“Put it out, Kudou.”

Youji sighed as he stubbed out the cigarette. What a waste. Fujimya Aya had to be the biggest prick known to mankind. That man had a goddamn rosebush up his ass! This man was also dangerous. Not only because he could easily chop you up into little pieces with the only regret being over the wear on his blade, but also because he was gorgeous. Aya was beautiful enough that it made you willing to put yourself at risk to replace that rosebush with something more enjoyable. What Youji wouldn’t give to be the one to replace that bush! He wondered amused, if rosebushes came in tree form. His mind then switched to more pleasant topics, including Aya and his own bed and lost of lube.

Youji snapped out of his reverie, luckily before he started to drool (noticeably), as the door chime was sounded. Looking up to say they were closed, he changed his mind on seeing who it was.

“We just finished a mission last night, Manx. We can’t do another one. Ken is still recuperating.”

“Well hello to you to, Balinese. Actually, I am just here to see Aya.” He wondered at the name switch. What had Aya done to deserve not being belittled by being called a cat breed? Well the red head had always been a pet assassin; Kritiker loved him for some reason. “Do you know where he—” she stopped as the man in question came out of the storeroom. “Aya, would you please step outside with me?” Aya didn’t verbally respond, just followed Manx out the door.

Youji sighed again as he lit a smoke, watching the two agents walk down the street. They all knew about Aya’s little ‘side jobs’, though none of the particulars. Kritiker didn’t mind giving a few bonuses to get jobs done, no questions asked. They had no qualms over using the comatose sister of a man who was most likely, the best assassin they had, to get what they wanted either.

He just hoped the mission wasn’t tonight. The man had stayed up all night watching over a concussed Ken because Omi had a paper due the next day. He had then refused Ken and Youji’s offers to skip his shift and let them handle the shop. The man was like that, he would do something considerate and self-sacrificing and you would start to think he was an actual softy inside. But then, he would act extra prick-like to make up for it. It was like the man was afraid to let them get too close. Aya need to realize that he couldn’t handle everything on his own. He also couldn’t continuously do missions and not start making mistakes…

“So will you take it?” Manx asked, holding an envelope in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

“Of course.” Aya took the envelope from the handler but didn’t open it. He would do that once he got home. They could have had this conversation in his room but Aya refused to let any Kritiker operatives besides his teammates in his room, unless he was seriously wounded. His room would not be tainted anymore with blood then it was with him living in it.

“So how do you want the money divided up?”

“One third into the usual account, the rest split up into these three,” he wrote three numbers down on a napkin. “Please do this for all such jobs in the future. If something should occur at any job at a later date, the money in these accounts will automatically transfer to the new appropriate account.” Manx typed the numbers into her palm pilot before Aya slipped the napkin into his water, making the ink unreadable. She smirked, “What Aya-kun, no money for you?”

He stood to go, looking down at her, “The only thing I want, money cannot buy.” With that, he walked back to the Koneko.

He started up the stairs to the apartments only to see Youji. “Got another assignment?” Aya, seeing no reason to deny it, nodded. “Is it for tonight?” The red-haired assassin shrugged, brandishing a sealed envelope in silent communication. Green eyes widened. “You mean you don’t know anything when you agree to the mission?” Aya shook his head before deciding to elaborate, “Most of the time the mission is given the day it is to be followed out. Gives you less time to consider backing out, I suppose.” Youji looked at him oddly for a moment, “You mean you can back out?”

Aya sighed, “No, I can’t but less time to think about it means less hesitation.” He strode to his room and closed the door behind him.

Youji stared at it for a moment, surprised at the sheer amount of words Aya had said in such a short period of time. Said them to him even, him, who Aya could go for days without talking to besides saying hn.

Aya sat down on his comfortable bed, the only luxury he allowed himself in his room, and opened the mission file. There was a reason you said yes to the mission before you found out what it was, Aya thought wryly, no one in his or her right mind would agree otherwise.

He went over to his closet and pulled the clothes from the very back out. This was going to take a few nights. The mission wasn’t that difficult but Aya wasn’t a huge fan of acting like a prostitute just for a few tidbits of information. At least he didn’t have to do it in front of all of Weiss, though he might feel a bit safer knowing they were there if anything went wrong. He had grown to trust them, despite trying not to. He looked down at the clothes in front of him, leather pants, tight ‘shirts’ and so on… at least he didn’t have to dress in drag. He just had to see if a certain businessman was interested, find out where he brought his whores, let himself be ‘kidnapped’ and rescue the girls. The last part could possibly be done with Weiss, he would decide after seeing what information he could gather on guards and the man himself.

He wondered as he put everything but what he was wearing tonight back in the closet and sunk down on his bed, if Omi would ever figured out where most of the information for Weiss’ missions came from.

“So is that solo job for tonight, Aya?” They were siting at the table, grabbing a quick bite to eat before heading off to do whatever they wanted to do.

“Yes.”

“Oh, Aya-kun,” Omi sounded disappointed, “I was going to ask if we all wanted to watch a movie tonight.” The man just shrugged.

“You three go ahead.” Aya got up and went over to the sink, washing his dishes, as well as those that were used to cook with before leaving the kitchen.

They were just starting to get into the movie, Tomorrow never dies, Youji sprawled across the couch, Omi curled up in the chair and Ken on the floor, all with bowls of popcorn when Aya walked in. Youji thanked the Gods he hadn’t had any popcorn in his mouth when the man came in, he would have choked on it. As it was Ken did, though Ken was lucky not to get a nosebleed. Aya just raised an eyebrow and told Omi he would be late and not to wait up. Omi replied that he would change the schedules so that Aya had an afternoon shift instead of the morning. He received a quiet, “thank you” for his troubles. Aya was just about to leave, when Ken asked a question.

“Uh…Aya?”

He received a look that said he had gained the requested attention.

“Um, where did you get those clothes?”

Now, that was a good question. Youji’s eyes traced over every detail of the outfit in question. It helped that it left nothing to the imagination. Leather pants tighter then what Youji would normally where. How does he walk in those pants, anyway? Thought Youji, not that he minded. A mesh shirt that really didn’t cover anything and a leather jacket covered with so many zippers it made the fingers just itch to undo them completed the clothes part of the ensemble. Violet eyes were outlined with Kohl, making them appear luminous and a light sheen of lip-gloss made lush lips look freshly wetted. The man was a walking wet dream in his orange sweater, this, this was Sex God status at the very least. This man’s only rival in innate sexiness would be Kudou Youji himself. He shook himself mentally in order to hear Aya’s response.

“They’re from a mission I had before I joined Weiss. They’ll go back in my closet as soon as my mission is over, Hidaka.” Now that, was a shame. Youji would have to change Aya’s mind on that. Though he wasn’t exactly sure he wanted everyone else ogling Aya, certainly not the way Ken was. Omi had paused the movie when Aya walked in and was now just watching, it looked like the little wheels in his mind were turning something over though… “Good luck, Aya-kun. I suppose you won’t tell me what this one is about either?”

A look passed between them that Youji wondered at, “ask Kritiker, or Manx could probably be easily interrogated, if she knows anything.”

Omi sighed, “No, she doesn’t. Well, you better get going, bye.”

The assassin just nodded and walked towards the garage. The screech of wheels driving at the speed Aya normally drove at cut through a movie no one was really watching anymore anyway.

Aya trudged inside, just wanting to be home and in bed. He never wanted to do that again, but now he knew that he would have to do it tomorrow and at least the next night. He also knew Weiss was going to have to get involved, there were far too many guards for Aya to tackle this one his own. He leaned against the railing; he could just rest his eyes for a minute or so and then continue…he was just so tired…

*Wham*

Aya almost slipped down the stairs but caught himself in time. He leaned against the person who had bumped into him. That person had to be Youji, as he was the only one taller than himself but he just couldn’t bring himself to snarl.

“Aya? Aya. What are you doing? I was just coming down to get a glass of water. Are you just coming back now? Jeez, Ken should be almost about to wake up to start opening the shop. Aya? Aya?”

“Hmm?” Was all he said. The only thing he could think was that Youji sure could talk a lot and he smelled good, despite the cigarettes. How the hell does he not smell entirely like smoke? Aya’s fogged up brain wondered, as he unconsciously leaned more against the man. He felt Youji sigh.

“Common, beautiful, lets get you into bed.”

About to complain about being called beautiful, Aya was shocked when he was picked up and cradled, and then carried into his room. He was gently laid down on his featherbed and his boots and shirt were taken off. His satin sheets were draped over him. He curled up into the middle of the bed and murmured, “Thank you Youji.”

“No problem,” he said as Youji walked back towards the door. Just as he was almost leaving, Aya remembered what he had been going to say. “Oh, and Youji? I’m not beautiful.”

Youji smiled tenderly but Aya’s eyes were closed and he didn’t see it. “Yes Aya, yes you are.”

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