Disclaimers/ warnings: See first chapter. Why do I keep writing this, I
wonder?
A/N: Day three of seven now commences! Yohji's still trying to seduce Ken, Ken's still ignoring him, Omi's still pissed, and Aya's still laughing his head off. Well, maybe. Will today bring any new developments? Of course! What fun would it be if it didn't?
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After another night of fitful dreams filled with a certain secret someone, Ken poked his head out from under the covers. Slowly, cautiously, he peered at the floor of his messy room, but found no gift this time. Ken sighed in relief. He'd been worried about what new attempt at crude humor Yohji might have instigated. Ken raised himself from the inviting warmth of his bed and headed toward the shower.
After he was clean and dressed, Ken opened the door to the hallway and looked one direction, then the other. There was no overzealous Yohji in sight, so he crept quietly down the hallway, pausing only when he thought he heard someone opening Yohji's door behind him. Seeing no one, Ken continued his careful trek to the kitchen, where he found Omi chewing thoughtfully on his oatmeal and a pile of breakfast dishes in the sink.
Ken sat down with his usual cereal and consumed it quickly, almost spilling the milk at least three times. As he pored over the sports section of the daily newspaper (Aya had ripped the front cover, which hosted a picture of Taketori, to immaculate shreds), Ken thought about Yohji and all the trouble the older man had caused him the last couple of days, not mentioning lasting psychological trauma. All the caresses and whispers and over-used techniques were really starting to get on Ken's nerves. And somehow, Aya had let Yohji continue in his useless ministrations for several days now. Was it some kind of conspiracy?
Ken shook his head and wandered into the flower shop, followed closely by a still-silent Omi. Ken had tried to strike a conversation with his young friend this morning, but Omi had remained moodily silent, barely even returning Ken's good-morning wishes. As the two of them passed the register, Yohji tried to catch Ken's eye, but Ken ignored him and started on the arrangements, still preoccupied with his confused situation.
Suddenly there was a massive rush of fangirls - the daily hoard before the schools opened. They swarmed in, around, and all about, squealing when they found all four flower-boys on duty. Omi tried to smile at them all, Yohji draped himself across their shoulders, Ken artfully fended them off with a nearby broom, and Aya just glared at them all. He turned the power setting down just a bit on his glare, though - a customer randomly exploding into dust was bad for business.
Everything was going well enough until one of the fangirls, cooing slyly, asked Ken to get her a bouquet of roses. Sighing heavily, Ken made his way past the people crowding the flower shop to the bins where the roses stood. Unconsciously, he traced his fingers down the velvet petals, smiling at how soft they were to the touch. That's when he noticed, however, that the roses weren't in the smiley face he'd left them in last night. Instead, scrawled audaciously across the bins in roses, was a message. His face flushed as he read it, and his fists clenched.
//Ken has a nice-//
"YOHJI!" Ken yelled in absolute, breathtaking fury. He charged across the shop, throwing fangirls out of his way. Finally coming face to face with the playboy, who was hanging on about sixteen girls, Ken punched Yohji full in the face.
BAM! Yohji tumbled backwards and hit the floor hard. A few people screamed. Ken, still trembling with anger, raised his hand to hit Yohji again, but Aya, thinking quickly, restrained the brunette before his second blow could land. A dead silence fell over the flower shop. Yohji stared up at Ken in complete shock. The fangirls were horrified. Ken closed his eyes, trying very hard to hold onto his temper.
"You - you -" Ken began, feeling his fury rising once more. He clenched and unclenched his fists angrily, wishing Aya would let him go so he could smash Yohji's startled countenance. His redheaded leader had no intention of letting him kill the playboy, however - Yohji might be infuriating, but he was also important.
"Ken," Aya said in the younger man's ear, using a tone that was commanding and soothing at the same time. "The deliveries need to be taken out. Please do that now." Ken closed his eyes once more and nodded. Aya let go of his arms. Giving Yohji one last murderous glare, Ken grabbed the deliveries and stomped out the back door. Moments later, the sound of his motorcycle droned away, leaving an awkward silence in the Koneko.
Aya moved back to the cash register, and, as though he had broken a spell of some sort, the Koneko came back to life. Every girl in the store flocked to Yohji, pulling him to his feet and demanding his status. Aya continued ringing up purchases for the few people actually intent on buying something. Omi, for his part, wandered over to the rose bins and read the message written there. Omi's eyes widened. Then he began furiously rearranging the roses, ignoring all those commanding his attention. When the boy finally finished and huffed away, the message had changed dramatically. Immortalized in blood-red roses, Ken and Omi's anger declared //Yohji is the world's biggest baka. May he suffer the consequences of his actions.//
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Hours upon hours later, when the street lights were beginning to dimly illuminate the shop fronts outside, Yohji sat in his room, sulking. He'd thought his message would've given Ken a laugh, or at least made him smile. //Well, at least I got a strong reaction,// Yohji thought ruefully. Instead of the joint laughter he'd hoped for, Ken had punched him and stormed out of the store, not returning for many hours. Ken had still been in a fine temper, too, so the brunette had made himself a sandwich and locked himself in his bedroom with the stereo up high enough to deafen anyone in a three-mile radius.
Yohji almost felt bad about what he'd written in the roses - but then again, why should he? It was a compliment, right? What was Ken so angry about? No one else had seen it - well, no one but Omi, who had promptly told Aya and written Yohji a stinging message in return. Even more than making Ken mad, Yohji felt bad about upsetting Omi - he always hated it when his younger friend was unhappy, especially when it was his fault. Still, he couldn't really see what the big deal was about. He said things like that all the time!
There was a soft knock on the door, interrupting his musings, and Yohji looked up. "Yohji-kun?" came a quiet voice he instantly recognized as Omi's.
"Oh, Omittchi - come on in!" Yohji called quickly. Omi cracked the door open just enough for Yohji to see his blue eyes peeking through. Then the small blonde swung the door open the rest of the way and proceeded inside, plopping down next to Yohji on the bed. Gently, Omi fingered Yohji's puffy cheek, the place where Ken's fist had landed.
Omi sighed, removing a jar of cream from his pocket. Yohji recognized it as the cream they used to take swelling down when one of them suffered an injury during a mission. He also knew it stung. Insistently, he pulled away from Omi's soft hand and the medicine until Omi reprimanded him firmly. "Hold still, Yohji-kun. You don't want to go into work like this tomorrow, do you?"
Yohji considered a moment, then shuddered at the thought of what the fangirls would say. He shook his head, and Omi continued spreading the cream over his swollen cheek. When Omi finally finished, the chibi sighed once more and leaned against Yohji's shoulder.
"Oh, Yohji-kun," he said sadly.
"What?" Yohji asked. "All I said was that Ken has a nice-"
"Yohji-kun!" Omi blushed. Yohji watched the boy at his side fiddle with his hands in utter embarrassment - Yohji thought it was quite cute. In an unusual gesture of tenderness, he leaned forward and kissed Omi's forehead softly. Omi's blush only deepened.
"Well he does," Yohji continued indignantly. "Admit it." Omi sputtered and gawked at him.
"I - I don't - I don't look at Ken-kun like that, Yohji-kun!" Omi had the grace to look affronted. Yohji smiled.
"Oh no? What about me, Omittchi - do you look at me like that?" Omi turned away and looked at his feet.
"Of course not," he responded, almost too quickly. Yohji furrowed his brow in suspicion. Then he shrugged and gave Omi's arm a little shake. He didn't want Omi to feel uncomfortable, so he changed the topic.
"'Course you don't," he said benevolently. Omi looked back to him gratefully. "What about Kenken, though?" Yohji wondered aloud. "D'you think -he- thinks of me like that?"
Omi opened his mouth, then shook his head almost sadly. "Sorry, Yohji-kun, but I think you'd better just give up on Ken-kun. He's - well, he's. . . um. . . " Omi hesitated, not sure if Ken would approve of telling Yohji his secret. If he told, Yohji might abandon his quest as hopeless, but he'd undoubtedly ridicule Ken forever. And Ken wouldn't like that. Omi decided to keep his mouth shut.
Yohji pouted. "What, you don't think I have a chance? The Almighty Kudou - no one can resist me, remember?" He winked.
Suddenly Omi stiffened. Shrugging Yohji's arm off his shoulders, he stood and headed for the door. "Oyasumi, Yohji-kun," he called coldly over his shoulder. Yohji blinked as Omi practically slammed the door. What was wrong with that boy?
Every time he mentioned Ken, Omi got upset. Maybe they weren't getting along? Or maybe. . . maybe Omi -was- jealous. Maybe Omi was in love with Ken! Maybe the feeling was mutual!
That would explain why Ken didn't want him. And why Omi was so upset. And why Ken wasn't going to give in to Yohji's patented advances anytime soon. Nodding to himself, Yohji opted to confront Ken about it tomorrow, pleased with his deduction. He wasn't a private investigator for nothing! He switched off the light and fell asleep, not knowing that he had just made a very, VERY wrong assumption.
End Day 3
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Uh oh. Now Yohji's drawing wrong conclusions? Or are Ken and Omi really in love like he thinks? Will Yohji give up on Ken now that he thinks Ken has affections for another? No way! Please R + R - TBC soon. ^-# ( Farfie says hello.
A/N: Day three of seven now commences! Yohji's still trying to seduce Ken, Ken's still ignoring him, Omi's still pissed, and Aya's still laughing his head off. Well, maybe. Will today bring any new developments? Of course! What fun would it be if it didn't?
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After another night of fitful dreams filled with a certain secret someone, Ken poked his head out from under the covers. Slowly, cautiously, he peered at the floor of his messy room, but found no gift this time. Ken sighed in relief. He'd been worried about what new attempt at crude humor Yohji might have instigated. Ken raised himself from the inviting warmth of his bed and headed toward the shower.
After he was clean and dressed, Ken opened the door to the hallway and looked one direction, then the other. There was no overzealous Yohji in sight, so he crept quietly down the hallway, pausing only when he thought he heard someone opening Yohji's door behind him. Seeing no one, Ken continued his careful trek to the kitchen, where he found Omi chewing thoughtfully on his oatmeal and a pile of breakfast dishes in the sink.
Ken sat down with his usual cereal and consumed it quickly, almost spilling the milk at least three times. As he pored over the sports section of the daily newspaper (Aya had ripped the front cover, which hosted a picture of Taketori, to immaculate shreds), Ken thought about Yohji and all the trouble the older man had caused him the last couple of days, not mentioning lasting psychological trauma. All the caresses and whispers and over-used techniques were really starting to get on Ken's nerves. And somehow, Aya had let Yohji continue in his useless ministrations for several days now. Was it some kind of conspiracy?
Ken shook his head and wandered into the flower shop, followed closely by a still-silent Omi. Ken had tried to strike a conversation with his young friend this morning, but Omi had remained moodily silent, barely even returning Ken's good-morning wishes. As the two of them passed the register, Yohji tried to catch Ken's eye, but Ken ignored him and started on the arrangements, still preoccupied with his confused situation.
Suddenly there was a massive rush of fangirls - the daily hoard before the schools opened. They swarmed in, around, and all about, squealing when they found all four flower-boys on duty. Omi tried to smile at them all, Yohji draped himself across their shoulders, Ken artfully fended them off with a nearby broom, and Aya just glared at them all. He turned the power setting down just a bit on his glare, though - a customer randomly exploding into dust was bad for business.
Everything was going well enough until one of the fangirls, cooing slyly, asked Ken to get her a bouquet of roses. Sighing heavily, Ken made his way past the people crowding the flower shop to the bins where the roses stood. Unconsciously, he traced his fingers down the velvet petals, smiling at how soft they were to the touch. That's when he noticed, however, that the roses weren't in the smiley face he'd left them in last night. Instead, scrawled audaciously across the bins in roses, was a message. His face flushed as he read it, and his fists clenched.
//Ken has a nice-//
"YOHJI!" Ken yelled in absolute, breathtaking fury. He charged across the shop, throwing fangirls out of his way. Finally coming face to face with the playboy, who was hanging on about sixteen girls, Ken punched Yohji full in the face.
BAM! Yohji tumbled backwards and hit the floor hard. A few people screamed. Ken, still trembling with anger, raised his hand to hit Yohji again, but Aya, thinking quickly, restrained the brunette before his second blow could land. A dead silence fell over the flower shop. Yohji stared up at Ken in complete shock. The fangirls were horrified. Ken closed his eyes, trying very hard to hold onto his temper.
"You - you -" Ken began, feeling his fury rising once more. He clenched and unclenched his fists angrily, wishing Aya would let him go so he could smash Yohji's startled countenance. His redheaded leader had no intention of letting him kill the playboy, however - Yohji might be infuriating, but he was also important.
"Ken," Aya said in the younger man's ear, using a tone that was commanding and soothing at the same time. "The deliveries need to be taken out. Please do that now." Ken closed his eyes once more and nodded. Aya let go of his arms. Giving Yohji one last murderous glare, Ken grabbed the deliveries and stomped out the back door. Moments later, the sound of his motorcycle droned away, leaving an awkward silence in the Koneko.
Aya moved back to the cash register, and, as though he had broken a spell of some sort, the Koneko came back to life. Every girl in the store flocked to Yohji, pulling him to his feet and demanding his status. Aya continued ringing up purchases for the few people actually intent on buying something. Omi, for his part, wandered over to the rose bins and read the message written there. Omi's eyes widened. Then he began furiously rearranging the roses, ignoring all those commanding his attention. When the boy finally finished and huffed away, the message had changed dramatically. Immortalized in blood-red roses, Ken and Omi's anger declared //Yohji is the world's biggest baka. May he suffer the consequences of his actions.//
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Hours upon hours later, when the street lights were beginning to dimly illuminate the shop fronts outside, Yohji sat in his room, sulking. He'd thought his message would've given Ken a laugh, or at least made him smile. //Well, at least I got a strong reaction,// Yohji thought ruefully. Instead of the joint laughter he'd hoped for, Ken had punched him and stormed out of the store, not returning for many hours. Ken had still been in a fine temper, too, so the brunette had made himself a sandwich and locked himself in his bedroom with the stereo up high enough to deafen anyone in a three-mile radius.
Yohji almost felt bad about what he'd written in the roses - but then again, why should he? It was a compliment, right? What was Ken so angry about? No one else had seen it - well, no one but Omi, who had promptly told Aya and written Yohji a stinging message in return. Even more than making Ken mad, Yohji felt bad about upsetting Omi - he always hated it when his younger friend was unhappy, especially when it was his fault. Still, he couldn't really see what the big deal was about. He said things like that all the time!
There was a soft knock on the door, interrupting his musings, and Yohji looked up. "Yohji-kun?" came a quiet voice he instantly recognized as Omi's.
"Oh, Omittchi - come on in!" Yohji called quickly. Omi cracked the door open just enough for Yohji to see his blue eyes peeking through. Then the small blonde swung the door open the rest of the way and proceeded inside, plopping down next to Yohji on the bed. Gently, Omi fingered Yohji's puffy cheek, the place where Ken's fist had landed.
Omi sighed, removing a jar of cream from his pocket. Yohji recognized it as the cream they used to take swelling down when one of them suffered an injury during a mission. He also knew it stung. Insistently, he pulled away from Omi's soft hand and the medicine until Omi reprimanded him firmly. "Hold still, Yohji-kun. You don't want to go into work like this tomorrow, do you?"
Yohji considered a moment, then shuddered at the thought of what the fangirls would say. He shook his head, and Omi continued spreading the cream over his swollen cheek. When Omi finally finished, the chibi sighed once more and leaned against Yohji's shoulder.
"Oh, Yohji-kun," he said sadly.
"What?" Yohji asked. "All I said was that Ken has a nice-"
"Yohji-kun!" Omi blushed. Yohji watched the boy at his side fiddle with his hands in utter embarrassment - Yohji thought it was quite cute. In an unusual gesture of tenderness, he leaned forward and kissed Omi's forehead softly. Omi's blush only deepened.
"Well he does," Yohji continued indignantly. "Admit it." Omi sputtered and gawked at him.
"I - I don't - I don't look at Ken-kun like that, Yohji-kun!" Omi had the grace to look affronted. Yohji smiled.
"Oh no? What about me, Omittchi - do you look at me like that?" Omi turned away and looked at his feet.
"Of course not," he responded, almost too quickly. Yohji furrowed his brow in suspicion. Then he shrugged and gave Omi's arm a little shake. He didn't want Omi to feel uncomfortable, so he changed the topic.
"'Course you don't," he said benevolently. Omi looked back to him gratefully. "What about Kenken, though?" Yohji wondered aloud. "D'you think -he- thinks of me like that?"
Omi opened his mouth, then shook his head almost sadly. "Sorry, Yohji-kun, but I think you'd better just give up on Ken-kun. He's - well, he's. . . um. . . " Omi hesitated, not sure if Ken would approve of telling Yohji his secret. If he told, Yohji might abandon his quest as hopeless, but he'd undoubtedly ridicule Ken forever. And Ken wouldn't like that. Omi decided to keep his mouth shut.
Yohji pouted. "What, you don't think I have a chance? The Almighty Kudou - no one can resist me, remember?" He winked.
Suddenly Omi stiffened. Shrugging Yohji's arm off his shoulders, he stood and headed for the door. "Oyasumi, Yohji-kun," he called coldly over his shoulder. Yohji blinked as Omi practically slammed the door. What was wrong with that boy?
Every time he mentioned Ken, Omi got upset. Maybe they weren't getting along? Or maybe. . . maybe Omi -was- jealous. Maybe Omi was in love with Ken! Maybe the feeling was mutual!
That would explain why Ken didn't want him. And why Omi was so upset. And why Ken wasn't going to give in to Yohji's patented advances anytime soon. Nodding to himself, Yohji opted to confront Ken about it tomorrow, pleased with his deduction. He wasn't a private investigator for nothing! He switched off the light and fell asleep, not knowing that he had just made a very, VERY wrong assumption.
End Day 3
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Uh oh. Now Yohji's drawing wrong conclusions? Or are Ken and Omi really in love like he thinks? Will Yohji give up on Ken now that he thinks Ken has affections for another? No way! Please R + R - TBC soon. ^-# ( Farfie says hello.