Chapter Three: "…thus ending their adventure in grocery shopping."

Author: Hot Soup11

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Yohji sat in the passenger side seat trying not to register the feeling of his dirty clothes sticking to his improperly cleaned skin. Not wanting to see Aya's reaction to having to pick him up from a hospital after "illegally" killing an attacker, he turned his attention to the passing scenery.

"Yohji," Aya's deep voice startled the blond out of his reverie.

"A-aa, Aya?" Yohji asked somewhat nervously. This is ridiculous! He thought about his body's reaction. Despite the ludicrousness of the situation, Yohji did not want to deal with Aya's fury.

Despite his decision simply to lay out the facts, the katana-wielding assassin's anger with Kritiker for forcing the probation caused his hands to clutch the steering wheel tighter. "I am under direct order from Persia to keep you under close speculation for the next six months. Until your wounds have healed, only Siberian and Bombay will be taking on missions. My instructions tell me to keep you away from alcohol, night-clubs, and your female… acquaintances. Unless you have my supervision, you are not to leave the Koneko grounds under punishment of a longer term," Aya stated monotonously, all the while staring straight forward at the road.

Yohji swallowed thickly and tightened his fingers' loose grasp around the casts. It was unsettling to be the victim of Abyssinian. He turned toward Aya, watching the younger man grip the steering wheel to the point where his already pale skin turned abnormally white.

Aya's angry? Yohji fumed. How can he be the angry one? It's not like I asked for a babysitter!

"Look here Aya, I didn't kill him on purpose!" he nearly shouted. The car jerked to a halt in front of a red stop light.

Aya settled a glare on Yohji, wondering just what his teammate was on about.

"Tch," Yohji spat through his teeth vehemently when he received no response. He resumed staring out the window at the dirty city buildings as Aya accelerated the car through the intersection.

The awkward silence that filled the vehicle was broken only several minutes later by the very human noise of Aya's stomach growling. Aya, having taken the print out of directions immediately from Omi's hand as they were sent from Kritiker via computer, hadn't stopped to eat lunch before leaving to pick up Yohji.

Realizing what little free time he had was shot by the presence of his blond teammate sitting next to him, Aya decided to indulge himself a little.

Yohji blinked rapidly when he heard Aya's stomach complain of emptiness. Aya didn't do things like that. It wasn't that Yohji thought the redhead was inhuman he just… didn't expect Aya to do things that Yohji did, like get hungry. Aya got mad, Aya got frustrated, Aya was stone-faced, and Aya went to hell and back avenging his sister. It was easier to neatly categorize the younger assassin than think of, say, all the things that he does with his spare time... time that he'd now be sharing with the redhead. He admitted to himself that he didn't want to spend six months with the man sitting next to him. None of Weiss knew Aya too personally, besides what the redhead willingly gave of himself, which wasn't anything to brag about.

Aya flicked the blinker on and made a right turn into the nearest grocery store parking lot. Yohji seemed disinterested enough about their whereabouts, so he didn't offer any explanation. Seeing a parking spot, he carefully avoided all the middle-aged females bustling into the store to buy whatever compelled them to make the trip out of the house. The redhead turned off the ignition, slipping the key into his pocket, and turned to his right, staring at Yohji expectantly.

Feeling a pair of eyes on him, Yohji jumped slightly, and met Aya's gaze squarely with an expression of befuddlement splashed across his features. The blonde blinked, shifting his eyes around and caught sight of the grocery store's front sign. "Maa… Aya, what are we doing here?"

"I'm buying food."

"Hm. Am I allowed in with you," Yohji drawled sarcastically, "or am I supposed to stay in the car, officer?"

Aya's eyes narrowed as he opened the door and started to get out. "Do what you want, but without the heat on, the car will be cold."

Yohji rolled his eyes and followed his fellow assassin into the supermarket. "So what kind of food are we buying today?"

Why does Yohji have to be so… irritating Aya complained silently. Judging from his attitude, the older man wasn't going to make the upcoming half year any more pleasant than the situation implied. Without dignifying Yohji's question with an answer, the redhead picked up a basket and headed straight for the junk foods. And while Aya knew it was more than beneficial (and completely necessary) to his job to maintain a healthy body, with Yohji to watch over, he felt he could allow himself this time to divulge in a habit from his past—gorging on junk food. Pocky, chocolate, pretzels, chip, and whatever sweets in the aisle of the grocery store went into the little red basket.

Yohji trailed behind Aya, watching the other assassin's actions with conflicting emotions on his face—he didn't know whether to be amused or just plain confused. Aya was buying… junk food. The thought didn't quite process in his mind. Previously, through Omi's rumor, he heard that Aya harbored a sweet tooth, but seeing him go through the candy section like he was pillaging a town was something else.

Soon the two members of Weiss found themselves in the checkout line, Aya's basket laden down with food and Yohji holding a new lighter and several packets of cigarettes. It didn't seem to bother Aya they were shopping together, but Yohji suspected he was still angry about having to tote around his fellow assassin.

After Aya had paid, the blonde set his purchases in front of the store employee and reached for his wallet, only to remember he hadn't received his wallet back from the police; they confiscated it as 'evidence,' telling him he'd get it back at a later date. "Ah… Aya?" Yohji hesitated asking looking sheepishly over at the redhead. "Can I borrow some cash? I'll pay you back when we get back to the Koneko… they… kept my wallet."

Aya rolled his eyes and looked mildly annoyed, but still uncrossed his arms to fish his wallet back out and handed Yohji the amount of yen he needed. "Thanks." Yohji grinned at the katana-wielder and turned back towards the cashier, completing the transaction. The pair walked out of the store, thus ending their adventure in grocery shopping.

Yohji knew better than to smoke in Aya's car, consequently, the recently bought cigarettes stayed in the plastic bag at his feet. Aya, on the other hand, ripped open a bag of some fattening, sugary substance and started the car, while popping candy into his mouth.

The atmosphere was still tense in the car while going back to the flower shop and Yohji desperately craved a cigarette. They lay at his feet, tempting him. People who didn't smoke sometimes said smoking was a "social thing." Yohji was inclined to disagree, only due to the fact that he knew he was addicted to the calming effect of the nicotine, the smoking curling up, wafting under his nose, the feel the of the cylindrical paper in between his lips… and after the past few days, he felt he deserved some kind of relaxation. He didn't deal well with stress and mistakes.

"Yohji."

The lanky man blinked, again brought out of thought by Aya. They were outside the Koneko. He reached down for his bag enthusiastically and pulled out the cheap lighter and cigarettes, tearing open the pack and pulling one out, lighting it up immediately. He opened the car door, stepped out, and took a long drag. He shut the door, then closed his eyes and exhaled.

When he opened his eyes he was surprised to see Aya in front of him, plucking a cigarette from the pack in the blonde's hand. Masking his surprise, he sparked the lighter and offered it to the redhead.

For a while they just leaned against Aya's car, smoking. Aya flicked the stub of the cigarette on the ground and crushed it under his foot, saying, "I would have done the same." He then turned and walked into the flower shop.

Ready to pull his hair out in frustration, Yohji stared at where Aya had just been standing. WHY is he so CONFUSING?

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Next chapter: Changes in routines and schedules; and that ominous first day of adjustment.

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A/N: I know virtually nothing about smoking, so excuse my lame descriptions. The junk food thing came from the first episode when Omi said Aya would just get that kind of food. ;