This is a (late) birthday present for Hoshiko, for all the things she's done for me in the past, and for all the things I know she'll wind up doing for me in the future. The best sister I never had. Love you, star kid.

~silvershadeus~

Disclaimer: I do not own Weiß Kreuz, I'm just borrowing the characters for a bit.

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The Little Things - Part 1

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It was the little things that made a difference. The things that he took for granted, that he had assumed would always be there...until now.

The way there would always be a fresh spray of flowers in the chipped vase on his bedside table every morning. The way there would always be a note tucked into a small envelope held in place by that vase. The way the note would be signed 'Love, Omi.'

It was the little things that had made everything worthwhile. The little things that had made all the difference in his life, and he'd never realized.

It made the fact that there wouldn't be any fresh flowers appearing in that vase as though by magic all the more painful. It made him realize that he wasn't going to find any handwritten notes that overflowed with love and affection waiting for him that morning. It made everything seem...less alive, somehow. Less real.

Sighing, Yohji tore his gaze away from the empty vase and rubbed his eyes wearily. It had been a long night, and it promised to be an even longer day. He had the morning shift with Ken, as Aya had vanished the day before with a curt 'I'll be back on Thursday.' And as for Omi...well, he was better off just not thinking about it.

There had been speculation on Aya's destination of course, but deep down they knew where he was going. It was the time of year when the memories seemed clearer, the pain sharper. The time of year when you the skeletons in your closet clamored for release.

Shaking his head, Yohji got to his feet, grimacing at the icy shock of early winter morning floor on bare feet. He was positive he'd been wearing socks when he'd gone to bed last night... A look around his room revealed not only the missing socks, but also several days worth of dirty laundry piling up in the far corner by the dresser.

"Yohji! Are you up yet? We've got the morning shift!"

Growling under his breath, Yohji stalked towards his door and jerked it open, green eyes slitted as Ken raised his fist to knock.

"Don't push it, Kenken."

Blinking, Ken lowered his hand and studied Yohji closely, dark eyes puzzled.

"You look like shit, Yohji."

Taking a step forward, Yohji glared down at his teammate, putting all of his considerable irritation and annoyance into the look.

Shrugging, Ken tipped his head to the side and crossed his arms, eyes narrowing thoughtfully.

"What'd you do, sleep in a dumpster last night?"

Raking a hand through his hair in frustration and to keep from throttling Ken, Yohji winced as his fingers encountered a snarled tangle of hair. Green eyes sliding closed as he carefully extracted his fingers, Yohji counted slowly backwards from ten, in the hopes it would calm him down. He was certain that it would be frowned upon to kill or even slightly maim Ken simply because he was in a bad mood.

"Ken...go away. Go away and don't bother me."

Eyes snapping open as he felt the light pressure of a hand on his shoulder, Yohji found himself looking into Ken's sympathetic gaze.

"Yohji, I know it's early, but we have to do this. Are you going to face Aya when he gets back and tell him that the shop was closed the whole time because we didn't feel like it?"

Yohji felt certain sense of impending doom as Ken's words sank in. On one hand was working the morning shift with Ken, but on the other was the very real possibility of facing a very annoyed Aya.

Who would no doubt demand to know why the Koneko had been closed, and exactly who was going to pay for all the flowers that had gone unsold. And who would undoubtedly take that chunk of unsold greenery out of Yohji's own meager paycheck.

While the first option held the potential to fray the last of his nerves, if only for the fact that he would have to be awake before noon, the second was unthinkable. Aya miffed was not a good thing. Aya miffed with something pertaining to financial matters was...not pretty.

Right. There was only one choice then.

"Fine. I'll be down in ten minutes."

Cocking an eyebrow at Yohji's surly tone of voice, Ken drew his hand back as though expecting Yohji to bite it off at the elbow. He certainly looked capable of it at the moment.

"It's only been a couple of days, Yohji."

Yohji bared even white teeth in something vaguely resembling a smile, though the sentiment behind it was something altogether different.

"When I want your input, I'll be sure to ask for it, Kenken."

Snorting, Ken shook his head and turned to go.

"God but you're an ass in the morning, Yohji."

Something pricked at Yohji's conscience at Ken's words, but he easily ignored it in favor of wallowing in his own misery.

"Look, Kenken - "

"He'll be back, you know. And then what are you going to tell him?"

Seething inwardly, Yohji did the mental countdown once more, this time in English. He needed the practice anyway.

"Ken, go now. Before I decide telling Aya about that night with your soccer kids and that waitress would be a good thing."

Ken's eyes widened in horror, one hand flying to his mouth.

"You wouldn't."

Yohji grinned, revealing more teeth.

"Try me."

Ken backed up a step, unnerved by the look in Yohji's eyes as much as the wolfish expression on his face.

"You'd be implicating yourself too, Yohji!" He protested, hands fisting at his side.

Yohji's eyes narrowed.

"At this point in time I really don't care, Kenken. You know how Aya gets. Compared to that, I think I'll be getting off pretty lightly, don't you?"

The hell of it was, Ken did know how Aya was about certain things. And it was that knowledge, as well as a hefty dose of self-preservation that made his decision for him. He'd back down this once, but not without having the last word.

"That's because yours doesn't have issues, Yohji."

Yohji's smile faded a little, losing that sharp edge that had so unnerved Ken.

Maybe it was the possessive note in the way Ken had said 'yours', but Yohji couldn't help but feel that protective streak in him bristle. Maybe it was the way Ken seemed to think that Aya was the only one of them who had 'issues'. Or maybe it was too damned early in the morning and Yohji was simply in a foul mood.

"Don't forget that afternoon at the ice cream parlor, Kenken. I'm sure Aya would just love to hear all about it." Yohji said sweetly, mentally rubbing his hands together.

Oh yes, Aya would so love to hear all about little Kenken's exploits with the opposite sex while he wasn't around. Especially the ones where he was openly propositioned.

Hissing between his teeth, Ken backed up another step.

"Fine. Have it your way, Yohji. Just do me one favor first."

Yohji's eyes narrowed.

"What?"

Ken smiled, that smile of his that meant he was filing this conversation away for later. The smile that promised sweet retribution one day. The one that Yohji had learned to be wary of.

"Take a shower first. You reek of...well, you just reek."

*********

"Yohji, what are you doing?"

Clenching his teeth on the end of the unlit cigarette, Yohji concentrated on trimming the delicately shaped banzai tree on the table before him. It was one of his guilty pleasures - the banzai tree, not the cigarette. Those he had sworn off long ago.

"What does it look like, Kenken?" He returned dryly, peering closely at a lower branch of the miniature tree.

"I thought you gave those up."

Brushing away the fallen clippings, Yohji turned the pot to get a different angle, forehead furrowed in concentration.

"The banzai trees?" He asked absently, moving the clippers to his left hand as he straightened out a small branch with his right.

"No. The cigarette. I thought you gave up smoking."

Exasperation was plain in Ken's voice, as was annoyance, irritation, and frustration.

Pausing in what he was doing, Yohji looked over at the younger man, one eyebrow arched in silent inquiry.

Sighing again, Ken got to his feet and crossed the distance separating them. Reaching out, he snagged the dangling cigarette and held in front of Yohji at eye level.

"Well?"

Yohji blinked.

"Where did that come from?"

Ken just stared at him.

"Kenken?"

"You honestly don't know?"

Yohji shrugged, lifting one hand to brush a lock of hair that fallen over his eyes behind one ear.

"Well it's not like the nicotine fairy brought it, Kenken. It must have been reflex. I haven't lit one of those for over a month now."

Snapping the cigarette in two in his hand, Ken gave Yohji an odd look.

"Reflex?"

Turning back to his banzai tree, Yohji shrugged again.

"Yeah, you know. Reflex. An involuntary response to a stimulus?" He muttered, poking gently at the banzai tree with one finger.

Flinging the remains of the cigarette into the trashcan beside the table Yohji was working on, Ken leaned back against the counter opposite it.

"I know what a reflex is, Yohji. What I want to know is how was that a reflex?"

"You've never been addicted to anything, have you, Kenken?" Yohji asked, getting up to set the banzai tree in the back room.

Wondering what that had to do with anything, Ken shook his head, forgetting that Yohji couldn't see it.

"When you're addicted, you're always looking for that next fix. You're always looking for a way so that you don't have to come off of whatever high you're on."

Turning to watch Yohji as the older man stepped out of the back room, Ken watched curiously as Yohji dug into the front pocket of his work apron.

"So you start leaving stashes around. A little bit here, a little bit there. You always leave them in places you know you'll be for a while. The living room. The kitchen. Even where you work." Yohji finished, pulling a half-empty pack of cigarettes from his apron's pocket.

Ken stared.

"You smoked in the shop?"

The words 'And Omi didn't kill you for it?' went unspoken.

There was no possible way Yohji could have lit one of his cigarettes in the shop without Omi knowing. And if Omi knew Yohji had been smoking in the shop...

Ken shuddered at the thought.

Yohji had a similar horrified look on his face.

"What, do you think I'm stupid? Of course not. I just kept them around. It...made me feel better just having one in my mouth, even if I couldn't smoke it."

There was something in the way he said that that niggled at Ken's mind. There had been a note of...almost loneliness and longing in his voice. Sadness.

"Like now?" He asked, a small smile playing on his lips.

Yohji nodded, turning the pack of cigarettes over in his hands.

"Yeah. Like now."

Shaking his head, Ken pushed off from the counter and walked past Yohji on his way to the cash register as he saw customers crowding the windows of the shop.

"He is coming back, you know, Yohji. It's just a few days."

Tossing the cigarettes away, Yohji nodded, checking to see that his apron was tied securely before he headed towards the shop's door.

"I know, I know...it's just so...quiet without him here." Yohji said, wincing even as the words left his mouth.

It hadn't quite been what he'd wanted to say. 'Quiet' hardly began to describe the way things were without Omi around. Everything was just...different without the younger blonde there. And despite what others might think, Yohji was a creature of habit, and he hated having his daily life disturbed in any way.

"I know what you mean," Ken said, throwing him a sympathetic look, "But he deserves to be a normal kid every once in a while too, you know. Who knows? Maybe this whole experience will be a good thing for you."

Snorting, Yohji shot Ken a half-hearted glare and steeling himself for it - flipped the sign to 'Open' - thereby signaling the first wave of schoolgirl/rabid hormone-crazed-teenage girls-posing-as-customers rush of the day.

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TBC...

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