Notes: (italics) = thoughts; (~words) = song lyrics; Youji is a brunette here, now that I've decided that I like the way he looks in the manga version rather than the anime. He looks sexier with dark brown hair, ne? This is set sometime before Aya reveals the truth about his sister to the others. And while this is originally created to be a one-shot, if enough interest is shown through reviews or my own muses egging me on, I may extend it to a full blown AxY/YxA romance, instead of the little tease it is here.

Disclaimer: No, I don't own any of the boys in question, though my muses love to borrow them every now and again. They also love Frank Sinatra as well, though we don't own him or his songs either. Everyone belongs to their respective creators/authors/record labels. You all know who I'm talking about.

~*~

"Kenken! You can't leave me here like this!" "Come on…Aren't I annoying you enough yet? Leave!"

"Damnit, Youji! Aya's out God-knows where, Omi's at cram school till late, and my kids have a soccer match tonight that starts in half an hour! I need to get going NOW!"

"Then stop bitching at me and get the hell out of here already, damnit!" "But Kenken…!"

"Oh suck it up and quit your whining! You can close up the shop by yourself for once in your life! And stop calling me Kenken! Goodbye!"

The door was shoved open roughly and slammed shut with a force that rattled it on its hinges as the tall brunette watched the seething, hurried soccer fanatic run down the street towards the park, his jade eyes locked on the retreating figure until he disappeared around a corner at the end of the block. Then Youji gave an exhasperated sigh.

"Damn! I thought he'd never leave!" With a smile he then flipped the sign at the front of the shop to "Closed" and sauntered up to his room. Once inside, he got down on the floor and began to rummage for something buried deep under his bed.

"Now where did I…? I know it has to be… Hell! If someone's taken it… AHA!" Youji crowed triumphantly as he pulled out a small, slightly battered, black leather cd case. His smile turned up about a thousand watts, the sexy assassin made his way back down to the shop and straight to the cd player which was tucked away behind the register. Soon he was waiting, standing in the middle of the store with a broom in hand as the cd began to spin.

~They call you lady luck
~But there is room for doubt
~At times you have a very un-lady-like way
~Of running out
~Your on this date with me
~The pickin's have been lush
~And yet before the evening is over
~You might give me the brush
~You might forget your manners
~You might refuse to stay
~And so the best that I can do is pray


A genuinely content grin lighting his face, Youji nodded to himself as he began to sweep, his feet and body moving in time to the music as the brassy instrumental bit echoed in the store.

~*~

Aya was slowly walking in a silent brood down the street back to the Koneko. He had spent nearly the entire day by his sister's side, talking to her slumbering form about anything and everything. On one hand it was a comfort to talk to his sister and tell her about all that was weighing down his soul. On the other hand, however, it always left him feeling depressed every day that he left her still asleep in that lonely hospital room. Plunging his hands deep into his coat pockets, the red-haired young man continued his way home, wanting nothing more than to take a long bath, lock himself in his room, and sleep until some time next week.

~*~

~That's life, I can't deny it,
~I thought of quitting,
~But my heart just won't buy it.
~If I didn't think it was worth a try,
~I'd roll myself up in a big ball and die


At the end of the cd, Youji stood back and looked over his work. The shop was all cleaned and straightened up, a place for everything and everything in its place. Not bad for a little under an hour. He chuckled to himself. "If the others only knew how well a job I could do when I wanted to, I'd never get a chance to slack off ever again."

Then his stomach rumbled quite pointedly. "Ah… Time to start dinner. Glad I went to the grocery earlier. The rate Ken was going with his ranting this afternoon, I wouldn't have had time to go and enjoy the rest of tonight by myself." Grabbing the cd player, Youji made his way over to the kitchen.

He set the player down beside the coffee pot and pulled a different cd from the black leather case. Soon music filled kitchen and spilled out into the adjoining rooms.

~There are many many crazy things
~That will keep me loving you
~And with your permission
~May I list a few


~The way you wear your hat
~The way you sip your tea
~The memory of all that
~No they can't take that away from me


Singing along softly, Youji opened up the refridgerator, began pulling out various items from within, and setting them down on the counter next to the stove.

~*~

The night had finally overtaken the day as the slender red-head wound his way to the back of the Koneko. When Aya finally arrived, he didn't notice the muffled music filtering out from behind closed back door. "Omi's at cram school now… and Ken said his kids had a soccer game tonight… And Youji probably took off the first chance he got and did a piss-poor job cleaning the shop after closing, if at all. Lazy bastard…" Unlocking the door, Aya stepped into the back room and froze, his violet eyes widened in shock.

Everything was clean.

All the tools at the worktable lined up neatly in their proper places, and all the cuttings and potting soil had been swept up and put in the garbage. Wait… No, there was no garbage. Even the trashbags had been taken out to the dumpster. He curiously poked his head out into the store and was even more amazed. Despite the darkness, his excellent night vision clearly saw that everything was nearly spotless here as well.

"What the hell?" Aya thought to himself as he stepped out into the store, marvelling at how well everything looked. "Did Omi come home to help close and clean before going to his class?" He swept a finger along one of the display cases and wondered at the lack of dust before starting to wander upstairs. Once within the stairwell, however, he finally noticed the music wafting down.

~Those fingers in my hair
~That sly come hither stare
~That strips my conscience bare
~It's witchcraft


"That… That sounds like…"

~*~

Between the sizzling of the food that was cooking on the stove and the sounds of his favorite musician pouring out of the cd player, Youji felt like he was in heaven. He took the long handled wok and expertly began to toss the vegetables and shrimp that he was stir-frying within it, adding a bit of sesame seed oil as he did so. Oh, how he loved to cook. However, just like with the cleaning, if any of the boys knew that he could do so, and quite well as a matter of fact, then he'd never be allowed to deny them a home cooked meal, and, no offense, but Ken had the appetite of a starving racehorse. He'd make enough for leftovers for the others, though. But just like every rare night that he was home alone, he'd tell them all he'd gotten it from this mysterious great Chinese restaurant in town which no one seems able to find. Youji chuckled at the memory of Ken and Omi going out one night in search of the elusive restaurant, and coming back emptyhanded nearly three hours later, only to find a full meal waiting for them when they got home. How he managed to keep a straight face when they grilled him on where he got the food from, he never quite figured out.

Then his ears perked up to the familiar brassy introduction to his absolute favorite song on that particular cd. He reached over with his free hand and turned up the volume.

~I get no kick from champagne.
~Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all.
~So tell me why should it be true
~That I get a kick out of you?


Youji then set down the wok and took up a glass of red wine that he had left sitting by the stove and gave it a generous sip before sauntering over to the pantry with a few casual dance steps tossed in here and there, singing along as he went.

~Some like the bop-type refrain
~I'm sure that if, I heard even one riff
~It would bore me terrifically too
~But I get a kick out of you


Aya had stopped at the doorway to the kitchen, staring quite openly at Youji as he cooked and danced and sang to his heart's content, completely oblivious to the fact that he now had an audience. When the tall brunette finally came out of the pantry, carrying box of noodles with him, the red-head waited with baited breath for him to notice that he was there.

However, by some stroke of luck, Youji's field of vision never turned toward Aya.

~I get a kick every time I see you
~Standing there before me
~I get a kick though it's clear to see,
~You obviously do not adore me


Youji continued cooking, tossing the noodles into a pot of boiling water, absentmindedly stirring it with a pair of long chopsticks with a smile playing at his still singing lips.

~I get no kick in a plane
~Flying too high with some gal in the sky
~Is my idea of nothing to do
~But I get a kick out of you


Then, as the song took an instrumental turn for a bit, Youji turned down the heat and spun lightly on his feet to the sink to wash a few of the things he had used to prepare the food. His silently watching audience started to feel a small smile playing at the corner of his own lips in response. Aya suddenly found himself wishing that he knew where the video camera was. The lazy womanizing playboy who never seemed to willingly cook or clean at all since he had met him was doing exactly that, and singing and dancing to boot.

His wish for a video camera suddenly grew ten-fold when Youji, as he finished rinsing the last of the dishes, pulled a wooden spoon from the rack and began singing into it.

~I get a kick every time I see you
~Standing there before me
~I get a kick though it's clear to see,
~You obviously do not adore me


As the eldest Weiß began to move closer to where Aya stood with each blind turn and random smooth dance step, the red-head quite literally began to count down in his head the seconds till the inevitable was bound to occur.

~I get no kick in a plane
~Flying too high with some gal in the sky
~Is my idea of nothing to do
~But I get a kick out of-"GAH!!!"


((Clatter!))
((CRASH!!))


As Frank finished his song as a solo, Aya watched with a blank expression as Youji cried out in surprise, dropped his makeshift microphone, and fell over onto the floor when he stumbled back suddenly into one of the chairs pulled out from the dining table. The floored assassin-slash-florist stared up at the ceiling in a bit of a daze. Aya walked fully into the kitchen and up to Youji, staring down at him with a quirked eyebrow, straining quite a bit internally to keep a straight expression on his face.

"Oh… Hello Ayan… When did you get in?"

"A bit ago… Are you ok?"

"Depends… How much of that did you see?"

~Strangers in the night exchanging glances
~Wond'ring in the night
~What were the chances we'd be sharing love
~Before the night was through.


Aya stared at him for a long moment as the next song began to play, serious amythest eyes holding the shaken jade ones captive as both widened at the lyrics which began floating through the air. Then the stoic gaze started dancing a bit, the corners of his mouth began to pull up into a small grin which he tried to cover with his hand, and despite his best efforts, the red-haired florist-slash-assassin began to chuckle. Youji stared up at him in further shock, a firey blush coloring his cheeks as he brought his hands up to cover his face, groaning in embarassment.

"Oh God…"

"Umm… I think your noodles are boiling over."

"Shit!"

~fin~