Genkichi Miyo put the empty bowl on the floor and reached out for the magazine she had been reading. She had eaten a bowl of popcorn - the only food supply she had left - but was still hungry.
Maybe I could head off to Sakaki's and bum a few packs of ramen from him, she mused, leafing through the magazine, looking for the article about the j-pop band she liked.
At least until I get the paycheck the day after tomorrow.
Moving to another city was always a pain, and Miyo was really not even surprised when she found out that her phone wasn't working, which meant no internet, which meant no e-mail connection to the office; her paycheck was late because it was sent to her former address; and the apartment she had got was awfully cold, because the manager hadn't had the brain to put the heating back on.
Oh well. She was managing. At least she knew some people around here. Things were never quite so bad when there were good friends around.
Miyo read the article and rubbed her eyes. She thought about going to bed, because staying up only reminded her of her hunger. She missed her old sofa; the only furniture in this apartment were his new armchairs, her desk and the bed. For some reason, Miyo liked sleeping on the sofa. It was much more comfortable than her bed.
The sharp shrill of the doorbell made her jump.
I thought I told Kazuo I'm broke! What is he doing back?! Dammit, I've had it with him!
She stomped to the door and flung it open.
"Youji!" she exclaimed, surprised to say the least.
"Hi", Youji greeted with a half smile, leaning against the doorway.
He knew he probably looked like a wreck; not always a bad thing, because what he most needed right now was some sympathy.
"Come on in", Miyo ushered, practically hauling the man inside and closing the door. She could smell the faint scent of alcohol, cigarettes and expensive cologne he brought with him.
Youji threw his jacket on the floor and slumped on the armchair, looking exhausted. And exhausted he was.
"I haven't seen you for a while", Miyo commented, returning to her former position on the other armchair, leaning against the armrest to look at the tall man. "What are you doing around here anyway? I thought you lived - "
"Do you have a minute, Miyo-chan?" Youji asked, rubbing his eyes.
Miyo frowned, one black lock dropping down on her face from the ponytail she had tied her hair to.
"Sure, honey. What is it? You look like shit."
Youji glanced over at her, putting on his best puppy dog look.
"Feel like it, too."
He smiled sadly, running his hand through his hair.
Miyo got up and put his jacket on a hanger.
"I'm sorry but I can't really offer you anything. They sent my paycheck to Kobe, the bastards", she snickered. "Maybe some tea? I think I still have some that mom sent me."
"That'd be great, thanks", Youji yawned, kicking off his shoes.
He watched as Miyo went to her little kitchen to put the water to boil. He liked her; she was independent, outspoken and got the wierdest ideas when she was drunk. One of her friends from Kobe had thought that they were a couple. No wonder, but hardly true. They liked to put up a show; for fun and most importantly for the attention they got. It was like a game; to Youji, one of his favourite and most commonly played games. But except for some kisses which were part of their little play, Youji had kept his distance. Miyo reminded him too much of someone very special he had lost forever. Something told him that Miyo sensed that Youji had something he didn't want anyone to know about, something which he didn't let to surface. She never asked him about it.
"Okay, what is it? Spill it", Miyo ordered when she had brought them the teacups and they had both sat down to sip the hot liquid.
"I thought you just bought these armchairs", Youji grinned over his cup.
"Shut up, you stupid moron", Miyo grinned back. "You come knocking on my door at this time of the night and you're not even going to tell me why? C'mon big guy, spit it out. I've never seen you like this before."
Youji put the cup on the floor.
"I'm in trouble."
"No shit."
Youji knit his brows and bit his upper lip.
"I think I'm in love, too."
"Uh-oh. Who is she?"
"It's not a she, it's a he", Youji corrected simply, taking a sip of the tea.
"But that's not the problem, now is it?" Miyo raised an eyebrow. "You wouldn't look that bad if it was just that. You're not the type."
Youji let out an honestly surprised laughter.
"You never told me you were a pop psychologist."
"You know I studied psychology for all one month, Youji dear." Miyo tilted her head. "Let's just say one recognizes one's own kind. And you bought the latest BexBoy magazine when we were shopping the other day. Don't know many straight guys who read it."
Her smile widened to a teasing grin.
"Ooh, you've never showed me this side of you before, sweetheart." Youji was getting on the drift. "And here I thought you were joking when you told Taro it's guys like him who make you wish you were lesbian."
Miyo threw the magazine at him, and Youji caught it, both of them chuckling.
"Well, to be totally honest with you, darling, I wasn't sure if it was just another one of your games", Miyo then added, going serious again. "But it seems you just confirmed that isn't the case."
Youji didn't say anything. He sat there, nursing his cup of tea, his eyes staring blankly at the floor. He had wanted to talk, but now that he had the opportunity, he didn't know where to start.
"He already taken?" Miyo asked.
Youji shook his head.
"Then what? I never saw you as the type who don't know how to approach people."
Youji frowned and took a deep breath.
"He's my flatmate. And he works in the same place as me. One of my closest pals. A friggin' perfect little situation." He gestured for Miyo to shut up and mumbled on, "He's underage. Not much, but still... and if you saw him, you'd think he's hardly gone to high school yet. I know he's got some sort of a crush on me, but I think it's because he's so young... I remember having crushes on my friends at that age, it's a phase, everybody goes through it some time! But...still..."
Miyo waited for Youji to complete the sentence, but when he just shook his head slowly, she sighed and said quietly, "Well, you've certainly put yourself in some mess, huh."
"I feel like some dirty old man!" Youji grimaced.
"You're not that old, Youji. And believe me, not that dirty, either."
Miyo gave him a snicker.
"You want advice? Wait. You'll find out whether or not it's just a phase."
"But what am I supposed to say to him?" Youji muttered sleepily, a deep frown still on his face.
Miyo got up to pick up the empty cups and take them to kitchen.
"You've hardly told me anything about him. What's he like? Cut me some slack, I've told you about Hadashi, haven't I? Ne, Youji?"
She walked over to her friend, only to find him half-asleep on the armchair.
"What?" he asked, blinking.
"I think it's off to bed with you, big guy", Miyo smiled primly.
She took his hand and helped him up, and led him to her small bedroom. While Youji sleepily shrugged off his shirt, Miyo considered retreating to her armchair for the night. Her bed wasn't all that big.
Oh, what the hell.
She shrugged and sat down on the other side of the bed. She missed her sofa.
"Arigatou", Youji smiled as he lied down.
"Don't mention it. But you'd better tell me all about your mysterious beloved in return."
Miyo smiled back. If things were a bit different, she could've really fallen victim to those eyes of his. She wondered if Youji had the same affect on everyone he let close to him.
She shook her head clear of thoughts, yawned and took off her jeans, climbing on the bed in her t-shirt.
She pressed a small kiss on already sleeping Youji's temple and said, "Go ahead, sleep. You can tell me everything tomorrow."
Miyo smiled as sleep slowly began to take her over, too.
"You'll dream of him, I'm sure."
Ken woke up as the sound of the alarm clock pierced the walls of his snug dream world. He groaned and threw it away, but the damn thing just kept ringing. He had to sit up and force his eyes to open. Yawning, he reached out to catch the clock and put the alarm off.
Half past six... boy am I glad it's Friday.
He lazily put on one pair of jeans and headed downstairs. The caffeine monster inside him wanted coffee.
On his way downstairs, he knocked on Omi's door, which was right next to his.
"Bugger up Omi! We have the first shift today!"
Unfortunately, he added to himself, scratching his hair.
No sound came. This surprised Ken. Usually Omi was up before him.
Masaka...
Ken knocked again, and seeing the door wasn't locked, peeked in. The room was cold and empty; the bed neatly made.
"Oh shit!" Ken hissed, scrambled out of the door and down the stairs.
He hasn't returned! Has he been out all night after Youji-kun?!
"Aya!" he called out. "We got trouble, Omi's not..."
His voice lowered and died out when he saw that Aya was fast asleep on the couch where he had seen him last. He had snuggled close to the armrest, curled up in an attempt to stay warm. In the faint morning light, he looked so contented and peaceful. Ken let his eyes have their fill of him, knowing that moments like this passed over all too quickly. Then he trodded back upstairs, retrieved Aya's blanket and carefully put it over the sleeping redhead.
"Told you you should've gone to bed", he muttered.
Then, as it would seem that he was the only practical one in the house, he went off to put the coffee to brew and get ready for work.
The scent of coffee and breakfast finally made Aya stir and open one eye. His neck and back were really sore after sleeping on the couch and he grunted as he tried to wake up his sleepy muscles, stumbling up to a sitting position. The next thing that registered in his mind was that there was a blanket covering him. His own blanket. How very curious.
"'Mornin'", he heard Ken's voice from the kitchen.
He felt the chocolate-haired boy's eyes on him. One mystery solved.
"What time is it?" Aya asked, his voice raspy in his throat.
"About seven. Omi's still not back, so I guess we'll have to take care of the first shift. You want some coffee?"
"Omi's... not back?" Aya turned around to look at Ken, shoving the blanket away. Immediately, he missed the warmth.
Ken poured coffee in their mugs.
"No. I'm really worried about him. But what can we do?"
He sighed as he brought Aya the mug. He took it, a frown appearing on his face.
"Maybe we could... make some kind of a deal with Momoe. She could come over earlier and I could go looking for -"
"But Aya-kun, he could be anywhere!" Ken said, his words a soft plea as he sat on the armrest. "Didn't you say you didn't want us to split any further?"
Aya gulped down his coffee and handed the mug back to Ken.
"You're right. You better head on to the shop and open the doors, I'll be there in a minute."
Aya disappeared to his room. He didn't like morning shifts. All the H.S. girls came over during their lunch break, and the most stubborn ones came even before going to school. The sound of a dozen girls giggling and gossiping didn't really give his day a good start.
Ken finished his coffee and opened the door to the shop. He moved a few flowers closer to the window so that they could get some more light and then opened the security doors.
When he turned around to go check their list of orders for the day, he suddenly bumped into someone. Ken yelped and almost jumped in the air.
"Ken-kun? Ohayou", Omi said softly, blinking his blue eyes.
"W-what are you doing here?" Ken managed to stutter intelligently.
"We've got the morning shift today, haven't we?" Omi smiled.
Ken looked at him, not knowing what to think. His teammate certainly didn't look like he had wandered around Tokyo streets all night, but then again, Ken had never seen Omi look particularly tired.
"I suspect you didn't find Youji-kun?" he asked a rhetorical question.
"No", Omi sighed sadly as he picked up a bunch of carnations.
Ken eyed him quickly before starting to arrange the display window.
"Look, if you're tired, Aya-kun can do your shift, he's already up."
Omi pouted, his brows knitting in that don't-treat-me-like-a-kid-look he often gave to his teammates.
"I'm fine, Ken-kun! I've stayed up late before! Let's just open the shop, ne?"
Ken gave him a crooked smile. "Right."
Just then, the phone in the shop rang.
"Jeez, we've only been open for three minutes!" Ken exclaimed. "Omi, could you get that?"
Omi ran to the phone, dropping the carnations on the counter as he answered it.
"Hai, Ko-neko no Sumu Ie desu."
"Hey there", replied Youji's voice, as carefree as always.
Omi's eyes widened and he yelled, "YOUJI-KUN?! Where are you? Are you in danger?"
He heard Youji chuckle softly.
"I'm fine, Omi."
"Who's making you say that?"
Youji's tone got a little bit more serious.
"Nobody, why? Whaddya mean?"
Omi took a deep breath.
"Youji-kun, please come back to Ko-neko as soon as you can. Don't - "
"Nani?" Youji cut him off, but Omi went on, his voice rising, "PLEASE come here, Youji-kun, so that we can explain everything! We have a new target who could be stalking you right now!"
"Wakatta. But don't be surprised if it takes a minute, I'm not particularly in the neighborhood."
"Where are you anyway? I've been worried sick over you!" Omi blurted out, relief washing over him in waves.
"I think we can discuss that when I get back, ne?"
Omi heard a faint beeping sound. Youji's mobile was running out of batteries.
"And Omi?" The older Weiss lowered his voice.
Omi gulped.
"Y-yes?"
"I think we should discuss a whole lot of other things as well, don't you think?"
"Yes, we should", Omi said quietly.
"Batteries are dying, gotta hang up", Youji stated matter-of-factly and did exactly that.
Omi listened to his own heart hammering for a moment before carefully putting down the handset and heaving a shaky breath. Of relief, or excitement, he couldn't say.