind him, and still seeing no one occupying the chairs scattered about the balcony, he closed the door that allowed access to the balcony. In anyone did come in here, they wouldn't argue with him just leave. His position offered him some creature comforts, thankfully, and the ability to make people not want to disturb him was the one he used most often.

He sat down in one of the seats, closed his eyes, and tilted his head back. He groaned and rubbed his hands over his face, feeling the rough calluses of his fingers and palms catch in his skin and what little stubble he had. He was just so damn tired. The rhythmic pounding of the blades from down below, and the feeling of not standing on his weary feet lulled him into a comfortable sleep.

He woke a while later, to find someone else in the balcony. Discreetly, not moving much to show the person that he was awake, he checked the time. It had only been about forty five minutes. He felt refreshed, and he also felt alert. Even if he had been sleeping, he should have been able to sense another person's presence.

"Yusei," he stilled as the person spoke. He now realized what he had missed before. The man before him was Kiryu. "I know you're awake. Might as well join me." He stood against the railing, watching the people training below. He shot a grin over his shoulder, and beckoned slightly with his free hand. The other was clenched around the railing.

"How long have you been there, Kiryu?" Yusei asked coldly, coming abreast with him, but maintaining at least two feets distance. That gave him enough room to draw one of the four daggers he currently held on his person, slit his throat, and throw him over the railing if needed. Kiryu turned back to the sight below him. The flash of steel and the ringing sound of the swords meeting swords made Yusei's blood race, and the distance echo of the gun range flashed into ears, making his hand twitch.

Aki was right, he was getting really jumpy. They both needed to get out into the field. He glanced at Kiryu, feeling just for a second jealous that he was a solo agent. While Yusei could still work solo ops, he was usually with Aki. Kiryu, however, was free for any single op, single or otherwise. He felt guilty soon however, when he remembered who his partner was and how they interacted. They both meshed well together, and Yusei couldn't really imagine doing this without her. "Only about twenty minutes."

"I knew you liked me," Yusei said wryly, trying to distract him. He was starting to feel uncomfortable with the way his eyes never moved from the training ground. "But really, this is just over the top. Even for you." He followed his line of sight, and noticed with a plunging feeling in his stomach, that his eye was trained on the corner where Aki was going two against one, with a crowd gathered around in a circle watching with baited breath.

As Aki disarmed Carly, the crowd giving a gasp of shock when Carly jumped on her back while Misty tried to wrench her swords from her, Kiryu answered back. "I'm not here for you."

"She's my partner, Kiryu. Watch it." Yusei said coldly, hands going towards his daggers instantaneously. He was talking about Aki; otherwise he would have never come near him. Kiryu was baiting him. If he wanted to watch Carly, he would have gone and bothered Jack who was in the balcony across from them.

"Well, technically, she's the Agency's agent before she's your partner."

Yusei slammed Kiryu again the nearest wall. He felt the fear that came whenever he felt his partner was threatened. He perceived Kiryu a threat to Aki, and he was going to make sure that the threat was eliminated. "She is mine." Yusei hissed, as his grip tightened, and his fingers sought Kiryu's throat. "Watch yourself, Kiryu." He barked. "I wouldn't say another word, if I were you."

"Yours?" His mouth was right next to Yusei's ear, and he was all but whispering. "I wonder where that came from. One has to wonder, is she really yours? I hear footsteps at night, and whispers. Oh yes, I do." Kiryu's eyes met his, and they were wide with childlike innocence. This was the reason why Yusei had been driven away from Kiryu. He was troubled; mood swings, violent mood swings, and unnatural stabs of feeling that didn't belong to him. He was a walking time bomb, and Yusei just didn't feel safe around him. "I wonder why is it that we never heard your bird sing. I know she has a lovely voice." He drawled, his voice suddenly pitched low.

Insane the man may be, but he was a genius insane. Aki didn't like speaking in front of people, a trait that was left over from her past. She only talked with him and those closest to him. Yusei spoke when they were with other people, something that had naturally developed when Yusei saw that his partner was uncomfortable with it. "I would love," the way he said the word, rolling it around his mouth like it was a delicious piece of candy, made Yusei want to throw up. "To hear your bird sing."

He threw Yusei a smirk, one that said quite plainly that he thought he had won. He slipped from Yusei's grasp, tenderly unwinding his fingers from his shirt. He slid across the wall, and out the door chuckling darkly. Yusei let him go, more focused on controling his anger, and try to stop the tremors of rage running up and down his body.

Kiryu's words rang in Yusei's ears just as much as ringing of Aki's sword as she threw both Misty and Carly back into the crowd of spectators, winning the duel. Yusei shivered, the fear clogging his throat, and binding his body's movements. He was going to have to watch her all the more now, yes he would.

He would die before his partner ever saw any sort of pain. Especially from Kiryu. She was his. His partner, his friend, and he would be damned if his former friend did anything to ruin what they had. He stepped back towards the railing. Aki was scanning the balconies, and her eyes finally settled on his. She gave a small grin, and he didn't answer it. Their look lasted another few seconds, him with no emotion present in his eyes while Aki's held newly found worry, before Aki was swallowed up by the crowd, giving her congratulations. She looked for him again, but he was gone.

The sinking feeling in her stomach told her that something big had just happened, and that she was completely out of the loop.

Too out of character? Damn... Yusei is hard to write. He is to monotonus, that its hard to pin down what his most likely to do. And then Kiryu... Well, he's madder than the Mad Hatter. Another entry for Couple Boost. And... anywhat, do as one usually does: read, review (please!), and give critism where necessary. Be that in the grammatical department or the OOC-ness department. Hope you enjoy.