So many thanks to everyone who's been reading. Even more to everyone who's reviewed so far.
Yohji stood outside Aya's door for several long moments before he managed to convince himself that he should go in.
His actions lately were already pushing his luck. Surely attempting to repeat those stupid-to-the-point-of-suicidal actions would be sheer insanity.
Yohji opened the door and went inside.
He found Aya sitting in a chair near the window, reading a thick and old-looking book. The small redhead looked up at Yohji's entrance, face expressionless. He had probably been expecting him.
Was that expectation made out of annoyance and wary resignation? Probably.
"Mornin' sunshine!" Yohji greeted cheerfully.
Aya only grunted, his eyes fixed in suspicion on the tray the blonde had carried in.
Yohji grinned. "I asked Omi what you likes," he said, proud of himself, "So now you don't have an excuse for not eating everything on the plate."
He made a noise of displeasure as he set his book aside and rose, crossing to take the tray from Yohji.
"You can go now," he stated when the blonde only continued to grin at him.
Yohji drew Aya's medicine from a pocket and showed the bottle to him, rattling the pills inside.
"I don't want those."
"I have a deal for you," Yohji flopped down on the bed and continued to grin at the now-glaring redhead.
"I don't make deals."
"You take all the pills Omi gave me for you – all the pain meds, all the vitamins – until they're gone, and then I won't make you get a refill."
Aya's only answer was silence – thick, annoyed, dangerous silence.
"Or," Yohji shrugged, "We can fight about it every day."
Aya grabbed away the bottle.
"Damn," Yohji grinned. "I was looking forward to sitting on you."
"Go away."
"Oh, I'm about to, I promise. In fact, I'm about to head in for that pesky physical, so you should be Kudoh-free for the rest of the morning."
"Good."
"Come on, don't be mean! I know you'll be lonely, but console yourself with this: I'll be back by lunch time."
"Kudoh."
Yohji stopped on his way to the door, turning to glance back at the swordsman. Aya was staring at his tray of breakfast as if he had no idea what it was.
"When you bring lunch…" he hesitated.
"Yeah?"
"You might as well bring your own as well."
Yohji stared. It took him several moment for it to even sink in that the man had just invited him to eat with him.
"Yeah," he said at last. "All right. See you then."
It had taken Yohji a long time to find Aya when it came time for lunch. He'd looked in the redhead's bedroom, in the study, in the kitchen, all to no avail. When he at last found him, the man was in the basement. Aya was hard at work on the computer, going through the data from their last mission, and didn't even look up when the blonde came tromping down the stairs.
Yohji had stopped on his way home from the doctors and gotten their meal from a little restaurant down the street from the shop that he thought he remembered Aya liking. The man ate there often, anyway, and when Yohji had attempted to describe him to the girl behind the counter, she'd cheerfully rung him up for "the usual."
"Working?" he asked, alerting Aya to his presence.
Though he had seemed completely engrossed in his work, the redhead didn't give any indication if Yohji had surprised him. He simply grunted, and didn't even pause in his work when he answered, "Helping Omi."
"Did you never learn how to milk it, man? You're injured – you should play that for all its worth and enjoy the time off!"
The answering snort may have been amused.
Aya stood up from the computer to take the food, and then returned to work. Yohji sat on the couch, spreading out his portion of the lunch on the coffee table, and tried his hardest to get the man to talk.
"Got something for you, Yotan!"
"Where'd this come from?" Yohji asked, looking at the thick envelope the youngest Weiss had dropped into his lap.
"They had it ready, so they just sent it with me when I left the doctor's office. Ken, yours wasn't ready yet, but I've got Ayan's, too."
"Test results?" disappointed that it wasn't something more entertaining, he tossed the envelope, unopened, on the coffee table and went back to watching television.
Omi's eyes widened. "You're not going to read it?"
Yohji shrugged. He had ceased caring about his test results years ago. "Think about what we do for a living, chibi," he said. "You really think that if there was something wrong with me, it would have time to kill me? One of these days I'm not gonna come back from a mission. Hazard of the trade. The end."
"Stop it, Yotan!" Omi grabbed up the envelope and opened it quickly, scanning the letter it contained with wide, worried eyes. He actually heaved a sigh of relief as he finished. "There's nothing wrong with you."
"Awww. That's sweet, chibi. Now move outta the way – I can't see the tv."
With a frustrated sound, the younger boy forcefully pushed Yohji's feet off the coffee table. "Do you have any idea how lucky you are?" he demanded. "You smoke too much, drink too much, and have sex with anything that moves! You should be crawling with nine kinds of deadly right now, and you're not!"
"What do you want, Omi?" he sighed.
The younger blonde threw up his arms with a cry of frustration, and Yohji chuckled as he stormed from the room.
"He's such a drama queen," Ken, beside him, sighed – the first words he had spoken since the game they were watching had started. His team was losing, and that always made him sulk.
"He's just trying to be a good mommy."
Ken made a noise that sounded like something between amusement and annoyance. He tried to take a sip from his soda, and scowled when he realized that the can was empty.
"Hey, go get us some more snacks."
"Yeah. Okay." Yohji rolled his eyes. "I'll get right on that."
"I can't do it myself!" the brunette pointed out.
"So sad, Kenken!"
"I'll tell Omi."
"He doesn't care me."
"Yohji!"
"What? It'll do you good to start moving around more," he said. "Aya's already trying to get back to work, you know."
"I'd be worried if he wasn't. Go get snacks, Yohji. Please?"
"That pouting's not gonna work on me, you dork. Only Omi can pull that off."
"Then why won't you look at me?"
"I'm watching the game. I've got money riding on this."
"We didn't bet money – we bet chores."
"As good as money."
"Yohji!"
"All right, fine!" Yohji growled in frustration, rising. "Just stop your bitching, already!"
"Don't forget the corn chips."
"You better watch your back, man. That's all I gotta say."
Yohji waited until he reached the kitchen to smirk, and he made sure to take his time as he fixed the snacks. He knew that the longer he took, the more Ken would dwell on his parting words, and the more he would begin to worry that he had actually meant the threat.
And the longer Yohji took before making good on the threat, the worse Ken would suspect he had meant it. In a week, the athlete would be a frightened, jittery mess.
"Too easy," he sing-songed to himself.
Yohji made sure he was grinning and humming as he returned to the couch. Ken gave him a suspicious glance, then looked quickly back at the screen.
It wasn't until after he had sat down that Yohji noticed Aya. The man must have come into the room while Yohji had been in the kitchen, and from where he was, sitting in the oversized recliner with his back to the door, he hadn't been immediately visible until Yohji had moved further into the room.
The man was dressed in a cream colored sweater and a pair of jeans and was curled up in the chair looking very comfortable. Had he been anyone else, Yohji would have described him as 'cuddly'.
And his razor-sharp attention was riveted squarely on a letter in his hands. It took Yohji a moment to realize what it was.
"I think you're a little confused, there, Aya – those're my results."
He only grunted. In all actuality, he had every right to read any of their medical reports – in order to know who was physically fit for active duty, and who needed to stay on the sidelines. Since he had come to them, though, Yohji had never once seen him show even the slightest interest. He expected his team to be responsible enough to judge for themselves whether or not they should participate in missions.
Still, none of that mattered to Yohji.
"That's an invasion of privacy, man."
Another grunt. Aya turned the page and continued to read and Yohji could only sulk. The room was silent but for the television for a very long time.
Yohji yawned and stretched, hands moving to the small of his back as his eyes scanned the shop.
"What's the point in even being open this early when there aren't ever any customers?" he sighed at last.
Omi cast him a warning look, but otherwise ignored him. Yohji knew the youngest Weiss had been sweeping that same spot on the floor for at least half an hour. The kid had to know that Yohji had a valid point.
"Quit your whining!" Ken snapped. The athlete had spent the last couple days in the shop, sitting near the door and making a nuisance of himself. He claimed that his leg still hurt too much for him to do any work, but Yohji had caught the other assassin running up the stairs yesterday.
He was saving that information for a time when it would prove profitable.
Yohji sighed again, raking his hand back through his hair, and moved out from behind the counter.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"I think you can manage to watch the register for a few minutes, Kenken," he drawled.
Aya only glanced at him for long enough to glare when he approached his work bench. As usual, the small redhead had been working quietly and diligently all morning without pause. He would soon have all of the day's arrangements finished, and then, rather then slouch off like any normal person would, he would find something else productive to do.
Overworker. It would have been more annoying if the result wasn't less work for Yohji to do.
The blonde leaned back and rested his rear against the edge of the table as he reached for the list of Aya's arrangements. He raised an eyebrow as he realized that the man was closer to being finished than he'd realized.
"How're the wounds?" he asked.
Aya grunted.
"I think we can take the stitches out tonight, if you want."
Aya paused for only a fraction of a moment before giving a small, curt nod. He rolled his eyes upwards again to look at Yohji again only when he realized that he had made no move to leave.
"What the hell do you want?" he demanded.
Grinning, Yohji raised an eyebrow.
Aya sighed.
"Hello, Yohji," he ground out at last.
"There!" he cheered. "That wasn't so hard, now was it?"
"What the hell do you want?"
"Two steps forward and three steps back," Yohji sighed. "You're using the wrong ribbon for that one, by the way."
"I don't need your help."
"Whatever."
Aya glanced at him, then snatched away the order list. His eyes scanned the page critically for a moment before it was his turn to sigh again. Yohji thought he heard the small man utter a soft curse under his breath.
Aya rose, hand going to his shop apron.
"Aya?" Omi asked, glancing at them from across the shop.
"Have to run to the store," the redhead explained coolly, moving to hang the apron on its peg.
"But…"
"We aren't busy."
"I'm going with him!" Yohji decided impulsively, ripping off his own apron. He only shrugged when Aya shot him a glare. "Nothing funny, Ayan, but I wanna get the hell outta the shop for a while," he hissed, too low for their teammates to overhear. "That okay with you?"
Aya stared at him for a long moment before snorting and giving a sharp nod.
"Kudoh's coming with me," he announced, shrugging on his jacket.
Omi only sighed.
The brisk fall air hit him as he stepped outside and waited for Aya, and Yohji found himself reflecting that soon he would have to trade his favorite midriff-bearing tops for his almost equally favorite skin-tight sweaters. Aya came to join him outside at last, and spared him an annoyed grunt as Yohji fished a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.
"Your car or mine?" the blonde drawled lazily.
"We're walking."
"What?"
"Store's only a few miles away. If you're going to whine about it, go back inside."
"But…"
"You're the one who wanted to get out."
Aya didn't wait for further argument. Shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket, he began to walk.
Yohji followed gloomily.
"Aya?"
"Don't talk to me."
"You're an ass."
Another grunt.
It may have been amused.
The bored-looking boy behind the counter at the craft store gave them an odd look as they approached to make their purchase. Yohji had to admit that it probably was a little strange – two men stocking up on several reels of brightly colored ribbon. He shot a grin at the shop boy, itching to tease him.
Of course, Aya would most likely murder him if he tried.
If he caught him, that is.
Yohji glanced at the man at his side, then back to the shop boy. He let his grin grow larger and waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
The boy paled.
His voice even shook a little as he told them the total for their purchase – and the shaking only got worse when Yohji licked his lips as Aya reached for his wallet. When the redhead found it and moved to pay, he shifted so that he was standing behind him, and began making suggestive gestures.
The boy practically threw the receipt at them.
On their way out, Yohji winked at him and blew a kiss.
They were three stores away before Aya stopped and rounded on him.
"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded.
Yohji blinked.
"You know, you're beginning to sound like a broken record," he said. "'What the hell are you doing,' 'What the hell do you want,' 'What - ?'" he cut off abruptly as Aya's hand lashed out, fingers closing around his wrist with bruising intensity.
"The guy behind the counter," Aya ground out, ignoring the attention they were earning from passerby.
"I was…only giving him a hard time. That's all."
Aya glared a moment longer before releasing him with a shove. He began to walk once more and Yohji, carefully, followed.
"How did you - ?"
"I could see your reflection in the window. Dumbass."
Silence passed for a few long moments.
"Don't you have any sense of humor?" Yohji demanded at last. "It was funny."
A grunt.
"Come on," he wheedled. "You know that you have to admit that we must have looked kind of funny to him. And the fact that we're walking back to a flower shop? I mean, we might as well, I dunno, be skipping and holding hands."
"Are you homophobic, Kudoh?"
"No, but…"
"But it was funny?"
"Well…yeah."
"Maybe you should shut up. Ignorance is one thing – but being an ass simply for the sake of it is inexcusable."
"Lighten up. It was a joke."
"Yet neither of us is laughing."
"Okay! Let it drop, all right?"
An annoyed grunt was his only answer, and they were silent for several long moments.
"I'm not homophobic, okay?" Yohji demanded at last. "I mean, hell, I've partied with men a few times – I don't have a problem with it. But that guy was so uncomfortable…I just had to tease him!"
Another grunt.
"What? So now you're just not going to talk to me anymore?"
"When," Aya demanded, "Have I ever willingly spoken to you?"
They were almost back to the flower shop before Yohji realized that that might have been a joke.
tbc
Response to Unsigned Reviews:
Siagii – thanks! I hope you continue to enjoy it.
JB – I have no idea, but I love the thought of it, and couldn't resist trying it out. Thanks!
shiratorikae - hm. I'm not sure if that was a "this is a bad thing" or a "this is a funny thing". Anyway, thanks for reading.