Raspberry and Lime Shampoo

Ropes of cold hung like a frigid shroud, threatening to disband 
into bitter lengths of ice. Time was still, in the wake of such 
oppressive silence. Nothing would change in such a moment; only 
the unearthly quiet remained, dragging behind a soul's dark 
night.


The long shape curled up on the sofa sighed softly and shifted, 
trying to keep warm. Another glance at the clock showed that time 
was moving in an alternate realm, so long had it been. Languidly 
tired but worried. Wasn't the same as Tokyo. So different and yet 
still the same. Loss hung heavy. And so he continued to wait, 
shivering slightly in the cold, black room.


At length, a click sounded, followed by the heavy drag of the 
door scraping thickly against the plush carpet. A blond figure 
entered, cast impossibly tall in the murky shadows. Faint wave of 
cigarette and the coppery scent of  blood strolled into the room. 
End of a mission. The door closed behind him  with a faint snap.


The dark shadow on the sofa rose and padded on cold, bare feet 
towards the older boy, rubbing sleep from his eyes.


"How's the mission?" he mumbled, eyelids heavy. 


"You're still up?" the tall, blond asked, locking the door behind 
him. 


"I was worried about you." Ken blinked rapidly up at Yohji, 
trying to clear his bleary sight. "You okay?"


A soft laugh. "Everything's fine Kenken. Aya and I got our target 
and the disk without a hitch."


The soccer player smiled sleepily. "That's good." He brushed his 
bangs from his eyes and peered up at the older boy. "You didn't 
get hurt, did you?"


A casual shrug as he peeled off his long coat. "Arm's cut. A few 
bruises.  I've had worse." He tossed the bloodied garment onto 
the couch.


Ken studied Yohji's arm, trying to distinguish what was blood and 
what was  Yohji's shirt. Everything was just so dark. "I can't 
see anything," he  muttered, squeezing his eyes shut for a 
moment, trying to clear his vision.  He opened them to see Yohji 
watching him, a slight smirk on his face. He blushed. "Let's go 
to the bathroom. I'll clean your arm for you in there."


The older boy shook his head. "You're tired. Why don't you go to
bed? It's late. I can take care of this myself."


Ken looked up at his roommate. It had been four months since they 
had defeated Schwartz and left Tokyo. Four months since they'd 
started over  again in Kyoto. Things had progressed relatively 
well but everything they  had lost was latent. Hidden under the 
surface, still threatening to spill.  And it was too much, 
especially for Yohji. Finally coming to terms with Asuka's death 
only to find her again. Her inevitable betrayal and death.  Death 
by his *own* hand.


Even now, Yohji's stark screams as he strangled Noi haunted him. 
Ken  couldn't even begin to imagine what Yohji had gone through, 
what he was  still going through. All he knew was that he had to 
help him. He wanted Yohji to talk to him, to open up. It was odd 
but he'd grown very protective  of the older boy over the past 
four months. Yohji was vulnerable beneath that careless facade. 
The guilt and hatred he must have felt for himself would kill 
him. And that was something Ken wasn't going to stand by and  
watch happen. Every night he could hear Yohji's nightmares, hear 
his  strangled cries. And in those long, silent moments after, 
Ken wanted nothing more than to go and comfort him. But the last 
thing he wanted was to force  Yohji to do anything, to say 
something he'd regret later. When it came to his feelings, Yohji 
was as silent as Aya. So he waited, doing his best to take care 
of his friend, his team mate who wanted no help, who wanted to  
live behind a devil-may-care attitude, guilt and harsh reproach 
boiling  beneath the surface.


Grinning widely, to show that he wasn't sleepy in the least, even 
though he clearly was, Ken announced, "I'm not tired at all."


Yohji raised an eyebrow. "Could have fooled me Kenken," he drawled 
out dryly.


Ken glared at him. "I'm offering to help you, okay? Just come on. 
Otherwise you'll bleed all over the carpet." He didn't wait for 
Yohji to reply, instead he grabbed Yohji by his uninjured arm 
and hauled him towards the  bathroom.


"Why are you acting like my mother?" the older boy demanded, 
allowing the  soccer player to drag him along. "You've been 
acting weird these days."


"I have not," Ken replied defensively. "I was just worried, 
that's all. I can worry about you, can't I? Or do I need your 
lofty permission to do  that?"


Yohji chuckled. "You're in love with me, aren't you Kenken? 
Really, I'm flattered."


His hand slipped from the older boy's and he promptly stumbled 
over the frayed bottoms of his grey and blue plaid pajama 
bottoms. He would have fallen straight into the bathroom, had 
not Yohji grabbed his arm and hauled  him upright.


"In love with you?" he sputtered, blood rushing straight to face, 
as he  jerked out of Yohji's grasp. "Are you crazy? How much 
blood did you lose  anyways?"


Yohji winked at him as he strolled into the bathroom. "It's 
nothing to be  ashamed of. Everyone loves me. Why should women 
only get to hog the great  Kudou Yohji? I don't mind you. You're 
cute."


Ken stared at him, bewildered. Yohji thought he was *cute*? He'd 
never seen  this particular side of Yohji before. Sure the blond 
teased him, but it was usually about women and being clumsy. Not 
about being *in love* with him.  And Yohji'd certainly never 
expressed any desire in men. Why the very idea was absurd beyond 
belief. Everyone knew that Yohji was a playboy. He loved women. 
And women loved him. There was no room for men... Was there?


Yohji's throaty chuckle forced him from the hazy thought process 
he'd been  indulging in. "Don't think too hard Ken. You might 
split your head open or something." Long fingers casually 
flipped open the lights. Bright lights engulfed them.


Ken yelled and covered his eyes, Yohji's odd teasing forgotten. 
"What'd ya do that for?!!" he squawked, outraged. "I'm blinded!"


His voice was exaggeratedly exasperated. "First you complained 
that you  couldn't see. So I turned on the lights. Now you're 
still complaining that you can't see. Is there no pleasing you 
today Kenken?"


The soccer player's calloused fingers parted and he peeked 
through them at the other boy. "I didn't know you wanted to 
please me Yohji."


Ken's tone had been joking. He'd only meant to match Yohji's 
teasing mood,  uttering a simple remark that really meant nothing 
at all. Certainly nothing so significant that could have induced 
those lazy, cat green eyes to lock with his own. Static electricity
seemed to crackle as Yohji's smoldering gaze pinned him to the 
spot. His hands fell limply to his sides.


"Do you want me to please you Ken?" Yohji invited, huskily. 
Lithely, the blond pushed his long body away from the edge of 
the sink and languorously stalked towards him, his every 
movement fluid and cat-like. Jade eyes flashed sensuously as his 
gaze roamed up and down Ken's form.


Ken's mouth was dry, his mind blank. The supply of air to his 
lungs seemed  to be rapidly depleting. Somewhere inside his 
scrambled reason, he  registered that he was backing away from 
his rapidly advancing teammate.  "What are you..." he choked, 
swallowing painfully. What the *fuck* was wrong with Yohji?


The older boy was very close now. The smell of cigarettes and 
lime and blood and Yohji washed over him. The look in Yohji's 
eyes was pure, predatory lust. And Ken didn't understand it one 
bit. He'd never seen Yohji stalk a girl like this, had never 
seen him even *look* at a girl like he was looking  at him. Yohji 
was charming and flirtatious and sweet. In just wasn't his style 
to stalk. Especially not with a team member and a boy at that. So 
what was this new side of Yohji that he was seeing for the first 
time today? Ken promptly bumped into the wall. He was cornered.


A sudden sense of desperation came over him. He hated nothing 
more than not having a firm grasp of a situation and Yohji was 
doing a damn good job of unnerving him. "What are you doing 
Yohji?" he demanded anxiously. "Is this some kind of joke? 
Because I don't find it funny one bit."


Yohji paused in his tracks, standing only about a foot away. He 
could have touched him if he wanted to. And then, inexplicably 
those lush lips slid into a leer. "I thought you wanted to heal 
me Kenken. Don't tell me you're not concerned anymore."


Ken gaped at him. "I am worried about you," he responded slowly, 
eyes wide.  "You must have lost more blood than you've let on. I 
think I'll take you to  the hospital or something."


The distance between them was breached as Yohji pressed the full 
length of  his long body against his. The soccer player gasped at 
the feel of hard muscles, turning his head away from those 
green, smoky eyes. The older boy's breath was soft, lightly 
titillating his ear. "Yes Ken, please do take me."  If Ken hadn't 
been certain of Yohji's intentions before, the seductive tone 
and words and the lanky body pressed against him could leave *no* 
doubt in  his mind now. They were oozing with blatant carnality, 
matching the lust in Yohji's indolent green eyes.


"Nothing to say now?" Yohji whispered quietly, blowing seductively
into his  ear. Long fingers slid up the rumpled front of his pajama
shirt with  agonizing deliberation. Something wet and hot slipped 
out and caught his  earlobe.


Ken whimpered. "Why are you doing this?" he managed to get out as 
Yohji's  hands caressed his chest. What could Yohji possible be 
thinking? Why was he frozen in place, unable to move as the older 
boy touched him? He'd never felt this way before. He wasn't 
indecisive; he always knew what to do and maintained confidence 
that whatever he'd decide would be the right decision.  But now...this 
had to be wrong. It was Yohji was all people! Yohji sucking and 
licking on his ear and Yohji caressing his chest and... Ken gulped as
Yohji began to move his wandering hands from his chest down towards
 his abdomen. This had to stop; this was absolutely insane. Yohji was 
feeling him up in the middle of their fucking bathroom!


"Stop it!" he bit out, shoving at the older boy. "This isn't right, 
dammit!"  In response, full lips began to suck harder at his neck, 
skillful fingers moving along the edge of his pajama pants. "Let go 
of me you stupid shithead!!!" His hands pushed at Yohji's strong 
arms and they connected with something wet and sticky. "Your arm is 
still bleeding!"


Yohji sighed and reluctantly pulled away. "Just when things were 
getting good."


Ken stared at him, his breathing heavy and sporadic. "Just when 
things were  getting good?!!! You hentai! Nothing is gonna get good! 
What do you think I am? Another girl-slut of yours? I'm a boy! You 
don't like boys remember?"


"No I don't," Yohji agreed good naturedly. "But I do like you." With 
great deliberation, his slid indolent, jade eyes over Ken's body, 
taking in the rumpled pajamas, the heaving chest, the wide eyes, 
the flushed cheeks and  the messy hair. He leered licentiously. "I 
like every delicious inch of  you."


Ken did the only thing he could think of under such trying and eerie  
circumstances. He fled.


TBC 

Part 2?
Reading Room?