Authors note

Yet more rubbish anime refs I hope I don't have to explain but mostly seiyuu jokes.

Part 12

"Nittle Grasper are better than Route L." Yohji said looking at the German sat across the table from him, "I mean, Shining Collection rocks way more than Eternal Snow."

Schuldig gave him a look that suggested that he was humouring his companion on this point. "But Route L had the dancing prince on keyboards, not the idiot in a hat and feather boa."

Yohji made a visible display of counting to ten, "Seguchi Tohma is not an idiot in a hat, he's a business genius." He looked at the empty bottle on the table. "I think we need another one, and we're going to have to agree to disagree. Wakaouji is gorgeous as is Ryuichi, they don't make music like that any more."

Schuldig sniffed, "I know." He said, they were both very, very drunk, "look at that new band, Bad Luck."

"I know," Yohji agreed leaning back on his chair, "I can't take them seriously, look at that lead singer, looks like Omi sounds like Ken. It's just wrong." He leant back a little further, leaning the chair on two legs. "From this angle I can see up your nose." He said.

"Really?" Schuldig asked, leaning forward and slightly shifting the table, Yohji had been leaning his legs on it to maintain balance was sent skyward and landed on his back.

"That's it," he said, "for that you have to admit that Nittle Grasper are better."

"I would do Ryuichi," Schuldig admitted, putting his head down on the table.

"I'd do Wakaouji." Yohji admitted.

"I'd do them both." Schuldig admitted. "Together."

"Hell, I'd do that boy from Bad Luck." Yohji conceded wryly.

"You said he looked like Omi." Schuldig protested. Yohji grinned. "That's just wrong."

"I'd do you." Yohji admitted, "I'm easy like that."

"You're just easy." Schuldig admitted, "and besides I thought you were in mourning for the one true love of your life?" Schuldig had discovered very early on that he held his liquor better than Yohji did.

"Aya." Yohji sighed, "beautiful, beautiful Aya, whose skin is the colour of milk and whose grunts just make me horny."

"He grunts?" Schuldig asked with a laugh.

"He doesn't speak, he just Hn's at you for the most part." Yohji rolled over and got to his feet carefully, he was incredibly wobbly. "What did you call this foreign liquor?"

"This?" Schuldig asked lifting the bottle, "Becherovka," he answered, "it's great stuff, you only get drunk when you stand up, you can only get it in Europe."

Yohji sat down again. "Wow," he said, "it is good, the room's spinning in six different directions at once."

"Why do you think I'm not standing up." Schuldig answered with a laugh.

Omi looked around the room carefully as he opened the window, with a final scan he put his hand on the frame and prepared to make good his escape. "No, you don't." Ken said opening the door behind him. "If I'm trapped here, you're trapped here too."

"But." Omi protested.

"You could have gone to the film tonight with Aya, but oh, no, you were sick." Ken said crossing his arms over his chest.

"I was sick." Omi protested, making his blue eyes very large, "and Aya wanted to be alone with Crawford."

"Omi Tsukiyono, step away from that window, or I'll be forced to go and get Kaasan." Ken said, doing his best impression on Aya, it wasn't very good though.

"But," Omi protested again, pouting even more, "I have to go out. I have a date and I can't miss it, they'll think I have stood them up."

"They?" Ken asked, "or he?"

"He," Omi answered.

"As Aoi or Omi?" Ken pressed.

"Omi."

Ken looked him over. "You've got two hours, make it count, any more than that and you're on your own." He really had no defence against the puppy eyes. "and leave the cat." He added.

"Thank you, KenKen." Omi grinned and jumped out of the window, a feat that might have been more impressive had it not been a ground floor window.

Aya burst into the Okiya and slammed directly into Ken, sending the two of them flying. Ken blinked for a moment, "I'm sorry, Aya, I should watch." Then he stopped. "Hey, you knocked me down."

Aya stuttered out what might have been an apology and then fled up the stairs like the horsemen of the apocalypse were on his tail. Ken took one look at the kitten he was carrying in the pocket of his apron. "I don't like the look of that, do you, Taiki-neko?" The kitten just looked at him like he was mad.

The delicate strains of an acoustic guitar filtered down the stairs like fog as EmmyLou Harris began to sing. Ken swore as Kaasan looked at him meaningfully from the kitchen doorway. "country," he said patiently, gathering the accoutrements of Yohji's brooding, a fresh pot of tea, a box of tissues and chocolate. "Yohji does this all the time." He said, "whenever he gets dumped. I'll bring this stuff upstairs and leave him alone, it will have blown over by morning."

Kaasan shook her head as she took the tray. "Men." She said under her breath.

Aya actually growled when Kaasan opened the door, he was sitting with his back to the door, and had got changed, he was wearing a pair of loose grey marl sweats and an oversized T-shirt. "It's me." She said quietly, "I brought tea."

"Leave me." He said, "but leave the tea." He had huddled himself with his knees pressed to his chest.

"Aya," Kaasan never used his name, she shuffled over to him and sat beside him on the futon. "It's all right, we've all been there."

"What?" Aya asked, taking the huge mug of tea that she had prepared for him, it was thick with honey, he sniffed back a sob, "you've had umpteen dates with your worst enemy and you're actually kind of falling for him."

"No, sweetheart," she said, carefully laying his head on her shoulder, at first Aya rejected the intimacy. "We've all had our hearts broken."

He turned his head to look at her, his large eyes almost silver in the light, and his lip wobbled. "Oh, Kaasan." He wailed and started sobbing.

Crawford exploded into the hotel room and picked up the chair, shattering it on the floor. A tea service collided with the wall. Farfarello popped his head out of the door. "Now is not a good time to ask, Nagi." He said to the boy, then ushered him another way, "let's use the fire escape."

There was a terrible crash from the next room.

"What's wrong with Crawford?" Nagi asked.

"I really don't think we should ask." The Irish lunatic said, "we better leave before he throws us." He pushed Nagi to the window.

"But." Nagi protested.

There was a roaring noise followed by a clatter clack crash.

"All right." He conceded moving to the window.

Omi met Nagi at a small park. Farfarello lurked behind, they both knew he was there in the bushes, and did their best to ignore that the only way that Schwarz would let Nagi do anything like this was with a bodyguard.

"Did you have any trouble getting away?" Nagi asked, warily taking his hand.

"No, not at all, Ken just wanted to know where I was going." Omi answered, squeezing Nagi's hand tightly.

"Crawford was acting really weird, he came back early and trashed the hotel room." Nagi answered, "I almost didn't meet you because I was worried, and then Far convinced me I would do better to be worried about myself with him in that temper. So we came down the fire escape."

"I really wish they'd let you meet me without a bodyguard." Omi said looking at where Farfarello was chasing a squirrel.

"Far's better than Schuldig," Nagi conceded. They were quiet for a moment remembering the one date that Schuldig had accompanied them on. He had heckled them and even took photos. Then run off laughing as both of them started throwing things at him. Omi was surprised that Nagi's shot was almost as good as his.

"I got you something." Omi said, blushing in the faint light, "hold out your hand." Nagi did and Omi depositied a small white lump in it. Nagi smiled as he turned it around and around, "it's a little donkey like the one you won for me at the fair." He reached over and kissed Omi on the cheek. "I love it, thank you."

Omi blushed a little brighter at the kiss. "It's a netsuke," he said, "I thought you could put it on your phone with this cord here." He pulled the piece of string coming from it. Nagi silenced him with a kiss.

Far looked on from the bushes, the squirrel had escaped him. "Ah, young love, unmarried and yaoi, hurts, doesn't it, god?