Brianna managed to get through the rest of the day. She chatted with Mereii when the receptionist came back in from her appointment with the day's mail. As she was going through the stack of envelopes, her face went pale. She ripped the envelope in her hands open, shaking the pages out and reading them quickly. The paper dropped from her hands, and she obviously was fighting back tears. "Jade is…"
"Jade?" Aya watched the young artist struggle for control.
"My cousin. She's seventeen. And transferring to a Tokyo high school."
"It will be fine." He leaned forward in his chair, his eyes icy. "We protect people."
Brie nodded, unable to counter his certainty. The assassin rose abruptly. "We're leaving." Startled, she nodded again, and jumped to gather her belongings.
At the flower shop, Aya passed her off to Ken with a few muttered words to the younger man, and disappeared into the depths of the store after giving her a reassuring smile.
Ken stuffed his apron under the counter and stuck his head into the back room to say something to Omi. He came back to find Brianna slumped at the worktable. He dropped a hand onto her head. "We're going out for dinner."
"What?" She blinked up at him.
"Dinner, Bri-chan, dinner. C'mon." He pulled her up and led her outside to his motorcycle.
"Ken-kun, I have a skirt on."
"Oh." He stopped for a moment, then brought her up to the apartment. He sat her down on the bed, and ignored her to rummage in the closet. He tossed a pair of jeans at her. "Try those on while I find a clean shirt." His voice was muffled as he didn't even turn around.
She hesitated, then stripped out of her hose and skirt, shimmying the jeans up over her hips. They were snug, but snapped easily. A shirt landed on her head as she bent over to pick up her clothes. She hurried to put it on before Ken turned. She rolled the sleeves up a few times and tied the shirttails in a knot at her waist. "Set."
The brown-haired assassin smiled at her. "Very cute." He moved closer, backing her up until she sat on the bed again, and knelt in front of her. "Omi's old shoes should fit you." He slid socks on her feet, then held the shoes up for her to slip her feet into. He tied them carefully, and when he looked up, their eyes met. A faint blush covered her cheekbones. He grinned and raised her leg, moving the jeans and sock to press a kiss to her slim ankle. Her blush deepened, and she looked away.
Still embarrassed, she clung to him tightly on the ride to the restaurant, but as they were seated by the young Chinese girl, her blush was beginning to fade.
"It's safe here." He reached out and twined his fingers with hers. "The family who owns this restaurant is from an old Chinese martial arts clan. Will you tell me what's wrong?"
"Sarisho found out somehow that I can draw the truth, and now he's threatening my cousins, and Jade is moving to Japan…."
"You can draw the truth?" He rubbed her knuckles. "That's cool. That's how you drew us that day, right?"
"Mm. I don't realize that I'm doing it most of the time." She paused as the waitress came back with glasses of water. Ken ordered for them both, as Brianna hadn't even looked at the menu. "I can't imagine how it's useful. Jade is more handy to have around."
"She has powers too?"
"She's a Healer." She sipped her water. "She's the reason that I survived. Literally. And Brenna can turn the written word into truth, though it's very difficult. She'll be knocked out for hours afterwards."
"I don't know…we might have to come up with a cool German code-name for you guys."
"Something girly, I suppose. Pink? Shrieking Harpies?" She giggled a little, but he didn't smile.
"Schrient's already taken. Though I'm pretty sure the four of them are dead."
Brianna paused as the first course was served. "Are – were they on your side?"
Ken slurped noodles into his mouth, shaking his head. "We, uh, may be the reason why they're all dead."
"Oh." She was silent, choosing to eat instead of asking more questions about the assassination work. Ken was quiet until the second course was served, and then he began to chat about his soccer team. She questioned him about the kids and when they played, and this subject got them through the rest of the meal.
Ken paid the bill and stood, leaning over to speak into Brianna's ear. "Wait here for me. I'm going to run to the men's room."
"Mm-hmm." She agreed, but swiftly felt out of place sitting alone at the table. She stepped just outside of the small restaurant and leaned against the wall. She couldn't have been there for more than a few seconds before a businessman stopped in front of her. He looked at her outfit, then stepped closer.
"I haven't seen you in this area before. You new?" He leered at her, and she realized that he was drunk. She pressed her back to the wall, trying to avoid touching him. "Well, girlie? How much for an hour?"
She shook her head, her eyes wide with fright as he reached out and grabbed her arm. She flinched, her eyes closing, as she whispered "nononono" under her breath.
His grip tightened, and he began to say something else when his words cut off and his hand left her arm. Brianna waited, her eyes still closed, to see what would happen. Tears were beginning to trickle down her face. Someone moved into her space, and gentle fingers wiped the moisture away. She could smell the cologne, and opened her eyes to look up at Ken. He looked furious. He whirled back to the prone businessman, clenching his fists. "You shouldn't make girls cry."
"Whaa-?" The man's eyes widened, and he tried to apologize, but Ken hauled him up and punched him, leaving him on the ground, and wrapped an arm around the distraught girl's waist. He led her down the street to his bike, sitting her on the seat and standing over her protectively.
Brianna was still crying; she wiped at the tears impatiently, trying to get herself under control. Ken pushed her hands out of the way, leaning down to kiss the salt away. His hands rested lightly on her shoulders, giving her the option of pulling away, but instead she let herself sag into the comfort of his strong body.
"Brie-chan? You all right? Baby?" He sounded worried, and the girl smiled, her face still buried in his stomach.
"I wanna go home, Ken-kun." She pulled away, throwing her leg over the bike; she held him as tightly as she could once he was seated in front of her.
He brought her up to her apartment, expecting to find Yohji waiting, but instead found a note from Aya explaining that he and Yohji were doing reconnaissance that night.
"I usually get left behind when they're sneaking around." He grinned at her. "I'm too hotheaded."
The artist nodded as she collapsed onto the sofa. Shaking hands pushed away wayward strands of hair. "Thank you."
"No. It was my fault. I'm sorry that I left you alone."
She blinked at him, her ex-husband's voice ringing in her memories. "You're not going to yell at me for not listening to you?" She was frozen in place, waiting, her expression hiding everything from him.
He dropped onto the couch next to her, a shrug lifting his shoulders. "I'm not real good at following orders either."
"But –" She stopped, a puzzled look on her face.
"You made a choice, baby. I'm not going to berate you for that." He leaned back, stretching an arm across the back of the couch. "You wanna watch a movie or something?"
She didn't answer him. She was staring at him, stunned. "I never…thought…." She blushed but didn't look away. There was wonder in her shining eyes.
"Uh…what's going on?" He squirmed under her gaze.
"I spent years being screamed at for any disobedience. You can't understand how impossibly freeing it is to hear you say to me that you won't be angry with me for not listening to you." She let herself lean towards him. He caught her, snuggling her into his side. "Maybe I did make the right choice."
Ken pressed a kiss to her forehead, his hand sliding around her waist to drag her even closer. "This isn't the part where you tell me what a great friend I am and that you think of me as a brother, is it?"
She looked up at him from under her lashes, considering. The moment stretched on long enough that he was beginning to worry, but she answered finally. "I don't believe that it is."
"Good." Ken grinned wolfishly down at her, then swooped in and claimed her lips. As he kissed her, he moved his arm so that she could escape if she wanted to.
Brianna had flinched in surprise at the contact, but relaxed into the kiss as he started out slowly, letting her set the pace. When she pulled away, he looked into her eyes, unnaturally serious. "I won't call you a tease if this is all that you want."
She stared at him in shock. He cupped her cheek with one large hand and smiled. "We want you to be happy, with us. We're all willing to take what we can get, when you're ready to give it."
"But – " He stopped her words with a gentle kiss.
"There are alternatives, baby. You aren't going to kill any of us." He hooked a finger around a strand of hair, drawing it away from the corner of her mouth. "We want you to love us, not be afraid of us." He grinned. "And it's a little funny, cause we all thought that Yohji would be having this conversation with you."
"Why?"
"Because he's the smooth one. Aya is the calm one, Omi is the cheerful one, and I'm usually the loudmouth. How'm I doing at smooth?"
"Pretty good, actually." She hesitated, then stretched up and kissed him, this time parting her lips and teasing at his mouth. He leaned into her, deepening the kiss, keeping his hands on objects other than her.
The only sign she had of his response to her was the soft moan when they parted. Brianna hestitantly brought a hand up to trace the line of his jaw. He held very still as she touched him, letting her do whatever she wanted. His hand clenched in the soft material of the afghan thrown over the back of the couch, but he kept his control.
"Is it okay if I go and change?" Her voice was quiet, a little breathy, and he exhaled slowly before nodding.
Brianna stood in the silence of her bedroom and tried to steady her nerves. She tossed the borrowed clothing onto her bed and stared indecisively at her dresser. What do I wear? What do I want? Is it just gratitude, am I falling back into pleasing others instead of doing what I need or want? She jumped at the tap, half-expecting the door to burst open.
Ken's voice was muffled slightly, but he didn't sound angry. "I'm going to raid your movies and make popcorn, is that all right?"
"That's fine." That made up her mind. She pulled on a pair of capri exercise pants and a yoga-style tank top, and headed to the kitchen to help with snacks.
Ken had already set up the DVD player with the third Lord of the Rings movie, exclaiming rapturously as he sat down with his popcorn about how happy he was she had the version with the Japanese dub.
Brianna dozed off halfway through the four-hour long movie, slumping into Ken's side. He rearranged her so that they were both lying down on the couch. When the movie was finished, he shut the TV off and woke her up enough to get her standing so that he could swing her up into his arms.
He laid her carefully on the bed, pulling the covers over her. He hesitated before pulling his belt out of the loops on his jeans and sliding into the other side of the giant bed. He had barely settled in before Brianna was curled into his side. He grinned into the darkness. She's a cuddler. She's going to be just fine. He relaxed and let himself fall asleep.
He woke while it was still dark, hearing a soft curse. "Brie-chan?"
"Sorry. I snagged a nail on your jeans." He could just barely make out the finger she held up in the darkness. Sleepily, he caught her hand and kissed the wounded digit. Her quickly exhaled breath made him smile.
"Is it okay if I take them off?"
She paused, then agreed. He unsnapped the pants and wiggled out of them, tossing them to the floor. He relaxed back into the bed, but Brianna didn't return to his side.
"Just cause I stripped down to my boxers doesn't mean I plan on ravishing you. Don't let that stop you from having your way with me if you want, however." He sounded so hopeful that she had to giggle. "Honest, baby, I'm not going to hurt you."
"I know that, I do. I even trust you, but it's hard to trust myself." She paused, and when she resumed speaking, her voice was muffled, like she'd thrown an arm over her face. "I'm not sure if I want you or Aya or Yohji, or if I just want to please you all so that I'm being a good girl."
"Well, I'm happy with just snuggling, so don't feel like you have to put out on my account." He slid his fingers around her wrist, tugging. "I like having you close. That's enough."
She let him pull her closer, and she threw a leg over his, letting herself get tangled up in the sensation of being so close. They lay in silence, falling back to sleep, and Ken smiled as she whispered into his shoulder, "this is nice."
Aya woke Ken early, and they traded places so that Ken could open the flower shop. The redhead noted that the alarm was set, and allowed himself to go to sleep.
Brie woke up at the alarm an hour later, startled to find Aya in her bed. "Good morning."
"Un. Ken had to open." He closed his eyes again as she headed for the bathroom with clean clothes.
The day passed uneventfully, Sarisho apparently deciding to give her some time to come around to the idea, and Aya passed her off to Yohji at her apartment after work.
"Jo-chan, I've missed you. Those other guys kept me away unfairly!" He pushed his sunglasses down and gave her puppy dog eyes, looking for either sympathy or a laugh.
She laughed, and offered to make him dinner in recompense. He grinned, following her into the kitchen to keep her company.
"Do you mind having one of us around constantly?" He slurped yakisoba, green eyes for once seen without the ever-present sunglasses. His hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, and his shirt hung untucked over his leather pants.
"I thought I would, but…it's actually very comforting." She ate carefully, her eyes barely ever leaving the man's face. "I'd be more afraid of going to work without Aya, and it's nice to have someone waiting when I get home."
"I'm glad. I wouldn't want to force you into anything that made you unhappy."
Brianna giggled. "I think Ken-kun already had this talk with me."
"Ken did? But he's the loudmouth!" Yohji affected to look outraged. "Upstart brat, trying to take over my job."
"I doubt you have to worry much." She refilled his water glass, sitting down again to finish her meal.
"Well, that's good to know." He reached across and caught her hand. "Is there anything you wanted to talk about?"
She blushed. "Just – um…" She gestured with her other hand, embarrassed. "Ken mentioned…ah…alternatives?"
"Ah." Yohji let her have her hand back, his facial expression neutral. "Well…there's always the usual – " He made a rude gesture with one hand, smiling at the girl's red face. "Then there's the fact that we do sleep with one another." Brianna realized that she must have looked shocked when Yohji burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, Brie-chan, but you're adorable. The four of us have a dangerous job, sweetheart. We haven't been able to let ourselves love for a very long time. We take comfort in each other – we're family by circumstance. You're the first girl we've met that we've all agreed on." His smile faded. "We're all out on the same limb, baby. Now, we're going to find out if we've laid a strong enough branch out, or if it's going to snap and send us all to hell."
"We should make it." The artist was adamant. "I want us to make it. I want to be right about you all. I want to be safe."
Yohji smiled, a real smile that reached his eyes and made him look younger. "Then we'll make it." He rose with her to clear the table and clean the kitchen. "With faith like yours, how can we not?
The rest of my story is, unfortunately, rated NC-17. If you are over 17/18 or are legal where you live, please visit my website for the final chapters.
Thank you so much for all your encouraging reviews. I appreciate everyone who took the time to give me feedback, and I hope that you all enjoy the ending!