AN : Hello everyone! I posted this chapter in advance because there is a high probability of me not posting anything in the next one to two weeks because of final French exams. Sorry for the short chapter, but apparently my goal to have about 1500 words per chapter is somewhat too restrictive. The next one will be 2000+. Well. That's it.

つきよ / 月夜 [Tsukiyo] - Night with moonlight (Japanese)

Word count : 1312

"… What were all those strange noises?" a man in his white pajama wondered while he looked out of the half-opened window, letting the moonlight bathe the room and his face in a soft silver-colored light. In red and blue lights too. He recognized those colors ; after living in this area for so long, you would have to be blind not to know what they meant, at his late hour of the night... Wait, didn't he know the blond man over there...? He furrowed his eyebrows, thinking. Did someone get hurt? He would have to get a closer look for that, and he opened the window completely.

For the first time in weeks, he noticed how cold it really was at night, for he always went to bed early and rarely went out with anyone (when he did have a choice). The cold air stabbed his eyes and cheeks violently, his teeth immediately clenched shut. He hugged himself, to at least keep a little illusion of warmth in this lonely place.

" The police... I wonder why they are here this ti-"

"What is it?" another man asked when he appeared behind his back, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

His sudden appearance and question caused the man to jump, who turned around almost immediately, his black eyes wide open.

"Yao-san! What are you doing up so late?"

"I could ask you the same thing, aru." Yes, why was he awake this late? They had to work tomorrow, there was no way they could make a good job if one of them was half asleep. "I thought you had gotten used to this area being of ill fame, you don't need to be surprised by the Police being here, aru."

The shorter man nodded, then bowed down silently. Yao was right, seeing those red and blue lights in these streets had become an almost weekly occurrence, even though it mostly concerned things that weren't really dangerous ('no mam', no one's hidden in this box and no one will attack you...'). But he had heard someone shoot, and he didn't like that. "I just heard a gun, Yao-san..."

"Kiku, you won't change the world, aru. Go to bed, otherwise we'll never be able to open the restaurant tomorrow. And I will not do all the work, aru!" with that, Yao pushed him towards the door, while he himself headed for his own room, where he had been sleeping before the uncharacteristic noise that was someone waking up at almost two in the morning made him shoot up in bed. Yao was the kind of person to be woken very easily. It actually really wasn't fun at all. Especially when Kiku sometimes happened to scream him awake in the middle of the night (he had never dared to ask what exactly he dreamed about when that happened).

He watched the retreating back of the Japanese man, before the latter turned round quickly to close the window, and left for his room again, bowing down once more. Yao nodded in contentment. Good. Kiku should be awake enough the next day and they would be able to open the restaurant without a hitch. Yawning, he stretched, and moved back to his own room. He fell onto the bed, tangled himself into the mess of bedsheets, slept.

(- -)

Without a hitch, Yao thought while his eyebrows twitched at the sight in front of him. He took a firmer hold on the counter which he currently had his back against, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth. It would be so much easier if he had never met them, because that would mean he wouldn't have any troubles with frequently scared customers who would stand outside, not knowing if they could enter without somehow being involved in a fistfight. It would also mean he wouldn't have to worry about the occasional broken plates or Chinese porcelain he so dearly cherished that his brother would bring back from China.

Worst of all, it would probably mean he would never have met Kiku either.

So Yao just sighed and tried to survive his day through this.

It had gone smoothly, very smoothly even (which was a bit scary) for the first hours of the day. Not a lot of people were coming in the morning, but usually around noon, something close to a crowd could be seen in the restaurant, but not today.

Because for Yao Wang, a crowd was never anything remotely close to two people.

The Ougon no Ryuu had its very own customers, those who came regularly, those who ordered a lot but didn't come over very often, those who also spent money for the little bibelots that were brought back from China...

And those two.

He was hesitating : should he throw the two men out, literally, and forbid them to ever come here again? Not that they would listen, probably, and Kiku still was something like friends with them, but he did not appreciate it when others made a fuss in his- his and Kiku's restaurant and kept the customers away! He apparently had no choice, he would have to call for his co-worker. He would not let two random Europeans mess up all the hard work he had done to get the restaurant to work!

"Kiku, say something, aru!" he cried out into the kitchen. "Your friends are having a fight again, aru!" After a few seconds, he heard someone stomping down the stairs, and Kiku appeared in the room, hair messy and tie undone, trying to straighten his jacket. He hadn't been in the kitchen. He blushed.

"I... Please forgive me, Yao-san, I... slept in on my work..."

Yao turned around to face him. Of course ; slept in. At least he hadn't been cooking, otherwise there would have been quite a bit of cleaning to do. "What were you calculating this time anyway, aru?"

"Oh, just this month's take. You will be able to buy the new wok you wanted, Yao-san. It might also be preferable to s-"

"Arsız çocuk!"

"Μπάσταρδος!"

Yao sighed, Kiku stopped abruptly. He stared over for a moment, eyes widening in realization at the scene before him. A fight! In their restaurant! The Japanese man hurried over to the two fighting customers, flattening his hair while he did so. When he arrived next to them, he cleared his throat.

They both accidentally ignored him for a few more seconds, and only then did they notice his presence. Both apologized.

"Sadiq-san, Herakles-san, I am truly sorry to interrupt, but I must ask you to calm down..."

"Ya didn't interrupt anything, Kiku. That brat's just being annoyin'."

"Look who's talking..."

"Ya want another fight?"

Kiku waved his hands, panicked, attempting to calm them down. "Please, please! Not here, do not fight!" He turned around, glancing at Yao, who shouted from where he was standing : "I hope you're ordering something, aru. No chasing the customers away if you don't eat anything, aru!"

The two men looked at each other, still obviously extremely annoyed. With one last glare that was supposed to make the both of them burst into flames, they murmured "Same thing as always..." before Sadiq left for the other end of the restaurant, where he sat down on a table, and Herakles took a chair next to Kiku. The Japanese bowed down, walked back to where Yao was, and into the kitchen. The Chinese man followed him.

"They ordered the same thing they always do order, Yao-san." Kiku then said.

"So, fried rice with egg rolls, one portion without pork! Go for it, aru!" The other smiled, turning to his cooking utensils. "Get me the rice Kiku, will you, aru?" The Japanese did as he was told. "Those two should never know that they always order the same things, aru..." Yao whispered with another smile.

Kiku Honda [31] is a Japanese man who came to Europe to open a restaurant, but unfortunately things didn't go as well as planned. Yao helped him out, and now the restaurant has been open for about seven years.

Yao Wang [33] is the oldest character so far. He's travelled to Europe because he was kind of forced into it by his family. He has a cousin and a brother (who was 'adopted'), and comes from a rather wealthy Chinese family.

Translations :
Arsız çocuk (Turkish) Spoiled brat!
Μπάσταρδος (Greek) Bastard
Ougon no Ryuu (Japanese) Golden Dragon

AN : Fried rice with egg rolls? Don't ask, it's one of the first things that came to mind. Anyway, Chinese cooking is awesome.