Chapter 2: A Change of Heart

Lee's inquiries had come to naught just as he thought it might. In fact, he felt silly having even followed up with what Jinrei had told him. He wanted to find Jinrei once again, but he never ran back into him. Lee called him later on, but he could only leave a message since the phone was never answered.

Lee came back into work at the same time as always. He had come to accept his duty as janitor working in the middle of the day for everyone to see. People knew him by now; people knew of his plight and probably pitied him, but Lee paid them no mind. For the time being, this was what he would do until he could think of something better to replace it.

There was always a certain dread about going into Kazuya's office. The large mahogany door was never open or even seemed as if anyone resided within it. He would slowly open the door dragging his cart along with him and there would always be eyes glowering at him from the darkness beyond. However, this day was different. This time when he stepped in, there were no eyes to greet him. Lee noticed the difference immediately. He had barely pulled his cart in when he looked towards the back searching out the one he knew would be there. Lee wasn't entirely sure if the other was there or not. He crept closer and closer to Kazuya's desk until he could make out his form. It was then that he noticed his soft snores. Sleeping on the job—that was an oddity, in fact an impossibility.

"Kazuya?" Lee said speaking up, "Um…Kazuya." He hesitated for a moment and then shook him. "Kazu But then he stopped himself. Why was he trying to wake him anyways? It was probably better this way. Lee looked down when the other made a few motions and mumbled something unintelligible. With a sigh, Lee continued on with his business as quickly as he could. Every five minutes, he kept looking back at Kazuya, but the entire time his position never changed. It must've been a slow workday. Lee finished with the room and left it to finish up his rounds for the day. He worked well into the night. He was in charge of several floors after all. After the last room, with curiosity piqued, he went back briefly to Kazuya's room to see if he was still there. Often, Lee would be the last person left in the building before leaving, however this wasn't the case for today.

There was Kazuya still asleep as if he hadn't moved all day perhaps he hadn't. The fact bothered Lee enough to try and wake him—he would hate to have to deal with a grouchy Kazuya after somehow forgetting that one needed to go home after work. He shook him gently and then a little harder. That was all it took for him to get a response back.

"It's getting rather late, Kazuya."

"Huh…Lee?"

Lee waited for Kazuya's eyes to meet his so that he could confirm his identification. Lee was surprised of what he saw there in Kazuya's eyes—complete and utter disorientation. It was then that Lee realized that he had been asleep this whole time. Lee watched as the other pulled away from the desk and looked back to the large window that spanned the entire wall space behind him.

"What time is it?"

"Almost eleven, sir."

Lee came from behind his desk. He felt uncomfortable there as if he was intruding.

"Well, what are you doing here at this late hour?" Kazuya asked the other.

Lee looked back at him briefly, "My job, of course. I'm usually the last one here, the last one to close everything up."

"That's unfortunate. What do you usually do after work?"

"I go home," Lee said as he turned towards the door once again, "That's all I have time for really."

Kazuya stood up then and stretched a little. "That's also unfortunate. Didn't you want to go somewhere else besides that?"

"I really don't have any plans."

"That's fine. There's a restaurant that I wanted to go to, but not by myself."

This was beginning to sound like an invitation to go someplace. "Um, I don't know about…"

"I'll pay."

"Listen, I have an early start tomorrow and…"

"Then take a few days off."

"What?" Lee asked caught off guard.

"Take a few days off," Kazuya repeated, "You work hard every day without fail—take a few days off; you deserve it."

Lee was practically speechless by what Kazuya had said. If he was thinking at all at that moment, he might have asked for a promotion as well.

"Now you have no more excuses. Besides, I doubt you've eaten anything as of late."

"No, I guess not," Lee replied guardedly. Lee no longer knew what to make of the other—it was like he was a different person altogether.

"Although, it'd be better if you did the driving. I'll tell you where to go."

"Alright," Lee said finally, "I don't know what's gotten into you, but if you're paying…"

Lee wondered what he had gotten himself into. There was Kazuya walking beside him as if there was nothing strange about this situation. Kazuya never "hung out" with anyone. It was a fact that he had no friends whatsoever. That he seemed to be reaching out to him made Lee quite weary—there was some dark plan involved here, Lee was certain. None of his immediate instincts, however, warned him of anything wrong. His eyes were no longer glowering or seething with perpetual anger. In fact, his entire tone had changed drastically. Whatever had happened, Lee suspected that it had something to do with the fact that Kazuya had spent the entire day sleeping. Maybe he was just bored out of his mind. Maybe he felt like turning a new leaf today. Or maybe Lee was asleep and he was making up this entire situation in some elaborate dream—Lee doubted that.

In the car, there wasn't a lot of conversation, but that was to be expected. Kazuya simply told the other where to go. Lee thought he would feel far more uncomfortable with the other sharing such a close space with him, but he felt nothing of the sort. He would glance over at Kazuya from time to time and often he would only be gazing out the window at the passing streetlights. In fact, Kazuya seemed almost harmless. He was calm, cool, and collective—a mere shadow of the indignant man Lee had come to expect. No, this was no longer his "boss", but someone else that had happened to possess him this night.

It was an upscale restaurant. A place Lee wouldn't even step into with the kind of money he was making at the moment. The menu alone felt too expensive for him to hold.

"Get anything you want," Kazuya said when he noticed the other's hesitation.

"I don't understand," Lee said putting the menu down on the table, "What is all this for? Did you want something? If that's all it is, just tell me already—you don't have to do all of this."

"I don't want anything; not from you at least."

"Then what is it?"

"Must there be an ulterior motive?"

"When it's you. I wasn't born yesterday."

"I can see that. You're so—what's the word?—tense. Relax, I'm just treating you to dinner. Is that so strange for a brother to do?"

"Brother?"

"That is what you are, right?"

"No, it's…not that. I've known you since you were a child and I don't think you've ever considered me as your brother. Remember, I was adopted—we're not really related. You've always said so."

"I say things out of anger sometimes, well, most of the time. Whatever my father's motive was for adopting you, for better or worse, you are my brother now."

"Alright, now I know there's something wrong here. I don't like it when people beat around the bush."

"Beating around the bush, huh? Why don't you just order something? I assure you, I'm not trying to do anything underhanded."

"Yes, I feel so reassured," Lee said without even trying to hide the suspicion from his voice. "I guess I'll start with some water—

"Water? You sure you don't want anything stronger?"

"I don't want to wound up owing you thousands of dollars."

"I won't ask you to pay me back. This is my treat—it really is no trouble to me."

Lee looked at him a minute longer. Finding nothing there in his eyes suggesting that he was lying, Lee finally picked up the menu and ordered what he wanted disregarding the prices altogether. As they waited for their orders to come in, Lee thought now was the time to bring up something. He had a rare opportunity, he knew. Something was very different about Kazuya, but he no longer felt like figuring out why. Whatever the reason, he could use it to his advantage.

"You look like you have something to say," Kazuya said to the other.

Lee contemplated on how he would say it without making it sound so hasty, but it was now or never, "Well, I was just wondering about getting a better position. You know, something besides being a janitor. Like you said, I do work hard and—

"Say no more. You want a promotion and I will give it to you. In fact, I was already thinking about that. After you take a few days off, starting when you get back—you can be my assistant."

"R-Really?"

"You sound so surprised. It was just a matter of time, wasn't it? I would hate for such talent to go to waste."

Lee was practically speechless. He hadn't seen any of this coming.

"Well?—no 'thank you'?" Kazuya asked the stupefied Lee.

"Sorry, I just don't know what to make of all this. Thank you. I don't need any time off, but thanks for the offer."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you came with me this evening. I know it was a strange request out-of-the blue."

Just then, the waitress came back with two wine bottles in a tub of ice along with two wine glasses. She set these items very neatly in front of them before bowing and leaving once again.

"You could say that again. Why the change of heart?"

"It isn't so much a change of heart rather…well, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me," Lee said as he opened his bottle of wine almost second nature and poured a little in his cup.

Kazuya hesitated for a moment, but Lee was patient and said nothing at all. "Have you ever woken up in the morning regretting the life you've lived up until now?"

"Well, no."

"Probably not," Kazuya said with eyes looking towards the table now, "I have. Maybe it wasn't this morning, but it's the same situation. While I still had the ability to, I wanted to change that."

"You know this is beginning to sound like something serious. Wait a minute, don't tell me—you're going to die in a few days? Is it terminal cancer? That would explain the promotion and—

"No, nothing like that."

"Care to expound a little?"

"I'm not sure I can."

"What about…what I said yesterday?"

"Yesterday?"

"Yeah, when I said something about our father." Lee could tell immediately that it wasn't registering at all with Kazuya.

"Sorry, yesterday was…a bit of a blur for me. It probably has nothing to do with that anyways. Today was just different for me. I saw things differently. I saw things that were wrong and I wanted to fix it, but I can't fix everything; not by a longshot. This was the very least I could do at least for you."

Just then the food came in and was set neatly in front of them. Lee eyed the plate which his food was on—it had to be quite expensive perhaps even more than the suit that he had on.

"I sort of understand," Lee finally replied. This was, in fact, a lie. Kazuya seemed to be dancing around something and it was probably too embarrassing to say aloud. He did not pressure the other.

"Good."

There were other subjects brought up that night including about the restaurant itself and how ridiculously upscale it was. They talked on work briefly and then Lee found that he was talking a great deal about himself—his likes, his wants, his plans for the future. Quite frankly, Lee never thought he'd be so open with Kazuya, but he was inquisitive and a good listener at that. Lee didn't miss the fact that Kazuya hardly shared anything about himself and when he did, it was often cryptic and hard to understand. After a while, Lee knew that it was intentional. There was something that Kazuya was hiding, but Lee assumed that he had good reason to. This Kazuya just was so amiable—of course there was a good reason.

After their dinner, Lee took Kazuya back to the parking lot of the work building so that Kazuya could use his own car to get back home. They bade each other farewell and drove off into the distance.

/

AN: Another chapter done. Next up, Angel's POV.