C & C always appreciated. (I'm serious when I say this; I live for feedback ^_^ )

Note: This fic is cursed, so if causes your computer to crash because of bad karma or something, don't blame me! It tried to crash Word three distinct times before it finally settled on corrupting the disk.

Ah, what a pain, Yohji complained to himself. The stunning redheaded stranger he was currently dragging up the stairs could not be worth the effort. Said redhead was a man who should have been perfectly able to walk on his own. What had happened to him, however, Yohji had no idea. He'd simply came home tonight to find the Koneko Sumu-Ie a total disaster area and the stranger unconscious on the floor, the name "Aya" slipping off his lips. Yohji had recognized him as the snarling troublemaker that Birman had wanted to talk to, the one that Yohji had tied up personally. Not that he had minded at all. The man may have been a psycho but at least he was a hot psycho.

"Damn," Yohji muttered as he finally reached the top of the stairs. The redhead was heavy! You wouldn't think so, considering he was a little scrap of nothing, but as they said: appearances could be deceiving. Consider how peaceful the redhead looked in sleep whereas when he was awake, he was a regular spitfire. At least insofar as Yohji could tell, having only seen him in action once. He roughly dropped his burden onto the floor as he contemplated where to go next. Yohji entertained the idea of leaving Sleeping Beauty out in the hallway but that was just out of spite for making him work so hard, hauling his heavy ass up the stairs. In his mind, he already knew where he was taking the unconscious stranger.

It's amazing, Yohji mused while wrestling the redhead into his room and onto his bed, that he doesn't wake up from all this. He quickly stripped the man, pausing slightly when he got to the underclothes. The man doubtlessly needed to be bandaged up but Yohji wasn't sure if he could handle the undeniably hot redhead being naked and on his bed, not to mention what the poor boy would think when he woke up. Yohji compromised by leaving the clothes on but pushing them up to check for injuries.

The redheaded stranger stirred only once, and that was with a hiss when Yohji liberally applied the antiseptic and slapped on a few Band-aids.

"Aya," the man muttered.

Yohji glared at him sourly. "Who's that, your girlfriend?" The name was all the man would say (when he was disturbed enough), nothing else. Yohji poked at the sleeping stranger. "Since I don't know your name and you won't say anything else right now, I'm just going to call you 'Aya', okay?" 'Aya' didn't answer. "Okay." Yohji felt better when he had a name to call someone or something, even if it was just a nickname. It made the unknown just a little bit more familiar.

The bed creaked a little as Yohji sat down on a corner and leaned against the wooden headboard. "My current job's to watch you otherwise that technological brat downstairs will have my hide. ...If it wasn't for you, I could go to sleep right now." Aya murmured an indistinct word (Yohji was willing to bet that it was "Aya"), turned on his side and settled back down, sinking into the feather mattress. "Well at least someone's enjoying the bed," Yohji commented ruefully. He watched Aya's sleeping face, looking for any signs of discomfort.

When, precisely, his thoughts started to go in a definitely bad direction, Yohji wasn't sure. He only realized that he'd better stop when he felt his libido begin to stir. "Aww, hell," Yohji whispered, desperately trying not to think how long it'd been since he'd last had sex. It had been too damn long. "Just what I don't need." He tried to force himself to get up and leave the room but found that he couldn't. No, instead, he felt himself give into the overpowering urge to sidle up next to the redhead's sleeping body. Just lying there--all right, snuggling--couldn't hurt, could it? After all, what the man didn't know couldn't hurt him. And snuggling, Yohji assured himself, was all that he was going to do. Just for a few minutes and then he'd get up and start working on ignoring the annoying little urges and ideas about Aya.

That all went to hell when Aya pushed himself back against Yohji, spooning himself into the hard curves of the blonde's body, welcoming the cuddle. Yohji took a deep breath as he dealt with the new flood of heat that rushed to pool in his groin. Oh dear, this was just not working out like he had planned.  Aya shifted his hips a little and Yohji hurriedly latched onto them with his right hand. He had all intention of merely holding the enticing redhead still until he could convince himself and his libido that he wanted to leave but, unfortunately, it didn't work out that way. The next thing Yohji knew, his right hand was coursing down Aya's thigh while his left started stroking the redhead's chest.

Aya moaned and gave a small whimper, his back arching slightly. Yohji gently kissed the back of his neck as he moved his right hand back to Aya's hips, stroking gently. Aya thrust forward but quickly pulled back again, as if he wanted to enjoy the attention but also didn't at the same time. Yohji smiled; what a paradox.

Somewhere in his mind, a little voice was firmly telling Yohji that this was way over the line. He ignored it right up to the point where Aya turned in Yohji's arms and pressed himself up against the blonde. Evidently, he'd finally decided that he was going to enjoy this after all. Aya threw a leg over Yohji's and whimpered, begging softly for more. It was then that Yohji realized that if he was ever going to leave the tempting redhead's virtue uncompromised, he'd better hightail it out of there. Now.

As quickly and as gently as he could--he so did not want Aya to wake up just then--Yohji extracted himself from the embrace and hotfooted it to the door, shutting it decisively behind him. Manfully, he surpressed the urge to run back in and fuck Aya into next week. It was time for a cold shower. A very cold one. And after that maybe a cigarette...and a beer, or two, or three. Anything that kept him out of that room.

Aya-chan babbled at him, her face lighting up with her bubbly exuberance, but Ran couldn't hear her voice. It was like a silent movie--all pictures, no sounds. He didn't mind. As long as Aya-chan was smiling--that was all that mattered. He reached a hand out to her, trying to touch her, to make sure that she was real... His hand kept reaching on, and on just as the bed stretched. It stretched out to an impossible length, Aya-chan, far on the other side of it, disappearing from view. Ran pleaded with Aya-chan, begging her to come back. He couldn't live without her. She was the one who loved life, who had all the dreams and aspirations, not him. He needed her. Suddenly, he desperately wanted to hear her voice.

Aya reappeared in front of him as the bed shrunk back to its normal proportions, but instead of a smile, her face was concerned. He asked her if she wanted something, something he could give her, asked if she was crying. He promised to stay by her side forever but she mustn't come any closer to him. His hands were too stained to touch her pristine purity. Please don't cry, he pleaded, I'm a terrible brother, I know.

"The only one in tears is you," a man's voice sounded from behind him. Ran paused in shock, not bothering to deny the tears that rolled down his cheeks like rivers. Ran felt the man approach and lean over his shoulder, the nasal voice descending into a sibilant whisper, the peaceful dream darkening into something black and twisted.. "So you're starting to understand," the stranger taunted. "You can invest your cash in your sister's health, but you find you can't look her in the eye."

The man wrapped an arm around Ran's shoulder from behind, pressing his right hand to Ran's chest. Ran noticed with some shock that barely registered that his clothes had changed. Instead of his normal street clothes, he wore his leather trench coat...his 'assassin gear'. His hands were uncertainly holding his katana. "It's because you earned that money by murdering people. Essentially, we're the same. For our own, personal reasons, we make a living out of killing others." Ran lifted his head despairingly. He couldn't deny it.

"Have you lost something?" The man asked, his right hand sliding down Ran's arm to between his leather-clad legs, forcing Ran to lift the katana, to acknowledge it's existence. "If so, it's only because you chose to. You ought to incant a spell of a single word." Ran looked at the blood-stained blade in front of him, at his trembling hands that grasped the hilt. He saw the man lean even farther over his shoulder, green hair spilling into view.

The man turned his head so he was whispering directly into Ran's ear with a seductive purr. "You should admit it." Ran closed his eyes but that didn't stop the tears nor did it stop his tormentor. "Before you lose your mind."

"I... Aaaah..."

"I... Aaaah..." the redhead mumbled drowsily. Yohji pursed his lips. What was that he'd just been thinking? Something told him he'd better trash that thought right now before it led to a lot of frustration that he'd rather avoid. He knew himself, knew that saying something was off limits would only make him want it more...

At any rate he was certainly coming to. Yohji decided to have a little fun, a little payback for all the shit he'd been through. He leaned in on the bed, close enough to Aya to kiss him just as the redhead opened his eyes. "Aya-chan," he said, using the same tone that he usually reserved for his dates, vocally smothering the redhead with little hearts.

"Huh?" 'Aya' responded, startled.

Yohji smiled affectionately, acting just like a lover upon waking up his sweetheart in the morning. "Yo," Yohji greeted him, adding another heart for good measure. He ignored the surprised look 'Aya' gave him and started to walk to the center of the room. "Rise and shine, sleepyhead! It's already 9 o'clock." He grinned when he heard the redhead's quiet complaints about the headache he surely had. The rustle of the sheets, however, sent his mind back to previous thoughts... All right, time to get down to business, Yohji decided, otherwise he'd been in the same predicament he was in last night and this time not near as rested up. "You need to get to the flower shop early and help Ken clean up. You've only got an hour and a half before it opens."

Yohji could almost see the little wheels grinding in the redhead's pretty little head. "Where am I?" he demanded. "And who the hell are you?"

Finally. The man had actually said something besides "Aya". The fact that he had also formed sentences was a plus. Yohji supposed that he ought to be a little bit more charitable to the boy, considering that he only had known him for one night, but at the moment he didn't quite feel like it. "I'll introduce myself. I'm Kudou Yohji. Just Yohji's fine." He added a little comment under his breath but still loud enough for the room's other occupant to hear about the rough time he'd had carrying the redhead upstairs. He was going for sympathy here. "This is my room and you're sleeping in my bed." Now, that statement had been a must. Couldn't let the boy forget just exactly whom he owed gratitude to. Unfortunately, it was a double-edged sword, giving Yohji little flashbacks about what had happened in that bed. Yohji silently cursed himself. He did so not need this. 'Aya' needed to be gone, as in yesterday. "Now hurry up and get out!" He felt compelled to add, "Because I need some sleep too" just in case the redhead suspected anything.

The boy was puzzling everything out in his head, Yohji knew. He watched as his new teammate forced his brain into the higher mode of thinking that just did not come easily in the morning. It wasn't fair that he could look so sexy doing so. Yohji smiled as he began to entertain a few fantasies, giving 'Aya' time to work everything out.

Ah, time to show some concern and go in for the kill. "We were worried that you wouldn't wake up. Thought we'd have to take you to a hospital. You had a lot of things wrong with you. Feel any better?"

The redhead turned away from him sharply, drawing his knees up under the sheets. "It's not any of your concern," he said coldly.

Yohji could feel his eyebrows arching. So that's how he wanted to play the game. "That's something to say when you're in my bed. Sheesh, haven't you ever heard of 'Thank before and thank after'? I gave you my name and since we're on the same team, you can at least give me yours." The redhead turned to glare at him. That's right, Aya-baby Yohji coaxed silently. Look at me. "I thought you'd already heard everything about me from that woman," the boy said dispassionately as he slid to the other side of the bed, away from Yohji.

Yohji cocked his head thoughtfully. "'That woman'? Which one? You mean Birman?"

'Aya' rotated his head around to give Yohji a profile, side-glance. "...Birman?"

Oh God, he's hot. The thought crossed Yohji's mind automatically, startling him with it fervency. He couldn't hide his startled look, so he decided to disguise it as something else. He sat down on the edge of the bed (was it his imagination or was the redhead subtly running away from him?). "What?" he asked. "You weren't told anything?"

"...Because I was attacked so suddenly..." Yohji winced in sympathy. He was willing to bet anything that the attacker had been Ken. The same thing had happened to him when he'd first arrived. Yohji inched closer to the redhead who glared back at him.

Okay, so they could talk as long as Yohji stayed where he was; he was still doing good. Yohji decided to see if he could draw the taciturn young man further out of his shell. "There's a lot of things we've got to learn about each other." He just barely managed to stop the evil little comment that bounced around in his head from slipping out. Something having to do with the bed, 'Aya-baby', and a little bit of exploring. "For example," he said, shoving said evil little comment off to the far corners of his mind, "it's my nature to distrust information that I haven't heard myself. I'll tell you what I know and, in exchange, you'll tell me about yourself?" Please? "What I hear is strictly confidential." So tell me anything you'd like, Aya-baby. 'Aya' gave him a slightly distrustful look. "What do you mean?"

"I used to be a private detective," Yohji offered as way of explanation. "Why don't I talk about that, then? I'll talk about my old detective work--"

"But who was that woman?" the redhead interrupted.

Yohji couldn't help but feel a little crushed. Here he was, ready to bare his soul and all the boy wanted to talk about was Birman. "...Listen to what a guy is saying!" he admonished but gave up the fight and started to explain, looking away to gather his thoughts. "Mm... She's called Birman. Of course, that's probably not her real name. Her duty is to mediate between us and our boss, Persia. The rule is that we don't know anything about Persia and we don't ask, either. All I can guess is that without a doubt he is a personage wielding great political power. If there'd been no Persia, then you and I would've met in the afterlife." He glanced at the redhead before adding as an afterthought, "Oh yeah, Ken and Omi are both part of Weiß, too."

After he stopped talking, silence reigned for a while but then Yohji decided that the redhead looked so sad, he'd better cheer him up. He crawled over the bed to where the boy sat, noting his skittish jump away. All kinds of pick-up lines came to mind, but Yohji figured he'd better not say any of those. You don't scare off prey unless you've set a pretty slick trap. "What's with you?" he joked instead. "Star struck by Birman. Don't bother trying." 'Cause you're mine. "'Cause I saw her first. She's mine." Yohji said this with a casual nonchalance, sidling up to sit beside the redhead. It was best to throw 'Aya-baby' off Birman, just in case he was interested.

"How long have you been in Weiß?"

Yohji paused to think. "Nn...'S been about two years now."

"You've no nerve." What was that? Just who did this punk think he was, anyway? Two years as an assassin should have been enough to impress anybody let alone a two-bit, street urchin, regardless of how many people he'd killed. Besides that, Yohji had just basically spilled his soul but he was getting zero cooperation. Wasn't the deal "I'll tell you my story if you'll tell me yours"? Kind of like a "I'll scratch you back if you scratch mine"?

Yohji watched silently as the redheaded youth rose to his feet. Feeling just a little bit injured, Yohji decided to bring out the big guns. "Soo...What about this Aya-chan?" The redhead turned to glare at him. "Oh...I've touched a nerve, haven't I?" The man turned to face the wall where his clothes hung. "So?" Yohji pressed. "Who's Aya?"

When the redhead suddenly whirled, grabbing a hold of Yohji's shirt, Yohji was proud that he kept the fear from showing on his face. Damn but the kid could be scary. "You heard everything from that woman, didn't you?!" the redhead shouted. "Do you want to hear to words from my own mouth?!"

A smirk firmly in place, Yohji drawled back, "It's just a bit unusual...A girlfriend?" No, he wouldn't accept that one. "No...more like a sister, perhaps?" He let that drop before adding a little more. "You were calling out that name in your sleep. It wasn't something Birman told me." No, actually, Birman hadn't told him anything. "Lemme go, you're stretching an Armani shirt." Whether it was the words he'd just said or the fact that it was an Armani shirt that caused the boy to let him go, Yohji wasn't sure. "Ah, thank you." The redhead turned and roughly pulled his clothes off the hanger. "Eh? You're leaving already?" We could have some fun, you and I. "I still don't know your name." Come on, kid, at least give me that or I'm going to have to keep calling you 'Aya-baby'. You wouldn't like that, now would you? The redhead started to stalk out so Yohji decided to make his mental threat real. "Well, it doesn't matter. Should I just call you 'Aya', then?" Especially since I've been using it so much already?

The verbal threat stopped the redhead dead in his tracks but before Yohji could celebrate, the boy began to talk. "Aya... That's fine. Call me that."

"Wha? You're not serious, are you?"

"I'll...take Aya's place," 'Aya' said as he walked out of the room.

"Is that so?" Yohji huffed at the closed door. But still, who was Aya? And was he really going to commit murder under a loved one's name? Yohji stared at the door for a while longer before he finally decided that it didn't matter. He'd probably never know the original possessor of the name. For him, Aya was the hot redhead that had slept in his bed and had just walked out the door. Nothing else mattered.