Ken watched Aya walk in alone and head up to his room. He couldn't figure that man out. When the kid had been here he'd seemed to soften a little, but almost a month had passed since then and the redhead was colder than ever. Only Youji really tried to talk to him and that was usually met by an icy glare, but then, Youji's intentions weren't pure. Ken shook his head. He really was disgusted with the blonde. The way he followed Aya around and watched his ass constantly infuriated the brunette. Aya didn't need or deserve that kind of attention and it was obviously driving a wedge further between he and them. Omi sat down in his lap, startling him from his thoughts, and held up half of a cookie. "Try this." Ken ate it from the teen's fingers with a smile. He kept his face neutral as he chewed. "How is it?" Omi asked with baited breath. Ken shrugged, deciding to mess with him a little.

"Its okay." He tried not to laugh at the pout forming on Omi's face. In truth it was the best cookie he'd ever had, but he'd tell his lover that in a minute. "I know something that tastes better."

"Oh really?" Omi folded his arms. "What?"

"You." Ken grinned as the teen turned bright red. "I mean the cookie's amazing, but you, my love." He kissed Omi softly. "Are divine." Omi slipped his thin arms around the brunette's neck and melted into the kiss. Somewhere in the kitchen the timer dinged. Ken pulled away. "Your cookies-"

"Can wait." Omi snapped, grabbing his face and kissing him hard. Ken laughed. When the timer dinged a second time Omi finally pulled away and ran into the kitchen muttering about ovens and sexy boyfriends. Ken chuckled then looked up to see Aya standing at the bottom of the stairs with an odd expression on his face. Ken covered his own with his hands, knowing that Aya had probably seen and heard everything. "Now, where- Aya." Ken looked up as Omi stared at the swordsman with wide eyes and the brunette wondered idly if his face was as red as his lover's. "I…uh…want a cookie?" Omi half smiled holding up a napkin that had a couple cookies on it." Aya shook his head then turned and started up the stairs.

"Hey, Aya." Ken stood and walked to the bottom of the steps and looked up, making sure to keep his eyes on Aya's face and not his ass. He didn't need the other assassin thinking he was as perverted as Youji. "Can you, uh, not tell Youji?" Ken rubbed the back of his head. "We're kind of waiting for the right time to do it ourselves."

"If he doesn't know already than he's an idiot." Aya muttered, shaking his head. Ken frowned.

"You knew already?" Aya gave him a pained look.

"Well, you two aren't exactly subtle and my room is right next to yours." The brunette's face drained of color as Aya turned and disappeared up the stairs. He turned to Omi, who was about as pale as he was, and sank to the floor. He knew what Aya was insinuating and he had never felt more embarrassed in his life. He could imagine how Aya was feeling though. He'd had to listen to many of Youji's nightly escapades in the past and it was something he never wanted to do again. "Oh, and I won't tell Kudou." Ken looked up at Aya, who stood at the top step looking down at him.

"Thanks." Ken's voice cracked. As the swordsman turned Ken could have sworn he saw him smile, but then wrote it off as a trick of the light. He looked up at Omi then burst out laughing. Omi joined in a few seconds later and handed him the napkin full of cookies. Ken took it as he stood then put his arms around the teen and kissed him gently. Maybe Aya wasn't such a bad guy after all.


Youji watched Aya move about the shop. He fit into the atmosphere perfectly. His long, slender fingers worked gracefully to wrap bouquets, and Youji couldn't get enough of watching him. Everything he did, every move he made was intoxicating and Youji was bewitched. After work as the four were closing up Youji sidled up to Aya, but before he could even open his mouth Ken grabbed his arm. "Knock it off Youji." The brunette snapped. Both Aya and Youji looked at the brunette in surprise. "Leave him alone and finish your work." He slapped a broom into the blonde's open palm then walked away. Youji looked up at Aya who was walking away as well. He watched the swordsman walk into the storage room and quickly followed while Ken was distracted. He cornered Aya then grabbed him by the shoulders.

"You're driving me fucking crazy." He whispered leaning in. Aya squirmed in his grip twisting his face away. Just as Youji's lips brushed the smaller man's neck he felt something hard hit him in the head then his arm was twisted up behind his back and he was being dragged out of the storage room. He shook the black from his vision and looked behind him, but before he saw who had a hold of him he was shoved violently into the kitchen.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Youji turned to find Ken glaring up at him. "Can you seriously not tell the Aya is just not into you?"

"He'll come around." Youji pouted. Ken punched him, knocking him off his feet and onto the floor.

"You're an idiot."


Omi bit his lip as he watched Aya sink to the floor. His eyes had a frightened far off look to them. He knelt down in front of the stricken man, but didn't touch him. He'd seen this look before, once, on a woman who had just been raped by a target he and Ken had been after and when they'd tried to touch her she'd screamed and lashed out at them; so he kept his hands in his lap and waited for the older man to come back. Aya's hand was covering his neck where Youji's lips had just been and he just stared straight ahead. His eyes cleared after a couple minutes and he shook his head slightly as if to clear it. When he finally looked up at Omi his normal, neutral expression was back in place. "You ok?" Omi asked quietly. Aya nodded but remained where he was. When Ken came in his eyes lifted to the brunette, Omi saw blood on his lover's hand and gasped. "What happened?" Ken looked at his hand then shrugged.

"Its Youji's."

"Oh." Omi relaxed. "I hope you hit him really hard." Aya's brow furrowed as he looked between them. Ken squatted next to Omi.

"You ok, Aya?" He asked. His brown eyes met and held Aya's amethyst ones. The swordsman looked away first and didn't reply. Ken's jaw tightened. "Goddamn son of a bitch." He swore standing. "I'm going to kill him." He left the storage room quickly. A few seconds later there was a loud crash in the kitchen.

Aya watched Omi run out to see what was going on, then slowly rose to his feet and followed. He was shocked by what he found. Ken had Youji by the collar and was holding him down on the table. "Are you fucking blind or just a bastard Youji?" The brunette was growling.

"What are you talking about?" The older man snarled, blood gushing from his nose.

"Stop it Ken." Omi put a hand on his partner's arm. "Youji doesn't see it." Aya stared at them as Ken relaxed his grip and stepped away from Youji. The blonde struggled to his feet then froze, his eyes falling on Aya.

"What are they talking about?" Aya closed his eyes, leaning on the wall behind him. If the other two had already figured it out then he might as well come clean.

"Shido raped me." He replied quietly. "When I wouldn't give him the disc." He raised his eyes to see the look of horror on Youji's face. Neither Ken nor Omi looked surprised, just angry and disgusted; they had already figured it out after all. Youji sank down onto one of the kitchen chairs with a hand over his mouth. Aya could see the self loathing in the man's jade eyes. It was similar to what Aya saw when he looked into his reflection.

"God." Youji closed his eyes, then looked straight at Aya. "I'm sorry." He whispered. "I am so sorry." Aya's eyes widened in surprise as Youji got on his knees in front of him. "Can you ever forgive me?" Aya couldn't speak. This wasn't the way it was supposed to happen. They weren't supposed to care about him; none of them. Aya was supposed to go on with his life alone and closed off from people, that way he couldn't get hurt. He looked from Youji to Kent to Omi then back to Youji. They weren't supposed to care…he turned and fled through the side door into the alley. He could hear them calling his name, but he didn't stop, couldn't stop. It was happening again wasn't it? This was how it had happened the last time, and the time before. He was ignoring his instincts. He was letting them get close, and for what? So they could betray him like everyone else had? Or were they really sincere and the kind of people he could rely on? He just didn't know anymore. The confidence he'd had in his people reading skills had been shattered when Shido had shown his true colors. Aya shook his head suddenly the toe of his boot hit a crack in the pavement and sent him flying. He rolled down a small grassy hill, stopping just before he landed in the river. He laid there gasping for air and staring up into the night sky. After a while he sat up and lost himself in thought.


Ken carefully made his way down the hill to where Aya sat. He was supposed to call Omi when if he found the swordsman, but Ken wanted a chance to talk to Aya first. The redhead looked up as he sat down but said nothing. "I guess we weren't what you were expecting either." That earned him a shrug. Ken sighed. "Look, I know you've only been in Weiss for a few months, and I've been an ass pretty much the entire time, but-"

"-I can talk to you?" Aya finished, his eyes on the river. Ken snorted.

"Yeah." He rubbed the back of his head. "I guess that was pretty predictable, huh."

"Sincere, though." Aya replied quietly. He lifted his knees and wrapped his arms around them. Ken waited quietly. "I don't like talking about my past." The swordsman whispered burying his face in his knees and Ken had the sudden urge to wrap his arms around the man. He resisted with difficulty until he realized that Aya was shaking. He grabbed the redhead and pulled him into his chest. Aya resisted at first, but Ken held him tight. Finally the redhead broke down and Ken couldn't stop the tears that flowed from his own eyes as Aya told him in broken sobs everything that had happened. He rocked the smaller man gently as Aya clutched at his shirt sobbing continuously once the tale was complete. He stroked Aya's hair gently like he did with Omi when the teen was upset. Eventually Aya quieted and Ken let him pull away. Now he understood why the swordsman kept them all at arms length. He either couldn't or didn't want to trust them, and after what he'd been through Ken didn't blame him.

"Aya?" When he didn't get a reply he reached over and tipped the redhead's face up to look at him. "I'm not asking you to trust me, you don't even have to be my friend." He looked into those pain filled violet eyes and felt his heart break a little. "But I want you to know that I trust you, and I've got your back." Aya's eyes widened and he drew back with a look of confusion on his face.

"Why?" He asked, his voice rough.

"Honestly?" Ken shrugged. "I couldn't tell you. Its just something I feel; like an instinct." He grinned suddenly. "What, are you telling me I shouldn't trust you?" Aya frowned, his eyes narrowing slightly. Ken just laughed.

"You shouldn't trust someone on instinct." Aya stood. "That's how you get hurt." Ken stood as well.

"Its not just instinct Aya." He said soberly.

"Then why? You barely know anything about me."

"How well do you have to know someone to trust them?" Ken asked, surprising the other man yet again. "I only knew Omi a week before I trusted him."

"What about Kudou?"

"Uh…" Ken bit his lip. "It took a while to be able to trust Youji to have my back instead of watching it." Seeing Aya's shock he chuckled. "Yeah, he's a player and his taste in partner changes every few weeks, which is kind of why I haven't said anything to him until now. Omi and I both figured he'd get bored because you kept ignoring him, but it only got worse." Aya sighed running long, slender fingers through his hair. "But it took about a year of working together before I really trusted him." Ken smiled. "If he keeps bugging you after tonight just hit him or let me know and I'll hit him for you." Aya snorted, looking away a faint smile on his lips. "What I was trying to get at in the beginning was that, you don't have to trust any of us right away or at all. Trust should be earned, not just be based solely on instinct." Aya nodded after a while.

"So, how did I earn your trust?" Ken flushed as violet eyes fell on his.

"Well, you haven't told Youji about me and Omi even though you've known for a while."

"What you and Omi do together is not mine or Youji's business." Aya replied firmly.

"And you don't seem to care that we're both guys; most people would."

"So your trust in me is based on how I have reacted to you and Omi's relationship?" Aya's head cocked to the side. Ken shook his head.

"Of course not. I really started trusting you when we went after that business tycoon a few weeks ago and you saved both mine and Omi's life."

"Youji-"

"-Wasn't paying attention." Ken cut in. "He was watching instead of the hallway he was guarding, so he let those men get past him. I don't know how you figured it out, but we'd be dead right now if it weren't for you." Aya just shook his head. "So how did you know?" Ken asked.

"I had one of their radios." Aya replied with a shrug. "I had taken it off one of the guards I'd killed so that I could find our target. I was three floors above you when I heard them say they were closing in on your location." Ken's eyes widened.

"You were right at the target." Aya shrugged again looking off towards the river. "You came all the way back just to save our asses?" Aya shifted uncomfortably. "Why?" Ken's phone rang, before Aya could reply. Ken looked at the number and sighed before answering it.

"Did you find him?" Omi asked worriedly.

"Yeah." His lover breathed a sigh of relief. "We'll head back soon."

"Ok." Omi replied then hesitated. "I love you." Ken smiled.

"I love you too Omi." He hung up and looked up to find Aya watching him. He blushed, looking away.

"How long have you two been…" He trailed off. "Never mind." He shook his head. "Its none of my business." Ken chuckled.

"Omi and I got together about a year ago." He replied. "On an overseas trip." Aya met his eyes, surprised by the honesty. Ken smiled again. "How about we head back, Omi's worried about you." The swordsman nodded and together they walked up the hill. As they were walking five men stepped out of an alley directly in their path. The leader grinned, leering at Aya.

"Wanna ditch your boyfriend and-" He never got to finish. Aya's foot connected with his stomach knocking the wind out of him. Ken's eyebrows raised seeing the redhead's hands in his pockets. The man fell to the ground vomiting.

"I wish you idiots could come up with something I haven't heard before." The swordsman sighed stepping back.

"Get him." The fallen man groaned. Ken stood back and watched in amazement as Aya took all four men out while still keeping his hands tucked in his pockets. The leader struggled to his feet and Aya took him down with a spinning kick to the side of his head. Ken laughed as Aya stepped over them and kept walking.

"This happen to you often?" He asked when he caught up. Aya shrugged.

"Since I was a kid, yeah." He replied quietly. "Its why I learned martial arts." Ken chuckled.

"So that's why you're so good." He glanced at Aya. He was really starting to like the quiet redhead.