CHAPTER FOUR: The Last Supper

Later that night, the four girls knocked on the door of the flower shop. Ken answered, grinning happily. "Welcome, ladies!" Opening the door wider, they entered. Ken led them through the store and to the back where the tiny rooms were hidden. "This is it, " he told them, "it's not much, but we get by just fine."

Sprawled across a big chair was Youji, and Makoto walked over to join him. Omi sat on a long couch placed in front of a small TV, and Yuko decided to sit with him. Omi seemed to be the most jovial of the boys, and it put her at ease. Leela also seated herself on the couch, and Ken took Maki by the arm and led her to sit with him on a small love seat perched at the side of the room.

The girls immediately noticed the boy who must be Aya. He stood alone in a corner of the room. Not looking comfortable or uncomfortable. In fact, the girls were convinced in an instant that Aya probably didn't even care about comfort. He said nothing to them, but gazed out at each one of them in turn, probably sizing them up. Yuko took an immediate disliking to him, and he gave Maki the creeps. Leela and Makoto exchanged a look that clearly said 'now HE fits the profile.'

"So," Leela started. "You must be Aya. Did you just get out of the hospital today?"

"Yes," he answered, toneless and clearly wary of the fact there were four strange young women in his house. His reply was immediately followed by a minute and a half of stony silence.

Breaking the silence, Omi cheerfully asked, "Would anyone like a drink?"

"Yes, please," replied Maki and Makoto while Yuko and Leela both shook their heads no.

"Youji-kun, Ken-kun, Aya-kun?" Omi offered again. Ken and Youji nodded while Aya didn't move at all. "OK, I'll be right back!"

"I'll go with you," Yuko said, eager to scope out the joint and, as a bonus, escape Aya's death glare.

As they left the room, they could clearly hear Leela asking Aya, "So, just what hell is your problem?"

By the time Omi and Yuko got back with everyone's drinks, Aya had vacated the premises so everyone was that much more at ease. In fact, Maki and Ken were heavily engaged in a flirtatious conversation about apples and other tasty fruits. Leela had scooted to the edge of the couch to talk with Youji and Makoto about just why women were such a colossal pain in the rear.

Handing Makoto her drink, Yuko whispered, "What happened to Senor Grumpypants?"

"Senor Grumpypants?" repeated Youji, smirking, because clearly Yuko was not that talented at whispering.

"She means Aya," Leela stated, loudly. "Apparently, he doesn't like when people ask what his problem is. I just thought I ought to call him on that attitude." Ken stifled a laugh.

After a couple hours of Katzen having general merriment with the men they suspected were Weiss, Makoto decided it was time to actually plant the bug. "If you'll excuse me for a moment, I have to go to the bathroom," she said, standing up, discreetly checking that the bug was still safely in her pocket. Omi had mentioned the basement and his computer while they were talking so she figured that would be the best place to put it.

"I'll show you where it is," Youji offered.

"That's all right. I'll find it on my own!" she insisted. Quietly, she slipped down through the flower shop, carefully checking to make sure Aya wasn't lurking around. In the basement, she located Omi's computer without a problem and as quick as she could, attached to the underside of his desk. Heading back up the stairs, however, she ran into Aya who was apparently on his way down.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked, regarding her coldly.

"Oh," Makoto said airily. "I was just looking for the bathroom and got a little lost."

"It's upstairs," Aya replied.

"Oh, duh. Thanks!" Makoto rushed back up the stairs and to the level above the shop. Where fortunately, she actually did find the bathroom because by that time she needed it.

Shortly thereafter, Makoto headed back into the sitting room where she flopped down on the chair next to Youji and declared, "Wow! That was some good bathroom!"

* * *

"Well, that was nice and pleasant!" said Ken with a smile, after the girls had left.

"Spending an evening for four equally beautiful women is always pleasant," said Youji, slurring his words a bit from all the alcohol he had consumed.

Omi looked at him, crossly. "Youji-kun, do you always need to drink so much when we have company?"

Aya chose that moment to enter the room and said, "Youji finds every occasion an occasion to drink."

"Aya-kun!" Omi exclaimed, turning his attention to the leader of Weiss. "Why did you leave like that? Those girls are probably going to think you don't like them!"

"I don't," Aya said.

"Why not?" Ken asked, unable to disguise the bit of whininess that entered into his voice.

Aya shrugged. "Something about them puts me on edge. They're suspicious. And I'm not fond of you three inviting people over without consulting me. We could be dead right now."

Ken began laughing hysterically. "Dead?! You really think those four nice girls are capable of killing someone?! I dunno, Aya.I think you've gotten to be too paranoid."

Still stifling giggles, Ken wished them goodnight and headed to his room.

Omi yawned and stretched. "I think I'll turn in, too. Night, Aya-kun, Youji-kun!" Aya grunted goodnight and Youji started to snore, as he had already passed out on the couch.

Aya watched Omi and Ken leave and frowned. Maybe he as being too paranoid.but there was something about those girls.

* * *

"What the hell is that god awful noise?" whined a mildly hungover Youji. Omi started surveying the room, and the buzzing seemed to get louder by his worktable.

"I'm not sure," Omi said, inching closer and closer to the table as if trying to sneak up on whatever was buzzing. Ken and Aya looked at each other askance and also began creeping towards the table. Youji twitched on the sofa, but stayed put.

When Omi was just inches away from the sound, he pounced! "Gotcha!" he yelled, pulling a rather innocent looking device out from under the table.

Aya's eyes turned into little slits as he gazed at the object in Omi's hand. "A bug."

Across the street in the basement of the Pet Shop, the members of Katzen were screwed.

"Dammit! Crap! Mother pusbucket!" swore an enraged Maki. Makoto sighed and turned up the speaker they were using to listen to the boys. Yuko and Leela gathered closer around the speaker as Maki continued to flip out. Through the speaker, they could hear Ken doing about the same.

"Dammit! Crap! Who would be bugging us?!" cried a very disturbed Ken. "Who could have gotten in here?!" Aya grunted. He had a pretty good idea of who could have gotten in. Youji stood up and spoke directly into the bug, "hey, are any ladies over 18 listening?"

Makoto thunked her head down on the table.

Omi pulled the bug away from Youji before he could hit on it further, and carried it over to his computer. "This is easy enough to trace. Just give me a few minutes and I'll tell you exactly who put it here!"

Makoto, Yuko, and Leela exchanged worried looks. Maki gasped, "In a few minutes, we're going to be caught!" Leela shushed her. "Don't panic. Let's think about this calmly and rationally. Does Omi actually have the skills to trace that bug?"

"Yes", said the other girls, simultaneously.

"Well, then," Leela said with a sigh, "I guess in a few minutes we'll be caught."

On the other side of the street, the boys of Weiss were waiting to be blessed with Omi's wisdom.

"OK, guys, almost done. Here it comes." Omi's printer came to life.and there was a knock at the door.

"Who the hell is that?" muttered Aya. "Ken, go answer the door and send them away!"

Ken ran upstairs and was greeted by a sobbing Maki. He opened the door just a crack and stuck his head out. "Whoa, Maki, what's up? Is something wrong?" Maki pushed her way past Ken and into the shop. "Oh, Ken! I just had the most horrible fight with my friends! Can I please go sit down somewhere? Great!" With that, she headed towards a half-opened door at the back of the store where light was streaming through.

Ken watched her go for a second, unsure of what to do, and then realized where she was going. "Wait! Um.you can't go down there! Youji is walking around drunk and naked!"

Maki shrugged, "I've seen drunk naked men before. It's OK." She started down the stairs.

Attempting not to ponder where Maki had seen drunken naked men before, Ken followed her down the stairs, raving at the top of his lungs. "But Youji is a very mean drunk! And Aya is naked too! And Omi! We're all sitting around naked and scratching ourselves!" Maki's answer was just to cry harder as she reached the bottom of the stairs. She walked over to the couch without a thought and plunked down next to Youji.

"Oh, it's just awful!" she cried. "Yuko and I had a fight about the store! She thinks I'm no help and that I'm useless and it's my fault we don't have customers! She always blames me for everything!"

Ken walked over and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "That's just dumb," he said, "you're not useless. I'm sure you have a lot of uses!" Youji rolled his eyes. Aya grunted. Omi had all but forgotten about the secret resting on his printer.

Maki stood up and began pacing the room. "You guys don't fight, do you? No, probably not. Boys don't fight as much as girls." She made her way over to Omi's worktable and leaned up against it. "You know.I think getting some air and coming over here made me feel better already! And you guys aren't naked at all! I don't know what Ken was talking about. Guess I should go! Bye!"

With that she made a quick stop to kiss Ken on the cheek, and ran upstairs.

When Omi looked back at his worktable, the printout and the bug were gone. "Um, you guys," he said, gesturing to the table. "Anyone care to render a guess as to who was bugging us?"

Ken's eyes bugged out, "You don't mean.why would.they couldn't!"

"They could and they did," Aya stated flatly, glaring at the others from a corner.

"Well, it explains some stuff," said Youji. "But why would they do it? And why haven't they made a move before?"

"Who knows," Omi wondered. "Since they know who we are and haven't made a move against us yet, I doubt they have bad intentions."

"Yes!" Ken agreed, loudly, standing up quickly. "They don't mean any harm. I'm sure they have their reasons for being there that night."

"They're murderers. They need to be stopped. And we're the ones to stop them," Aya glared at Ken. Ken glared right back at Aya, not wanting to believe what he was saying.

Youji and Omi exchanged a quick look before Omi said, "Maybe we should do a little more research on them. Try to find out their intent. Maybe they have some kind of connection to that cartel. Maybe it was a one-time thing."

"I don't believe it," Aya stared at them all in anger and disbelief. "They never should have been let in here in the first place."

Ken started to yell something back in Aya's direction but was interrupted by Youji, "It's too late to worry about that now! Let's let Omi do his research and we'll confront them later! In the meantime, I'm going to sleep and I'd suggest you do the same."

Giving Ken, Youji and Omi one last disgusted look, Aya stomped off to his room where he could be disgruntled in peace. Ken sank back down on to the couch, his head in his hands. Youji put a hand on Ken's shoulder and said, "It's gonna be all right." Ken just shook his head. Youji sighed and left Ken to his thoughts while Omi settled back into his computer chair.

* * *

"I think you boys will all be very entertained by the presentation we have for you tonight," Manx said with a grin. Youji, Ken, and Omi all flopped down on the sofa in the basement of their flower shop while Aya took his usual brooding stance in the corner.

The projector screen came down from the ceiling and the boys known as Weiss looked on at the shadowy figure of their leader.

"Weiss," began Persia, "there is a new threat to Japan. A large all female gang called Unagi. They are recruiting droves of new members and will soon initiate their plan to own Tokyo. These young women thrive on violence and have no problem killing innocent people. Lately, they have been offering to 'protect' stores throughout Tokyo, as long as the store pays their fee. If not, the store faces destruction."

A picture flashed up on the screen of a store out by the bay that had been leveled by what looked to be an explosion. Next, a picture of a young woman no older than 18 popped up on the screen. It looked like a mug shot, but was in color. Weiss noted the woman's curly brown hair and darker complexion. Persia's voice came back to say, "this woman is one of the leaders of Unagi. Her name is not known. In the chain of command, she is the one who decided to initiate these attacks on stores and an even deadlier plan to make their existence known throughout Japan. We believe that they will be launching a terrorist attack this weekend during the Natsu Matsuri. This woman must be targeted before the festival. That is your mission. Hunters of the night, deny these evil beasts their tomorrow!"

With that, Manx flipped the lights back on and the projector made its way back up to the ceiling.

Youji whistled and said, "A gang of all women doesn't sound too threatening to me."

Aya looked at him darkly and said, "Of course even women can be deadly. Schreient taught us that. And are you forgetting our new friends?"

With that, Manx looked curiously at Aya, "Yes, of course. Have you made any progress discovering the identity of the women you came in contact with on your last mission?"

Aya opened his mouth to say something, but Ken quickly stood up and said, "No, not yet. We're still clueless! Yep, totally clueless!"

Manx looked from Aya to Ken and back again. Ken gave Aya a look as if to dare him to challenge his words. Aya chose not to. Manx also chose not to press the matter further. Starting with Omi, she passed folders around the room. "In here you will find directions to Unagi's last known hideout and an 8x10 color photo of the target. Good luck." With that, Manx walked quietly up the stairs and disappeared.

Omi looked at Ken and asked, "Why did you lie to Manx? We know who Katzen is now!"

Ken said nothing, but Youji smirked and said, "Because he's afraid Persia will see them as a threat and make them our next targets. Isn't that right Ken?" Ken looked down at his feet and then turned and strode upstairs.

Aya turned to Youji and Omi and said, "You two keep an eye on him. He tends to let his emotions interfere." Then he, too, turned around and walked upstairs.