When I got to the kitchen, the sound of feet shuffling and mugs clinking told me that someone was already in there. I took a breath and entered anyway, hoping that it wouldn’t be Aya. It wasn’t. Instead, I found Omi humming one of those annoying pop songs that teenagers found so cool nowadays, and puttering over the stove. I gave a false cough, and he stopped humming and turned around.
"Oh, Yohji!" He greeted me cheerfully. "I thought you were in bed."
"Couldn’t sleep." I grinned back at him. "What’cha makin’?"
"Hot chocolate. Want some?" He grinned, tempting me with a packet of hot chocolate powder. I chuckled and sat down at the table.
"Sure." I said. Leave it up to Omi to try and take my mind off my troubles with a mug of hot chocolate. The water boiled and Omi went back to humming that stupid tune as he stirred the powder into the steaming water.
"Here." Omi said, handing me the mug. He pulled up a chair beside me and sat in it.
"I'm really sorry about your dad." he said. He placed his mug on the table and leaned on my shoulder. I didn't mind. I could use a friend about now, and it seemed that Omi was the only one I still had. Ironic, that the Weiß member I've been working with longest ends up being the only one to stay on my side.
"I survived 23 years without him. I'll survive 23 more. I'm better off without him. Mom was right. Then again, she's usually right about those things." I took a sip of the hot chocolate. It was well-stirred. The last time I made hot chocolate, there were a few small clumps of powder that I couldn't break up.
"Well what about Ken and Aya?" He looked up at me with those big eyes of his, and something told me that he had more than one reason for asking this question. I decided to play along to see where this line of questioning would lead.
"There's the thing. I'll never be able to maintain a steady relationship as long as I have to lie about what I do. I just thought that since I don't have to lie to Ken or Aya, I might be able to stand a better chance, but... Well I suppose it just wasn't meant to be. I'll get over it eventually."
I sighed and took another sip of hot chocolate, which is about when Omi sat up straight again and started giggling. I rolled my eyes, finished off the mug and slammed it on the table.
"What's so damn funny?" I demanded, Aya-style. It seems I picked the right time to break up with him. I've DEFINIELY been hanging with him too much.
"How did you manage to end up working at a job like ours with three other guys who've all got such big crushes on you?" There. That's what I'd been waiting for.
"THREE guys? So you admit that you DO want me, eh?" I asked. I leaned back in my chair and rested my hands behind my head. I glanced over at Omi. He was blushing.
"W-what? I didn't say that." He insisted. Well, if he wanted to take my mind off my troubles, it's working, but not quite in the way he'd intended.
"Yes you did. I didn't become a detective by missing clues as obvious as that." I teased. He turned slightly redder, and sighed.
"Okay, okay... so I have liked you for a while...but I thought I was the only one. How did you hide something so big from me all this time?" I snickered. Omi sounded so amazed, it was funny.
"Come on, give me some credit. We're better actors than that."
"Not Aya."
"Come on, he's such a stiff you wouldn't notice if he’d got his arm ripped off." Now Omi snickered.
"You have a point." Omi started on his hot chocolate. Then he looked up at me again.
"Say, Yohji-kun?" He asked.
"Yeah?" I answered.
"Why aren’t you interested in people under 18?"
I rolled my eyes. It figured. Now that he was out of the closet, Omi had to ask why he’d have to wait 8 months to stand a chance. I snickered. Strangely enough, that’s the first time anyone’s asked me about that.
"Two words: Statutory Rape."
"Wha?"
"That’s what I’m gonna get charged with if I get caught getting intimate with a kid. The criminal record won’t bother me. Being labeled as a pedophile for the rest of my life does."
Omi sighed and finished off his hot chocolate.
"Well, if that’s the case, then I can wait 8 months." He yawned. I just looked at him, surprised.
"You’re worth it." With that he planted himself on my lap, and gave me a squeeze.
"G’night."
He left me to go to bed, presumably, and I was left feeling a lot better than how I’d started.