Longer chapter this time. Enjoy.

Yohji

Ran had put his apron on the moment he'd returned to the shop. It made Yohji wonder why he hadn't been wearing it in the first place. It was shop protocol and Ran always followed the rules to the T. But maybe he'd just been having an off day, or he really hadn't expected to make that much of a mess while creating the arrangements….or to have a blond playboy spill coffee on him…

But whatever the case, Yohji was glad that Ran had slipped up and forgot. It had given him a chance to spill something on that god awful orange sweater the redhead always wore. Yohji liked to believe that Ran donned it just to scare the fan girls away, because no one could have that little fashion sense; though given that it was Ran, it was probably the sad truth.

Yohji very much hoped that the coffee would leave a stain. He'd be doing the world, and especially Ran, a great big favour if that orange abomination was permanently destroyed. Ran had decent clothes; he just rarely bothered to wear them.

And after seeing that he could get away with harming the infamous orange sweater, Yohji decided that he would make it his personal mission to destroy every ugly article of clothing in Ran's wardrobe, one way or another, until the redhead had no choice but to be fashionable and to wear clothes that showed off his the sweet little body.

"Why are you still here Kudou?" Ran looked over at he playboy from his spot at the work table.

Yohji shrugged. He was still taking the time to admire Ran's new shirt. It was a simple black t-shirt but it looked a million times better on Ran than the sweater had. Yohji got to see more skin and the dark colour made the redhead's hair and eyes pop.

Yohji liked it when Ran wore black. He liked his mission gear the most, though he felt a shorter jacket would have been nicer, that way he could see more of the redhead's tight little backside.

Still, Yohji couldn't complain. At least Ran wasn't wearing an orange sweater knit by the blind on missions.

"Go change, Kudou," said Ran, never looking up from his arrangement.

It then became a toss-up whether Yohji would stay and watch Ran some more and hope that the coffee came out in the wash? Or give Ran some peace and go change?

"Kudou…" Ran's tone was getting irritated.

Yohji would go change.

Upon his return, the blond also put on his apron and once again settled himself by the cash. He was now wearing a favourite of his own, his purple dress shirt. It was an item of clothing that he wished Ran would borrow. He felt the redhead would look dazzling in purple, what with his unusual coloured eyes. And despite what Ran believed, it wouldn't kill him to show off his exotic good looks now and again.

"You should wear more purple, Aya," Yohji said contemplatively. "You'd look sexy in purple."

Ran lowered his face as his cheeks reddened a little. He grunted. "Don't just sit around. Do something, Kudou."

"Have you ever thought of burning your wardrobe?"

The redhead blinked and looked up, shocked.

"Because I have," Yohji continued. "You need better clothes. I want to take you shopping."

"Work, Kudou." Ran's tone was final, it was the voice of Abyssinian, but Yohji hadn't finished thinking aloud yet so he failed to be intimidated.

"There's this great purple shirt I saw in a store recently. Unzips diagonally from the neck all the way to the shoulder. You'd be a walking wet dream in that, Aya. I think I'll pick it up for you."

Ran held up a hand to cover his burning face this time. "Get…to work…Kudou," he said very slowly and quietly. He was angry and very uncomfortable.

"Wear that and those leather mission pants and boots of yours? Gods…" Yohji went on, sighing dreamily, "Nobody could keep from touching themselves when they saw you."

Ran bared his teeth and glared up at him. Yohji could still see a hint of pink on his cheeks and it made him smile. Ran was so cute when he was embarrassed.

"Stop it," the redhead ordered.

Yohji raised an eyebrow. "Stop what, Aya?"

"Stop…IT."

"It?" The blond titled his head like a dog who was trying desperately to understand what its master was saying. "What's 'it'? You're gonna have to be more specific, Aya."

Ran paused and then growled. "Stop talking about me…like that."

"What? I was just pointing out the fact that you need new clothes...And that you're sexy."

The redhead frowned and turned his face away. "I told you to stop, Kudou."

"But it's the truth, Aya. You're sexy. Hasn't anyone ever told you that?"

"Just…shut up."

"Why? Why can't you take a compliment, Aya?"

"I'm not a girl, Kudou."

"Yeah, I know. I never said you were."

"But…"

"But what?"

"But…You're not supposed to say those kinds of things to me…to another man…"

Yohji laughed. "Hey, I'm confident enough with my sexuality that I can compliment another guy, Aya."

"I don't' want to be complimented."

"Why not?"

"Because…because it's distracting."

Yohji shrugged. He couldn't help it if Ran made such a pretty distraction and that he liked talking about him.

"You know, you have surprisingly broad shoulders for such a thin frame, Aya," Yohji observed.

Ran narrowed his eyes down at his work, choosing not to respond this time. Yohji hopped off the counter and walked over to his table, stepping up behind him. He put his hands on either side of the redhead's shoulders. The act surprised Ran and caused him to lash out, striking him squarely in the jaw.

Yohji's head swung back and the bell above the door jingled as the first customer of the day entered the shop. Both men turned to stare at her, though only the blond was holding his jaw.

The petite woman standing by the door seemed unsure as to whether she should leave or not since she had obviously interrupted something. Yohji couldn't let her go. He righted himself and approached her, not smiling quite as broadly as he normally did since his jaw was bruised.

"Good morning!" he said brightly, laying on the charm, "And what can I do for such a lovely lady?"

"Are you…ok?" she inquired timidly, watching him in concern.

"Oh don't worry about me," Yohji smiled, but had to rub his jaw. "My friend was just swatting a fly for me." He knew the excuse was pitiful but it was all he could come up with. He heard Ran snort from his table.

"…oh," the woman nodded. "As long as you're ok."

"Sure," said Yohji, "The hit looked harder than it was."

Another snort from the redhead.

Yohji frowned back at him for a few seconds and then turned his attention to his customer. "So…what would you like?"

The woman eventually found her smile again, deciding that it was ok for her to stay long enough to place an order after all. And Yohji dealt with her quickly, though managed to get her to stay an extra half hour by just chatting with her. He also managed to find himself a date for the following evening.

When she had gone, he rounded on the redhead. "What was that all about, Aya? Why'd you hit me?"

"You surprised me," Ran answered indifferently.

"I was just checking to see how wide your shoulders were so I could buy you that damned shirt," said Yohji crossly.

"I don't want the shirt, Kudou. And you could have just asked me for my measurements."

Touché. Yohji hadn't thought of that.

He rubbed his jaw. "You didn't have to hit me."

"I told you, you surprised me."

"Still didn't have to fucking punch me."

"You deserved it."

"…says you. You're too violent sometimes, Aya."

Ran grunted uncaringly and crossed another arrangement off the list. He was almost finished.

Yohji stared at him expectantly and Ran took his time looking up.

"What?"

"Well aren't you going to apologize?"

"No."

Yohji narrowed his eyes. "This is the second time you've assaulted me this morning, Aya. I think you owe me at least one 'I'm sorry.'"

Ran shook his head. "I don't owe you anything. You brought it on yourself. If you had just shut up and done some actual work, I wouldn't have had to hurt you."

Yohji growled and leaned on the table to stare into his eyes. "Say it, Aya."

Ran looked at him levelly. "No."

"Say it."

"Not on your life, Kudou."

"I want an apology.

"You're not getting one from me."

The phone rang.

"Aya…"

The phone rang again.

"Answer it, Kudou."

Yohji waited until the fourth ring before growling and hurrying off to answer the shop phone.

"What?" he growled, taking out his anger on the unfortunate caller who just happened to be Omi. "What? Oh…" the blonde's tone softened. "Sorry Chibi, what is it?"

Yohji sighed heavily after getting off the phone with Omi. "The Chibi's gotta stay after school for a bit so he'll be late for his shift," he said.

Ran nodded. "You'll stay since you haven't done anything all day. And don't answer the phone like that again, Kudou. We don't need you turning away customers with your foul mood."

Yohji scowled. "Who served that customer earlier, Aya? Was it you? No. It was me. So I DID do something today."

Ran rolled his eyes at his childishness. "Barely anything then," he corrected himself and stood up to stretch, needing a short break.

Yohji couldn't help watching him, admiring the graceful arc of his body as he stretched. Ran finished by rolling his neck, working out the stiffness.

"Put the finished arrangements in the backroom," the redhead said as he left for the apartment kitchen. "I think you can handle that much."

Yohji had to make the conscious effort to shut his mouth.

Ran ended up staying for the afternoon shift as well. Apparently he didn't trust Yohji enough to be on his own with Ken. It pissed the blond off even more than the fact that Ran had decided for him that he would stay.

Yohji was capable of handling the gaggle of girls that flocked the shop after school quite well. Ken could manage without Weiss' Ice Queen breathing down his neck too. Nobody needed Ran hovering over them while they tried to do their jobs.

It was a shame Yohji couldn't tell Ran that. He might have gotten punched again and his jaw was still sore from earlier. He didn't want to risk it.

"All these have to go in the back?" Ken asked Yohji, staring at all the finished flower arrangements.

Yohji nodded. "Try not to drop any Kenken. Aya worked so hard on them this morning."

The brunette nodded and carried the first of the arrangements out.

Ran glared at Yohji from the corner of the shop. The blond knew that the redhead was livid with him for pawning the job off on Ken. It made him smile; his payback for not getting an apology from him.

"Kudou, get back to work."

"But I am Aya," Yohji drawled, "I'm serving these lovely ladies." He winked at the twittering girls surrounding him and hit Aya with a lopsided grin that quickly slackened at the sight of Ran's dangerously narrowed gaze.

"Flirting is not part of the job description, Kudou. Save your hobby for your free time." Ran's steely gaze fell on Yohji's flock. "Unless you're buying something, get out."

The girls jumped as one at his harsh tone and said their quick goodbyes to the playboy, promising to come around again tomorrow to see him. Yohji waved them off with an easy smile on his face. He sighed dramatically when they were gone and turned on the redhead.

"Way to go Aya," he whined, draping his long arms over the counter, "I think I was actually going to sell something today."

Ran grunted, feeling no sympathy. "They couldn't afford your price, Kudou. And besides, they're minors. I thought you had some sort of principles."

Yohji gawped, then he blinked, then he nearly fell backwards as he realized that Ran had taken a jab at him.

"Hey, did you just call me a prostitute?"

"No. But I may have alluded to it."

"Hey…wow," Yohji was too floored to come up with a retort. "You made a joke Aya, that's great."

Ran rolled his eyes and scowled. "I wasn't aware you found the truth so humourous, Kudou."

Yohji wouldn't normally have taken words like that to heart. Hell, he knew that he had slightly looser morals than most, not that 'whore' was exactly the word he would have chosen to describe himself, but being called one had never really phased until now.

Ken was always joking about Yohji's many exploits so he was used to it and he wasn't sent on the more scandalous missions for just any reason.

Yohji liked to believe that he was a laid-back kind of guy and he let most insults just roll off him. He was comfortable enough in his own skin that he could shrug off snippy remarks. He really didn't care what people thought of him—or at least he thought he didn't—but something about Ran's comments and no-nonsense personality struck a chord within him. The redhead really wasn't joking around.

"Oi, what's your deal today Aya? You wake up on the wrong side of the bed or what?"

Ran grunted, his usual dismissal, and suddenly Yohji had had it. He could risk another punch.

With a wicked gleam in his eye, he strutted up to the disgruntled redhead and threw an arm around his shoulder, leaning close to whisper in his ear. "Frankly, I think it's because you don't fall asleep on the proper side—or in the right bed for that matter…and with the right company," he added, brushing the shell of Ran's ear with his lips.

Ran flushed as Yohji's warm breath ghosted his ear and the playboy grinned, completely missing the way Ran's eyes suddenly narrowed to slits and his fists clenched at his sides.

Yohji pressed on. "Which side do you prefer, Aya? Right or left?"

And then the playboy was hunched over, gasping and holding his wounded stomach while the irate redhead stormed right out of the shop. It was a good thing that the fan girls had enough sense to move because Ran would have mowed them down.

Ken had been standing by the storeroom door and had seen everything. He walked up to Yohji, shaking his head. "I think he chose the left side."

"Really?" Yohji wheezed, trying to straighten up but quickly realizing that the view of the floor wasn't actually so bad, "'Cause I have a pretty good feeling that it was the right side," he moaned, rubbing his sore middle.

Ken only shook his head again and patted Yohji's back as he went back to moving the arrangements, leaving the playboy to suffer.

Yohji had to be something of a masochist—either that or he was just incredibly stupid, because no one in their right mind would goad Ran as much as Yohji liked to.

But at least he entertained. Anyone could make Ran angry but it took a master to make him storm off in a huff like Yohji was prone to make him do. Yohji certainly had more skill than most.

It hurt to be Yohji Kudou sometimes.