AN: First Weiß Kreuz story, I hope that everyone will like it. Feedbacks are welcome of course ^_^
Prologue: Secret Admirer
It was not an unusual scene. Four handsome young men who were known as the most popular florists in Tokyo, gathered together in a small basement, that normally served as their mission room. After the last battle with Schwarz, there hasn't been anything more exciting except for the typical data retrieval missions. But that was not the reason these four florist by day, assassins by night young men were gather here for.
It all started when gifts from a mysterious admirer began to pile up in front of Koneko no Sumi le's cash register for a certain red head.
Right now the said gifts were sitting on the coffee table, while the four young men tried to find out who sent them to their quiet leader.
"Well, the most logical person would be Sakura-san, she's always bringing little things for Aya-kun," Omi thought out loud.
"Little things Omi. Trust me on things like this, it can't possibly be that little love sick girl," the experienced play boy smirked, his cigarette dangling in one hand as he lectured. "Little high school girls go for the homemade cookies, not Rolex, Belgium chocolates, and roses."
"It can be Manx," Ken put in as everyone gave him a strange look, which made him immediate explain. "Well, she's the only other woman besides Aya-chan and Sakura-san, whom Aya doesn't glare and yell at. I mean, who else can it be?"
The comment made the playboy chuckle. "Kenken, are you sure that you didn't get hit by your soccer ball one too many times? How should I put this? Manx… is like a female version of Aya." Yohji grinned despite the shi-ne glare that was sent his way by a certain red head swordsman. "All she thinks about are missions."
"Just because you never caught her attention doesn't mean that she's blind when it comes to the rest of us Yohji," Ken quickly jumped at the chance of making fun of the blond's proudest abilities.
"Well said Ken," a familiar female voice added as the door opened, and Manx walked in, carrying another wrapped box. "Another gift for you Aya. I found it outside."
"Is there a mission?" Aya spoke up for the first time getting up from the couch to move to his usual corner during mission briefing time.
"I don't always bring bad news," Manx said as she push him back into the couch. "Just came by to tell you that Kritiker decided to give all of you a short vacation, since nothing big has happened after Estet fell.
A cheer went up from both Ken and Omi. For the two younger assassins, it meant more time to play soccer with the kids and more time to study and surf the internet for other stuff besides missions. Vacation or no vacation didn't make that big of a difference in the playboy's life. After all, when did Yohji ever let something as insignificant as a mission get in the way of his flings and clubbing habits? But it would be nice to be bruise free for once. To Aya however, a short rest from missions meant more time to relax and watch over Aya-chan.
Ever since his sister woke up, he had sent her right away to one of the most prestigious all girls boarding school in Tokyo. Not that he didn't trust Aya-chan with his secret, but it was better for his imouto not to know about his real job.
Giving a curt nod to Manx, the red head got up from the couch, before remembering his gifts still sitting on the coffee table. Giving each a glare, he tossed the Rolex at Yohji, shoved the roses into Manx's arms, and handed the box of chocolates to Omi. As much as he hated to admit, the sender who was irritating, had a very nice taste, especially the Rolex, but it drove him crazy to know that someone was having fun at his expense.
"Hey! What do I get?!" an outraged Ken cried out as the goods were divided among the two other Weiß members and Manx.
Not looking over his shoulders as he walked out of the room, Aya threw his newest gift from his secret admirer, the one that Manx just brought with her, into the soccer player's lap.
The brunet grinned as he realized that the small box was still unopened.
"Open it up Ken-kun!" the youngest member of Weiß prompted eagerly, curious to see what Aya got this time.
"Whatever it is, it can't be getter than a Rolex," the playboy gloated.
"Oh yeah? Haven't you ever heard that the best gifts come in small boxes? I bet it's the keys to a new Porsche or something like that," Ken ripped off the pastel paper. Upon opening the lid, the soccer fanatic fell back into the couch with a nose bleed after just one look.
"Ken-kun!" Omi rushed up with a box of tissues to the brunet's side.
In the main while, a curious Yohji moved up from his comfortable sprawl on his side of the couch to pick up Aya's newest gift from the white silk scented with rose petals… a lacy black thong dangled from the end of a long finger, before the sound of Yohji's laughter could be heard shaking the whole Koneko Sume Ie.
~*~*~*~
Frowning slightly at the sound of Yohji's laughter that he could here even two blocks from the flower shop. After he left the basement, the red head headed up to his bedroom thinking about getting some quiet time by himself to think about the sender of all of his gifts. But not even five second after he closed his bedroom door, his peace was shattered by Yohji's laughter.
Annoyed that he couldn't even get some quiet time to himself, the red head grabbed his jacket from the closet and headed out of the shop, slamming the door as he left, loud enough to be heard from the basement.
Outside, the cold winter air managed to calm down his anger a little. Walking along the snow covered street, he didn't exactly have a place in mind until his feet unconsciously took him to the Magic Bus Hospital. Usually, whenever he had anytime, he would always visit his sister. No matter how much he hated hospitals, it was the only place where he could get some peace with all the guilt he felt after completing missions. Anything was worth it as long as it was for Aya-chan.
Thinking about his sister made the swordsman smile a little, not his usual little bitter smirk, but a genuine smile of happiness. She was now in school, but after two more weeks, she would be back to spend Christmas with him and the rest of the guys. Making a note to himself, he would have to have a little chat with Yohji to make the playboy behave if he doesn't want to have an 'accident' with Aya's katana later.
Christmas… this was going to be the first real holiday that he would celebrate after his family was torn apart. Sure Omi always made a show of celebrating everyone's birthday and some other holidays, but to the red head, the happy atmosphere always made him think back to revenge and Takatori. Looking back, even he had to admit that at some of those times he was quite the jerk to ruin the mood and all of Omi's preparations.
The display outside stores' windows caught Aya's attention, making him realize that after leaving the hospital, he was walking along one of Tokyo's busiest shopping streets. It was probably because most of the population were still at work during the morning, but the street was pretty deserted, quite to the quiet red head's liking. Usually whenever he went out, especially in the winter when everyone was buddle up in dark coats and jackets, his flaming red hair stood out like a beacon in a sea of black and white. But today there were no annoying high school girls and punks bugging him about where he dyed his hair.
Glad that he still had enough sense when he left to bring his wallet along with him, Aya entered the first store he saw when the chilly wind turned his nose almost as bright as his hair.
Gold, silver, and diamonds glittered up at him beneath glass display cases. It took the red head a few minutes under the intense lighting that he was in a high class jewellery store. He only realized his mistake a little too late as he was surrounded by sales ladies from all four directions, yelling in his ears about their latest Christmas sale. As if being swamped by high school girls during the day time wasn't enough. All of his previous frustration that was released during his cold walk was slowly coming creeping back.
Too bad all the ladies clinging to the elegant red head didn't noticed how the corners of Aya's mouth tightened, or his face became even paler as they dragged him from one showcase to another. The poor swordsman was literally counting off the second until he would explode when a small yellow object caught his attention.
Nesting in a velvet box, was a pair of earrings, not exactly unlike the ones that he wore. Except for one strand, these earrings were each made up of two strands of gold.
"Are you interested in these earrings sir?" One of the sales lady asked as she noticed that the red head stopped in front of a display case. "They are on sale right now. And let me assure you, they make the perfect Christmas gift for anyone. Very elegant and simple, it'll go with any kind of clothing and occasion."
"I'll take them."
Not even caring what the price was, all he did was to hand his credit card at the cash register, the red head picked up his gift and left as fast as possible before the crazy sales ladies could drag him around more.
That's one Christmas present down, now four more to go. If he had to go through what he just went through in the jewellery store four more times… then someone would die for sure before Christmas Eve.
Aya sighed tiredly as he walked in to a nearby café, just thinking about more holiday shopping was enough to give him a headache. Ordering some green tea, the red head made a beeline for a remote booth. He was tempted to go into any bookshop and just grabbed the nearest things on sale and wrap it up as presents. But if he did that, then he wouldn't hear the end of it from Aya-chan. The girl was a starch believer of the true Christmas spirit ever since she was little. Opening up the box, Aya looked at the earrings, since his imouto had woven up, he had insisted that she take back the earring that he was wearing in his left ear. But she was stubborn about not taking it back, saying that the look suited him, and even though he wouldn't admit it to anyone, he felt incomplete without the earring. It was the only thing that he had with him from his sister's accident, through Weiß, till now.
Finishing the last of his tea, the swordsman's thoughts came back to his most immediate problem. Who in the world would send him presents? At first, he thought that the it was just a mistake, the sender had written the wrong address, but it kept repeating, obviously whoever sent the gifts was serious. Then, the problem became more serious when the sender started to write anonymous little love messages. He had already considered the women Ken, Omi, and Yohji mentioned, and came to the same conclusion as them. Then who could it possibly be? He didn't know anyone besides Weiß and his sister, he didn't have any other relatives besides Aya-chan, and he was sure that no one could be in love with a cold blooded murder like him. Then who?
Looking up with a frown on his face, Aya waved for the waitress to bring his bill, only to have the blushing teenager telling him that another gentleman already paid for his tea.
The words made the frown deepen into a scowl. A gentleman? That was a possibility that he and the other Weiß members hadn't though of… but… that's impossible…
"Nothing is impossible."
The sound of the low, husky voice made the red head freeze and cursed at himself quietly. Thinking so hard, Aya didn't even notice that another person had slipped into the seat opposite of him. But the voice sounded familiar… a feeling of dread filled his stomach as Aya slowly looked up, right into a pair of jaded green eyes… and swore.
"Hello to you too, Abyssinian," Schuldig purred out with his ever present smirk.