Chapter 6

Manx took a deep breath. "It is no secret that Kritiker wishes to...er...keep you in their employ." She began. Aya's lips twitched.

"They want me under their control. Yes." He nodded. "What if I refuse?"A pained expression crossed her face.

"They have the power to erase your team's memory of you." As far as incentives went; it wasn't the worst. "Or kill them." Protests rang out from the three assassins.

"You're gonna have ta kill me." Youji growled while Ken and Omi were more confused as to why. They claimed Aya hated them so they shouldn't even be included. The noise in their heads was louder than their voices. It was making it hard to think.

"Shut up and stop thinking for a sec." Aya snapped. "I'm still getting used to this shit." The room went silent...well the volume decreased to whispers at least. It was bearable. "Thank you." He ran a hand through his hair and pinched the bridge of his nose to calm down. "First of all, Ken, they're threatening you and Omi because, along with Youji, the three of you represent the closest thing I have to family. I can't pull off heartless as well as I thought; otherwise you wouldn't be in danger. I apologize."

"For caring?" Omi was tearing up.

"Bull shit." Ken frowned. "Not that you care or anything; just the whole deal where you have to work for the people threatening the people you care for."

"I second that." Youji put an arm around Aya. "Why not just kill them and run?"

"I could." The redhead agreed. "I could explode all the bullets in their guns right now." The agents shifted nervously. "Than the thought occurs to me that we would spend the rest of our lives on the run. It would be exhausting, which is why I am hoping there is another solution."

"Like?"

"A deal." Aya said simply. "We are allowed to carry on as before, with whatever psychic side duty they would like done. In exchange; I don't go back to Quarantine and your lives aren't threatened."

"What if you go against your word?" Manx's voice shook.

"I won't." Aya narrowed his eyes then forced himself to relax. "If I decide to renege; our lives would be forfeit of course. Details to be worked out later of course, but I would much prefer the erasure of my memory to death."

"Kritiker accepts on the grounds that we will talk more." Manx stated after a moment. She wore an earpiece from which Aya could hear unintelligible whispers. He knew the Kritiker chairmen and women were on the other end. So essentially; speaking to her right now was like speaking to Kritiker.

"Of course." He inclined his head.

Once back at the Koneko; Youji whirled to face Aya. "Are you insane?"

"Quite possibly." The swordsman's lips twitched. "To which action are you referring? Agreeing to work with them? Or my confusion at the hospital?" He paused. "Perhaps you are referring to the fact that I am actually somewhat fond of you."

"Don't get cute." Youji growled. "I knew you cared. What I'm talking about is the fucking fact that you basically gave into them without a fight."

"I don't give up." The other man hissed, getting in Youji's face. A finger poked him in the chest. "What I just did was break out of the most maximum security prison there is, raised hell at Kritiker HQ to find you, broke into a heavily fortified building, rescued the only three people that mean anything to me, and negotiated a truce." Youji blinked at the onslaught of emotion. He liked that Aya was more fired up than usual. The two of them stood in the kitchen. Ken and Omi were in there rooms, either sleeping or considering what to do next. They were still reeling over the days events. "I didn't give up." He grabbed Youji by the front of his shirt and pulled him down so that they were eye to eye. "Giving up would have been leaving you to die. Not risking my life and freedom to get you out." There was a fire in his eyes that Youji had never seen before. He'd seen Aya determined...hell he was the most stubborn guy alive...possibly. It was the emotion. It was rare to see any. "I won't ever give up on you." The quiet declaration filled Youji's heart with so much emotion; he didn't know whether to burst into tears, hug Aya, or kiss him. "What is that?"

"What is what?" Youji asked, slightly distracted.

"That thing you were just feeling."

"Oh heaven help me." He threw his arms around the swordsman as his eyes filled.

"What?" Aya's voice was slightly muffled by Youji's shirt. The blonde pulled back so that their gazes met, his hands on either side of Aya's face.

"That was love." Crimson eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh." His confusion was so cute; Youji couldn't resist. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to Aya's. The smaller man stiffened. Youji was about to pull away when suddenly Aya relaxed. His mouth opened as he reached up to bury his fingers in Youji's hair. He plunged his tongue into that heated cavern and pulled the swordsman closer. Only the mutual need for air drove them apart.

"You're going to be the death of me." Youji panted. Aya's lips twisted wryly.

"Probably."

What Kritiker wanted, apparently, was to branch out into into the paranormal sector. They were bringing together teams that specialized in it Each one had their own psychic or two. None were TDB hosts like Aya; just humans who could actually interact with the spiritual world.

It was stupid. Even though he had the TDB or whatever; it was all nonsense to him. Omi, Ken, and Youji were given crash courses in paranormal research then the four of them were sent into a house surrounded by the myth that no one who set foot in it would remain alive. This was how they found out ghosts were real and that Aya could remove them.

He didn't purify or whatever. He acted as a conduit, by absorbing the soul and forcing it to move on. A nasty byproduct of this ability was to feel what the spirits had. Aya threw up the first time. He had absorbed the soul of a particularly nasty specter that preyed on children in the woods. He found out the man had been a pedophile in life.

Upon absorbing his soul; the redhead had received vivid images and feelings. Like slitting a child's throat and bathing in their blood as well as some sex acts. It had been hell. Luckily he had Youji. It was strange at first. Especially in regards to feeling and hearing what his friend wanted to express before Youji himself did.

They had a rough start coupled with keeping their relationship a secret. Aya didn't need more reasons for Ken to glare and think unkind things. He already made scathing comments about them having something going on between them that was more than friendship. Then there was Omi. He meant well, however, he was A) a kid, by many standards, and B) way too nosy.

It took Aya a few weeks to master tuning the three of them out. In that time he had inadvertently learned some weird facts about his teammates as well as confirmed some of his earlier beliefs. Ken was an angry jerk. No surprise there, but he also had this odd obsession with socks.

Omi was as nosy and knowledgeable as he seemed. Also a scaredy cat. The shock came in the form of the real reason he didn't have a girlfriend, which were his feelings for Ken, who was oblivious. He kept the crush well hidden...on the outside. It had been only the second day back when Aya found out. He and Omi were closing the shop when Ken walked by in form fitting clothes to go clubbing with friends. From Omi's direction had come a lustful sigh and Damn he's hot. None of it had been uttered aloud, not even the sigh, and the teen had just about died from the mortification after realizing Aya had heard him even if Ken hadn't. It didn't make it better. He'd wailed that Aya must hate him now. To which Aya had asked him "Why?" It wasn't his business to judge the likes or dislikes of a friend. He had made it clear that he wasn't going to tell Ken unless Omi wanted him too. It wasn't his place. The teen had calmed after that.

Then there was Youji. A self reported lady killer and womanizer. He floated on both sides of the fence, meaning he was ambivalent about the gender of his partner. He genuinely cared for Aya. None of which came as a surprise, however, what did, was the fact that he actually hated all the attention he got in the flower shop.

So now Aya didn't listen to his friends and was able to tune out the girls that came to the shop. His secret relationship with Youji remained undiscovered, mostly because both Ken and Omi already thought Aya was weird..also straight, and he was so cold emotionally. The thought literally never crossed their minds. They put Youji in the 'brother' category, since it was obvious that Aya was closer to him. Youji was the only one that Aya let near him, physically and emotionally. It was also better.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Youji's voice broke him out of his semi daze. They were alone in the shop. The shutters were down for the night. Omi and Ken were on a reconnaissance mission, gathering intel about a supposed haunting in an old house near Osaka.

"They are worth more." Aya quipped, turning and putting his arms around Youji. Usually he didn't initiate contact, but he was feeling unsettled. Real spirits were popping up more and more. There were a few hoaxes, sure, but overall; most of the spirits out there terrorizing people weren't fake. It felt deliberate. He just couldn't find the words to explain why he felt that way.

"Something bothering you?" Youji asked, returning the hug.

"No." It was an automatic response and Aya could tell the other man knew it was bullshit by the way his eyebrow lifted. "Perhaps." He amended. "I'm not ready to discuss it with anyone yet. I am finding it difficult to express."

"That's kind of the theme of your life." Youji's lips twitched. Aya wrinkled his nose and pulled on a lock of blonde hair.

"You aren't funny."

"You almost laughed." His grin widened briefly before he bent down to mold his mouth to Aya's. The redhead moaned as desire raced like fire through his blood. He opened up to Youji and deepened the kiss. This desire for sexual contact was new to him and quickly becoming addictive. It hadn't gotten beyond the stage of kissing and heavy petting. Tonight that was going to change. Aya needed more. He didn't know why. All he knew was that he needed Youji with a desperation he'd never felt. Someone else was driving his body or something...or something. It was possible. So many things were these days.

Whatever. He needed to live in the now. In the yearning desire to be one with Youji. Aya pulled the taller man toward the door to their living quarters. "You are going to fuck me now, so shut up." In no time they were in Youji's room with the door closed and their clothes off. They were a tangle of sweaty limbs on the bed, their mouths still connected.

"If you start to feel uncomfortable or anything; you may have to knock me out." Youji laughed, breaking the kiss so they both could gasp for air. "I think this is what is called the 'point of no return'." He trailed kisses down Aya's throat that sent blood rushing to the swordsman's groin. "I won't be able to stop."

"I don't want you too." Aya gasped. Youji's mouth was on his cock, sucking gently. A shudder went through him. It was one of pleasure, though, so when the other man's head began to rise; He delved his hands into those blonde locks and held it in place. "Please, Youji." He didn't recognize the needy whisper coming from his own mouth. "I need you." Youji's efforts redoubled. Pretty soon all Aya could feel was the incredible pleasure. All he could sense was Youji's mouth and hands on him. "Inside me." He commanded in a breathless voice.

He felt Youji prepare him first then he was inside, thrusting his hips and breathing hard. Aya put his hands on Youji's shoulders as he arced with a cry of, dare he all it joy? He could feel Youji's pleasure as well as his own and was overwhelmed by it. "Aya, babe, I love you. Just please don't burn the house down." He opened his eyes to purple flame everywhere. Instead of panicking, he laughed. The flames weren't actually burning anything and went away quickly after they both climaxed then collapsed on the bed with sheer exhaustion.

"You love me?" Aya asked after a while. Youji froze as if in panic.

"Yeah?"

"Is that a question?"

"No. It's a yes." The blonde bit his lip. "I definitely do love you." He cocked his head as he rolled onto his side to look at his lover. "Is that okay with you?" Aya turned his head so that their eyes met.

"More than, since I find myself in love with you as well."