Stupid things ran through Yohji's head when he felt he may be in danger. Sometimes, during a difficult mission, he found himself fixating on things like a pen he had lost in high school, the women who he'd never called back, and that time he scraped his knee when he was twelve.

Sitting in his car, nearly frozen by the stony silence emanating from the seat beside him, Yohji's mind questioned whether or not he'd remembered to turn off his radio before leaving. He wondered about the plant in the back of the shop that he hadn't watered in a week. He pondered the secret sex lives of rocks.

And he considered the increasing likelihood of ending the week with a sword in his gut.

Umeko and Yukio, the twins who Yohji had set up the date with, had agreed to meet them at the video store where Umeko worked. From there, they would proceed to whatever restaurant they all agreed on. Yohji had promised them a fun night – and now had no idea how he'd ever managed to voice such an outright lie. There was no way cold-as-ice Aya Fujimiya was going to be able to unclench for even the smallest moment.

He had clearly used up all his nice points while they had been shopping.

The silence lasted even as Yohji pulled into the video store's parking lot. It was an awkward, angry, almost hurt silence and Yohji, to his own amazement, found himself fighting the urge to apologize.

I'm sorry I don't know you better? That was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard of.

"Aya…" he sighed at last, when neither of them moved to exit the vehicle.

"Leave me alone, Kudoh." Aya's voice was frozen but quiet. It was also oddly…disappointed. The man got out of the car and slammed the door closed behind him.

Yohji sighed again, regretted that he had ever decided to try to befriend brick-wall-Fujimiya, and followed.

The last time Yohji had seen Umeko – actually, the reason he had stopped seeing her – she'd cut her hair extremely short, with the sides shaved close to the scalp and dyed lime green. It had grown out since then, he was relieved to see. It now reached her shoulders in a choppy shag style, and was bright pink in color. He noticed that she was also wearing red contacts and had pierced one eyebrow.

Yukio, on the other hand, hadn't changed a bit. His black hair was still cut in a short, professional style, and his wire-rimmed glasses were the same studious frames Yohji remembered. Additionally, he still seemed to possess his unnatural fondness for dress slacks and sweater vests.

"Gotta' love a hot nerd," Yohji muttered under his breath.

Aya shot him a sharp look, which Yohji carefully pretended not to see. He raised his hand to wave at the twins, grinning as if he hadn't a care in the world.

Yohji was bored out of his mind. They had barely taken their seats at the table in the restaurant when Umeko had spotted some "friends" at the bar and rushed over to visit them, leaving Yohji alone with Aya, the human popsicle, and Yukio, the Most Boring Man in the World.

Yohji remembered Yukio as being rather reserved around strangers, but he wouldn't stop talking now. Chattiness from the bookworm was a more than certain sign that he liked Aya. He was trying to impress him with his knowledge of whatever-the-hell he was talking about.

Yohji had stopped listening the moment the man had mentioned that he was doing research "just for fun."

"English novels," Aya said suddenly, breaking his long silent streak at last and earning both men's attention. "I like to read in other languages," he clarified. His gaze was steady – as if challenging the two of them to question his right to participate in conversation. "The more difficult the challenge, the more satisfying I find it. English is my favorite. The old stuff."

"Hey!" Yohji realized. "I think that's the longest I've ever heard you talk!"

Aya gave him a flat look.

"I don't know much about porn and booze, Kudoh," he stated coolly. "What would I possibly have to talk to you about?"

The blonde gave an uneasy laugh as a large smile spread across Yukio's face. The dark haired man leaned closer toward Aya, his body language clearly displaying his interest.

"Have you read Gower?"

Aya gave a small nod and an even smaller smile. "Philomene and Tereus," he stated. He reached for one of the dinner rolls – the first time he'd shown an interest in food all evening. He even picked up his menu as Yukio began to chat at him again.

Narrowing his eyes, Yohji leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms, caught by surprise by a strange, unhappy feeling. He didn't care that his date had abandoned him – he had only called the twins because he had thought that Aya and Yukio would hit it off.

Which they had. Aya was being closer to friendly that Yohji had ever seen him.

Which was what Yohji had wanted.

So, why then did his wine suddenly taste like bile, and his stomach rebel at the thought of food?

For the first time in his life, Yohji Kudoh was glad to see a date end uneventfully. Umeko had gone home with someone else – which spared him from having to think up an excuse for not asking her to spend the night – and Yukio and Aya merely shook hands when saying goodbye.

All Yohji cared about was that the stupid night was over. Now the only trial left was enduring the silent car ride back to the shop with Aya.

"Keys," Aya said after Yukio's car had driven off.

"What?"

The small redhead held his hand out, demanding. "Keys," he said again.

When Yohji failed to get the message a second time, Aya glared. Yohji gave a yelp and attempted to jump back when the small redhead's hand plunged itself deeply into the front pocket of his tight leather pants.

"Hey - !"

Ignoring him, Aya withdrew the keys and began walking past him to the car. Yohji followed dumbly.

"What are you doing?" he managed to demand at last as they reached the car and Aya headed for the driver's side. "It's my - !"

"You drank all night," Aya stated matter-of-factly. He pulled open the door and climbed inside, giving Yohji a flat look as the blonde prevented him from closing the door.

"I'm not drunk!" Yohji argued.

Aya put the keys in the ignition. The dinging that alerted the driver that a door was still open filled the night.

"I'm not drunk!" Yohji insisted again.

"Your blood alcohol level exceeds that permitted by law." Aya stated.

"Law? Fuck the law – did you forget that we kill for a living? Since when does the law matter?"

Aya only looked at him, expression unreadable, and Yohji began to wonder if the redhead existed for the pure purpose of driving him insane. Aya knew that Yohji didn't let anyone drive his car!

"I'm not drunk!" he insisted again.

Aya started the engine.

"Are you still pouting?" Aya asked – the first words either of them had spoken since leaving the restaurant.

"It's my car," Yohji sulked.

"So you are pouting."

"It's not pouting!"

A moment too late, Yohji noticed the small twist to Aya's lips. He realized that the small, quiet man was teasing him. Feeling stupid and hating it, Yohji turned his attention out the window.

Silence passed for several moments. Aya was turning onto the road that held the shop before he spoke again.

"I did want to thank you for tonight."

Surprised, Yohji looked at Aya.

"Yeah? You had a good time with Yukio?"

"He was…interesting. More, it's just that…I enjoyed being able to get out."

That bitter feeling rose up again. Turning his head away once more, Yohji wondered at why he would suddenly want Yukio again. He'd thought the man boring as hell when they'd dated before, and if he remembered correctly they hadn't exactly clicked in bed. But there was no other explanation for why he was suddenly so unhappy with knowing he'd found a good match for Aya.

"Are you going to see him again?"

Silence. Aya pulled into the driveway behind the shop and turned off the engine. Both men remained in the darkness, sitting together in the quiet, neither giving any indication of moving.

"Do…" Aya's voice was quiet. Hesitant. "Do you think I should?"

Yohji's stomach rebelled at the idea. He thought about Yukio, the "hot nerd," and the sick feelings grew. He remembered his small, cluttered apartment, the way he refused to use salt when cooking breakfast, the banshee-like howls he'd make during sex (causing his neighbors to twice call the cops on them, suspecting violence.) And then he thought about Aya with Yukio. With each thought, he only felt worse.

Did he really want Yukio back?

"If you want to," he said at last. "It's not any business of mine."

Aya unclasped his seat belt and got out of the car, slamming the door behind him.

tbc

I confess, I have no idea what Aya was talking about at dinner. This fic has been revised several times, and I wrote that scene during literature class several years ago. Gower was one of the things in my book, and I think I had skimmed it and enjoyed it (I don't usually reference things I know nothing about) but now I'm like "Huh?"

Response to Unsigned Reviews:

glinwulf - Yes. Several, several wishes. (grins)

Henna - I'm happy you enjoy my take on Aya. I enjoy sharing him!

CaT70 - (snuggles Awkward!Aya)

JB - Thanks; I'm glad you're liking it. I put some notes for RuroKen at the end of the newest chapter of Fealty, so I hope it helps. Let me know if you have any questions. I'll try to be more responsible about setting things up.