Aya sheaded his katana and turned his eyes to Ken, who was leaning on the nearby wall, panting. He nodded as if to put an end to something and walked off past him.
"I never knew he had a family", Omi said softly, trying to see through the bedroom window. "No records about them anywhere..."
"All the better for them, I guess", Ken coughed, wiped some sweat and blood from his face and followed Aya to his car.
Aya had taken off his assassin coat and sat himself behind the wheel. Ken climbed on the backseat behind him and kept the door open for his younger teammate to follow. Omi sighed and followed him inside.
Aya drove off the alley and headed to the neon-lighted street.
Ken leaned back and closed his eyes, throwing his clawmitt somewhere.
"Fuck. He had a family. That son of a bitch really had a family."
"I don't think his wife or children knew about his dealings... they'll never have to know now", Omi smiled faintly.
Ken shrugged, too exhausted to comment.
"Get your claw off the seat", Aya demanded.
"Oh, lay off for once, okay?" Ken didn't even flinch from his slumped position.
"If you clean the upholstery", Aya said, turning around to give him a disapproving glance when he stopped in the traffic lights.
Ken grunted agreeingly but didn't do anything. In a few moments, he had apparently fallen asleep.
None of them spoke during the rest of the journey. Omi stared out of the window. The lights off the nighttime Tokyo centrum flashed across his vision, and he felt he was filled with strange energy.
There's electricity in the air tonight, a thought crossed his mind.
The kind of electricity that makes you want to dance in the rain.
When Aya parked the car, Omi stumbled out, moving as if in a dream-haze, collected his darts and went inside. His nerves were tingling. There was no way he could go to sleep now. Sometimes, after a mission, he'd feel this strange urge to do something; that he hadn't done enough. He never had, if you looked at it that way. Omi pondered over it as he slowly walked along the corridor to his door.
Aya gave Omi a glance as he went inside. Good. The boy looked exhausted. Then he turned on his seat to take a look at Ken.
Speaking of exhausted...
"Ken", he said.
No response.
Aya sighed and got out of the car, scowling. He slammed the cardoor shut and opened the backseat door.
"Ken, wake up, we're back", he ordered, raising his voice, but Ken just shifted a little in his slumber.
It occurred to Aya that Ken was drooling over his seat covers. And, that he made a sweet image curled up like a cat taking a nap. It felt wrong to wake him, but it couldn't be helped. Aya leaned closer to shake him.
At the exact moment he moved, Ken's eyes shot open. He had been playing possum all along! For once, Aya was too startled to react as Ken leaned forward and clumsily kissed him. The chocolate-haired boy's hands caught his black tank top and didn't let go. Aya almost fell right on top of him. He managed to maintain his balance just barely, his other knee dropping on the seat for support. He could taste the chewing gum and something which could only be described as Ken as he began to take over the kiss. Ken let out a pleased sound deep from his throat as he felt Aya responding. Their kiss grew heated, aggressive.
Finally they had to break off for a breath. For a while they stared at each other, breathing heavily. Then Ken let out a nervous laughter.
"Sorry. I just, couldn't resist..."
He shrugged happily, lowering his gaze as he felt hot blush on his cheeks.
"You sneaky thing", Aya growled, and pulled him out of the car with ease.
He felt smile tugging the corners of his mouth, too. Who could not feel pleased to see that light in Ken's chocolate eyes?
"Um, you're... I mean, are you..." Ken tumbled over words.
There were so many things he wanted to know, and as if he was afraid he'd never get the chance again, he tried to ask them all at once.
"Am I what?" Aya asked, closing the car door.
Ken tucked on his bangs, trying to put his thoughts into a sensible order. Which was not all that easy, considering that he was badly lovestruck.
"Ah, never mind!" he exclaimed, and stole a kiss from Aya's unexpecting lips. "Let's go inside, it's chilly in here!"
"Sou ka?" Aya raised an eyebrow, running his pale finger along Ken's hotly blushing cheek. Ken's face broke into a grin worth Youji.
Omi was heading off to the bathroom in his pajamas when he heard Aya and Ken talking in the hallway. He stopped on his heels in the doorway when he noticed Ken reach out to pull Aya to him for a kiss. Omi blushed furiously, hoping they hadn't seen him, which was highly unlikely. The youngest Weiss silently closed the door and breathed in deep.
Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!! And I thought it was just Youji-kun's imagination... I can't believe it!! Aya-kun, kissing another man?
He almost snickered, as the thought hit home.
Basically, just Aya kissing ANYBODY...
His musings were stopped by Aya's authoritive voice.
"Go on, go to sleep. You're exhausted."
"Not that exhausted", Ken protested rather weakly, like a child who doesn't want to go to sleep yet.
Aya humphed.
"Yes, you are."
"Tuck me in?" Ken asked, in a tone almost too low for Omi to hear.
It occurred to Omi that he should allow his teammates their privacy, so he decided to pass the dental care for the night and retreated from the door.
He tiptoed back to his bed, pulling the covers up to his ears. This was certainly unexpectant, but it wouldn't have bothered him otherwise if it didn't make him so unendingly jealous of his teammates' happiness.
Face the reality, Tsukiyono, he told himself as he buried his face in the soft pillow.
Youji-kun might want to play with me... make fun of me... but why would he ever want anything more? I'm a little kid to him, just a little kid... He doesn't see me the way Aya sees Ken. What was I thinking? He's not like that, he's not into men, it was all just my wishful thinking...
Omi sobbed into his pillow, unable to fall asleep, to escape into the sweet oblivion of dreams.
Youji had had enough. Whatever he had been wanting from this evening, he had achieved a long time ago. Now he was only wasting his time, and Ayami's time. It would've been rude to shake her off after playing with her too long, and he sensed that line was nearing. Besides, if he downed any more drinks, he'd have to take the taxi or train back home. He didn't want to leave his precious Seven to this neighborhood all night.
Shaking Ayami off him wasn't hard, considering that she had apparently sensed that Youji's thoughts were somewhere else. Youji finished his drink and slid off the barstool, heading off to tell Sakaki he was leaving.
Suddenly his eyes spotted Miyo, who also noticed him and started to make her way through the crowd to him.
"You just can't get anything done properly, can you, Youji?" she asked, leaning close so that he could hear her over the loud bumping of music.
"Nani?" Youji raised his eyebrow.
"What are you doing here, alone? Don't you have conquests to make?"
Miyo's voice was slightly more snappy than usually, she was drunk.
"I'm just spending the night. The band's not bad", Youji replied.
"Then why didn'cha bring your little sweetheart with ya?" asked a young man Youji didn't know, who appeared out of nowhere, snaking his arms possessively around Miyo.
"Don't have one", Youji commented in none-of-your-business-so-piss-off -tone.
"That's not what Miyo-chan here told me..."
Youji had already decided he didn't like the man, but the next comment made him royally pissed.
"Heard yer one o'those FAG boys..."
"Yeah, I am", Youji snapped, eyes narrowing, "I'm fuckin' gay, now are you happy?"
Maybe Youji wasn't in the front row of the Gay Liberation Front, but narrow-minded assholes like the one in front of him really pissed him off.
Danger flashed in the man's bloodshot eyes. Apparently he was high.
"Ayami's my fuckin' sister, I ain't gonna watch some fag motherfucker play with her!! Y'hear me?!"
Oh great, the asshole of the week.
Youji tried to suppress his urge to knock the daylights out of the man right there and then.
"Hadashi, let's go back dancing", Miyo tried, but didn't receive any kind of reply.
Youji's eyes widened as he heard the name. This was Hadashi? The ex Miyo had told him about? The crazy acidhead supposed-to-be art student, who had tried to pimp Miyo's ass behind her back?
What's she doing dancing with him?
Youji could feel anger and pity growing inside him.
Che, is she still involved with him?!
"I'm callin' it a night, could you tell Sakaki that if you see him?"
Youji focused his eyes to Miyo, trying to ignore the psycho who was hanging from her like some eelworm.
"And maybe you should head home, too."
Youji knew she wouldn't listen to him, but at least he could tell himself he had tried.
"But the night's always young..." Miyo made an effort to sing, and burst into laughter.
That was from one of her favourite songs, one of The Cure's, but Youji couldn't recall which one.
And the night goes on and on... finished Youji the quotation in his mind when he grabbed his coat and turned his back to Ichigo.
People are crazy. Fucked up in the head crazy... I wonder why we even bother trying to clean the place of 'dark beasts' when guys like Hadashi are left to inherit the earth...
Youji hoped he didn't get pulled over by the police, he had had a few drinks too much. He noticed it now when he thought back to what he had said to that fuckhead Hadashi. There had been no reason to lose it in front of Miyo. It wasn't his business if Miyo liked to play with fire.
And who are you to talk, anyway? Youji reminded himself, closing the car radio because it played much too cheery Shonen Knife.
He rummaged through the CDs he kept for the car player, and found Miyo's The Cure CD without even looking. "Bloodflowers". How very convenient.
Youji tucked the strands of hair off his face with his shades and pushed the play button. Enough with the dancemusic anyway, he needed something to calm him down and maybe keep him from driving over someone out of suppressed anger.
This tide never turns, you said
This night never falls again
These flowers will never die...
As drunk (or high?) as she had been, Miyo had had a point, Youji admitted to himself grudgingly. What did he do in the Ichigo tonight when what he really wanted was waiting for him back home?
Between you and me
It's hard to ever really know who to trust
How to think
What to believe
What did Omi say to him? That he was only playing with him... that he was, but that was not where it ended, oh no... Youji gritted his teeth as he realised that Omi, as sensitive as the boy tended to be, was most likely very hurt right now.
Between me and you
It's hard to ever really know who to choose
How to feel
What to do
However casually Youji could shrug the matter off, he couldn't deny the growing need for the honey-haired boy. The need to hold him and tell him this game was played with serious cards and that he never wanted to hurt him, never wanted to make Omi cry any more than the world had already made him, never and never....
Never fade never die
You give me flowers of love
Youji sat in the car a moment after driving it to the carage.
Always fade always die
I let fall flowers of blood...
The carage was empty and dark and that was the way Youji felt inside. When the music stopped he listened to the silence, and suddenly he knew exactly what he wanted to do. He cursed under his breath.
Their apartment was silent as he walked to the kitchen. A glass of water helped him get rid of the sour aftertaste of alcohol as well as clear his head a little. Youji sighed and leaned against the kitchen sink. He felt weird; like his feet didn't touch the floor at all.
The silence, he decided, it has a tendency to create an unreal atmosphere.
He toed off his shoes, knowing that he wouldn't hear the end of it if Aya found him walking around in the apartment with his shoes on. He made his way upstairs, almost certain that he heard distant voices piercing the silence, coming from Aya's room. When he came to the door, the fact was confirmed. Definitely voices. At this time of the night? He came up with just one explanation. Youji snickered at the thought.
Yeah right. Listen to yourself, Kudou. You're saying Aya has a sexlife.
He hesitated at Omi's door.
No. Nonononono. If I go in now, I end up ravishing him.
The door was open before he knew it. It seemed his hand worked by itself. It wasn't exactly dark in the room, and he could see Omi's sleeping form clearly. Omi's beautiful, lithe form. The said boy moaned in his sleep, trying to cover his eyes from the light that shone from the hallway.
Slowly, he sat up in his bed, raising one hand to rub his eyes open. Now Youji could see the trails of tears on his cheeks. The boy didn't say anything, didn't even seem surprised to find Youji staring at him.
Youji bit his lower lip while giving his rational thought one last chance. Then he shut the door behind him, closed the distance between him and Omi and kissed it goodbye.