The familiar chime of bells greeted Youji as he entered the Ko-neko no Sumu Ie a considerable while after he had finished talking with Omi.
"Konnichi wa, Youji-kun!" Ken grinned as he handed an old lady her flower arrangement.
The schools' lunch break had just ended, leaving them with next to no customers at all. Omi raised his head over a heap of petunias. Youji gave Ken a half smile, keeping the door open as Miyo followed him inside.
"What time is it?" she asked.
"About 11:30", Ken yawned and stretched his arms. "One more hour before lunchbreak! I could sure use some coffee, how 'bout you, Omi-kun?"
Omi jumped, almost dropping the petunia on the floor.
"Wh-what?"
He mentally hit himself on the head.
Get yourself together, Tsukiyono!
He cleared his throat.
"Coffee? I could go make some, th-there aren't so many customers in here right now..."
"I'll come with you, I need a change of clothes", Youji stated and grabbed Miyo's shoulders gently, turning her towards Ken as he leaned closer to talk almost to her ear.
"Ken-kun here will take care of you, Miyo-chan. I'm sure he'll find just the right arrangement for you."
Omi couldn't help but smile when he saw Youji wink at Miyo, who gave him a self-confident smirk.
"I'll see you in a minute", Youji told her as he opened the door to their apartment.
It seemed he limped a little easier than a day earlier.
"Take your time", Miyo said wistfully, before turning to Ken.
Omi headed to the kitchen, and Youji made the long and hard journey upstairs. Actually he could almost feel his leg getting better, but it was nowhere near healed yet. Right now, he couldn't care less. He only wanted a change of clothes, maybe a shower, and a cigarette. Somebody - most likely Omi, he mused with a smile crawling on his lips - had put his washed clothes in the closet, and he could finally get rid of the scruffy black jeans. Youji threw a few of his favourite shirts and pairs of pants on the bed and headed off to the bathroom.
In the hallway, he saw Aya just entering his room.
"Yo, Aya-kun! I heard we have a new mission", Youji said, leaning against the bathroom door.
"Not exactly. We just didn't finish the last mission properly."
Aya ran [a small pun ^_^] a hand through his maroon hair.
"You're out of it anyway because of your leg, so don't concern yourself about it."
Youji nodded, opening the door.
"Sou. You gonna do it tonight or what?"
"The quicker the better. Especially when you've finally decided to return and I can be sure none of us is in immediate danger", Aya replied sourly.
Youji gave him a dirty grin.
"Thanks for being oh-so-worried over me."
He slammed the door closed behind him. Aya wouldn't comment anyway.
Youji hopped down the stairs, feeling much more comfortable clad in dark blue velvet jeans and an ocean blue tank top, blue shades tugging the brown locks behind his ears.
"Um, some coffee?" Omi asked him as he walked in the kitchen and pulled out a stair.
"Nah, we just came from Café Chico with Miyo-chan", Youji made a refusing gesture.
"Is she... one of your girlfriends?" Omi asked, surprising even himself with his casual tone.
Youji grinned, but not particularly teasingly.
"Kinda."
His eyes gleamed mysteriously, and suddenly Omi knew he couldn't take Youji seriously when he looked like that. The honey-haired boy gave his teammate a suspicious look as he started to open the door to inform Ken that the coffee was getting cold.
"Come back. Sit down." Youji made a gesture with his head.
"The coffee", Omi tried weakly.
"Kamawan. Ken-kun can wait. I want to have a word with you."
Omi sat awkwardly on the chair on the opposite side of the table, waiting for Youji to make some sort of an opening. But instead of starting to talk, the man just sat there, leaning his jaw on his hand. There was a contented smile on Youji's face and his eyes sparkled at him. Omi tried to find someplace else to look at.
"So", he managed, not standing the silence.
"Are you with the others on tonight's mission?" Youji suddenly asked.
Omi's head snapped up.
"I-I guess so. Why?"
"Take care, then. I won't be around to look after you."
Omi's heart skipped a beat. He still couldn't tell whether he felt good or bad about this conversation. He found himself smiling warmly.
"Of course I'll take care! When do I not?"
Youji just kept looking straight at him as he nodded slightly. Omi had seen that look before. It was the one the older Weiss used when he thought no one was watching. Wondering gaze.
"Um, Youji-kun?" Omi bit his upper lip, feeling his cheeks flushing red for being so intently scrutinized. "Stop playing with me. You wanted to talk to me. So talk."
He hated the the way it sounded; clumsily put and harsh.
Youji straightened his back a little, raising his eyebrows in surprise.
"You go right to the point, ne, Omi?"
"One of us has to", Omi said, and let out a little burst of laughter. It wasn't often he got to surprise Youji.
"Okay. I wanted to know if your thoughts have changed. And how far you're willing to stand behind them."
Youji didn't smile anymore. He was dead serious. The boy wanted it straight out, and this was as blunt as he could make it. His piercing eyes demanded an honest answer in return.
"Changed? W-why would they have changed?" Omi blinked, looking puzzled.
Youji sighed, frowned and suddenly he relaxed, let his gaze fall on the table and started to fish the cigarettes from his pockets. He leaned back and lit up.
"Well, you know, in your age, Omi - it's not so unlikely to have a crush on your older friend. Is that what this is all about?"
Omi opened his mouth to reply, but Youji's outstretched hand silenced him.
"Now, you'll probably say no. I want you to think well before you answer. There's a big difference between a crush and love."
Omi fidgeted uneasily on his chair.
"And what difference does it make, Youji-kun?"
The older Weiss scratched his hair. This wasn't going well.
"Just answer the question."
Omi bit his lower lip and stared at his toes. The atmosphere was getting a little bit too tense for him.
"OMI! Is the coffee ready?"
Ken's yell made both of them jump a little. They snapped out of whatever bubble they had formed around them. Youji growled, covering his ears.
"Jeez, that scared the shit out of me!"
Omi giggled, glad because of the mood change. He sauntered up and opened the door to the Ko-neko, just as Ken walked in.
"You're still alive! I bet the coffee is cold by now! Why didn't you call me?" he inquired.
"Ken-kun, you can make your own coffee if mine's not good enough!" Omi pouted, putting his hands on his hips.
Ken threw his hands in the air and heaved a theatrical sigh. He walked over to the coffee pot and started to pour himself a cup anyway.
"Who's watching the shop?" Youji asked, trying to get his mind off Omi, who, he thought, looked absolutely delicious pouting like that. It took all his willpower not to sweep the boy right off his feet and carry him somewhere away from noisy flatmates.
Ken took a sip of coffee. "Nobody. Your lady friend said she had to leave. Asked you to call her."
Youji nodded absent-mindedly.
"Omi-kun, maybe you could go check on the other possible associates of our last target. I for one would like this cleaning job to be the last on this case."
Ken put the empty cup back on the table.
Omi nodded.
"Un. You'll manage in the shop alone for a moment, right?"
Ken made a face.
"At least until they release those crazy girls from school. Though Aya-kun should join me by then."
"And speaking of cleaning jobs... Youji-kun?" Omi turned around to face Youji.
"Yeah?" he raised his brows.
Omi had put his business look on.
"Before your shift begins, fill the laundry machine and do the dishes. I've been doing your share of the chores far too long."
He folded his arms on his chest, looking determined.
"Oi, gimme a break, I'm fuckin' handicapped!" Youji started.
Omi cut him off, pointing straight at his face.
"Oh no, Kudou-san! If you can go meet your girlfriends, you can also do chores. Come on, move it."
"You need a life, kid", Youji moaned and sighed dramatically as he got back on his feet.
He gave the pile of dishes in the sink the Look.
"And of course you had to leave me a mountain of dishes. Did you use every pot and bowl in the house just to annoy me?"
"You'll live through it! And it wouldn't hurt if you gave your room the annual vacuuming, too", Omi reminded.
"Oh it would. Try jumping up the stairs with a broken leg sometimes and you'll see."
Youji turned around to give Omi a wink and a grin, which made the boy blush.
"I'll do it, just for you, kid."
Omi looked at Ken, who smiled widely, apparently very amused.
"Saa, let's get back to work, ne?"
He hopped the stairs up to his room, feeling a happy tingle inside him. Even when Omi sat in front of the computer, going through the long list of names, he couldn't help feeling hopeful. He couldn't wait to see what tomorrow would bring.
Omi went through the information they had received from Manx. It seemed they hadn't overlooked anyone. He leaned back and sighed.
Good. I hate to leave a job half-finished...
Omi glanced at the computer clock and jumped on his feet in less than a second.
Afternoon classes!! I completely forgot!
"Shimatta!" he yelped, grabbed his schoolbag and almost flew downstairs.
Both Aya and Youji glanced at him as he crashed in the room and out of the backdoor.
"There he goes again", Youji snickered, leaning backwards on his chair and raising his hands behind his neck.
Aya narrowed his eyes somewhat and looked at him. If Youji hadn't got used to it a long time ago, he would've felt uneasy under that cold stare. He hoped Aya wasn't catching on to what he was thinking.
"Iku", Aya stated and walked past Youji. "It's time to switch."
"You sure you don't want to do this shift with Ken?" Youji sighed. "I have enough work in my hands."
To his amazement, Aya actually seemed to consider that a while.
Oi oi... it seems I have to keep my eyes open, Youji thought, grinning inside.
There might actually be a soft spot behind that stuck-up attitude of his.
The redhead stood there for a moment without saying anything. Then he opened the door to the Ko-neko, allowing the enthusiastic girls' chattering reach their ears.
"Wakatta."
Youji smiled contentedly and started to light up another one. He had been craving for a smoke since the last night.
Aya turned around.
"I told you not to smoke in the kitchen!" he snapped.
The day went by before Youji knew it. He called Miyo and a few of his other friends, refused several worried offers to come take care of him while his 'poor leg' was hurt, and amazingly enough, got the chores done, although somewhat sloppily. When it was the time to close the shop, he had retreated to his room, fully attending to go get some fresh air. He could walk almost normally after taking a painkiller, there was really no reason to hang around the house all alone while the others were on the mission. Besides, he had promised a few of his buddies to meet them down in Ichigo.
Che, I'd really be in the mood for rave. It might be only half the fun to go to 'Chigo without being able to dance, but hell, it beats sitting indoors.
He put on the new pants he had bought a week back; they were black and skin-tight, and in the flickering lighting of Ichigo, the snakeskin pattern would stand up nicely. A silvery-black, glittering shirt and black shades completed the look. Youji put his hair in order, threw his black leather jacket over his shoulders and walked out of his room.
"Ara, Youji-kun!" Omi's voice greeted him.
The boy was standing there with his school bag, looking at him with big admiring eyes. Youji knit his brows, slightly agitated. Why did it seem to him that he couldn't get away from the boy?
"Back from school?" he raised an eyebrow, checking his pockets for smokes and the wallet.
"Un. Going out again?" Omi asked a rhetorical question right back, a little amused. He couldn't tear his eyes away from Youji.
The taller man leaned against the wall and fixed his shades, then suddenly realised that this was the way he acted when he was flirting with someone. The thought made him a little uneasy and he looked away from Omi.
"Of course. Who knows how much fun it's gonna be, what with this fuckin' leg and all, but I can't sit around here anymore. And since you won't take me on the mission, well... "
He shrugged.
"You... are not going because you want to get away from me, are you?" Omi asked carefully, biting his lower lip.
Inside, Youji flinched. Why did Omi always have to hit the target? He immediately covered his uneasiness with a devil-may-care grin.
What am I acting like a lovestruck teenager for...?
"Now why would I wanna do that?" he purred right into Omi's ear as he walked past him.
"This is all just a game for you, isn't it?" Omi snapped, spinning around.
Youji didn't turn around to see the tears of frustration in his teammate's eyes.
"Don't be a baka, Omi. See you later."
He descended the stairs with ease. Maybe he wasn't in the shape for rave, but he wasn't a handicap anymore, neither.
Youji walked in the carage and hopped behind the wheel of his Super Seven. He had missed it. He put the stereos on and drove out to the awaiting streets of darkening Tokyo.
Sakaki and his giggly little girlfriend gave him the warm welcome he had been expecting. Even if he couldn't dance, a couple of his female friends attached theirselves to him and swore that they wouldn't dance either if Youji couldn't dance with them. And although Youji enjoyed throwing casual innuendos at them, and downing drinks with his friends, his thoughts threatened to slip back to Omi. He hadn't really expected anything else.
"Something wrong, sugar?" asked Ayami, a redheaded girl with a sly smile and an enticing glint of danger in her eyes, who had sat next to him.
Youji knew her type of women. He ordered another drink and turned around to give her a ladykiller look.
"Without this unfortunate injury, kirei, I'd show you how to dance."
Ayami laughed; a calculated laugh of a professional. Youji found it harder and harder to concentrate. He turned around to say something to Sakaki, but he had disappeared to the dancefloor with Yusuko.
Chikusho...
Youji downed the drink with almost one gulp and allowed Ayami to climb on his lap.
A game, is it?