Breakdown

Chapter 13: Kudou

Yohji was at the end of his rope. He'd given up quality clubbing time to search for Ran and he'd come up blank at every stop. Driving around town was getting him no where and he had absolutely no idea where is teammate had gone. The worry was driving him crazy. As far as he knew, Ran had no interest in anything so there wasn't even a good place to start looking for the redhead. And Ran had yet to check in with any of the members of Weiss.

This was just too irresponsible. This was Yohji's attitude, not Ran's. The blond got to thinking that maybe he'd finally rubbed off on the redhead, and somehow that didn't actually make him happy. If anything, he wanted Ran to be a little more personable, not careless.

At first Yohji had been glad that Ran wasn't home. It gave him and Ken time to work on the ruined arrangements, but when ten o'clock rolled around, and then eleven, Yohji couldn't take it anymore. If Ken could sit still and finish the arrangements, then more power to him. Yohji was done. He needed to find Ran.

Yohji had grabbed his keys and ducked out after saying a quick goodbye to the rest of his team. Ken was pissed because he thought Yohji was just going out to party, but finding Ran was the playboy's sole priority, which was a first for him. Ran wasn't exactly a people person, so Yohji was worried he'd get himself into all kinds of trouble. And yes, the redhead was capable of defending himself in a fight, but it didn't stop Yohji from worrying. Even Ran couldn't dodge, or fend off a bullet with his fists.

Yohji drove past a set of traffic lights and had to slam on the breaks when he realized that he'd driven past a slumped form on the sidewalk which looked very much like Ran. Even this late at night, there were enough motorists on the road to give him a piece of their mind, but Yohji ignored their angry horn honking and reversed his car back a few meters, parking it half on the sidewalk. He jumped out immediately and rushed to his teammate's side.

"Aya!" he dropped to his knees and grabbed the redhead's face, tilting it back to look into his eyes. Ran definitely looked out of it. Yohji immediately suspected the worst, that someone had taken advantage of him, but his clothes weren't ripped or torn in any place so he was probably just being paranoid.

Ran gave him a half hearted snarl. "I told you to call me Abyssinian."

Yohji looked puzzled and he cocked his head to the side, the confused puppy dog face taking full effect. "Aya?" he asked, "You ok? We're not on a mission. Why do I have to call you by your codename?"

Ran blinked and narrowed his eyes, realizing that he was talking to a familiar blond and not Crawford. "…oh…Yohji…right." He nodded, eyelids drooping.

Yohji was more stunned by that comment than by finding him on some random sidewalk. "What did you just say?" he inquired with widened eyes. Ran wrinkled his nose and grabbed his wrists, tugging on them to pull his hands off his face.

"Let go Kudou."

Yohji frowned. So it was back to Kudou was it? Maybe he'd just imagined that Ran had called him by his first name. He dropped his hands.

"What are you doing out here, Aya? What happened to you? Are you hurt?"

"Shut up and help me up, Kudou." Ran scowled and shifted onto his hands and knees to make it easier for him to stand up. Even worried, the randy part of Yohji's brain was switched on and he had to push away the naughty thoughts as he grabbed Ran's arm and helped him to his feet.

Ran fell into his arms almost immediately and rested his head on Yohji's shoulder, arms completely lax at his sides. Yohji tensed himself for a punch. With how the previous day's events had gone, he expected one, but after thirty seconds of muscle clenching, Yohji exhaled the breath he was holding in and relaxed a little. He moved his hand from Ran's upper bicep to his lower back and stared down at the slightly shorter man, still wary of a punch from left field.

"Aya? Have you been drinking?" Yohji never would have believed it but up this close, he could definitely smell booze on the redhead's breath, whiskey he suspected, and cigarette smoke and the general unsavory bar smells on his clothing and hair, as well as something very reminiscent of vomit. If Ran had been drinking, it hadn't gone down well. "Aya?"

"Carry me to the car Kudou," the redhead groaned, and had Yohji not known that Ran was very drunk, that noise would have been so much hotter than he already found it.

"You want me to what?" Yohji had to make sure he'd heard correctly. He didn't want to get punched for assuming Ran said something that he hadn't.

"Damn it Kudou! I can't walk on my own. Help me," Ran pleaded. Even drunk, it looked like it was killing the redhead to admit that. Yohji could see he was struggling to pull off a glare, even if he was failing miserably. He found it sad that Ran would always see asking for help as a weakness.

Yohji studied him for a long moment and then sighed quietly. "Alright Aya," he said gently.

Ran dropped his gaze as he slowly lifted his arms and held Yohji around the neck. The blond felt his heartbeat quicken. This could have been a fantasy come to life, but instead it was a torture because he knew he couldn't close the distance between them and kiss Ran.

Someone in the heavens hated Yohji Kudou.

"Hurry up, I'm getting cold," Ran said, snapping the playboy back to reality.

"Oh…right," Yohji said and scooped up the redhead into his arms. He carefully carried him over to his Seven and grunted as he set him down in the passenger seat. He then took off his light coat and laid it across Ran's shoulders like a blanket. The redhead frowned but didn't stop him, and even snuggled a little into it. Yohji smiled to himself and walked back over to the driver's side of the car and hopped in, starting the ignition immediately. He pulled into traffic and headed in the direction of home.

Neither said a word as they drove along but after a while, Yohji couldn't stop himself from asking what Ran had been up to all night.

"Aya?" he began, "What happened tonight?" Ran didn't respond and Yohji frowned. "Look Aya, I know you like your privacy, but I got a right to know. You're a part of Weiss and teammates worry about each other. You could have been seriously hurt."

Yohji waited what he figured was an acceptable amount of time for Ran to answer but the redhead still said nothing. He gripped the steering wheel harder in irritation and sighed heavily, turning to look at Ran.

"Aya. Come…on…" Yohji's brow furrowed and he drifted off when he caught sight of the shorter man. It looked as though he'd have to try for answers later because Ran was fast asleep, with his head falling back against the headrest, his lips slightly parted.

Yohji smiled and shook his head, forcing himself to turn his attention back to the road. It was nice to see Ran not glaring for a change. He looked so at peace in his drink induced sleep. Yohji would have found it cuter if he wasn't so worried by it.

Somehow he just knew it was the calm before the storm.

Tomorrow would be…interesting.