III. Body in the Night

He blew a plume of smoke towards the ceiling and looked down at the sleeping form beside him. He sucked another lungful of smoke and sighed. He was in another woman's bed but for some reason, he couldn't quite put a face to his companion. All he could remember was that she was a brunette.

The bed shifted and the woman who slept beside him woke up. She snuggled closer to him as her hands meandered down his body. "Hello there, Yohji." The brunette purred all the while trailing kisses down his neck.

"Hi--" Wait, what was her name again? Aki? Ayako? Ayame? No, that wasn't it. But it was A-something. How could he have forgotten her name? What kind of a bastard was he? Sure she was just another one night stand, some faceless, nameless woman eager to spread her thighs for him… another body in the night. But still… How could he not remember her name? "- Honey." It was the best he could come up with.

"I'm free tomorrow night… How 'bout we have dinner- and then, who knows, hmm?" She asked huskily.

He could not hear the woman's question much less detect the innuendo. His mind was somewhere else, back to three weeks ago when he found the amethyst-eyed girl playing the haunting song in the empty auditorium. Her face, he couldn't seem to remember, but her eyes stuck with him… Those intense violet orbs that looked at with so much scorn. None of the woman he's been with had eyes of the same color- and he's had his fair share of women. Those eyes kept haunting him… For three long weeks he had not been able to think clearly. All because of those haunting violet eyes- and that song… The melody kept playing in his head. Blazing amethyst eyes and an unforgettable melody bewitched him.

"Yohji… What's wrong?" She asked.

He snapped out of his stupor and looked down at the emerald- eyed brunette beside him. "I have to go." He said as he hastily got off the bed.

"What!" the nameless brunette declared disbelievingly, "You can't go…"

"I have to." He picked up his clothes, which were in shameful disarray on the floor.

"No, stay…" She whined without much success. He was eager to be out of the unknown room. A one night stand… That's what she was. That's what most women were to him. Faceless, nameless women willing to spend some time beneath the covers. They couldn't be anything more. Anymore than that would constitute a relationship- and he was not ready to dive into that again. He knew he was a bastard. But love and relationships have always been laced with bitter disappointment. Relationships were too much work… too fussy. He didn't like fuss. He wanted things simple. Black and white. So he lived the way he did. Alcohol, cigarettes and sex were his anesthetics… They dulled the pain of day-to-day living. Dulled the guilt over Asuka's death.

But it was getting old. He wanted to stop his so-called lifestyle. "I really have to go." He lied as he put his maroon shirt back on.

"But…"

Yohji zipped his black slacks and placed a gentle kiss on the brunette's lips. "Bye." Before she could plead, he dashed out of the room.

He walked to his car, parked right outside the apartment complex and sighed. Yet another body in the night.