AN: I thought that I could finish this story before Christmas ^^;; But at
the rate that I'm going, I'd say that New Years is a more realistic goal
for me. At least I'll be finished soon, a chapter or two more ^_~
Thanks to: Quaterine Winner, S.Wing, Makoto Almasy, LilStarry, an anonymous reviewer ^^;;, Aidenn-chan, another anonymous reviewer, Pandora.81, Fiona, Rikkali, Eriol-sama, Nekojita, and Lady Gacket
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Chapter 2
"Aya-kun, we're leaving now."
The redhead sat up tensely when he heard Omi's voice through the closed door.
"Are you sure you don't want to go with us to the club?" the youngest member of Weiß asked. When Yohji said he was going to a Christmas party that night, he never expected to have an enthusiastic Omi begging to go along, even after he sat down with the Chibi and explained in detail that Illusions was not a place for innocent little kittens. And whenever there was Omi, Ken always tagged along too. The playboy had no intentions of babysitting teenagers, especially when he had a hot date with him, but one look at Omi's big blue eyes had him all mushy inside, that he couldn't have refused. Of course, the fact that Omi threatened to send all of his pictures with other women to his current date had a tiny effect too.
"I'm sure."
Omi sighed when he heard the muffled answer. He was worried about the older man. Whatever was bothering Aya was getting worse. Every time someone mentioned the words 'clubbing' and 'party' the swordsman would visibly tense. And even the oblivious Ken noticed it. Yohji commented that it was like someone had stepped on a cat's tail 24/7, that was, if Aya had a tail.
The sound of the slamming door calmed the redhead somewhat to know that he was finally alone and could think. There was only an hour left before he had to meet Schuldig. And even though he has been ready for hours, he couldn't do anything to stop the feeling of uneasiness. Especially when someone knocked on the door.
Costume, check. Hat, check. Gun, check. Shoes, check. Th. Aya blushed as he squirmed on the bed. How the hell was he supposes to last through out the whole night if he couldn't even lay still for a few seconds on the bed? And it didn't help in keeping his mind off of the German kidnapper either. As much as the Weiß redhead hated the telepath, he had to admit that Schuldig has been the only person besides Aya-chan to bring out such strong emotions from him. And not all of those emotions were hate and anger either, but rather a warm belonging feeling that he hasn't felt ever since his family was destroyed. It confused him that he would associate Schuldig in the same sentence as his family and happiness, especially since it was the German who destroyed everything in the first place. Ironic now that the person who killed his feelings was responsible for bringing them back again.
Aya sighed as he got up. He always get a headache when he thought about the past. It was better to just leave it behind and focus on the present. like how to walk in these damned red high heel boots. The red head swore under his breath as he almost tripped again. After Schuldig left the other day, he found that besides the red Mrs. Claus dress, there were also a red hat and red furry boots that were also parts of the costume. The hat wasn't that bad, it was red velvet, long and had a white ball sewn at the end, it would hid his hair. It was the boots that bothered him. Like the rest of the costume, it was red and lined with white fur at the top. But what the hell was the Schwarz thinking with the high heels? He could barely take five steps without falling, anyone would be a moron if they couldn't tell that he was a man. And that was the last thing he wanted. If Yohji found out that he was there at the club dressed up like this. lets just say that there would be one less playboy in the world, not that it was a bad thing, he would be saving the a lot of woman from heartbreaks, and others from becoming the victims of second hand smoking.
The sound of doorbells snapped the red head from his musings, and cautiously open his bedroom door and walked downstairs. There was no way he would meet anyone dressed in this get up. And there was the possibility that it was either Yohji or Omi coming back to get something. but they should have their own keys and didn't need to knock. Grabbing the broom as he past the kitchen, Aya felt silly that an assassin like him needed to depend on a broom just to open the door.
It was a good thing that no one was home to take pictures of him. or else he would be forced to murder all of his teammates. And speaking about the joy of killing, he was aching to dice Schuldig for the new stunt that the German just pulled.
Blocking the traffic on the street was a team of four horn wearing chestnut horses shaking their head at Aya, the bells on their harness and reins jingled merrily, which was attached to a red buggy, decorated especially for the Christmas season.
"Aya-san? Aya-san?" a cheerful looking man dressed in a Nutcracker uniform waved a bouquet of lavender roses in front of the Japanese man who had a droll expression on his face. "These are compliments of Mr. Santa Claus."
Was this punishment from God for killing people? Aya kept pinching himself to wake up from this Christmas nightmare. But every time he opened his eyes, the horses and buggy were still there.
"We should go now Aya-san," the driver smiled and led the Japanese man to the buggy, helping the numb assassin into the buggy like a gentleman. Behind them, the piled up cars beeped madly for the 'Sleigh' to move, but Aya didn't hear any of it. Only one thought occupied his mind.
"Looks like we're in luck today Aya-san."
The driver's voice momentarily took the swordsman from his fantasy of mutilating a certain telepath, and looked towards the direction the man pointed. Aya groaned to himself as he pulled his hat down till it covered half of his face and slipped down as far as possible in the buggy.
"I forgot all about the Christmas parade today," the driver said. "The fastest way to get to Illusions is by Main Street, so I guess we'll just have to join the parade until we turn. They even have the TV broadcasting crew this year!"
Great, just more punishment from God. Why didn't he just stand up and announce it to the entire city of Tokyo that Aya Fujimiya, Abyssinian, leader of an assassin group Weiß was dressed up as Mrs. Claus and was currently parading down the largest street in Tokyo. It would save the TV crew the work of filming and broadcasting it on national television.
~*~*~*~
It wasn't hard to know that they finally arrived at Illusions. From what Yohji had bragged about the nightclub and from his own personal understanding of Schuldig's character, Aya wasn't surprised when he saw the long line of people that extended from the club entrance all the way to the next block, and even the redhead could recognize some of Japanese television and singing idols among the long line of young people. From the shivering, it was safe to say that some of these idiots have been waiting for quite a while in the cold, but the bouncers who looked like mafia members stepping out straight from the God Father prevented the people from pouring into the club.
Maybe that was the reason behind all the jealous glares Mrs. Claus received when the driver carefully helped Aya out of the buggy and escorted him through the line until one of the bouncers opened the door courteously for the redhead. Once the door closed behind him, the swordsman did nothing but stood rooted to the ground, trying to adjust to the dark lighting and loud Christmas remixes blaring from the speakers. The place was crowded with people, all young and beautiful, ready to enjoy what life had to offer.
How was he suppose to find the German like this? In this sea of sweating bodies? For a moment, Aya was a little surprised to see that all the employees working were decked out in Christmas costumes just like his.
One of the elves carrying a loaded tray of alcohol noticed the motionless Mrs. Claus. With a knowing smile, the girl handed her tray to a fellow elf and walked up to Aya. "Are you looking for Santa, Mrs. Claus?"
Santa? What was she talking about? Just when the redhead was about to ask, he was suddenly grabbed from behind and pulled to a soft protruding belly. Something soft tickled his neck as someone rested their head on Aya's shoulder. "Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!"
Aya's eyes widened when he realized just who it was. The elf girl giggled quietly to herself before getting back to her work but not before giving Santa Claus a suggesting wink.
The redhead stared at the elf confused, she felt familiar somehow, but first things first, a quick elbow drove into Santa's stomach. "Merry Christmas to you too Schuldig Now take your hand out from under the skirt, unless you want Santa Claus to spend the rest of the week in prison on charges of molesting." Aya growled out hands itching to do some damage to the telepath.
"I'm sure that the police won't do anything to me, after all, it's not against the laws for a man to express his love to his partner is it?" Schuldig argued cheerfully under the white beard, but still removed his hand from Aya's skirt regretfully. At least his curiosity has been satisfied, a lecherous smile appeared on Santa's jolly red face, he never expected Aya to wear it, the image of the younger man walking around in that little thing was enough for the German to jump Mrs. Claus right there.
Maybe it was the gleam in his eyes that revealed his evil intentions because before he knew it, Aya pulled away from him and smacked him rather hard on the head.
A silly grin on his face, Santa followed Mrs. Claus deeper into the club. Aya barely took five steps before staring in horror in front of him, making Schuldig almost walk into the swordsman. Curious to what made his kitten froze in shock, Schuldig wasn't surprised to see the other three members of Weiß sitting at the bar. Always one to take advantage of rare opportunities, the German dragged the reluctant Aya onto the dance floor where they could be swallowed up by the other dancing couples.
~*~*~*~
This was worse than he imagined, Yohji groaned to himself. There was nothing worse than not being able to do anything under the otherwise perfect chances. It was so hard getting into Illusions, but instead of partying the night away, he was stuck sitting at the bar listening to Anne- Marie argue with Ken about the previous World Cup results.
"Hey! Don't you have some orange juice or something for the kid? Can't you see that he's too young for alcohol?" The blond playboy snapped at the beefy bartender who was wearing reindeer horns.
"Yohji-kun! If I'm old enough to get in, then I'm old enough for alcohol!" Omi whined and tried to grab the daiquiri away from the older man, who unfortunately had a longer arm.
"You're not drinking anything alcohol. I don't want to be embarrassed by a drunk teenager tonight," Yohji said in a stern tone before drinking Omi's strawberry daiquiri himself. If he couldn't enjoy himself tonight, then he was going to make sure that neither Ken nor Omi does too. After all, they were the reason why he couldn't be with his date.
"But what can I do? You scared away almost every single person who even tried to talk to me, and now, I'm not even allowed to drink," the youngest Weiß member pouted, trying to use the big blue eyes trick again.
Too bad that Yohji was too anger this time. "Go bother Santa then. I'm sure that I saw him at the club. Why don't you go sit on his lap like a good little boy and tell him what you want for Christmas or something."
"Even Santa is having more fun than me," Omi grumbled and pointed to the little crowd that formed on the dance floor. Everyone, even some of the workers stared at the centre of the floor where Santa seemed to be lost in his own little world dancing with a VERY young and sexy Mrs. Claus. even though everyone could see the flash of pain on Santa's jolly face every time Mrs. Claus 'accidentally' stepped on Santa's foot.
"Hello Mrs. Claus," beside him, Omi heard Yohji's low whistle of appreciation before the playboy got up from his seat and headed towards the dance floor.
Omi grinned, now that the cat was away, the mouse could finally have some fun.
~*~*~*~
"So Aya, how did you enjoy your moment of fame today?" Schuldig asked in the redhead's ear as he moved the younger man with him to the beat of the music.
The violet eyes narrowed at the telepath's smug grin before the heel of his boot came down hard onto Santa's foot for the twentieth time since they started dancing. "You planned it didn't you?"
"Didn't you enjoy it though kitten? I thought that it would be a nice change for you to be seen as a positive figure by the public rather than be always mistaken for someone society frowns on."
Aya rolled his eyes. "Next time you plan something like this, why don't you try it out first. I'm sure that you would enjoy having little kids climb all over you asking why Mrs. Claus was so young compared to Santa. And do you even know how annoying it was to have the men catcalling and taking pictures?! Not to mention being interviewed by the new station, and being offered to be a model for a 'for him' magazine."
"I knew that you would be popular with the male population," Schuldig chuckled at the scowl on Aya's face. "I just didn't expect that you were that big of a hit."
"And you're happy? Shouldn't you be jealous?" the younger man momentarily forgot his discomfort at dancing in front of a large crowd and looked at the telepath in mild surprise.
"Why? The more people desire you, the happier I am. It shows that I have good taste falling for you," the German winked even though there was no amusement in his serious tone. "As long as they know that you belong to me already and don't try to do anything." The German said the last part and pulled Aya roughly against him.
The younger man stumbled at the sudden movement and clung to Schuldig for support. Looking up to yell at the Schwarz for the pull, Aya was surprise to see that Santa was looking over his head.
Turning to see whom Schuldig was glaring at, Aya blushed and quickly turned back and hid his flaming face against the telepath's neck. What the hell was Yohji doing on the dance floor by himself? The redhead has been so caught up with Schuldig that he totally forgot about the rest of his teammates were at the club too. But wasn't Yohji suppose to be with his date?
~*~*~*~
Yohji looked back at Santa Claus in surprise as jolly old Saint Nick suddenly fixed him with an evil glare. The Weiß playboy wondered amusingly to what he could've done to deserve such a hateful look. He has been a good boy all year, and all he did was compliment to himself about Mrs. Claus' sexy body as she danced with Santa.
The playboy carefully watched the couple as Santa led Mrs. Claus to a nearby by booth. The blond grinned as he saw the woman look back at him and blush when she was caught staring. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing to have Anne-Marie distracted by Kenken after all.
Yohji saw the opening he needed when an elf waitress bent to whisper something in Santa's ear, before the man stood up to leave. Putting on his best smile, the Weiß playboy causally slipped into the seat next to Mrs. Claus.
~*~*~*~
This couldn't be happening to him. Aya groaned as he saw Yohji coming towards him. Where was Schuldig when you needed him? The bastard didn't even say a thing when he was called away by the same elf that Aya first met at the club. The swordsman never thought that he would live to see the day when he was dependent on a member or Schwarz to save him from his own teammate.
"Nice party isn't it?"
The redhead almost jumped when Yohji spoke, and quickly nodded, not daring to speak out loud.
"Have we met before? I feel like I've seen you somewhere," the playboy offered his hand.
For a moment Aya stared at the offered hand nervously. Should he shake hands with the blond? Or would it be rude to ignore him? Choosing the latter, Aya didn't think Omi would be happy if Yohji didn't come home tonight. But on the other hand, the youngest member of Weiß seemed pretty occupied himself with the elf that called away Schuldig.
"Would you like to dance with me gorgeous?"
He just didn't get the point did he? Aya thought annoyed. "Sorry, I don't dance with strangers."
"I'm sorry, I'm Yohji Kudou," the blond immediately realized his mistake. "And you are.?"
"I didn't finish," Mrs. Claus smirked. "I don't dance with strangers who already have a jealous girlfriend either."
Turning towards the direction Mrs. Claus was pointing to, the playboy waved nervously to his date who by the look on her face was ready to march up and give him a piece of her mind. Stupid Ken, why was he just sitting there and grinning like the idiot he was instead of distracting Anne-Marie?
"What's going on here love?"
Aya sighed in relief when he heard Schuldig's voice, but glared at Santa when he heard the last word. Grinning back behind the white beard, the German pulled the younger man up into his arms, knowing that Aya wouldn't do anything to expose his true identity in front of Balinese. "Are you looking for my replacement already darling? Kitties have such fickle hearts sometimes," the telepath took this perfect opportunity to tilt Aya's head back and bent down for a kiss, swallowing the surprised gasp from Mrs. Claus.
God. all he wished right now is to be stroked by a thunderbolt from heaven and die right on the spot. What the Hell was the German bastard doing, kissing him in front of his own teammate. Aya could feel Schuldig giving the blond man a challenging look, while a hand snuck under his skirt and kneeled his backside. If it weren't for the fact that he was so out of breath and weakened from the kissed, the telepath would be a pile of rotting meat by now.
"Only bad boys try to steal Santa's wife. Aren't you afraid of getting a switch in your stockings this year, little boy?" Santa smirked at Yohji, before pulling Aya away with him.
"Schuldig! What were you doing?" the swordsman accused as soon as they were out of sight.
"Nothing except for saving a kitten in need of course. If it weren't for me, Balinese would be molesting you to death by now," Santa Claus said as matter of fact, making himself sound like a prince on a white horse.
"And I guess your hand just accidentally got up my skirt while it was just part of your plan when you were trying to suffocate me to death with that. that." Aya blushed as he tried to force himself say that word.
"Kiss?" the telepath smirked as he walked up the stairs to the second floor. Violet eyes widened as Aya took in the quiet elegant room that was total contrast to the noisy downstairs. Dropping into a comfy chair, Santa pulled Mrs. Claus into his lap. "Like this?" With a smirk, Schuldig proceeded to demonstrate again.
"I'm going to kill you one day," a panting Aya whispered when he was finally released.
"I highly doubt that," Schuldig whispered in the younger man's mind before pulling down his kitten for another kiss.
"Schuldig! Stop it!" Grabbing a handful of the white beard, the swordsman jerked the German back before he could be assaulted again.
The telepath chuckled amused and pointed at the ceiling. where the accursed mistletoe hung. One day, he would burn all of those damn plants.. One day. And people wondered why he hated Christmas so much.
"What's wrong Mrs. Claus? Afraid of being kissed?" Schuldig teased. "Now that I think about it, everytime I kiss you, you're always so tense. Don't tell me that I'm your first kiss."
"Of course not!"
The quickness of that response made Schuldig chuckle, his suspicions confirmed. "Kisses from a sibling and family members don't count kitten."
"I've been kissed by other people!" Aya defended himself before wanting to smack himself mentally for being so stupid. Why was he so worked up at a little teasing? From an enemy no less!
"Oh? Who?"
"None of your business," the younger man said quietly, not wanting Schuldig to hurt other people because of him.
"You know, if I really wanted to know, I can just dig it up from your memories, but I'd rather not," the telepath threatened quietly. "And you don't have to worry, I'm not going to kill everyone who touched you.. As long as they don't come back to claim what is mine."
The redhead on his lap sighed in relief, and quietly whispered something that the German couldn't hear.
"What?"
"Play. It was a school play, I was playing Romeo, and I had to kiss the girl who was playing Juliet." Aya finally admitted grudgingly.
Schuldig stared at his kitten in shock before rich laughter interrupted the quiet sensual music in the little resting room. Who would've thought that Aya had that in him? "How would you like to switch and play Juliet now?" He barely had time to finish his question before an elbow slammed into his stomach. The telepath was grateful for the pillow that he had to stick under his Christmas suit for his role as Santa, or else he would have a pretty black bruise the next morning.
"Pervert."
"Only with you kitten, only with you," as to demonstrate his point, sly hands already reached up to pull the laces behind Aya's little red dress.
"You do that and I'll make sure you will spend the rest of your life in bed."
"I don't mind as long as you're in there with me." This time, it didn't take his talents to block the punch to his face. "I'm sure that you'll see from my point soon enough. But right now, I think we should be going soon."
"Where are we going?" Aya asked, a little curious, but stopped his abuse on the German. "I thought we're going to spend the whole night here at the club?"
"It's a secret," Schuldig grinned and reluctantly pushed Aya off of his lap. "I'll tell you one thing though, we're going to do our duties as Santa and Mrs. Claus." He hinted and pointed to the presents piled in the corner of the room.
The Weiß assassin gave the wrapped boxes a suspicious glare and turned that dangerous look back to Santa, making the German sweat drop.
"Don't worry, there are no bombs, guns, knives, or any other kind of weapons of mass destruction in there. It's Christmas, and I'm already retired from the terrorist field," Schuldig tried to convince his doubtful kitten. "If anything bad happens, you have my permission to kick my butt. Now let's go before we're late!"
Still not fully convinced, Aya let himself be dragged down back down the first floor and out the door, thankful that none of his team-mates saw him as he walked by. Yohji was busy arguing with his date, while Ken and Omi seemed to have a good time flirting with the same elf Aya met.
Once outside, the redhead tripped as the heel of his boot stuck in a crack on the ground. Of course, Schuldig caught him before he could kiss the ground. "Be careful Aya."
Glaring at the leer on the telepath's face, it all made sense to Aya now. "Don't tell me that this is the reason why you gave me the heels to wear, so I will trip more often and you will be there to catch me right?"
"I thought I'm suppose to be the telepath here." The German joked nervously before backing away from the scowling Mrs. Claus.
Taking a deep breath of the fresh night air to calm himself. the Japanese man groaned as he spotted the buggy waiting for him. "Don't tell me you're planning to use that thing again." Aya started to pull away. He has been embarrassed enough today.
"Of course, how else will Santa travel if it isn't in his sleigh and reindeers?" Schuldig argued as he dragged his unwilling partner into the waiting transportation.
~*~*~*~
"Aya-kun! We're home!" A slightly intoxicated Omi slurred out, leaning on Yohji as the trio stepped into the dark house.
"Maybe he's already asleep, you shouldn't speak so loud Omi," Ken whispered, not wanting to be the one to face their leader's wrath for waking him in the middle of the night.
"It's okay Ken, I'm not asleep yet."
A voice spoke in the dark behind the three, making the three assassins almost jump in shock.
"Aya! Don't sneak up on us next time! Do you know how scary it is when you can't see anything and half drunk?" Yohji growled out. The night has been nothing except for unpleasant surprises for him.
"How was the party?" The redhead didn't apologize and instead turned on the light, making the three part goers all groan as the light pierced their eyes.
"Horrible." "Wonderful." "Not that bad."
Yohji, Omi, and Ken spoke at the same time.
"Don't mind him Aya. Our playboy has been dumped for the first time in his life. And not once, but twice!" Ken grinned as he patted Yohji's back.
"I wonder whose fault it was Kenken? If you had done a better job at distracting Marie-Anne, I wouldn't be here with three bachelors. I would be riding in a sleigh made for two with that gorgeous Mrs. Claus right now."
"Hn. I'm going back to bed now," Aya quickly turned away before the smirk on his face betrayed him.
"'Night," the three on the couch called out before the swordsman walked back to his bedroom and closed the door.
~*~*~*~
That was a close one. One second late, and he would've been in trouble. Aya thought as he leaned against his closed door. Walking across the room, he took off his bathrobe and frowned down at the red dress that was hidden beneath. It was pure luck that Schuldig took him back just a few minutes before the other three came through the front door. And it was pure luck that the other three were too knocked out to notice that he was still wearing high heels and that Schuldig was still in the living room before he turned on the light.
Anyhow even though he hated to admit it, all the forbidden meetings gave him a nice excited feeling, not the kind that he felt during battle though. Confusing as it was, being with Schuldig made him feel alive again. And it bothered him a little that the German didn't even need to use Aya-chan to threaten him into doing anything.
Finally taking off the painful boots and dress, the redhead folded the latter carefully and hid it in his closet; it wouldn't be fun to have to explain to the others if the dress was discovered. As much as he hated the dress, he had to admit that it would remind him of tonight. and the place where Schuldig took him to after Illusions. It was the last place he expected the Schwarz telepath to frequent. but one visit with Schuldig was enough for Aya to reconsider what he knew about the other man.
Thanks to: Quaterine Winner, S.Wing, Makoto Almasy, LilStarry, an anonymous reviewer ^^;;, Aidenn-chan, another anonymous reviewer, Pandora.81, Fiona, Rikkali, Eriol-sama, Nekojita, and Lady Gacket
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Chapter 2
"Aya-kun, we're leaving now."
The redhead sat up tensely when he heard Omi's voice through the closed door.
"Are you sure you don't want to go with us to the club?" the youngest member of Weiß asked. When Yohji said he was going to a Christmas party that night, he never expected to have an enthusiastic Omi begging to go along, even after he sat down with the Chibi and explained in detail that Illusions was not a place for innocent little kittens. And whenever there was Omi, Ken always tagged along too. The playboy had no intentions of babysitting teenagers, especially when he had a hot date with him, but one look at Omi's big blue eyes had him all mushy inside, that he couldn't have refused. Of course, the fact that Omi threatened to send all of his pictures with other women to his current date had a tiny effect too.
"I'm sure."
Omi sighed when he heard the muffled answer. He was worried about the older man. Whatever was bothering Aya was getting worse. Every time someone mentioned the words 'clubbing' and 'party' the swordsman would visibly tense. And even the oblivious Ken noticed it. Yohji commented that it was like someone had stepped on a cat's tail 24/7, that was, if Aya had a tail.
The sound of the slamming door calmed the redhead somewhat to know that he was finally alone and could think. There was only an hour left before he had to meet Schuldig. And even though he has been ready for hours, he couldn't do anything to stop the feeling of uneasiness. Especially when someone knocked on the door.
Costume, check. Hat, check. Gun, check. Shoes, check. Th. Aya blushed as he squirmed on the bed. How the hell was he supposes to last through out the whole night if he couldn't even lay still for a few seconds on the bed? And it didn't help in keeping his mind off of the German kidnapper either. As much as the Weiß redhead hated the telepath, he had to admit that Schuldig has been the only person besides Aya-chan to bring out such strong emotions from him. And not all of those emotions were hate and anger either, but rather a warm belonging feeling that he hasn't felt ever since his family was destroyed. It confused him that he would associate Schuldig in the same sentence as his family and happiness, especially since it was the German who destroyed everything in the first place. Ironic now that the person who killed his feelings was responsible for bringing them back again.
Aya sighed as he got up. He always get a headache when he thought about the past. It was better to just leave it behind and focus on the present. like how to walk in these damned red high heel boots. The red head swore under his breath as he almost tripped again. After Schuldig left the other day, he found that besides the red Mrs. Claus dress, there were also a red hat and red furry boots that were also parts of the costume. The hat wasn't that bad, it was red velvet, long and had a white ball sewn at the end, it would hid his hair. It was the boots that bothered him. Like the rest of the costume, it was red and lined with white fur at the top. But what the hell was the Schwarz thinking with the high heels? He could barely take five steps without falling, anyone would be a moron if they couldn't tell that he was a man. And that was the last thing he wanted. If Yohji found out that he was there at the club dressed up like this. lets just say that there would be one less playboy in the world, not that it was a bad thing, he would be saving the a lot of woman from heartbreaks, and others from becoming the victims of second hand smoking.
The sound of doorbells snapped the red head from his musings, and cautiously open his bedroom door and walked downstairs. There was no way he would meet anyone dressed in this get up. And there was the possibility that it was either Yohji or Omi coming back to get something. but they should have their own keys and didn't need to knock. Grabbing the broom as he past the kitchen, Aya felt silly that an assassin like him needed to depend on a broom just to open the door.
It was a good thing that no one was home to take pictures of him. or else he would be forced to murder all of his teammates. And speaking about the joy of killing, he was aching to dice Schuldig for the new stunt that the German just pulled.
Blocking the traffic on the street was a team of four horn wearing chestnut horses shaking their head at Aya, the bells on their harness and reins jingled merrily, which was attached to a red buggy, decorated especially for the Christmas season.
"Aya-san? Aya-san?" a cheerful looking man dressed in a Nutcracker uniform waved a bouquet of lavender roses in front of the Japanese man who had a droll expression on his face. "These are compliments of Mr. Santa Claus."
Was this punishment from God for killing people? Aya kept pinching himself to wake up from this Christmas nightmare. But every time he opened his eyes, the horses and buggy were still there.
"We should go now Aya-san," the driver smiled and led the Japanese man to the buggy, helping the numb assassin into the buggy like a gentleman. Behind them, the piled up cars beeped madly for the 'Sleigh' to move, but Aya didn't hear any of it. Only one thought occupied his mind.
"Looks like we're in luck today Aya-san."
The driver's voice momentarily took the swordsman from his fantasy of mutilating a certain telepath, and looked towards the direction the man pointed. Aya groaned to himself as he pulled his hat down till it covered half of his face and slipped down as far as possible in the buggy.
"I forgot all about the Christmas parade today," the driver said. "The fastest way to get to Illusions is by Main Street, so I guess we'll just have to join the parade until we turn. They even have the TV broadcasting crew this year!"
Great, just more punishment from God. Why didn't he just stand up and announce it to the entire city of Tokyo that Aya Fujimiya, Abyssinian, leader of an assassin group Weiß was dressed up as Mrs. Claus and was currently parading down the largest street in Tokyo. It would save the TV crew the work of filming and broadcasting it on national television.
~*~*~*~
It wasn't hard to know that they finally arrived at Illusions. From what Yohji had bragged about the nightclub and from his own personal understanding of Schuldig's character, Aya wasn't surprised when he saw the long line of people that extended from the club entrance all the way to the next block, and even the redhead could recognize some of Japanese television and singing idols among the long line of young people. From the shivering, it was safe to say that some of these idiots have been waiting for quite a while in the cold, but the bouncers who looked like mafia members stepping out straight from the God Father prevented the people from pouring into the club.
Maybe that was the reason behind all the jealous glares Mrs. Claus received when the driver carefully helped Aya out of the buggy and escorted him through the line until one of the bouncers opened the door courteously for the redhead. Once the door closed behind him, the swordsman did nothing but stood rooted to the ground, trying to adjust to the dark lighting and loud Christmas remixes blaring from the speakers. The place was crowded with people, all young and beautiful, ready to enjoy what life had to offer.
How was he suppose to find the German like this? In this sea of sweating bodies? For a moment, Aya was a little surprised to see that all the employees working were decked out in Christmas costumes just like his.
One of the elves carrying a loaded tray of alcohol noticed the motionless Mrs. Claus. With a knowing smile, the girl handed her tray to a fellow elf and walked up to Aya. "Are you looking for Santa, Mrs. Claus?"
Santa? What was she talking about? Just when the redhead was about to ask, he was suddenly grabbed from behind and pulled to a soft protruding belly. Something soft tickled his neck as someone rested their head on Aya's shoulder. "Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!"
Aya's eyes widened when he realized just who it was. The elf girl giggled quietly to herself before getting back to her work but not before giving Santa Claus a suggesting wink.
The redhead stared at the elf confused, she felt familiar somehow, but first things first, a quick elbow drove into Santa's stomach. "Merry Christmas to you too Schuldig Now take your hand out from under the skirt, unless you want Santa Claus to spend the rest of the week in prison on charges of molesting." Aya growled out hands itching to do some damage to the telepath.
"I'm sure that the police won't do anything to me, after all, it's not against the laws for a man to express his love to his partner is it?" Schuldig argued cheerfully under the white beard, but still removed his hand from Aya's skirt regretfully. At least his curiosity has been satisfied, a lecherous smile appeared on Santa's jolly red face, he never expected Aya to wear it, the image of the younger man walking around in that little thing was enough for the German to jump Mrs. Claus right there.
Maybe it was the gleam in his eyes that revealed his evil intentions because before he knew it, Aya pulled away from him and smacked him rather hard on the head.
A silly grin on his face, Santa followed Mrs. Claus deeper into the club. Aya barely took five steps before staring in horror in front of him, making Schuldig almost walk into the swordsman. Curious to what made his kitten froze in shock, Schuldig wasn't surprised to see the other three members of Weiß sitting at the bar. Always one to take advantage of rare opportunities, the German dragged the reluctant Aya onto the dance floor where they could be swallowed up by the other dancing couples.
~*~*~*~
This was worse than he imagined, Yohji groaned to himself. There was nothing worse than not being able to do anything under the otherwise perfect chances. It was so hard getting into Illusions, but instead of partying the night away, he was stuck sitting at the bar listening to Anne- Marie argue with Ken about the previous World Cup results.
"Hey! Don't you have some orange juice or something for the kid? Can't you see that he's too young for alcohol?" The blond playboy snapped at the beefy bartender who was wearing reindeer horns.
"Yohji-kun! If I'm old enough to get in, then I'm old enough for alcohol!" Omi whined and tried to grab the daiquiri away from the older man, who unfortunately had a longer arm.
"You're not drinking anything alcohol. I don't want to be embarrassed by a drunk teenager tonight," Yohji said in a stern tone before drinking Omi's strawberry daiquiri himself. If he couldn't enjoy himself tonight, then he was going to make sure that neither Ken nor Omi does too. After all, they were the reason why he couldn't be with his date.
"But what can I do? You scared away almost every single person who even tried to talk to me, and now, I'm not even allowed to drink," the youngest Weiß member pouted, trying to use the big blue eyes trick again.
Too bad that Yohji was too anger this time. "Go bother Santa then. I'm sure that I saw him at the club. Why don't you go sit on his lap like a good little boy and tell him what you want for Christmas or something."
"Even Santa is having more fun than me," Omi grumbled and pointed to the little crowd that formed on the dance floor. Everyone, even some of the workers stared at the centre of the floor where Santa seemed to be lost in his own little world dancing with a VERY young and sexy Mrs. Claus. even though everyone could see the flash of pain on Santa's jolly face every time Mrs. Claus 'accidentally' stepped on Santa's foot.
"Hello Mrs. Claus," beside him, Omi heard Yohji's low whistle of appreciation before the playboy got up from his seat and headed towards the dance floor.
Omi grinned, now that the cat was away, the mouse could finally have some fun.
~*~*~*~
"So Aya, how did you enjoy your moment of fame today?" Schuldig asked in the redhead's ear as he moved the younger man with him to the beat of the music.
The violet eyes narrowed at the telepath's smug grin before the heel of his boot came down hard onto Santa's foot for the twentieth time since they started dancing. "You planned it didn't you?"
"Didn't you enjoy it though kitten? I thought that it would be a nice change for you to be seen as a positive figure by the public rather than be always mistaken for someone society frowns on."
Aya rolled his eyes. "Next time you plan something like this, why don't you try it out first. I'm sure that you would enjoy having little kids climb all over you asking why Mrs. Claus was so young compared to Santa. And do you even know how annoying it was to have the men catcalling and taking pictures?! Not to mention being interviewed by the new station, and being offered to be a model for a 'for him' magazine."
"I knew that you would be popular with the male population," Schuldig chuckled at the scowl on Aya's face. "I just didn't expect that you were that big of a hit."
"And you're happy? Shouldn't you be jealous?" the younger man momentarily forgot his discomfort at dancing in front of a large crowd and looked at the telepath in mild surprise.
"Why? The more people desire you, the happier I am. It shows that I have good taste falling for you," the German winked even though there was no amusement in his serious tone. "As long as they know that you belong to me already and don't try to do anything." The German said the last part and pulled Aya roughly against him.
The younger man stumbled at the sudden movement and clung to Schuldig for support. Looking up to yell at the Schwarz for the pull, Aya was surprise to see that Santa was looking over his head.
Turning to see whom Schuldig was glaring at, Aya blushed and quickly turned back and hid his flaming face against the telepath's neck. What the hell was Yohji doing on the dance floor by himself? The redhead has been so caught up with Schuldig that he totally forgot about the rest of his teammates were at the club too. But wasn't Yohji suppose to be with his date?
~*~*~*~
Yohji looked back at Santa Claus in surprise as jolly old Saint Nick suddenly fixed him with an evil glare. The Weiß playboy wondered amusingly to what he could've done to deserve such a hateful look. He has been a good boy all year, and all he did was compliment to himself about Mrs. Claus' sexy body as she danced with Santa.
The playboy carefully watched the couple as Santa led Mrs. Claus to a nearby by booth. The blond grinned as he saw the woman look back at him and blush when she was caught staring. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing to have Anne-Marie distracted by Kenken after all.
Yohji saw the opening he needed when an elf waitress bent to whisper something in Santa's ear, before the man stood up to leave. Putting on his best smile, the Weiß playboy causally slipped into the seat next to Mrs. Claus.
~*~*~*~
This couldn't be happening to him. Aya groaned as he saw Yohji coming towards him. Where was Schuldig when you needed him? The bastard didn't even say a thing when he was called away by the same elf that Aya first met at the club. The swordsman never thought that he would live to see the day when he was dependent on a member or Schwarz to save him from his own teammate.
"Nice party isn't it?"
The redhead almost jumped when Yohji spoke, and quickly nodded, not daring to speak out loud.
"Have we met before? I feel like I've seen you somewhere," the playboy offered his hand.
For a moment Aya stared at the offered hand nervously. Should he shake hands with the blond? Or would it be rude to ignore him? Choosing the latter, Aya didn't think Omi would be happy if Yohji didn't come home tonight. But on the other hand, the youngest member of Weiß seemed pretty occupied himself with the elf that called away Schuldig.
"Would you like to dance with me gorgeous?"
He just didn't get the point did he? Aya thought annoyed. "Sorry, I don't dance with strangers."
"I'm sorry, I'm Yohji Kudou," the blond immediately realized his mistake. "And you are.?"
"I didn't finish," Mrs. Claus smirked. "I don't dance with strangers who already have a jealous girlfriend either."
Turning towards the direction Mrs. Claus was pointing to, the playboy waved nervously to his date who by the look on her face was ready to march up and give him a piece of her mind. Stupid Ken, why was he just sitting there and grinning like the idiot he was instead of distracting Anne-Marie?
"What's going on here love?"
Aya sighed in relief when he heard Schuldig's voice, but glared at Santa when he heard the last word. Grinning back behind the white beard, the German pulled the younger man up into his arms, knowing that Aya wouldn't do anything to expose his true identity in front of Balinese. "Are you looking for my replacement already darling? Kitties have such fickle hearts sometimes," the telepath took this perfect opportunity to tilt Aya's head back and bent down for a kiss, swallowing the surprised gasp from Mrs. Claus.
God. all he wished right now is to be stroked by a thunderbolt from heaven and die right on the spot. What the Hell was the German bastard doing, kissing him in front of his own teammate. Aya could feel Schuldig giving the blond man a challenging look, while a hand snuck under his skirt and kneeled his backside. If it weren't for the fact that he was so out of breath and weakened from the kissed, the telepath would be a pile of rotting meat by now.
"Only bad boys try to steal Santa's wife. Aren't you afraid of getting a switch in your stockings this year, little boy?" Santa smirked at Yohji, before pulling Aya away with him.
"Schuldig! What were you doing?" the swordsman accused as soon as they were out of sight.
"Nothing except for saving a kitten in need of course. If it weren't for me, Balinese would be molesting you to death by now," Santa Claus said as matter of fact, making himself sound like a prince on a white horse.
"And I guess your hand just accidentally got up my skirt while it was just part of your plan when you were trying to suffocate me to death with that. that." Aya blushed as he tried to force himself say that word.
"Kiss?" the telepath smirked as he walked up the stairs to the second floor. Violet eyes widened as Aya took in the quiet elegant room that was total contrast to the noisy downstairs. Dropping into a comfy chair, Santa pulled Mrs. Claus into his lap. "Like this?" With a smirk, Schuldig proceeded to demonstrate again.
"I'm going to kill you one day," a panting Aya whispered when he was finally released.
"I highly doubt that," Schuldig whispered in the younger man's mind before pulling down his kitten for another kiss.
"Schuldig! Stop it!" Grabbing a handful of the white beard, the swordsman jerked the German back before he could be assaulted again.
The telepath chuckled amused and pointed at the ceiling. where the accursed mistletoe hung. One day, he would burn all of those damn plants.. One day. And people wondered why he hated Christmas so much.
"What's wrong Mrs. Claus? Afraid of being kissed?" Schuldig teased. "Now that I think about it, everytime I kiss you, you're always so tense. Don't tell me that I'm your first kiss."
"Of course not!"
The quickness of that response made Schuldig chuckle, his suspicions confirmed. "Kisses from a sibling and family members don't count kitten."
"I've been kissed by other people!" Aya defended himself before wanting to smack himself mentally for being so stupid. Why was he so worked up at a little teasing? From an enemy no less!
"Oh? Who?"
"None of your business," the younger man said quietly, not wanting Schuldig to hurt other people because of him.
"You know, if I really wanted to know, I can just dig it up from your memories, but I'd rather not," the telepath threatened quietly. "And you don't have to worry, I'm not going to kill everyone who touched you.. As long as they don't come back to claim what is mine."
The redhead on his lap sighed in relief, and quietly whispered something that the German couldn't hear.
"What?"
"Play. It was a school play, I was playing Romeo, and I had to kiss the girl who was playing Juliet." Aya finally admitted grudgingly.
Schuldig stared at his kitten in shock before rich laughter interrupted the quiet sensual music in the little resting room. Who would've thought that Aya had that in him? "How would you like to switch and play Juliet now?" He barely had time to finish his question before an elbow slammed into his stomach. The telepath was grateful for the pillow that he had to stick under his Christmas suit for his role as Santa, or else he would have a pretty black bruise the next morning.
"Pervert."
"Only with you kitten, only with you," as to demonstrate his point, sly hands already reached up to pull the laces behind Aya's little red dress.
"You do that and I'll make sure you will spend the rest of your life in bed."
"I don't mind as long as you're in there with me." This time, it didn't take his talents to block the punch to his face. "I'm sure that you'll see from my point soon enough. But right now, I think we should be going soon."
"Where are we going?" Aya asked, a little curious, but stopped his abuse on the German. "I thought we're going to spend the whole night here at the club?"
"It's a secret," Schuldig grinned and reluctantly pushed Aya off of his lap. "I'll tell you one thing though, we're going to do our duties as Santa and Mrs. Claus." He hinted and pointed to the presents piled in the corner of the room.
The Weiß assassin gave the wrapped boxes a suspicious glare and turned that dangerous look back to Santa, making the German sweat drop.
"Don't worry, there are no bombs, guns, knives, or any other kind of weapons of mass destruction in there. It's Christmas, and I'm already retired from the terrorist field," Schuldig tried to convince his doubtful kitten. "If anything bad happens, you have my permission to kick my butt. Now let's go before we're late!"
Still not fully convinced, Aya let himself be dragged down back down the first floor and out the door, thankful that none of his team-mates saw him as he walked by. Yohji was busy arguing with his date, while Ken and Omi seemed to have a good time flirting with the same elf Aya met.
Once outside, the redhead tripped as the heel of his boot stuck in a crack on the ground. Of course, Schuldig caught him before he could kiss the ground. "Be careful Aya."
Glaring at the leer on the telepath's face, it all made sense to Aya now. "Don't tell me that this is the reason why you gave me the heels to wear, so I will trip more often and you will be there to catch me right?"
"I thought I'm suppose to be the telepath here." The German joked nervously before backing away from the scowling Mrs. Claus.
Taking a deep breath of the fresh night air to calm himself. the Japanese man groaned as he spotted the buggy waiting for him. "Don't tell me you're planning to use that thing again." Aya started to pull away. He has been embarrassed enough today.
"Of course, how else will Santa travel if it isn't in his sleigh and reindeers?" Schuldig argued as he dragged his unwilling partner into the waiting transportation.
~*~*~*~
"Aya-kun! We're home!" A slightly intoxicated Omi slurred out, leaning on Yohji as the trio stepped into the dark house.
"Maybe he's already asleep, you shouldn't speak so loud Omi," Ken whispered, not wanting to be the one to face their leader's wrath for waking him in the middle of the night.
"It's okay Ken, I'm not asleep yet."
A voice spoke in the dark behind the three, making the three assassins almost jump in shock.
"Aya! Don't sneak up on us next time! Do you know how scary it is when you can't see anything and half drunk?" Yohji growled out. The night has been nothing except for unpleasant surprises for him.
"How was the party?" The redhead didn't apologize and instead turned on the light, making the three part goers all groan as the light pierced their eyes.
"Horrible." "Wonderful." "Not that bad."
Yohji, Omi, and Ken spoke at the same time.
"Don't mind him Aya. Our playboy has been dumped for the first time in his life. And not once, but twice!" Ken grinned as he patted Yohji's back.
"I wonder whose fault it was Kenken? If you had done a better job at distracting Marie-Anne, I wouldn't be here with three bachelors. I would be riding in a sleigh made for two with that gorgeous Mrs. Claus right now."
"Hn. I'm going back to bed now," Aya quickly turned away before the smirk on his face betrayed him.
"'Night," the three on the couch called out before the swordsman walked back to his bedroom and closed the door.
~*~*~*~
That was a close one. One second late, and he would've been in trouble. Aya thought as he leaned against his closed door. Walking across the room, he took off his bathrobe and frowned down at the red dress that was hidden beneath. It was pure luck that Schuldig took him back just a few minutes before the other three came through the front door. And it was pure luck that the other three were too knocked out to notice that he was still wearing high heels and that Schuldig was still in the living room before he turned on the light.
Anyhow even though he hated to admit it, all the forbidden meetings gave him a nice excited feeling, not the kind that he felt during battle though. Confusing as it was, being with Schuldig made him feel alive again. And it bothered him a little that the German didn't even need to use Aya-chan to threaten him into doing anything.
Finally taking off the painful boots and dress, the redhead folded the latter carefully and hid it in his closet; it wouldn't be fun to have to explain to the others if the dress was discovered. As much as he hated the dress, he had to admit that it would remind him of tonight. and the place where Schuldig took him to after Illusions. It was the last place he expected the Schwarz telepath to frequent. but one visit with Schuldig was enough for Aya to reconsider what he knew about the other man.