Disclaimer: I do not own Ai no Kusabi or any of its franchise. Only the story and original characters belong to me.

Rated NC-17 for sexual and language content

Boys Love, Don't Hate

I actually had most of this done last week, but because of work, personal life, and an awesome road trip to the mountains near Sichuan Province. I will post pictures on my livejournal account as soon as I can. Otherwise enjoy the side story...

Katze's Wings Part 2

Katze opened his eyes, the blinding light from the window above burning brightly that he covered his eyes. He turned his head away from the window looking about the room in a daze till he settled on someone sitting in a chair, chin on hands as she leaned forward with a silly grin.

"Finally you're awake. Master Ken thought you would sleep till dawn," the girl said bubbly as her light blue curls bounced accenting her bright sparkling green eyes.

"Maggie?" Katze asked confused. She was supposed to be living with a poison master and the few other students learning from her. He hadn't seen Maggie in seven months and she was not due to return for a while yet.

"Yup. I finally finished my courses and just returned about an hour ago. I was so excited to come see you that I came straight here," she said her bouncy way that made Katze want to smile like a lunatic. She had always been that way, even after the group had been caught by Prince Iason. Upon being caught, he had given them a choice, a home and trades as spies or work farms. Katze himself faced the death penalty, so they all entered Prince Iason's service and not a one had regretted it.

"So you finished learning everything. Ahead of schedule right, if I remember the teachers were not expecting you to finish the course for another two months," he said as he slowly sat up. His body ached and he was light headed. As if on a hidden cue she stood and went to the communal table where there was a tray with a single cup.

"Yup, here. By the way, you should really stop doing this. You do have limits and if you keep doing this you might not wake up one day. Magical exhaustion is not something I can cure," she said warily as he took the pre-offered cup and tasted it making a bitter face.

"Ha-ha, drink it. It's not poisoned, if it was you would never know that it was," she said watching him, her humor never missing a beat. Katze laughed before drinking it, ignoring the vile taste.

"Good," she took the cup and turned back to the table and put the cup on the tray, "you should be hungry. Even when we were young, after you had used your magic you were always hungry," she said turning back to him a smile on her lips and hands on her hips. He looked at her slightly confused but waved it off, Maggie was smart and although he rarely showed his powers to his oldest friends, she was smart and since learning his abilities understood his problems.

"So, what are you doing now? Learning or waiting for deployment?" Katze asked getting out of the bed. Maggie handed him his shirt, which had been left hanging on the chair she had occupied and pulled it on.

"Deployment. I am told our patron has a special assignment for me. It would be a great honor to receive it directly from him," she said sighing.

Katze nodded as he laced his boots, remember the day their patron had captured him. Instead of being handed to the executioner, he and his band of street urchins were given a food, home, training, and a purpose beyond looking for their next payday. As the oldest, everyone else looked to him, but it seemed he would be the last to be assigned somewhere in the crown prince's spy network.

"So where do you wish to go?" he asked tying a knot and standing weakly from the bed. Maggie came and clutched his arm and guided him from his shared room to the corridor.

"Oh, with my ancestry, I would wish to be sent to the Emerald Isles. Work my way up from there, after all. I am sure his highness wants someone close to emperor eventually," she said laughing, he nodded as he remembered that she told him that her father had been a sailor.

"Well, hope and you may receive, but then again, you just told me so it is unlikely," Katze said sadly, though he still smiled.

"Don't worry. I am sure you will be great, our teachers just want you to make sure you are your best before assigning you to a task," she said making him look at her, raising an eyebrow.

"You're right. They want to give me the task best suited for my abilities," he said watching her.

"Yes, after all. Who else can whip up a wind storm to finish off an opponent or catch someone with the air but you," she said smiling.

"Who are you?" Katze said shaking off the arm.

"Katze, what are you talking about? It's me Maggie," she smiled sweetly.

"Maggie doesn't praise me like that, she is always saying that I was so lucky to be born with powers, so who are you?" he asked looking at the green eyes that belonged to this person with his friends face.

"Ah, I guess I messed up then," a richer voice said. Maggie raised her hand to her face and wiped off Maggie's face revealing an older woman with yellow eyes, dark skin and black curly hair. She seemed to grow a few inches taller, straining the loose shirt.

"Who are you Kaonashi?" Katze asked stepping back.

"Can't you guess?" she said laughing.

"You are here to test me," he said looking at her.

"So far, you are doing well. Most candidates go through dinner before realizing that I am not their friend or confidant," she smiled.

"So I my guess is that I just passed a test. Though for what?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. A bell rang making the Kaonashi frown.

"What is it?" he asked recognizing the dinner bell.

"They were serving catfish today. Now it won't be hot by the time we get to the hall," she pouted and began walking ignoring him.

"You must not be stationed here often. Catfish is served three to four times a week," Katze said smiling, having learned something.

"No, I am a regular trainer. I just really like catfish," she said leaving him stunned.

"Wait, then who are you? I don't recognize you," he said searching his memory for this woman and not recalling a single instance. She turned and smiled before her face shifted to a boy with freckles, another with a scar above his gray eyes, and an aged old man he recognized as a code master. His jaw dropped as she returned to the woman's face smiling again.

"Master Julian?" he said remember being smack on the head by the master many times over.

"Yes, but I prefer Master Julie with this face," she said turning back around. Katze followed her in a daze, head reeling as he thought of the times he had seen or not seen those people and then wondered how many other people he knew that she had possibly played.

They reached the cafeteria and several heads turned towards them. Many of the teenage boys stared at Master Julie like they had never seen a woman before. Then glared at Katze who followed behind, but he ignored them and he received his own plate of catfish and followed Master Julie to an empty seat.

Katze sat across from her as she happily began to eat. Although he knew he should be starving, he couldn't help pushing the fish around his plate. He watched as she devoured hers and then ate his portion too. Several of the trainees came by trying to talk to Master Julie. She talked to them politely, giving her name 'Julie'. Some of them gave Katze a death glare.

Suddenly he saw a glint out of the corner of his eye. A knife in a swarm of bodies, Katze glanced at Master Julie, her focus was the other direction. The knife was in the hand of a girl recently come to the training school. Master Julie was deep in conversation she did not see the knife.

Without thinking, Katze stood and vaulted the table knocking bodies out of the way. He heard curses but he did not care, his focus was on the blade in the girl's hand. He intercepted it, grasping her wrist and pulling her arm behind her in one smooth movement. He pushed her to the table beside Master Julie detaching the knife from her hand.

Then Katze realized the room was silent, all eyes were on him and the girl who struggled against him.

"Let me kill her. She killed my parents, let me get revenge on them," she cried out. No one dared move.

"Why would she want to kill your parents?" Katze asked looking at Master Julie in confusion.

"Because she is not Amoin and hates us all. She would want to see us all burn in the depths, someone stop her before she kills us all," the girl was stark raving mad shouting obscenities. Master Julie nodded to Master Ken who sat with a few of the other instructors, he came over and took her away.

Katze was left standing next to Master Julie in a daze as the girl was dragged from the hall.

"Great job Katze, you have officially passed. Now go get some rest," Master Julie said and left after Master Ken, her strides long and purposeful, her cheery demeanor left behind.

"Hey Katze, who was that woman?" "She acts like she knows you," "What did she mean, 'you pass'?" all these questions battered Katze who shrugged them off and went back to his room. He fell into is bed, the setting sun dipping below the mountains.

Katze had never felt so awake, yet was not sure if he was dreaming or not. He heard voices outside the door as other trainees went to their own rooms to do work. It was the time in the evening that they were to devote to practicing codes, writing, or anything else they needed to practice. Katze's roommates generally went to the courts to practice hand to hand combat under a watchful eye of an older student. Katze generally took the time to meditate and explore his powers, trying to learn his limits.

The room went dark and Katze did not get up to light a lamp, preferring to lie in the dark. There was a knock on the door but Katze did not get up. The knock came again, but after another few minutes Katze heard the sound of paper slid under the door and the retreating steps of the messenger. He continued to lie there going over what Master Julie said, "officially passed," passed what? He did not expect to graduate for another two years. His abilities were still far out of control and he had failed the coding exams two weeks prior.

The late bell rang and Katze turned his head as his roommates came in laughing, but quieted when they turned on the lamp and saw Katze apparently asleep on his bed. He heard them shuffle and then a gasp as his roommate Tomlin noticed the paper on the ground.

Katze heard him open it and read it. There was a long silence before he heard Tomlin came over and gently shook him.

"Hey Katze! Katze! Wake up! You have to go see Master Julien right now! It says you have graduated," Tomlin said excitedly. Katze rolled over slightly eyes wide looking at Tomlin.

"What? I graduated?" he said sitting up and taking the note reading for himself.

Katze Windage

You have officially been approved for graduation. Please report to Master Julien by midnight to receive further instruction.

Master Ken

Shaking Katze reread the note in disbelief.

"Hey, you have to go. Before they call the rest bell, you have maybe ten minutes. Go!" Tomlin said excited. His other roommate shrugged by his own bed, a younger boy by a year. Standing Katze got up and went into the corridor.

He went down the hall and up the steps to the teacher's hall. He had rarely come here, but knew all the teacher's rooms. He followed the hall till he came to Master Julien's rooms, he knocked. Holding his breath he waited and then the door opened inward.

Katze entered and saw Master Julie sitting by the fire in a conversation with someone. When she saw Katze she beckoned him in the door closing behind him.

"So what do you think of our agents thus far?" she asked her companion.

"They seem to be doing well. I will report to his highness the excellent job you have done," the companion spoke, Katze gauged him to be a man only a little older than him.

"Well tell his highness that we appreciate the new recruits. Also, tell him about the other matter master Darryl," she said as Katze came around and stood before them.

"I will tell him of your desire, but I am afraid he is rather resolute on his position. So this is the graduate?" he said standing and coming to inspect Katze.

"Yes, Katze Windmage. Fifteen years old and one of the best students to have ever come to this school. I am sure that his highness will be happy to have him," Master Julie said as Karryl inspected him. Katze his shock beneath a blank face, he knew this was another test of his suitability. He might have graduated on paper but for deployment was based on how he reacted right here and now.

"Hmm, how long have you been studying?" Darryl asked.

"Three years, Master," Katze said.

"What courses of study?" he asked.

"Combat: hand to hand, sword, archery; Defense of other persons; code breaking; infiltration; and…" he paused not sure if he was allowed to say this last part. Although he had been trained in his magic, it was technically a death sentence to prove you could use it.

"… He has been one of Master Ken's most promising students. His magic can be undetectable and he has shown great control over its usage. I would recommend Katze to be a body guard and personal spy," Master Julie finished for Katze.

"And today's test?" he asked.

"He detected who I was a full ten minutes before other candidates do. And he intercepted the assassin with no difficulties. There were several teachers to witness," she said.

Darryl walked around Katze once more making Katze sweat and wish to swallow. It seemed an eternity before Darryl made another sound.

"How long till you can have your bags packed?" He asked and Katze blinked in surprised confusion.

"As soon as you need my lord," Katze responded. He had learned long ago that they needed no possessions and that things like that could get in the way. The only things he kept were kept in a little leather wallet tucked in his tunic.

"Good, we ride to Midas on the morrow. I will present you to your master when we arrive in a few days. You are dismissed," he said and Katze bowed and left. He sighed as he realized that the final test was over and he was riding to Midas to be a noble's bodyguard and Prince Iason's spy.