Manx coughed loudly, trying to cover the fact that she was laughing. The comic look of horror plastered on the faces of the four Weiß assassins was too much for her. She promptly burst into another 'coughing' fit.
"Oh shut up!" Ken snapped annoyed. "This isn't funny you know!"
Yohji was adamant in his resolve. "No way," he proclaimed, his arms folded across his chest. "There is no way in hell that I'm going to do this assignment." He glared at the giggling Manx.
"Well I can't do it," Omi announced gleefully, bursting with a smile. "I'm still a minor. I guess it's have to be Ken kun and Aya kun."
"Me?!" Ken howled. "Why me? I'm not gonna do it and that's final!" He stared in the direction of the sofa Aya and Yohji were sitting on. "You guys can do it."
Even Aya, who was always ready to take on the missions that no one else wanted to do, wanted no part in this assignment. "No." His voice was cold and suggested that no one argue with him...or else.
"I already told you that I'm not going," Yohji announced. "You go Ken."
"Why don't you go yourself?"
"You're more the type."
"What the hell are you saying?"
"I've seen how you look at Aya!"
"You're the one with long hair and crop tops!"
Manx finally was able to control her laughing. "Listen guys, someone has too..." she trailed off realizing that her voice couldn't be heard over the commotion of Omi laughing and Yohji and Ken bickering. She cleared her throat. No effect. She tried again, more loudly. Nothing. Well so much for subtly.
"WOULD YOU GUYS SHUT UP??!!!!!" she screeched.
It was silent instantly. She graced the room with a beatific smile. No one looked impressed. "That's better. Now as I was saying, there's no point in fighting since you all know that two of you must to do this mission. Omi of course, is out of the picture since he's too young. So that leaves the three of you." She held her hand up as bubbles of protest began to erupt from Ken and Yohji. Aya, for all intents and purposes simply continued to scowl. "I know that none of you guys want to do it so we'll settle this fair and square. You'll draw straws. Whoever gets the longest one doesn't have to go. Simple?"
The three boys nodded. Tension was in the air. The heat was on. It was every man for himself.
Aya sat on the edge of the huge king-sized bed watching Ken pace, his footsteps making soft thumping sounds against the thick, plush, vanilla carpet.
"This isn't fair!" he wailed for the hundredth time. "How could Persia-sama do this to us? And why do I have to be here? I just know that Yohji rigged the straws!" A pause to furiously rake the hair from his eyes and then he started again. "I hate this! Killing the bad guys, fine I can handle that. But this??!!! It isn't fair! I can't do this! If my mom could see me now...what would she think? Oh man!" He flopped unceremoniously onto the dark blue brocade sofa across from the huge bed. "I'm so doomed!"
His lips quirked slightly at Ken's theatrical dramatics but he managed to keep from smiling. "You don't really look like the epitome of wedded bliss," he stated dryly, barely concealing his amusement.
Ken's eyes widened as he sat straight up. "Are you making...fun of me?" he demanded, indignantly. "I'll have you know that there's nothing funny about this! I mean, are you happy to be here or something?"
Aya sighed. "Look Ken, there's nothing we can do about it. Complain all you want but that isn't going to change anything. We still have to find our target and that isn't going to happen unless we're convincing. And the sooner we do that, the sooner we can head back home."
"But is it necessary for us to pose as a married couple?" Ken whined.
"Hmm you're right. Why are we posing as a married couple on this gay honeymoon cruise?" he asked sarcastically. "Stupid us. Of course it won't look suspicious that two straight guys are poking around, trying to..."
"Does nothing faze you?"
"Would you rather I spend our entire honeymoon whining and wailing like you?"
Ken glared at him. "Why the hell did I ever marry you?!!"
"You guys make such a cute couple! Don't they make such a cute couple snookums?"
"They sure do sugar pie. The very cutest!"
"But not as cute as us right darling?"
"Oh no one's as cute as us, pumpkin!"
Ken looked away as the two men kissed, feeling mortified and nervous and scandalized and annoyed all at once. The openly affectionate, chatty couple had joined them at their table, uninvited of course, where they had proceeded to annoy the hell outta him. They were just so...touchy-feely, which wasn't a bad thing, just rather nauseating. Not to mention the fact that they hadn't stopped gushing over how 'cute' he and Aya were together. If this kept up, he would have no qualms about shredding them into pieces with his claw.
He could feel his face bloom into a blush once again as he felt Aya lightly stroke his hand. The redhead had taken his hand the minute the other couple had joined them. He was still holding it and Ken was surprised at how warm his hand was. Not to mention soft...
A nervous giggle escaped his lips as he imagined Aya rubbing magnolia lotion on his hands, bewailing the fact that his katana had chafed his hands.
Aya's hand tightened around his own and he leaned closer to Ken, his lips softly touching his ear. "Don't laugh at them," he hissed. "Do you want to blow our cover?"
"I wasn't laughing at them!" he hissed, annoyed at Aya's certainty that he was going to blow their cover but mostly at himself for reacting so strongly to Aya's closeness. Little shivers were racing down his spine and his hand was trembling beneath Aya's. His face felt hot.
"Look sweetie. Ken's blushing again!"
"Aw...you guys really are the cutest!"
He felt suffocated. He was having trouble breathing. Mission be damned, he wasn't going to stay here another minute. He jerked his hand from Aya's and stood up hastily. "I gotta go," he cried and fled, his face reddening into a deeper blush as behind him came Aya's dry voice.
"He just came out of the closet. He's still a little shy."
"That is so cute!!!!"
Ken ran faster.
"That was smooth," Aya said, coming into the room and quietly closing the door behind him.
He looked, Ken noted wryly, as impassive as ever. Breaking into a government office or posing on a gay cruise, it was all the same to him. An assignment was an assignment to Aya, even if it meant being married to a fellow assassin. He tried not to scream.
"We're never going to find our target if we stay in this cabin all day," Aya pointed out. "The restaurant was the perfect place to look for her. But after you ran - "
"I can't do this!" he burst out. "I mean, I just can't think when you're...when you're...um..."
"When I'm what?"
He pulled his sleeves over his hands and twisted them agitatedly. He could feel himself blushing but he stubbornly continued. "When you're touching me and stuff. Don't you find it a little unnerving? It isn't right you know!"
Aya rolled his eyes. "Can't you be a little bit more mature about this? I don't like this anymore than you do but think about it would you? It's a gay honeymoon cruise. We're supposed to be intimate and affectionate. We just got married, remember? Cruise for newlyweds? Newlyweds that are gay? Does any of this ring a bell?"
"You don't have to remind me," he groaned, burying his head into the big, fluffy heart-shaped pillow.
Aya's voice was amused. "Are you planning to suffocate yourself?"
Ken sat up and glared at him. "What the hell is wrong with you? Since when do you find things funny? Why are you so amused lately?"
He shrugged and sat down on the bed next to him. "I guess marrying you really brought out my soft, sensative side."
"ARGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"
The sky was streaked with hues of pink and blue and purple. Dying rays of sunlight danced on the greenish water as a light breeze rustled through their hair. It was a perfect dusk, romantic and beautiful. And it would have been even more romantic if Aya was a girl. He wasn't though...but the twilight was still stunning.
Ken could feel himself blush. He couldn't help it...even though he knew that Aya got a big kick out of his discomfort. The idea of being married to Aya and touching him made him nervous and embarrassed and apprehensive all at once. Although it didn't seem to bother Aya in the least. He had no reserves about acting affectionate in public. If one didn't know better then they'd think...but Ken knew better. It still wasn't fair though. Why didn't Aya feel embarrassed?
He resisted to urge to sigh. They had discussed it and he knew that Aya was right. No matter how self-conscious he was, he was going to have to get over it and handle this maturely. They couldn't afford to botch this mission up. They had to find their target. And the faster they found her, the faster they'd be back home, with this nightmare far behind them.
Well here went nothing. If Aya could do it, then why couldn't he? Let it not be said that the mission failed because he couldn't act gay. His resolve was firm. He could be in love with a man as well as the next guy! His fingers were shaking but there was nothing that he could do about that. Slowly he brought his hand down upon the elegant hand resting on the rail. His skin was so much darker than the white hand beneath his. Funny, but he'd never noticed before how pale Aya was.
Aya raised an eyebrow, an amused look marking his striking face.
"Oh shut up!" Ken hissed before the redhead could say anything. The last thing he wanted was to hear anymore of Aya's dry, amused comments.
"Damn him!" he thought furiously. "I can pretend just as well as he can!!!" And with a healthy dose of determination, he tightened his trembling hand around Aya's, blushing all the while.
He said nothing but Ken didn't miss the faint half smile on his face. It surprised him when the older boy suddenly turned his hand over and secured Ken's hand in his own. The sky continued to darken and they remained like that for a few minutes until Aya suddenly pulled his hand free and...
Ken breathed a sigh of relief, although some part of him was rather disappointed. It had been rather calming, feeling his hand clasped in his own.
...and put his arm around Ken, pulling him close.
"I love you more than anything," he murmured huskily, his breath soft against his face.
Ken froze, his eyes wide with shock. Was he hearing correctly? Did Aya just say what he thought Aya just said? His heart began to pound rapidly, nearly bursting from his chest.
OhGodOhGodOhGod What did he just say? He couldn't have said that I must be imagining this. Either that or he's gone mad. Yes, that's a reasonable explanation. I've lost it or he's lost it and oh God...he's couldn't have meant it. Breathe Ken...oh God...mommy! Where are you? Help!!!
"I see our target," Aya whispered quietly.
"What?" he burst out, Aya's words making no sense to his panicking mind.
"Our target," he repeated, pulling him closer to him. "She's right over there."
Target. That much registered in Ken's muddled mind. The target. Yes, of course. It all made sense now. The target was over there and Aya was acting. It was obvious. His heartbeat slowed down and he let out a tiny sigh of relief. Or was it disappointment?
Ken didn't stop to ponder over where that last thought had come from. He was already dancing on treacherous territory as it was. He peered past Aya, towards the target. It was her alright. Tall, stately figure, mass of black curls, lavish clothing and jewelry. Her arm was around a small blond haired girl. They appeared to be chatting intimately. But suddenly, as though she could feel him looking at her, she turned her head and stared straight at him. Ken froze as her eyes narrowed.
"She's looking this way!" he babbled loudly as he jerked his gaze from hers. "Aya, she's - "
"Don't look!" Aya hissed, pulling him into his arms. He looked down at him, his eyes blazing like a violet fire. He looked pissed as he bent his head...and kissed Ken.
The kiss was angry, it was rough, it was hard...and it was the most wonderful thing that Ken had ever felt. Aya's arms were tight around his waist and before he knew it, his own were wrapped around the older boy's neck, clinging to him, trying not to drown in this new and unexpected storm of emotions.
And then, Aya softened the kiss. It dissolved from the angry necessity to keep up their married façade into something exploratory and pleasurable. And Ken knew, even as somehow their tongues seemed to find each other, that this had to be natural. Something that felt so right couldn't be wrong...could it? And then there was nothing left to think as the sun dipped into the edge of the ocean, painting it vivid hues of red and orange and they were only aware of each other.