Part five of Hoshiko's (late) birthday present. Almost done, star kid! _

~silvershadeus~

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

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The Little Things - Part 5

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Ken had no idea how things had come to this. Honestly, he didn't. He'd simply gotten up to grab something to drink from the fridge during the commercial break, fully intending to go back to watch the rest of the movie. Somehow, he'd wound up sitting across from Yohji at the kitchen table, embroiled in a game of chance, the TV blaring in the background, almost certainly mocking him.

"Got any twos?"

Glancing down the cards in his hand, Ken felt a certain degree of satisfaction mingled with a touch of smugness.

"Go fish."

Swearing, Yohji threw his hand on the table, green eyes narrowed in frustration. Watching him, Ken couldn't help but smirk. And then smirk some more when Yohji looked at him suspiciously.

"Ken...I'm bored."

Fighting to keep from laughing at the pathetically dejected look on Yohji's face, Ken suddenly realized why he'd caved in earlier. It was sad that Yohji had been playing blackjack - by himself - but far sadder had been the 'kicked puppy' look that had been on his face when he'd turned to look at Ken. He suspected that Yohji had been taking lessons from Omi, to master that particular expression so well.

He was about to suggest that Yohji go find something to do himself, when he ran the older man's words back through his mind. Coupled with the fact that Yohji had been dejected and morose when he hadn't been snapping at anything Ken had to say, he heard the underlying meaning in his words.

It must have been easier for Yohji to admit to being bored than it was for him to admit to being lonely. Which he undoubtedly was, judging from his behavior in the last few days. Ken felt bad for him, he missed Aya and Omi as well, but Yohji was taking their absences far worse than he was. It was...strange.

"Yohji..."

Ken stopped as Yohji turned listless eyes to him, all but screaming his deep, almost heartbreaking sense of loneliness. It hurt, to see someone like Yohji looking like that.

"Grab your coat."

Blinking, Yohji sat up in his chair, watching as Ken got to his feet, heading towards the living room to turn the TV off.

"I said grab your coat. I never thought I'd have to say this to you, but you need to get out once in a while. You aren't doing anyone any good moping around like a lovesick puppy."

Ken smiled to himself as he saw anger spark in Yohji's eyes, his mouth tightening to a thin line as he glared at the younger man.

"Up! On your feet, Kudou. We've got things to do." Ken barked, grinning to himself when Yohji staggered to his feet without his usual grace.

"Don't 'Kudou' me, Hidaka. I'm not going anywhere." Yohji growled, green eyes narrowed. "And you're idea of fun is to check out the new sports stuff at the mall. Nothing doing."

Ken smirked again, letting it show this time. He was the only one who could get under Yohji's skin like that, and he loved doing it. It more than made up for all the times Yohji teased him.

"You just said you were bored. Wouldn't you rather go out and be bored that stay here and be bored?

Yohji seemed to consider it for a moment, eyes sliding to the left and down. Ken waited, crossing his arms and smiling patiently.

"No."

Sighing, Ken crossed the distance separating them and snagged Yohji's arm, dragging older man after him.

"Too bad. You're coming with me. I'm not going to sit here all night long playing card games with you while listening to you complain." Ken replied, easily avoiding Yohji's flailing fists.

Realizing that he wasn't going to get out of going with Ken, Yohji gave up resisting, sagging a little in Ken's hold. For his part, Ken simply readjusted his grip on his arm.

"So you'd rather I complained in public?"

Ken paused, turning to look at Yohji with a nasty little smile.

"Go ahead, feel free to. I don't care that that would ruin your reputation as a mature ladies man, Yohji."

Scowling, Yohji straightened, jerking his arm free of Ken's.

"Bastard."
Ken grinned, dark eyes filled with amusement.

"Shut up and go get your coat, you'll thank me later for dragging your sorry but out of here."

Grumbling darkly under his breath, Yohji did as he was told, feeling oddly like a petulant child, and not particularly caring at the moment.

*********

"Ken?"

Looking over at Yohji, Ken couldn't help but smile at the look on the older man's face. Somewhere between amused and annoyed.

"What is it, Yohji?"

"What are we doing here?"

"Well, this is a grocery store. You figure it out."

Glaring, Yohji resisted the urge to do something incredibly childish and immature such as sticking his tongue out at Ken. Although he felt the situation warranted it, he doubted it would help his image as the suave ladies man. Despite the fact that he wasn't looking for any female companions that might come his way with Omi to snuggle up to at night.

"That was almost clever, Kenken. Why did you drag me out to the store with you? Surely you could have handled this all by yourself?"

Ignoring the sarcasm all but dripping from Yohji's voice, Ken grinned over his shoulder at him.

"Quite complaining, Yohji. It's unmanly of you. And besides, we're here to help the less fortunate."

Lifting an eyebrow, Yohji poked through the items in the basket Ken had insisted he carry. Pushing aside the pocky and rice candy, he found little proof to back up Ken's claim. He seriously doubted the 'less fortunate' would find reading sports magazines helpful to their situation. He said as much, earning him another grin from Ken.

"If you must know, I'm doing this as a favor to Omi. I almost forgot, but that pathetic look on your face earlier reminded me."

Obviously unaware of the affect his words had had on Yohji, Ken continued down the aisle, unaware of the glare directed at him.

"Before he left on his school trip he asked me to put some food and water out for the stray cats that live in the alley behind the shop." Ken explained, stopping to examine the different brands of cat food on the shelf before him. "He would have asked you, I'm sure, but you were out like a light, and he had to leave. And besides, you would have forgotten to anyway, he knows how you get when he's not around."

Feeling a little hurt that Omi had asked Ken instead of him for that little favor, Yohji had to admit that it made sense. One corner of his mouth twitched upwards in a rueful smile. Omi really did know him too well at times.

"So what's with the rest of this stuff?"

Ken shrugged, finally settling on a bag of cat food. Placing it in the basket Yohji was holding, he smiled a little sheepishly.

"Just stuff I wanted to get earlier when I went out this afternoon but forgot to buy."

"Pocky?"

Ken shrugged helplessly.

"Omi got me hooked on the stuff a while back when I was helping him study for his exams. What can I say? It's good."

"Fine, fine. Whatever. Are we ready to go now?"

"Yeah. Oh, by the way, you're helping me feed the little monsters." Ken added, leading the way to the checkout cahiers, "I'll never know how Omi does it by himself because it is most certainly not a one man job."

Snorting, Yohji followed Ken, muttering darkly to himself all the while. As if feeding a bunch of cats was all that hard.

*********

Staring at the veritable horde of cats crowding eagerly around the backdoor of the flower shop, Yohji finally thought he understood what Ken had meant earlier. It was difficult enough wading through the scrawny, dirty bodies that blocked the way to the small area Omi had cleared away to place several dishes. Yohji couldn't imagine how Omi managed to do that and place the food in the dishes without being smothered by the starving cats currently yowling for attention.

"And he does this every night?" He asked incredulously, wincing as a particularly persistent cat sank a claw into his leg as it pawed at him for attention.

Ken didn't look over at him, so intently was he concentrating on making his way through the mass of furry bodies without stepping on a paw or tail, or spilling the food dishes in his hands.

"Twice a day, actually. They're probably hungrier now because I forgot to put food out his morning. Don't worry, they're harmless...for the most part."

Shaking his head in silent wonder, Yohji concentrated on setting the last of the food bowls down, stepping well out of the way as the cats rushed in. Moving back to the relative safety the doorway offered, he smiled as Ken stumbled over a half-grown kitten twining about his ankles.

"Enthusiastic little things aren't they."

Ken nodded, a smile forming on his face as he the feeding frenzy eventually wound down, individual cats beginning to wander away to bathe themselves and digest their food.

"Friendly too."

Blinking, Yohji looked over at him, and started when he felt a light pressure against his calf. Looking down, he saw a pair of amber-gold eyes peering up at him out of a triangular shaped face.

He was completely undone when the cat uttered a sweet little cry, begging to be petted. Grumbling to himself, Yohji knelt and scratched the cat behind its ears, delighted when the amber eyes slitted in pleasure, a deep purr rumbling through its slight frame.

Amazed that such a little thing as having a cat purring at him should make him feel so happy, Yohji smiled, obliging the cat as it lifted its chin by scratching gently. It was no wonder Omi fed these cats, if this was what he got in return. Although Yohji knew the younger blonde would have continued to feed them even if they snarled at him the whole time.

Running his fingers through the dirty fur, Yohji barely noticed when Ken left him alone with the cats, some of which were beginning to get curious about the new addition to their ragtag group. Laughing a little as they pressed against him seeking attention, Yohji failed to notice the sound of unsteady footsteps drawing nearer.

Reaching forward to scratch a gray tabby under its chin, Yohji jerked his hand back as the animal hissed, reflexively striking out at Yohji, its claws scoring three neat lines on his hand. Cradling his injured hand to his chest, Yohji eyed the cats warily, a look of realization dawning on his face as the rest of the cats growled low in warning, fur bristling, backs arched.

Yohji whirled, green eyes widening as he caught sight of the slender form leaning heavily against he rough stone of the Koneko.

"Aya?"

The redhead took another stumbling step forward, one arm held protectively to his torso.

Rushing forward, Yohji yelled for Ken as Aya collapsed, sending the last of the cats running as they smelled blood and death on the intruder. Dropping to his knees beside Aya, Yohji paled as he turned the redhead over and saw the blood coating his hand, staining his clothes.

"It's going to be all right, Aya. We'll take care of you, don't worry." Yohji babbled, on the verge of panic.

Aya opened his eyes when he felt Yohji's hand on his forehead, smoothing away hair that was plastered to his skin by sweat and blood.

"...Omi?"

"No, it's me, Yohji. Aya, what happened? Aya?"

Aya shook his head, a look of irritation and anger crossing his face.

"Mission..." He gritted out, obviously fighting to stay conscious. "...Manx...call her..."

Yohji's eyes widened, his grip on Aya's shoulders tightening as the redhead's eyes closed, his body slumping in Yohji's arms.

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TBC...

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A/N: Hmmmm...it turned out differently than I'd planned, but them's the breaks, I guess.