-1Chapter 11

"Aya, you haven't said a word," Yohji's words cut through his reverie. Aya turned to look at him. His head hurt like hell. He never should've listened to Yohji about enjoying a few drinks.

"What about?" Aya looked at the six empty beers on the table. Had he really drunk that much?

"I just kissed you a few moments ago. Did you like it? Or do you want me to piss off?" Yohji turned the chair around backwards before sitting down to face Aya. The man looked clearly puzzled by Aya's silence.

Aya turned his head away. He didn't know what to say. He had liked the kiss. But should he really let Yohji know that? Would the man take things too far if Aya said yes.

Aya finally turned back to face him only to gasp at what he saw. Yohji was covered in blood. It dripped from his beautiful honey coloured hair. His face was splashed with crimson and a red dot on his forehead. He was even dressed differently. He wore a long jacket with white crosses on the arms. There was so much blood. Aya reached out and touched Yohji's bangs, catching some of the blood. It was clearly visible, but his fingers didn't feel wet.

Aya hadn't even noticed that he was breathing hard with fear until Yohji's arms wrapped around him.

"So much blood!" Aya gasped. Even so, he leaned into Yohji's embrace. Despite the blood it felt so right to lean into Yohji's chest.

"Where do you see blood, Aya? Its alright, don't worry about…"

"You, you're tainted with blood, so much of it! Why do I see blood?" Aya whispered, half hoping Yohji wouldn't hear him.

"Its because I've had to kill someone before. You're remembering seeing me that day. But its okay, there isn't any blood here." Yohji kissed the top of his head.

"You have a red dot on your head." Aya pulled away enough to meet Yohji's normally lazy eyes.

"You saved my life. You saw the red dot and shoved me out of the way. You were shot because of me," Yohji knew he'd said this before, but he needed Aya to understand. If Aya was remembering these things he needed to explain them properly so that the man wouldn't freak out.

Aya could read his eyes easily. Yohji was hiding something from him. Something important. He pulled away so quickly that he almost fell out of his chair. Getting drunk with Yohji hadn't been a smart move on his point, he was unco-ordinated and sloppy, he couldn't stop the room from spinning as he stilled his body. And then there was his stomach. He rested his head down against the table, trying to block out the symptoms.

"You're lying to me," Aya said out loud, keeping his forehead against the table.

"Yeah, but right now its for your own good. You have to get well again before I can help you dredge up memories that I would rather you never get back. You have a new chance at life, a way out where you can decide what you should do instead of thinking its your duty to follow through with a life that has made you miserable. You have to trust me. I won't sugar coat anything that you remember. I'll help you get through it, but I can't do that if you won't trust me," Yohji reached over and slid his hand over one of Aya's.

"Why do I trust you? I don't want to, but I do. Did I trust you before?" Aya tilted his head enough to look at Yohji.

"I really don't know if you trusted anyone but yourself, if you want me to be honest. You never said anything. I didn't even know you gave a damn about any of us until you pushed me out of the way. I have to tell ya, you shocked the hell out of me when you did that. I keep playing it back in my head, and never ever can I think of what made you push me. I can picture you telling me to duck at the very most. I guess I really didn't know you at all."

Aya raised his body up enough to sit back in the chair. Suddenly he was seeing red. Looking at his hands they were drenched in blood and skin particles, like he had ripped into someone with his bare hands. Blood was dripping into his eyes and cascading down his cheeks like crimson tears.

"How long have I been tainted by blood?" Aya wiped his hands on his pants, but they were soaked in blood, too, and made of leather instead of denim. All he managed to do was smear it around.

"Aya, look at me. There is no blood!" Yohji was watching him so closely that he seemed to know exactly what Aya was trying to do.

Aya felt so lost as he looked at Yohji, wanting the man to do something, anything, to clean the blood away.

The last thing he expected was for Yohji to lean in and capture his lips again. He gasped as Yohji's tongue thrust into his mouth, tasting him. His hands slid up to Yohji's cheeks, holding him firmly in place as he tasted him. If they were both so tainted than this couldn't do any more harm. Besides, he loved the feel of Yohji's arms sliding around his waist. The only thing inbetween them was the back of Yohji's chair. If Yohji wasn't sitting on the chair backwards Aya would've straddled him, begging for his attention. He had a feeling that he had never been this open with affection for another human being. Yet here he was, panting and groaning into Yohji's mouth as the kiss became more intense.

"We're home!" Ken's voice rang out. Aya leapt back from Yohji, he could feel his face heating as he looked away.

"What have you two been doing while we were gone? Yohji didn't pick on you too much did he…what the hell! Yohji! He's injured and you got him drunk!" Ken shouted, looking like he was ready to murder Yohji.

"Hey, he was the one who was so stubborn that he spent three or four hours learning to walk again, and he walked all the way over to his sword. I thought it was a good time to celebrate! Its not like I took him to a club or anything, we just sat here drinking and talking," Yohji shrugged, grinning. Ken could get as mad as he wanted, Yohji didn't really care. He only cared that it might upset Aya.

"Aya doesn't talk much, Yohji, so you yacked his ear off this entire time? And he didn't point his sword at you?" Ken shook his head.

"What did Manx want to talk to you about?" Yohji asked with a stretch and a yawn.

"She told me to leave Aya in your care. She said you're the reason he got hurt so you're going to take care of him. I think she knew I didn't want to leave him with you."

"Oh come on, Ken, I'm not that bad. Besides, I slept through him walking, so I only spent the last half hour yacking his ear off. And this Aya does talk, so bite me."

Aya felt nauseous. Too many voices at once, and too much blood. Even Ken was covered in it. And as Omi slid into the room he was dripping as well.

"Let's get you to bed, Aya, you're looking kinda pale," Yohji helped him up from the chair, wrapping an arm around him to keep him steady.

"Ken, can you get some water? I'll take Aya to bed, but he'll need a lot of water to keep him from getting a hangover."

Water sounded gross right now, with his stomach roiling in protest. But if Yohji said it would help Aya believed him. Yohji seemed like the right person to ask about hangovers. He could see Yohji drinking himself stupid in an anonymous bar.