Chapter 5

Trudging up the steps to the apartment, Omi put his hand into his pocket and held his keys within it tightly, his features thoughtful and distant. Today he had found someone who understood him in his native tongue. Granted, Richard wasn't very good at it, but he knew enough to get by if he needed to. This was a major breakthrough for the seventeen year old, but there was some inner sense warning him something was wrong. Or something was going to happen that he didn't like. A severe foreboding.
Pulling his keys out of his pocket, Omi stood staring at them for a few moments. It was almost as though he was trying to grasp a few more seconds in his own quiet thought. He then raised the keys in his fist to the lock, just as someone unlocked it from inside. Yohji stood towering over Omi by almost half a metre in the doorframe. "Where'd you get to Omi?"
Smiling and feeling suddenly elated at human company, Omi ducked under the arm Yohji was leaning against the doorframe with. "School Yohji, where else?"
Looking behind him at the retreating Omi before turning properly, Yohji said, "How was it today?"
Ken smiled towards Omi, seeing the youngest member of Weiss enter the room a lot more happily than he had done for the past week. "You're sure happy Omi, what happened?"
Aya just pretended to be sleeping. Again.
Omi grinned widely. "I found someone who speaks Japanese! He's really cool!"
Ken and Yohji looked between each other sharing a grin at Omi's comical happiness. They were both glad to see Omi's mood improving. Worried had been an understatement. However, there was still the business that Manx had spoken of. The possibility that the boy Omi had made friends with was the target.
Ken grimly forced the smile to stay on his face at that thought. "Great Omi. You've not been making many friends there have you?"
Omi shook his head, his expression shadowing for a moment before renewing itself. "Nope."
Leaning absently on the wall and brushing his ever-present strands of blonde out of his face, Yohji queried, "This new friend of yours then, does he have a name?"
Omi nodded. "Yup, Richard."
"Richard what?" Ken swallowed hard, hoping against hope for an alternate answer to the one he was expecting.
Omi, noticing the slight dip in Ken's voice, looked up to see the dark haired boy a few shades paler than usual. "Ken-kun...?" [Ken...?]
Ken, realising that his guise was slipping, looked to Yohji for support. The blonde, behind Omi, simply shrugged.
Ken looked towards Omi. "What's Richard's surname?"
"Stevenson... Doushite?" [Why?]
Ken sighed, knowing that from here onwards things were only going to get more difficult. "No reason Omi, I was just curious."
Omi, after holding Ken with a confused air for a few seconds, turned and allowed his gaze to rove the room. His eyes fell on the manila envelope Manx had brought with her earlier. "What's that?"
Suddenly, realising that he had left it on the bed after going to dispose of his 'magazines', Yohji sprung towards the envelope, snatching it up hastily. "Just some mail I got Omi... Don't worry about it..."
Omi frowned at Yohji, having caught a glimpse of his own name on the front first. "But we're collecting our mail when we get home Yohji... There's no way it could have gotten here..." His brow furrowing, Omi held out a hand and continued. "That had my name on it Yohji. Give it here please."
Hesitating, Yohji shook his head. "No, Omi..."
"Why?"
Suddenly, sitting up and having heard enough, Aya said sternly, "Because it has ceased to be your business."
Omi blinked at the words. "Ceased to be my...? Huh? I don't understand..." After a few moments of silence, the boy continued. "Those are mission details, right Aya?"
"So what if they are?" Aya raised an eyebrow slightly.
"But don't you guys get it?!" Omi's voice rose in earnest as he gestured wildly to encourage his statement. "You can't do this! I need to know what's going on!"
Aya narrowed his gaze at the youngest in the room almost patronisingly. "What you don't know can't hurt you."
Omi swung his gaze towards Aya. "You all know who the target is don't you?" The silence that followed answered an affirmative. "So why won't you tell me?!"
"Because," Ken's voice came across the room, clear cut and strong against the backdrop of silence after Omi's query. "You're out of this mission."
"Out of the...?!" Omi gaped wildly, unable to even finish his sentence. "What gives you the right to...?"
"We're your friends Omi," murmured Yohji quietly, brushing a rogue strand of blond hair behind an ear and almost not being heard. "That gives us the right to watch out for you doesn't it?"
"Maybe, but it sure as hell doesn't give you the right to make decisions for me!"
Aya snorted before standing. "Then we're in the wrong aren't we Omi? But that's such a shame, because there's nothing you can do about it." He made for the door, thrusting his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans as he did so. He paused briefly and turned back towards Omi, his single earring glinting in the lamplight. "Study hard. Yohji and I are going after the target. Ken is staying to baby-sit." Wincing, Ken looked towards Omi, who was nearly blue in the face with pure anger and embarrassment.
Then, beckoning to Yohji and shooting a slight, almost apologetic, glance at Ken, Aya took his coat and the envelopes, before taking the door handle in his hand and turning it with a squeak, pushing it open before him.