HeeroDuo4eva: Thank you for your review.
Tigermink: Thank you for your review.
Ceo Shinji: Thank you for your review.
LoneCayt: Thank you for your review.
Dead Insomniac: Thank you for your review.
DarkRoseBlood: Thank you for your review.
Next chapter I'll give a personal reply to reviews. You'll see further on why I'm not answering them until next chapter. & time/scene change (&) character change
Welcome: Chapter 1
By Minerva
Yohji looked up from the arrangement he was working on to beam a smile at the man walking though the door.
"Welcome to the Kitten in the House!" Ken left the register to tend to their first customer since the schoolgirl rush as Yohji dropped the smile after seeing it wasn't a woman.
The blonde sighed and set down the flower he was holding.
"Oi, Ken, I'm taking a break. This is boring and I need coffee." Ken shot him a thumb's up. Yohji hung up his apron and went into the kitchen. The only reason Ken approved of the break was the blonde's moping. Ever since Aya wouldn't get back together with him he'd been irritable non-stop.
Yohji grabbed a cup of coffee and sat at the little table. He was opening the newspaper when Aya came downstairs, fancily dressed. He passed Yohji and made to enter the shop.
"And where are you going so fancily dressed?" Aya ignored him and went ahead through the door. Yohji, curiosity piqued, followed.
He watched in horror as the man in the shop turned to Aya and greeted him warmly. Warmly…? They went out the door before Yohji could pick up the shattered pieces of his mind.
Ken watched the blonde, amused, until he rushed out the door, calling back that he'd be back later. The brunette followed, yelling at the top of his lungs.
"Hey! Get your lazy ass back here! I'm not going to man the shop alone all day!" He stood in front of the shop, watching Yohji disappear after the car Aya had gotten into. Once they were gone Ken sighed and went back in the shop. He went over to the table where Yohji had been working and took over the arrangement. "Why me?"
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Yohji slid his shades to the top of his head when he finally reached the restaurant with the mystery man's car parked in front. How much money had he invested in his little private investigation? He'd lost count at $400. That included bribes, meals, disguises, etc. Who ever said that being a stalker was a cheap profession? You had to be loaded to be any good.
He strolled in casually and spotted a slightly seedy-looking waiter. Yohji went over and calmly slid a twenty into his free hand.
"What do you say you let me borrow an extra apron?" he murmured. The waiter smirked and motioned with his hand.
"Follow me." He started off and Yohji followed. They entered an employees only area which turned out to be a closet. It had all of the extra aprons and uniforms. Yohji grinned at the man and grabbed an outfit.
A quick trip to the bathroom and the blonde was ready. Yohji crouched behind a potted plant near the table at which HIS redhead and that...that MAN sat. He'd been trying for the past week to find out Aya's date's name, but he hadn't had any luck yet. All his PI skills proved totally useless.
(A/N: Is that familiar to any of you? I wonder why. Go back to the first chapter and actually READ the Author's Notes. All will be made clear.)
He listened to them talk over lunch. Aya laughed. He honest to God LAUGHED. It was all Yohji could do to keep from jumping over the plants and throttling the other man when he made the redhead laugh.
At one point while he was peeking over to catch a glimpse of them, Aya looked straight at him. Yohji would have sworn that the redhead knew he was there the whole time and was playing with his head.
When they called for a check Yohji snuck away to head back to the shop. He knew what would happen next. They would split the cost of lunch and then the man would drive Aya back to the Koneko. Yohji made sure to be back before Aya once he realized that it was a daily thing.
He entered to a glare from Ken. The glare was so heated that it made Yohji realize just how angry Ken was over having to deal with the shop on his own. He, luckily for Yohji, hadn't told Omi or Aya yet.
"Don't you dare go out tomorrow. I swear, I will beat the living daylights out of you," Ken threatened. Yohji waved a hand at him.
"Fine, fine. Have it your way. I'll stick around." He went in back to change into an apron, and by the time he came back out Aya had arrived. He nodded to him and went to the table to work on his abandoned arrangement.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Yohji sighed and ignored the two men as they left the shop. It had been a week since the man's first arrival, and Yohji had given up on following them. Ken had accidentally let it slip to Omi that Yohji had been following Aya every time it left. The blonde glanced up from the register to see Ken glaring at him through his one good eye while watering the flowers. The petite blonde was so angry at Yohji for ditching work that he'd whirled to face him -- forgetting how close to Ken, who was sitting, he stood. Now Ken had a beautiful swollen eye that promised to blossom into a bruise in a couple of days.
Yohji ducked his head and went back to work. Hours later Aya came home, looking a tad too happy. Yohji cast him a suspicious glance, and then snuck a look at Ken to see if he noticed anything. He was still glaring at him single-mindedly.
"Ken, you might want to pay more attention to what you're doing," the blonde said. Ken blinked and looked down at the plant and found the floor flooded. He yelped and ran to get the mop and turn off the water. Yohji stood to go into the kitchen, but he saw Aya standing there, hand to his mouth. The hamster beneath the blonde scalp went into overdrive, and quickly came to a conclusion. Aya's date had ended with a kiss.
(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)
Ken stared wide-eyed at the empty room. He was gone for TWO SECONDS and Yohji disappeared.
"ARGH!" He threw down the mop and went to sit behind the register, rubbing at his temples. "I'm going to KILL HIM!" Omi, of course, chose this moment to come home.
"Who?" Ken's head shot up, and he smiled nervously.
"What…do you mean?" Omi rolled his eyes.
"You know exactly what I mean. You just said that you were 'going to kill him.' Who's 'him'?" Omi asked in a dangerous tone of voice. Ken sighed.
"Yohji. He just disappeared." The tall blonde was definitely going to get him for this one.
"He WHAT?! That idiot! I'm docking his pay!" Omi turned the sign to closed and then dragged Ken towards the back. "We'll check upstairs for him, and if he's there, Heaven help him." Ken sighed and let himself be dragged.
They reached Yohji's door and Omi tried the knob. Locked. He raised one small fist and pounded on the door as hard as he could.
"Yohji, I swear, if you're in there, you're going to get it! You are NOT cutting work again!" There was no answer. Omi sighed. "I guess we'll just have to catch him later." He turned to Ken. "Let's go spar. Maybe that way I won't kill him."
Ken thought fast. He didn't want to be used to wipe the floor by Omi… "But what about the shop?"
"I flipped the sign to closed, remember? You're not getting out of this. Come on." He switched his grip to Ken's ear and tugged. They were on the roof in no time, and Omi rooted around in the shed up there until he found their pads.
"Hand-to-hand combat sound good? Good." He tossed the equipment to Ken without giving him a chance to answer. Ken caught it and got ready. At least Omi was decent and gave him the pads. Why couldn't it be Aya that Omi took his frustration out on? He took a stance, regardless of his thoughts, and waited for Omi to attack.
Omi rushed at him, and they tumbled back and forth trading blows. After a while Ken was panting and hunched over, while Omi was still straight-backed, unscathed. The brunette straightened, and Omi pounced on him. Ken could tell the the blonde had gotten rid of most of his frustration already. Now he was just being a pain and having fun.
Ken landed on his back, hands caught underneath him from trying to catch himself and Omi sitting on top of him. The blonde settled down, content to stay where he was until Ken caught his breath. Ken tried to tell Omi that he was making that impossible, but he couldn't get it out between gasps.
Omi leaned forward to hear him better, and Ken took advantage. With Omi's weight lifted a bit he was able to roll over so he was crushing the blonde instead of the other way around. Omi glared and shoved Ken off, then put him in an armlock and forced him to his feet.
"Umm…Omi? What are you doing?" the brunette asked nervously. He didn't get an answer. Omi dug through the stuff in the shed, keeping a firm grip on Ken. He came up with a pair of handcuffs. Ken's eyes widened. "What are you going to do with those?"
Omi shot him an angelic smile before cuffing him to the pipe in the shed. He patted him on the shoulder and exited the shed, leaving the door open.
"I promise to come get you after dinner. No food for you for making me hit my head so hard. I might just send Yohji up to join you…" He headed down the stairs.
Ken sighed and sat down. "Isn't that just oh so comforting." He settled down for a long, hungry night. At least it was summer.
After a few minutes he was bored and decided to go to sleep. Ken closed his eyes, only to hear the door to the roof open. Omi's smiling face popped around it.
"Like my joke?" He walked over and uncuffed Ken, laughing the whole time. Ken sighed in relief, and Omi blinked at him.
"You didn't REALLY believe I'd leave you out here all night. Did you?" Omi asked. Ken laughed sheepishly.
"What makes you say that?"
A/N: End. Please R&R. I hope that you read the note in here and went back to check out the author's notes. It should have cleared up your confusion.