Author: Sorry for the long wait! bows deeply to apologize
Aya was being a drama queen and refusing to cooperate on this last scene. But the good news is, this is the longest chapter so far! And we will be saying goodbye to one short blond ghost. ¬.¬ It also seems that the text upload system hates me, so I had to upload this chapter using word. -.-;;
Many thanks to my reviewers! I love ya'll!
Mastermind: Lol. The black indeed! And yeah, Omi is quite the haunter, when he chooses to be.
mangababy: XD They do belong together! But I also like to torment the two bishies a little. It helps their love grow, eh?
tabrisangel: I can't promise anything, but I'll try my best to give them a happy ending. yanks on the chained muses If they behave, that is.
ThirteenBlackRoses: XD THanks for all your encouraging reviews. I really appreciate them!
The only thing I can say is: All will be revealed in time! v
A Christmas Wish
-Chapter 8: Arms of comfort-
The western restaurant down the street had a Christmas delivery service. Since none of us was much of a fancy cook and we could certainly afford the special prices, we ordered the most extensive diner package they had. The owner, a very friendly middle-aged lady, even knocked off ten percent of the price because we were the 'nice young men down the street who must earn so little with the flowershop'. If only she knew.
Aside from the very decent sums of money we got for slaying the beasts of the dark, we really had a lot of customers. When Persia someday would actually decide to retire Weiss and we lived through the retirement, we could turn the flowershop into a very decent business. But who was I kidding here? The only pension plans Kritiker got was a bullet through the head...if you're lucky.
Enough of the doom and gloom though. Tonight was one of those holiday nights when anything seemed possible and everything seemed right. The food tasted great and the two bottles of complimentary champagne tasted even better.
Surprisingly, Aya and of course myself turned out to be the veteran drinkers of our group. I always thought of Ken as a decent drinker, judging from the endless cans of beer he could consume while he watched those soccer games. It turned out that his tolerance level was disappointingly low, higher than Omi, but Omi only drank soda most of the time. So, while Ken and Omi were competing in the game of who's more drunk, Aya and myself were having a small drinking competition.
One bottle of champagne and two bottles of sake later, the winner was obviously going to be me. Aya was having trouble keeping up and I knew my victory was near. Aya had not had the pleasure of enjoying the special daily alcohol training that I had or he probably would have won. His usual pale skin had now acquired an almost feverish red tint and his usually sharp amethyst eyes were out of focus. Aya's articulate speech was also turning into one big slur. I seriously wished I had a camcorder to capture all of this and reminiscence later on. Omi had purchased a disposable camera for the occasion, but photo's always lacked a certain vividness. Maybe I'll get a camcorder for next year.
There were some times when you could get small glimpses into the character of another Fujimiya Aya. This one was gentler, kinder, a little shy, glared less and smiled a lot more. Tonight this other side shone through. Throughout the diner he had seemed more relaxed, almost sociable. I didn't know whether it was just the alcohol or maybe also the mood of the night, but I liked this Aya and I wanted to see more of this Aya. He actually laughed at one of Ken's stupid jokes.
Omi was particular pleased that we all remembered to celebrate this Christmas with real gifts, unlike last year when there were only the three of us. Books, men's colognes, computer-related games and other things were exchanged. I had given Aya a book called 'Hidden secrets in your room'. There had been a slight confused frown on his face when he read the hint I wrote on the first page. 'To Aya, who should study the title'.
I was hoping that his lack of reaction was because he didn't find my gift yet and not that he chose to ignore me, like I requested. Aya being Aya though, was harder to guess than the weather. Either option seemed likely. It would be useless to twiddle my thumbs or ask him too bluntly about it. The only thing I could do was wait, however much I might hate it.
When Aya busied himself opening another bottle of sake, I decided that a visit to the bathroom was necessary.
My coordination skills were definitely not at their best when I banged my head against the wall on my way back. Though the pain did manage to clear my head a little. I suddenly realized that this was the perfect timing to test the waters. Wasn't there an old saying that a drunk man always told the truth? Let's face it. I am not the patient type. Besides, Aya was definitely drunk and the chances of him remembering anything I said tonight were slim. I could just ask about his feelings. On the off chance that he would wake up knowing, I could always pretend that the whole thing was just his elaborate alcohol induced imagination. When I headed back, I walked with a clear purpose.
Ken and Omi were both passed out on the couch. I spread a blanket over the two and Omi snuggled deeper into the blanket, while Ken just snored some more in his sleep. I grinned at the amusing sight and felt obliged to capture this moment, using Omi's camera. It would be great material to tease the two later.
Aya was nowhere to be seen. The noises coming from the roof gave me the clue of his whereabouts. Five minutes later found me sitting down beside Aya, who was lying flat on his back with his beautiful eyes closed. He hadn't bothered to put on a jacket and neither did I. The alcohol in our blood kept us warm.
Minutes passed in silence. The irregularity of his breathing was the only sign that he wasn't asleep. The night was full of clear sky and twinkling stars. Moonlight shone on the alabaster whiteness of his skin and he was breathtaking. Aya was one of those rare people who could look beautiful under any light and any circumstances. Even when he was covered in blood, he was lovely. To his victims, he must have seemed like some dark angel of revenge come to life. If I could choose my death, I wanted Aya to be the last thing I saw before I die.
I was contemplating how to start my conversion with him about the gift when he suddenly interrupted me. "Youji." The voice with the underlying tone of seduction.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"Do you like Christmas?" Came the soft inquiry.
Being completely caught off-guard by this question, I had to seriously think about the question. Did I like Christmas? When I still lived with my mother and her boyfriend of the week, we had celebrated Christmas. I remembered Christmas as one of the few occasions she would actually cook a real meal. When I moved in with Asuka, we didn't really celebrate Christmas. Asuka was brought up with in a proud traditional Japanese family and had hated Christmas. I hadn't minded.
"It's okay." I decided to answer.
Dark eyelashes trembled a moment before they opened. A small frown appeared when he sat up and looked at me. Then he turned away and started to gaze at the sky.
"Aya liked Christmas."
I blinked. Aya? He liked Christmas?
I started to doubt my own hearing, so I asked. "You liked Christmas?"
He turned to me with a look of annoyance. "Not me. Aya! My little sister."
Aya had a little sister? Mysterious Aya had a sister, whose name is Aya. So Aya really wasn't Aya's real name. Aya's normal logic could sometimes be what one would call, hard to follow. Aya's drunken logic seemed to be mind-boggling and my alcohol-induced mind protested working. I could feel the beginnings of a headache.
"So you have a younger sister, Aya...who liked Christmas?" I tried again.
"That's what I just said."
"Where's she now?" My curiosity peeking through. How interesting.
A long moment of silence followed then. Maybe he didn't hear my question. "Aya?"
"She's in a coma." He whispered. I encouraged him to continue.
"We've always celebrated Christmas. When we were little, father would allow us to open one gift on Christmas night and the other ones the following morning. So on Christmas day, Aya would always be the first one up early in the morning and waking the rest of us. Tomorrow is Christmas day..." And there would be no little Aya waking him up, I silently finished.
Sometime during the storytelling, Aya had started crying. Two small watery lines traced down his cheeks, barely visible in the dim moonlight.
I felt at a loss for words. Should I comfort him and tell him everything was okay? Should I tell him to get a hold of himself? The proud and collected Aya was crying under the influence of alcohol. Because... that had to be the reason, right? Though I knew that a hidden sensitive side of our redhaired leader existed, it was hard to imagine him crying under normal circumstances.
I put my hand on his shoulder and pulled him towards me. His body resisted just barely, before it relaxed and I was holding him in my arms. The crying that had been silent, started to gain sound. And soon the crying had turned into sobbing. It was as if Aya was crying out all the pains and the injustice of his life in my arms. And the thing was, I was glad...glad I could comfort him.
It felt familiar, watching the two men hold each other. Rain had started to fall, as if sky itself was crying with Aya. I didn't realize the rain until the two men's clothes were slowly soaked through with the water. Apparently, not being able to touch anything also meant that nothing could touch you. I guess I should be grateful for this small thing. Not that it really mattered. Nothing mattered at this moment, except the comfort that was given and received in front of me.
I still didn't remember having done all of this. But seeing the love in Yotan's eyes, I almost found myself feeling the same for this graceful and beautiful creature.
"It's time." Omi's voice sounded from behind me.
A mist had started from the middle of nowhere. When the mist stole my vision, I whispered a secret wish.
"Please love me back."
We were back again. Back in the crappy one-room apartment as if we never left. The sailor's clock on the wall said twelve. And the only thing that looked it didn't belong here, was standing right in front of me with his trademark smile.
"Now that was a very educational trip, isn't it? Well, look at the time. Gotto go now. Bye Yohji-kun." And just like that, the ghost started to disappear. I rushed to grab his arm, only to meet empty air.
"Wait, you're just going to leave me here?! I still have tons of questions here."
He continued to smile at me. "Don't worry, everything will work out." And I was left on my own.