Force of Habit: Chapter Four

Within ten seconds of entering the building, Ran had known that someone had made a serious mistake. Instead of the small number of night staff that his information had caused him to suspect, Ran had found himself surrounded by a large number of armed guards. Instead of a stealthy dash over to where the target would have been sleeping blissfully unaware of his impending doom, the Kritiker assassin had been forced to fight his way through the swarms of men who should not have been there. No more than halfway across the room, Ran had lost control when he saw his target creeping past the melee in an attempt to escape to safety.

Rational thought had been discarded then for the instinctual slice and stab as Ran fiercely hacked his way through the tide of bodies. He'd reached the target just in time to receive a slicing blow to his ribs courtesy of one extremely lucky bodyguard and a nearby shard of glass. That had been the final straw. The redhead had left them in pieces: very small pieces.

It was only on his return to the Koneko, stitching up yet another future scar that a nagging sense of suspicion had begun to creep into Ran's awareness. In recent months, the type of mission he'd been sent on had gradually become far more than what a lone assassin could easily accomplish. Ever since he'd returned to active status after reprogramming Void, he'd been persistently outnumbered and outgunned. There had been only one logical conclusion. Kritiker wanted to allow Ken and Omi to take part in missions and were seeking to force Ran into admitting that he needed the backup. Every injury he gathered would simply be used as evidence to support their claims that Ran couldn't cope alone. The redhead had gone to bed musing on his conclusions and as a result had woken up very cranky and very stiff. His entire chest felt as though it had been held in a vice, and any movement involving the muscles along his side resulted in sharp jabs of pain strong enough to make his breath hitch amongst his battered ribs. Even the knowledge that Omi was currently working the morning shift in his place was offset by the realisation that Ran now had to spend the afternoon working alongside one amnesiac, ex-psychotic killer.

Dressing was a slow process, hampered greatly by the fact that any attempt to raise his arm above shoulder height resulted in extreme protest from his chest. Ran ended up wearing a loose pair of jeans and a large orange sweater that was loose enough to conceal the padding caused by bandages wrapped securely around his midsection. He hurriedly brushed his hair out of his eyes as best as he could with one side of his body more or less rendered immobile and headed down to the Koneko to begin his shift.

Ken was waiting for him in the kitchen, an irritated expression on his face that Ran had come to recognise as Hideka's own personal way of indicating he wanted to talk. Or, as was more usually the case, rant. Ran narrowed his eyes to glare at the younger man, having neither the time nor the patience to deal with a verbal crusade against his behaviour. Ken, as always, failed to pick up on the hostile body language and blocked Ran's way with an arm. "Wait a minute. We need to talk."

The atmosphere in the kitchen dropped by several more degrees. Ran carefully examined the obstacle in his path, as though considering simply hacking his way past before turned his arctic gaze on the brunette. "Move."

Ken's face flushed. "Not 'til you here me out. I need to know what your problem is."

"My problem is that you are preventing me from getting to work."

"Stop being evasive! I'm talking about this bastard attitude you're giving Yohji. What's your problem?" At the lack of immediate response from the pale redhead, Ken's hands clenched into fists. "I'm sick of this! The guy has done nothing to deserve this. He's trying so damn hard to fit in and get on with us all and you just keep throwing it all back in his face and making him feel like he's not welcome!"

"He's not one of us." Ran forced the words out through clenched teeth and immediately berated himself for even saying that much. Why couldn't he have just lied and made up something about the guy getting on his nerves? Ken wasn't exactly the most adept person at recognising when a person wasn't being completely honest, yet he had instinctively answered as truthfully as he dared.

Ken's forehead creased in puzzlement at the older man's words, before clearing as the brunette rolled his eyes with a heavy sigh. "You're worried about the Kritker thing. What, you think he'll suspect something?" Ken paused and took Ran's silence as an affirmative. "Shit, don't get so paranoid. Omi and I aren't ready to go out on missions and he's completely buying the whole hospital cover story we've got going on. As long as you're careful and discreet – and you're so anal that's not going to be a problem – he'll never realise what you're really up to in the evenings." Ken's mood reverted back to his frustration of moments ago as he waved a finger in Ran's face. "But either way, you keep treating Yohji like he's some crazed serial killer and sooner or later the guy's gonna start to wonder just why you seem to have such a stick up your arse about him. Are you even listening to me?"

Ran regarded Ken's flushed face coolly. "Are you finished?" He watched the other man splutter incoherently for a few moments, before brushing past. "I have a shift now."

"You know, you can be such a wanker. I don't even know why I'm bothering!" Ken's departing words carried down to Ran. The redhead simply continued on his way to the shop without so much as a backward glance at the flatmate and co-worker who was still yelling insults at him.

"What's Ken so pissed about?"

Ran felt himself instinctively stiffen at the sound of that rich voice before forcing his body into a more relaxed posture as he turned to face the lanky blond. Yohji was by the door, seeing off the last few schoolgirls who had visited the florists during their lunch break. A relaxed smile was spread across his handsome features as he turned and froze at the sight of the pale redhead. "Uh, sorry. I thought you were Omi."

Ran turned away, uncomfortable at seeing Yohji's reaction to his presence. "Omi and I switched shifts today." Safely hidden from the hesitant green gaze that was no doubt watching him uneasily, Ran squeezed his eyes shut and released his breath in a quiet sigh. This wasn't right. Kudoh wasn't supposed to be scared of him. Ran was the one that had been lucky to survive in their first encounter. He was absolutely no threat to someone as experienced as Void had been.

The redhead jerked himself away from that thought immediately. Kudoh. He was Kudoh Yohji now. The man couldn't even wield a pair of shears effectively any more. Reopening his eyes, Ran once more mentally berated himself for his behaviour before turning back to the taller man. "I take it no one told you, Kudoh-san?"

Yohji grinned and ran a hand through his hair. "Actually, I only just got here myself. Kinda didn't get much sleep last night." Apparently not noticing the way in which Ran had stiffened again, the blond chuckled wryly to himself. "Guess sleeping in unfamiliar surroundings will do that to you."

Ran nodded, his eyes focused on the far corner of the shop. "It should pass soon enough."

"I figured as much. Oh, and Omi said to tell you that Manx rang earlier. Said she was going to drop in some time this afternoon."

Ran heard himself groan before he could stop himself. Obviously the woman wanted to check up on him and how he was after last night's debacle. Seeing him struggling around the Koneko was just going to make her more insistent about Ran taking on partners. Glancing over at his co-worker for the next few hours, he noticed Yohji was carefully rearranging the floral displays in the stands by the front of the shop. The fact that this task meant that the man was in no danger of coming anywhere near the redhead was not lost on Ran. He felt his fists briefly clench again, before shaking his head. "I'm heading over to make up some arrangements. If you need any help, let me know."

The door chimed at that moment, causing both men to look over at the attractive woman who had just stepped inside. Ran felt himself about to groan again, but managed to catch himself in time. "Manx-san. The others said you would be dropping in."

Manx tossed some stray strands of red hair over her shoulder and smiled at Ran in a somewhat predatory fashion. "Yes, I wanted to know how you got on last night."

Ran glanced over at Yohji, who was still picking through the flowers and apparently taking no interest in the conversation. "Fine."

The corners of Manx's mouth curled up further. "That's good to know. I'm sure you found it a very informative learning experience."

"It seemed much the same as everything else I've encountered," Ran said dismissively, recognising instantly the direction in which Manx was aiming to steer the conversation. If the woman thought discussing this in front of Kudoh was going to intimidate Ran into backing down and agreeing to go along with Kritiker's plans, she was in for an unpleasant surprise. "It was nothing I couldn't handle."

Manx's smile dropped from her face as she realised the redheaded man was going to continue to be stubborn. "Obviously we have underestimated your talents. Perhaps you would like something more challenging in future?" Her eyes flickered over to Yohji's bent head and then back at Ran. "But never mind about that, I came to get some flowers. I recall you mentioning some rather elaborate orchids that you had just received in. I would very much like some to brighten up the office." She stepped further into the florists, apparently searching for the flowers and smiled as she pointed at a decorative pot sitting up on one of the shelves. "And I do believe that's them. Would you be so kind as to get them for me?"

Ran forced himself not to clench his fists in annoyance as he silently nodded his head. Refusing to help would only arouse Manx's suspicion that he was injured. Though, of course, she was obviously suspicious already or she wouldn't be trying to catch him out. Hoping Manx would take the stiffness in his posture for annoyance rather than concealment of an injury, Ran began to make his way over to the pot, already dreading the prospect of pulling out several stitches by stretching for the heavy pottery.

Neither redhead in the shop had been expecting Yohji to smoothly remove the pot before Ran could reach it. He threw a charming grin at the stunned Manx as he passed the orchids to her. "Allow me to help. I'm nearer after all and I must admit I find it most unfair that Ran is so determined to monopolise the time of such a beautiful woman." He completed his sentence with a wink and tossed his hair out of his eyes.

Manx stared at Yohji for a moment in complete amazement, before quickly recovering herself and taking the flowers from him. "Why thank you, Kudoh-san. I am most impressed with your professional manner. You seem a natural for the job." Her attention focused completely on the flirtatious blond in front of her, Manx failed to notice the completely floored expression on Ran's normally impassive face.

Yohji moved slightly closer to her, sliding a friendly arm along her shoulder. "My professional manner? Surely you can't be suggesting I could possibly treat all the ladies who come in with the same admiration and attentiveness that I show to a vision like yourself?"

Manx smiled, a minute curling of the corner of her mouth. "I'm sure you do. How much for the flowers?"

Yohji named the price and carried out the transaction, never even presenting Ran with an opportunity to take the orchids from Manx as she so obviously wanted him to do. The green-eyed man saw Manx to her car and then re-entered the store. He glanced over at the now recovered Ran as he entered and began to head towards the back of the shop. "I thought I'd carry in the last of the pots and stuff from out back. There's a bunch of orders for arrangements on the table that Omi left, but I figured I'd leave those up to you."

Ran nodded in silent agreement and made his way over to the table to make a start on the displays. He worked quietly, with his usual attention to detail and soon became completely absorbed in his work. He was vaguely aware of Yohji's pleasant voice laughing and flirting with the customers, but the man never called him over to help so Ran assumed the blond was able to handle the crowds.

The next thing he was aware of was the clacking sound as Yohji drew down the metal shutter. Blinking, the redhead stepped away from the now completed displays to find the shop empty and closed. Yohji grinned at him from over by the door, leaning on a broom. "Times flies, eh? Tell you what though; I could really go for a coffee. Want one?"

Not sure why the smile had such a reassuring effect on him, Ran nodded as he placed the last of the arrangements in the chilled units where they would keep fresh overnight. There was nothing left to do in the shop, so the younger man simply turned and headed up to the kitchen. The coffee was already sitting beside the coffee maker so Ran carefully spooned the dark ground beans into the machine and put the water in. He heard Yohji enter behind him and rather than face the blond in his already unsettled mood, the redhead began to reach up to grab a couple of mugs out of the cupboard.

Just before his hand reached the couple, another tanned one brushed against it. The feel of that warm and soft skin against his own still shocked Ran just as much as it had in the hospital when Yohji had first awakened. Ran quickly withdrew his hand with a slight hitch in his breath as he turned his head to see Yohji inches away from him. The blond smiled apologetically, as his eyes flickered to Ran's side and then back to his face. "Sorry," the taller man said, cheerfully as his own fingers closed about the handles of two mugs and brought them down to the kitchen worktop. "Didn't mean to bump you."

Having got the mugs, Yohji moved slightly further away from Ran, allowing the redhead to breathe more easily. Concerned green eyes watched him for a moment, before the blond turned back to the mugs. "You look shattered, must be all those night shifts at the hospital. Why don't you sit down while I pour the coffee? It's not something I can screw up."

"Aa." Ran sank into one of the chairs as he watched the blond. It hadn't occurred to him until now, but Ran hadn't had to stretch or bend for anything throughout his shift. All the heavy objects had been moved by Yohji, all the high items up on shelves had been fetched by Yohji. Yohji had pulled down the shutters, had swept the floor, had hauled about the bags of fertiliser and the clay pots and now had grabbed the coffee mugs. Ran hadn't noticed it at the time as the blond had found completely legitimate reasons to justify his actions. But the more the redhead dwelled on the manner, the more he became convinced that Yohji had been deliberately preventing Ran from carrying out those chores in much the same manner as he had prevented Manx from discovering Ran's injured state. The redhead bit his lip as he glared at his hands through narrowed violet eyes. Just why would the man do that unless he knew that Ran was hurt? And even then, why not mention the fact to Ran?

"Here." A cup of coffee was placed in front of him, breaking Ran's musing. He looked up to see Yohji slide into the seat opposite him, offering the pale man a small smile as he blew on his coffee to cool it down. "I don't know how you take it, so I just gave it to you black."

Ran nodded his head and closed his hands around the china, feeling the warmth of the liquid. "Black's fine."

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The hotel foyer was completely anonymous in its expensive marble floors with rich plum carpeting. Away from the mahogany reception desk with it's brass fittings, was a small lounge area with low backed couches and coffee tables. Yohji looked around at the foyer, aware of a sense of familiarity but unable to recognise any distinctive detail that might reveal its name or location. Behind the receptionist stood a tall Western man, with dark, neatly groomed hair and glasses. His attention was rigidly fixed on the large plasma screen television on the wall behind Yohji. Yohji glanced at it, but the succession of news reports held no interest for him as he was unable to place any names or faces.

In the lounge area a group of five people were sat around one of the coffee tables. Yohji decided to approach them in the hopes of gleaning some piece of information from them. A young teenaged boy was serving drinks to them, the heavy tray with drinks appearing almost more than his slender form could carry. As Yohji neared the seated group, the youth passed him on the way back to the bar and Yohji saw that beneath the dark hair were delicate features and large blue eyes. The boy paid no more attention to Yohji than the man behind the reception desk did.

The group of five people, an elderly man flanked by two younger men and opposite a teenager and a woman in what looked like her twenties looked up at the blond's approach. The woman frowned in his general direction, though her black eyes seemed unable to focus on him at all. "You."

Yohji froze in place, not sure whether to be relieved that someone had finally noticed his presence, or intimidated by the cold tone of the raven-haired woman's voice. The other four were all staring at him with expressions that were hard to read, but unlikely to be pleased at his appearance.

"You should leave," the teenaged girl commented. Her attention turned back to the sand that she was running through her fingers. She tossed her head, messy strands of multi-coloured hair falling across most of her face. "It's not time for you to be here."

"Go," urged one of the young men, the one dressed in a variety of clothes that seemed to cover as much of his skin as was humanly possible. He waved a gloved hand at Yohji in a shooing motion. "It is dangerous for you to stay."

"If you stay the black will return," confirmed the dark woman, her gaze still not focusing on Yohji's face.

Yohji took a step back, unnerved by their words. From across the lobby, the phone on the reception desk began to ring, loud piercing trills that seemed to jolt Yohji's chest. The Westerner made no effort to answer it, and the five people on the sofas had turned their attention away from Yohji, equally unconcerned by the intrusive noise.

More out of a desire to stop the ringing than anything else, Yohji crossed over to the phone. With a final glance at the receptionist, who still hadn't moved his attention away from the television, the blond picked up the receiver and held it to his ear. "Hello?"

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Yohji flicked open his eyes, wondering why his breathing was so rapid. He gradually forced himself into a more relaxed state and glanced over at the clock. 1:45. The blond groaned quietly and dropped an arm over his eyes. Why did he keep waking up in the middle of the night? Had he been some sort of nocturnal, all-night barfly before the accident or something? Not that the idea didn't have it's merits, but with a morning shift to contend with, Yohji could really do with getting a full night's sleep.

He debated trying to get back to sleep again, but his mind had now woken up, and Yohji could feel himself becoming more alert. Yohji sighed heavily and rolled out of bed. Perhaps a quick trip to the kitchen for a drink would be a good idea. Anything was better than simply lying in bed, waiting to feel sufficiently tired to sleep.

A light on in the kitchen and the distinctive aroma of coffee revealed that Yohji was not the only member of the household out of bed at this hour of the night. Glad of the company and still feeling strangely unsettled from his sudden wakefulness, the blond ambled into the kitchen with a lazy grin. "Looks like I'm not the only one who can't sleep." Then he mentally kicked himself as he saw Ran sitting at the table in a pair of black silk pyjamas and gazing at the blond in faint shock.

Quickly recovering, the redhead adopted his more usual remote expression and raised the coffee mug in front of him to his lips. His eyes followed Yohji as the taller man headed towards the cupboard that held the mug. "The coffee's freshly made if you want some."

Yohji paused, unsure what to make of the remark or the lack of usual coldness in Ran's voice. "Uh, thanks, but I'm still hoping to get some sleep tonight. I have an early shift in the Koneko tomorrow."

Ran grimaced slightly, and Yohji couldn't help but notice how one arm was wrapped around his chest. "We won't be opening tomorrow. Ken can deliver the arrangements in the morning, but Omi has coursework to complete and Manx will probably want to check your progress at the hospital."

Yohji grinned. "In that case…" He poured himself a mug of coffee and sat down opposite Ran, noting that as he did, the redhead carefully removed his arm form his injured side and placed it down on the table. Ran didn't want Yohji to pick up on his injury, it seemed, and the blond knew better than to comment on it. Actually, he'd been surprised he'd gotten away with so much today and had a sneaking suspicion the testy redhead hadn't been fully with it. Yohji was sure that if Ran had so much as suspected that Yohji was deliberately trying to help Ran avoid straining his injury, he'd have been chewed out so loudly that half of Tokyo could have heard what an irritating bastard he was.

The pair drank their coffee in silence for a while before Ran cleared his throat slightly. Raising an eyebrow, Yohji looked over with curious green eyes to meet a purple gaze that quickly dropped back to the wooden tabletop. The redhead frowned for a moment, then looked up at Yohji with a more normal, neutral expression. "How is your memory? Is anything returning?"

Yohji paused for a moment, unsure of how to respond to the awkward attempt at conversation, before mentally shrugging. "Complete blank, in truth," the blond confessed with a wry grin. "I'd really thought something would have come back by now, but I obviously haven't seen anything familiar enough to trigger a memory." Yohji drank some more of his coffee before looking over at Ran. "It might never come back, right?"

Ran regarded him for a moment, an unfathomable expression in his eyes before shrugging. "It's rare, but there have been cases where the subject never regained his memory. Does that bother you?"

Yohji echoed Ran's shrug. "Not really. Obviously, I'll be pissed if I find out I'm supposed to be a millionaire or a rock star and am being deprived of some fabulous lifestyle somewhere, but that's not likely. The more important I was, the more likely it is that someone would have recognised me. I'm starting to work out what sort of things I like and don't like, so it's not like I'm totally deprived of an sense of identity."

The redhead nodded. "That's good."

Another silence passed before Yohji spoke up. "So, you specialise in cases like mine at the hospital? Or just all sorts of head injury?"

Ran paused before answering. "My field of expertise is fairly limited to neurological injuries which have led to psychological disorders. I know more about psychology than the medical side of it though, which is why I work at the hospital."

Yohji went to drink some more of his coffee, only to find that his mug was empty. He replaced it on the table and pushed it slightly away form himself. "So have you met a lot of people like me in your work?"

Ran drained the last of his own coffee. "A fair few." He glanced over at the slightly pensive blond. "More coffee?"

Yohji nodded absently, then suddenly jerked up as he noticed Ran getting out of his chair and moving to pick up the mugs. "I'll get them," he hastily said as he reached for his own mug.

His fingers were slapped away by Ran's hand and the blond looked up to meet a glare of sub-arctic amethyst. "I'm quite capable, I assure you," Ran replied coolly in a voice that left no doubt in Yohji's mind that the redhead was now fully aware of the blond's behaviour during the day. The redhead carried the mugs over to the coffee pot and busied himself with pouring out more of the steaming liquid, his back resolutely to Yohji. "Thank you anyway, Kudoh-san."

Yohji grinned at the tightly controlled expression of gratitude. "How many times, it's Yohji – ok?"

Ran turned back to the table and placed Yohji's mug down in front of him. "Ok … Yohji."

The blond's grin widened as he watched the redhead sit back down. "See? That wasn't so hard was it, Ran?"

The smaller man stiffened slightly at the use of his name and regarded Yohji through narrowed eyes. "Hn," he grunted, but there was no real venom in it.

Yohji relaxed back in his seat as he watched the other man drink his coffee in silence, his earlier unease forgotten.

TBC