Wow, you made it this far? You have determination! Thank you so much for reading! You'll be glad to know I figured out how to properly edit (who would have known putting it in to html format would have made such a difference -_-;;) I'll be editting the previous chapters too, so they don't look so messy. That aside -just a couple shoutouts I wanna take care of: Nekojita and Tmelange, your feedback is much appreciated. Thank you. Jo, I put the colour red in the story. Other than Aya's hair too ^^ Holloweyes, props to you with putting up with those gargantuan emails full of garble which, with every chapter, you help me spit and polish. You're awesome! Right. Without further adieu…here's chapter four.

Twenty minutes proved that Aya had been wrong.

"HIDAKA!" The glass shook with the deep rumble of his voice.

"Coming!"

Aya wrapped the day's second arrangement in cellophane and plunked in a hard, white, plastic bucket of cool water. Winter was fast approaching with its Church ceremonies and New Year's parties. It would mean that the shop would be getting busy soon. But that was all right with him. It seemed the busier they were in the shop, the less work they did at night.

Or at least it always seemed that way to him.

The cold metal shutters were being raised from the glass. That meant Ken was in.

Aya cringed when he saw the usual flock of fan girls waiting outside. This was Saturday. Didn't they have somewhere else to be? Something better to do with their time then waiting for the Koneko to open?

The metal shutters were drawn all the way the up. Aya looked on as Ken unlocked the door. Still the flood did not come. The boy's hand hesitated at the sign which Aya read from here as 'open' but the girls doubtlessly saw as 'closed'.

Ken flipped it gingerly, and sprinted back to his position behind the counter.

A lucky thing too, as he would have been trampled if he'd stayed in that spot any longer. Aya scanned the faces of the customers, detachedly. There were a few he recognized.

A heavy sigh escaped his lips, and he made his way to the freezer, to pluck out the flowers for his next arrangement.

"Oh no you don't!" A flustered Ken shouted from across the room, struggling to carry a load of red phlox to the display area with at least three girls clinging to each of his limbs. "There's too many of them for me to handle alone! Get out here and help me Aya!"

"Hn."

An hour passed, and by that time, the crowd had dispersed. Aya's shoulders slumped as he set about picking up one of the dried displays the girls had knocked over in their rush to get inside. Most were Omi and Youji fangirls that morning - Aya had just switched the shifts around for the month, and the girls hadn't quite adjusted to the new schedule yet. With a snarl, he moved to the next damaged area, and rescued a crushed violet from the floor.

Ken grinned at him from behind a magazine. "Sure fooled them Aya. Wow, Omi has even more fangirls than all the rest of us put together.."

Aya chuckled at this, and stepped behind his usual position behind the cash register. "Aa."

"Not that I blame them." Ken sighed whistfully, and looked over the edge of his Sports Illustrated to gaze out the window, taking in the way the rain pelted against the windows of the cars, and a small child swinging his parents hands, splashing gaily in puddles with bright neon boots. Ken sighed once more. Tokyo…the place where civilization and nature clash and battle daily for dominance….That's what Omi said once, wasn't it? Omi……He blinked, and returned to the real world with a jolt. "Ne, that reminds me, Aya..."*

"Nani?" The redhead fixed his gaze on Ken, who was now, hiding behind his magazine. Aya arched a fine eyebrow.

"I was wondering if I could ask a favour of you."

Aya narrowed his eyes. "That depends."

"Well," Ken shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "I was wondering if you could make me a bouquet. To give to…..someone."

"Why don't you do it?"

"Because you're a lot better at making arrangements than I am."

"Get Omi or Youji to do it." Aya frowned curiously as Ken flushed a deep red.

"Ah...I'd get Yotan to do it, but he's on the same shift with Omi."

Another eyebrow arch. "So?"

Ken covered his burning face with his hands. He didn't know why everyone said he was the thickheaded one. Aya could be even more dense than he was at times.

"Come on Aya……" Ken pleaded. I'll pay you."

"Fine." The older man finally conceded with a snort.

Ken only laughed. "Prick."

"Incompetent." Aya smirked behind the cash register, and booted Ken out to water the plants.

"Shut up."

Ken grinned as he plucked the water can up from its hook in the back room. Today was going to be a great day. Yeah.

__________________________________________________________

Brass bells tingled gaily, as the door to the Koneko swung open. Youji shivered lightly and held it for the beautiful woman behind him. The usual lazy grin was in place, as she bowed her head in silent appreciation. He shuddered again, as he stepped inside the warmth of the shop. The streets were cold for a city yet bare of winter. He closed his eyes when the subtle, sweet scent of the flowers filled his nostrils. Roses again? He opened his eyes and stole a glance around the room. He was right. The shop was unusually full of them…. Someone had tucked them expertly amongst the other flowers. Splashes of purpled orchids were complimented with white roses, red gladiolas with roses of the same. What the hell? Valentine's Day was two months off. Unless one of the kittens had something on the mind…it had to have been Aya's doing. He grinned. Tough as the man was, there had to be a weak spot somewhere within that icy exterior…no one had that much of a fondness for the most romantic flower of all while being a complete ice castle.

"Irasshaimasse!" A youthful voice greeted them as its owner bounded out from the backroom, and Youji abandoned his musings. *

Youji smiled at the teenager. "Ohayou gaki."

"Youji! Your on time, Ken would have a heart atta......Manx-san?" Omi frowned. "What are you doing here?" Cornflower eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly, trying to divine an answer from the woman's facial expression. Youji's mouth twitched in a sympathetic smile, and he stole a guilty glance around the shop. It was deserted. They'd better take the chance. With a sheepish grin, he flipped the 'open' sign to 'closed'

"Just a short debreifing Ommitchi. We'll be back to watering flowers in no time." Youji cringed at the sound of his overly-bubbly voice for the second time that day. Could he be any more transparent?

"All right Manx-san, go on down and set up." The genki boy hung his apron upon the rack, and glanced back at his older companion, favouring him with a smile.

"Na, Yotan, are you feeling all right?"

The brunette hid his surprise behind a smile and a pair of black lenses. "Hai, daijbou. Why Omi?"

The teenager gave him a mischievous grin. "You aren't wearing a crop top."

This earned a real smile. "Urusai, na."

Omi laughed, and shouted for the missing half of the team. "Aya! Ken! Manx is here....and Youji is too....on time!"

"What did I tell you about shutting up?"

A chocolate coloured mop poked around the corner, shielding eyes of the same colour. "Huh?"

A deep bass echoed the brunettes befuddled thoughts. "Manx?"

"Hai Aya-kun!" Omi nodded at Ken's red-headed shadow.

"In the middle of the day? Why?" A violet ice gaze was trained on the playboy.

Youji bit his lip and looked down. "It's a kind of important mission..." he informed his shoes in a mumble.

Omi frowned at this, and opened his mouth to speak, but Manx gave a holler from downstairs, signaling that it was time.

At this Ken darted down the stairs, anxious to satisfy his curiousity. Youji followed gladly, laughing at this athletic companion's antics. Sometimes, he was convinced that Ken was more a child than Omi.

His joviality turned to melancholy as he reached the last step, and entered what the other's had dubbed as the mission room. The darkness settled over his body and mind, an old companion. The air of the room was cold, and he tugged his sweater closer to his body. Sometimes, it seemed to him as if the room was a silent tomb. Those whitewashed walls surely harboured as many dark secrets as the stone walls of Tutankhamen's pyramid.

It was an unsettling thought.

By now, the others had made their way down the creaky steps, and were already seated on the leather furniture.

Leather. So many of their possessions were leather...not only their couches, but their clothes. It was not a matter of style, it was a matter of convenience. Youji's lips twitched.

Asuka had never cared for leather. That was one of her many quirks that he found so endearing. One of a thousand, insignificant reasons he had been so enamoured of her.

One of those characteristics which he missed so dearly.

He sighed and inhaled a lungful of stale air. Perhaps it was not Asuka, or even loving Asuka which he missed, but that feeling of being connected. Being so close to someone you knew the reasoning behind every task in their lives. From eating to filing to firing a gun. He'd memorized not only the process of how she carried out each, but the rational behind each.

'There is a certain finesse to firing a gun, Youji.' Her rich alto voice came to him, unbidden, as he recalled one of his many memories of his lost love. He ignored the flickering images of the television infront of him. She always took precedence to real life, didn't she?

'If you aim slowly, and deliberately, like this...' An image of Asuka flittered across his eyelids. Her long pale arms stretched out in front of her, holding the gun away from her body with both of those slender hands. She cocked the gun at him, and pinned him with her beautiful eyes. '...it shows your man that he means something to you. Like he was hard to catch. That his death is something that you can be proud of. Whereas, if you do this...'

Her posture slackened, and she held the gun in a loose, one-handed grip, and again, pointed it at Youji. 'This shows that its just another muscle man. That you don't really care, because you kill people like him all the time.....'

...all the time.

"....all the time, Manx-san. Why is this so important that you needed to interrupt our work to tell us this."

Youji blinked his green-haired lover of the past away, and focused his attention on the room before him. Omi had just finished asking a question.

Manx gave teen a cynical smile. "Let's just say that this corporation isn't of standard quality."

"Yeah, that's another thing." Ken piped up from his place beside the blonde. "You haven't told us anything about what they did wrong. You just filled us in on what you wanted us to do. What's up with that?"

"They're one of Kritiker's rivals, Ken. Not one so major as Estet, but enough to be at least a little troublesome. We want those files, and they have them, it's as simple as that. If it proves easy enough for you, we might have you take down their leader too."

Aya's gaze narrowed. "If they're that, than why did you chose us to take care of this mission? Weiss is your best. "You could have given this mission to another team."

Manx's expression softened as she looked upon Aya, and she cocked her head sweetly to the side.

Youji stiffened at the same time. Tramp. Always flirting with him. Didn't she know that Aya would never want her? She didn't have a chance, because Aya was definitely….hey, hold on….did he just think of Manx as a tramp….?

"Yes, of course you are Abysinian.." Youji noted with a smirk that he wasn't the only one to see how she said it directly to him. Ken was glowering at her back, and Omi…well, Youji imagined the look the kid had on his face was pretty close to his own right now.

"… But there is reason for all of this. And don't be too cocky. Gesellschaft, however small still has a tough security system to get through. It's not going to be an easy mission."

"What's the reason, Manx." Aya's tone was cold. Never had Youji met someone so strong, or imposing. It was a quality which both impressed and unnerved him. Not even the Kritiker bitches could avoid Aya. And as much as he hated Manx some days, he had to give her some credit. She put up a good fight.

"That's to be kept under wraps, Abysinian. Now...moving along...." she produced for manila folders from her purse. "Here's another reason why this mission isn't standard. We've already drafted the main procedure of this mission. Or rather missions. There is to be three -perhaps four installments of this mission. You can each read the part you are to play within your folders." She passed them around the room. "As I said, the bulk of the mission is already worked out. You can come up of the specifics -cover-up, costume, positioning, etc."

Omi stared up at her dubiously. "O....kay."

"However, what is different about these missions, is that your roles, for a great deal of the time, shall be cut off from each other. That is..." Her eyes narrowed and Youji knew the promise of a threat when he saw one. Though, he already knew the threat. He had been pre-debreifed. "...that you will tell no one of your part. Not any of the rest of Weiss. Unless we order you otherwise, which will be the case at least two times over the course of these missions."

Ken and Omi exchanged looks of confusion. Youji looked to Aya, but the man's icy glare did not leave Manx for even a second. "Why." Not a question, but a demand.

Manx matched it with a cold smile, rivaling the other redhead's.

"Because if one of you is to be caught, then you won't have the knowledge of what's happening to the others and...."

".....and we won't be able to tell where they are, or what they're doing." Omi finished for her.

"Right as usual, Bombay."

"Hmm." Omi's face contorted into a youthful frown. "It seems to me like you're making a lot of trouble over a minor rival."

Manx smirked. "You're treading on thin ice boy. Now, let's cut to the chase. Who's in? I would suggest that all of you volunteer. It's a four man job, and in the circumstances of these missions....I don't think you would find yourselves trusting a substitution."

Ken was openly disturbed, but he nodded his head mutely anyway. Omi, seated next to the athlete crossed his arms infront of his chest and slouched defiantly.

"Fine, but I don't like it. Not at all."

Aya was as detached as ever. "I accept."

"Good." Manx smiled. "You four get working on the case, I have to got to see to other things now. Be good little kittens while I'm gone...."

With that, she wandered up the stairs, high heels thunking as she went. Youji watched as the pale expanse of her legs disappeared from sight, and grinned. "I sware, the woman's going to fall flat on her face one day."

There was no response. He turned to look back at the group, and was surprised to find they were all staring at him now. Even Aya. He turned around to look at them, now confused.

"What? Didn't know I looked that good today."

The remark was all but ignored. It was Omi who spoke first.

"She didn't ask for your confirmation Youji."

He shrugged. "Nope."

Ken was flabbergasted. "But Youji, she has to! It's like...it's. it's a..."

"....an unwritten rule." Aya's face was inscrutable, as always. However, it was evident his curiosity was piqued. So the man was human after all...

Ah yes Aya. It would be if this were any normal mission. But the thing about this is….it's not. It's the turning point…

"Sure. She just probably forgot me, that's all. Not too hard to do after all." Youji laughed at Omi's adorable frown. "Come on Omittchi, it's time for shift. Can't be late for your admirers, now can we?"

His was the second pair of feet to tromp up the stairs that afternoon.

'if you're not interested, well, you have no choice...'

So absorbed was he in keeping the smile one his face, that he failed to notice the bewildered doubt he left lingering behind, or the three pairs of eyes that followed his ascent up the staircase.

"That was weird." Ken quipped, once he was sure Youji was out of earshot. "Anyway, got to call the kids and tell them practice is cancelled. Shit, that little drizzle we had this morning turned into a monsoon. The field's gonna be a fuckin' mud pool. See yah guys later, ne?"

Then he too was gone. Omi fidgeted in his place. Something felt funny. He looked at their leader, surprised to see the stone expression usually carved there and shifted ever so slightly into something….well, he didn't know.

"Aya?" He asked hesitantly.

"Go to work Omi." Aya's eyes were narrowed to amethyst slits once more, and he got up from the couch slowly. "I need to ask Manx a few questions about these…special…missions."

Glossary

Ne also means hey, it can kinda make a question out of a statement. Irasshaimasse –Welcome!

That's all guys! Hope you liked this chapter!