DISCLAIMER: Kyoko Tsuchiya and Project Weiß hold the copyright over all names, likeness and rights of Weiß kreuz. All these characters and materials are used without permission, and I'm not profiting from this piece of fan fiction.

Notes - This is the setting for their living arrangements.for this story.

Three-story shop house apartment, with a study/mission room in the attic and an attached garage.

The Koneko no Sumu Ie II occupies the lower floor, with the storeroom in the back leading to the garage where the shop's delivery scooters, Youji's roadster, Ken's bike and Ran's Porsche are parked. Front part of the store juts out slightly alike a greenhouse design with tall windows.

The living room is on the second story overlooking half of the shop's interior. The stairs to this is a compact two level design. There is a window at the halfway level displaying a flower arrangement. From the outside, the wall beside this window displays the name of the shop.

As with the balcony of the living room, the underside of the stairs has been used to display pots of hanging plants. There is a gate at the foot of the stairs and one at the head of the stairs as well to discourage customers from venturing into their living area. The cash register and payment counter is situated just in front of the stairs as further deterrent to nosy customers.

The living room holds a 3+1 sofa set, coffee table, reading lamps, television, and entertainment centre. It is an open concept area with the kitchen and dining room, with an attached laundry room with washbasin and toilet facilities. The laundry room has a grilled service balcony, which is situated above the garage, for them to drip dry clothes.

The stairs lead further up to the third storey where the 3 bedrooms, shared full bathroom, linen cupboard and door to a staircase leading up to the attic are situated. The attic holds the study / mission room, computers and the 'assassin equipment'. Has a window entrance/exit on the roof, which is used when necessary.

I don't swing around in my seat when I hear the door creep open behind me. I don't need to, I know who it is. Hidaka Ken. Retired assassin. Part time florist, and little league soccer coach. Me? Kudou Youji, at your service. Retired private investigator, retired assassin, full time florist and principal owner of the Koneko no Sumu Ie II, official branch of the original shop that is currently run by Fujimiya Aya. Also, full time caretaker to one assassin named Fujimiya Ran. Said person now lying unconscious in his bed, carried there by yours truly after he passed out in the hall and bled all over my newly laundered carpet.

This doesn't happen very often, thank god. Ran's always careful on his missions. Working alone now, he takes as few risks as possible. Ken and I are retired but sometimes we do admit to feeling the itch-- an inexplicable desire to just slip into the action again. Over protective bastard that he is, Ran won't let us. Not that we even know how to break into the game anymore. Weiß only received missions from Kritiker, with that organisation gone-- we can't run advertisements to ask for missions, you know. Ran, on the other hand, used to freelance, but he won't ever tell us how he gets his offers. Mysterious packages just appear for him delivered by a local courier. Makes me miss Manx and Birman when I'm in the mood to brood.

You can blame Ran for keeping what was left of us together after the messy break up of Kritiker. Wasn't like Ken and I had anywhere else to go anyway. Omi had already left us to be with his grandfather, after they made sure we'd heal from our injuries received from that last confrontation with Shion. I know at first Ken and I thought we were humouring Ran to return to Tokyo. Should have guessed he had more in store for us when he asked if we'd stay on with him instead of separating and going our marry ways, like we did the first time Weiß tried to retire. It didn't seem like too big an imposition for him to ask us to help him set up another flower shop and get it running. But I don't think Ken or I really expected to stay this long. We'd never give a thought to leaving now though, not after Ran officially let me take the controlling shareholdings to the place and Ken signed his first contract with a school to be their soccer coach. Made us realise that the sneaky little busybody wanted to be around to make sure we'd be okay. We know he was deeply shaken by what we'd become after Kritiker turned us into a mobile unit. Hell, I became a drunkard and Ken was becoming a crazed killer. Weiß 2, the team Shion led disturbed Ran and I guess he was afraid that we were going to become like them too. So he moved us back to Tokyo to return us to our roots; To when he thought we were still stable and alive.

I take a moment to turn towards Ken as he pokes his head around the door. I had left it to him to deal with the bloody clothes and carpet, and take the precautionary sweep of the area while I carried Ran to his room to finish cleaning him up and settle him in his bed. That was two hours ago, this is probably the eighth time Ken's come to visit. Despite the bags under his eyes and his obvious tiredness, Ken is looking good physically as well as mentally. Have to admit that being back in Tokyo has been good for him. He's back with those kids he loves to teach and actually has a permanent job as a little league coach with a few schools, which is more than the informal position he had before. You can actually feel that he's happy when you're around him. Far cry to what he was becoming when we were on the road in Kyoto.

Thinking about it, I remembered Ran gesturing to me once at where he saw Ken running in a park, taking a zig-zag path as if he was chasing an imaginary soccer ball. It was clear to us he missed playing soccer with the kids most of all after we left Tokyo. Not that I seemed to care very much what the rest of the kittens were up to then. I guess we were all pretty much lost in our own world. Omi was taking a correspondence course towards graduating high school and getting a place in a university. Ken-- was dying inside and slowly going crazy from the trade that forced him to kill friends, lovers-- leave loved ones behind... Me? I was sinking into my own little pool of insanity, which was the abyss of guilt over Asuka. In my delusion, I was starting to come close to strangling my dates in a twisted re-enactment of my killing Neu. I don't know about Ran, or 'Aya' as we used to call him then. Despite his steadfast avoidance of his sister, I guess he had found peace with himself with his vengeance complete and his sister awake from her coma. He was probably the only one who realised that relocating Weiß to Kyoto was slowly killing us.

"Y--Youji?" Ken's words shake me out of my thoughts and I come to myself to notice that he's now leaning against the foot of the bed peering worriedly at Ran's unmoving form under the blankets. He sounds as worried as I feel. No wonder. I don't think we've ever seen Ran this badly hurt before. Not even including that time when we faked an elaborate death scene to fool that crazy American and spring a trap on him. Part of me is glad I wasn't elected as the one to 'survive' that performance. Ken's never spoken of it, and though he knew we were faking our deaths, it must still have shaken him to imagine us dead. I remember how he was when Ran collapsed after killing Shion over a year ago. We were all hurt bad then, but Ken and I were still standing. Flesh wounds really, looked and felt worse than they actually were. Incapacitating if we wanted to fight, but not fatal. Ran nearly died then-- and now, for us to see Ran as he had staggered in...

"Ho-- how is he?"

"Still sleeping. I do think he'll be okay, Ken." I turn to look at him, trying to give him a reassuring smile.

"Are you sure?"

No, I really am not. Ran's always been pale, but now he looks like-- death. He had three bullet wounds, and I did wonder at that time whether it was a blessing that I located the exit points. I hate digging out bullets. It still amazes me that our kitten managed not to leave a trail of blood leading straight to us from his last job. Ken told me earlier that he did a quick swing around our shop house to check and there wasn't even a speck of suspicious dust left anywhere. We are worried about his car though. Far as we're certain, it's not traceable, but it would be nice to know where he left it.

How he managed to get to the roof and down the attic entrance, we still can't guess. He's hurt pretty bad and by our guess, he had to hoof it to escape. You'd have thought that he'd for once take the easier route and come in through the front door, we'd have heard or seen him entering for sure and come running. As it was, Ken and I didn't know he'd returned until we heard him stumble against the door leading from his 'mission room' to our living quarters. With the TV going in the living room, we were lucky to even hear it and feel curious enough to go up and check on the unfamiliar noise.

In retrospect, we should have brought him into the kitchen or the bathroom first before we started examining his wounds. Ran had the wounds packed tight with cloth he must have ripped off the guys he killed. The moment I unbound the field dressing to take a look-- my god-- the amount of blood pouring out of those bullet wounds, front *and* back... I thought we've never stop the bleeding. I don't know how we're going to explain the blood stains in the hardwood floor, if we ever feel like leaving this shop house.

One thing we lost with the disintegration of Kritiker was the twenty-four hours medical support. Fortunately, we do have someone to call during the day. Old guy, about to retire as a doctor actually, doesn't ask too many questions. Has a soft spot for Ran since the day he returned his granddaughter. Ran tries to deny it, but he's a decent man. He could have left it to the authorities to handle the kid when he busted that child smuggling ring on one of his missions, but he didn't want to leave her in a room full of dead bodies. So he picked her up and brought her home. Since then, Doc figures Ran to be one of the good guys. He'd be here in a shot if we asked. Ran doesn't like to bother him so late at night though, thinks he's too old to handle these calls. Have to admit that there's not much else Doc could do anyway. We'd already stopped the bleeding, patched him up and given him a shot of anti-B to handle any infection. Ran's lost so much blood from the wounds he looks almost bled white.

Omi'd have the connections if we'd call him. After all, he's now staying with the man who was the original Persia. Ran wouldn't like it though. The old man's retired and Omi wanted a clean break from the assassin game. He may be busy with University, but the kid still checks on us often enough to make sure we're okay. We know that Omi would bend over backwards to help us if we asked. Ran has other ideas about letting him get involved on his missions, even if it was to save his life. He's determined to keep us all as removed from his night job as possible. He's stubborn like that. But I know Ken shares my sentiments that if we ever think his life's in danger, we'd take things in our own hands, say to hell with his ideas about keeping us 'clean' and do whatever it takes. We haven't had the need yet and we hope this isn't going to turn out to be that kind of moment. The wounds were clean, I'm quite sure his internal organs are untouched and we stopped the bleeding. He lost a lot of blood, but as long as Ran wakes up in the next few hours or in the morning, he'll be all right. I'm sure of it.

"He'll be okay, Ken. If he can survive being sliced open by his former master, he can survive these little wounds. You know he's too ornery to die." I try to assure Ken with a smirk, but we both know it's false bravado. Ken can see that I'm just as edgy as he is. " Ken, *go to sleep*. I'll watch over him. It's way past your bedtime. You have a big game tomorrow, remember?"

"But--" Ken's eyeing the only other chair in the room again. At each visit, he's been getting further and further into the room. I know that if I don't do something final, he'll be in that chair and waiting with me. I won't be able to budge him then.

"We've talked about this before, Ken." I wave my finger at him in warning like a disciplinary master. "Those kids need you and Ran would be pissed if you let them down on account of him."

"Youji--"

"Aya-chan knows about the game, right? Won't she be there too?." My eyebrows are waggling at him now. Ha, he's blushing. Ken can be so cute when he's flustered. He's even shuffling from foot to foot.

"I-- I guess-- He'll be all right, right, Youji?"

"I'll be here and watching him, Ken." Oh, at last. I should have used this long ago. Should have known he'd never resist meeting up with Aya-chan again. He'll feel horribly guilty about it later, but for now he'll be heading to bed. Underhanded? You bet. I make a note to use it ruthlessly when I have to. "Now *go* *to* *sleep*. You need all the rest you can get."

"Good night, Youji. If-- if anything happens, call me, okay?" He starts to turn reluctantly towards the door and yelps when I close the distance between us to give him a swat on his rump to hurry him along.

"I'll do that. Now scat."

"Youji." His tone is plaintive, but he does leave, and I close the door behind him firmly.

Despite my worry about Ran, I'm still grinning as I turn back towards the bed and take my seat. Thinking about Ken and Aya-chan... I just *know* that Ran was deliberately playing matchmaker when he asked Ken to look in on his little sister. Ken's become very attached to Aya-chan since they met. Anyone with eyes can see that she has poor KenKen twisted around her little finger. I wouldn't be surprised to hear wedding bells in the near future. Heh, won't tell Ken just yet, but Ran's built a trust fund for his and Aya-chan's kids. Is our redhead friend overbearingly confident in their couple-hood, or what? The guy's meticulous in preparing for the future security of those he loves. They won't ever know that the money is from him though. Well-- they will suspect, but he's made sure the money can't be traced back to his jobs, and we can trust Ken never to let Aya-chan know that it's 'blood' money.

So Ran's essentially given Ken his blessings, but it didn't stop us from playing around with his head and letting KenKen think that Ran would be awfully mad with him for 'having designs' on his little sister. Honestly? I think that little charade made Ken realise how serious he was about the relationship. In any case, it gave him courage enough to stand up for himself and confront Ran. Ha! I thought he was going to explode on us when he realised the protective and jealous big brother scenes were all a put on.

I can feel my face turning into a frown as I think further on this. Ran won't ever see his sister or let her see him. He won't even allow us to let her know that he's still in the land of the living. He wants her to think that he's dead and out of her life forever. He sent her a farewell note in the mail, but she can't not know that he's around though he's been very good at avoiding her so far. Ran's lucky that Sakura-chan gave up waiting on him before our return to Tokyo and apparently moved to Paris to pursue her further studies. He'd never have been able to dodge both his sister and the girl who's been sweet on him.

We think he has a sixth sense about Aya-chan's approach to the shop. Whatever he's doing before she appears, he always manages to excuse himself and saunter up the stairs to our living quarters before she reaches our door. I'd swear sometimes the unobstructed access to the stairs is the main reason why he insisted the cash register be positioned there, rather than nearer the entrance to the shop when we renovated the place. That little show piece he regularly makes up for our second story window is also purposeful, in that anyone looking in from the outside won't be able to see us using those stairs. Even if she hasn't seen him, the girl's not stupid. Our customers are already a dead give away with their fussing over the stoic and frequently absent 'Aya-san'. Ken's hard pressed not to reveal anything to Aya-chan's about our absent partner. The only thing he's told her is that the third person running the store with us is a very private man who doesn't appreciate any of us talking about him. She stopped pressing him after that.

As I gaze at Ran, I finally give in to the temptation to take his hand in mine and let one hand stroke his cheek, allowing my fingers the luxury of playing with his silky momiage. A memory of my last conversation with Ran on his sister surfaces again as I'm looking at his pale face.

//"She's better off without me."

//"Why? She's miserable and she misses you. Ken mentions that all the time. Can't you even understand that it hurts her to think that you're deliberately avoiding her?"

//"I am no good for her. I already explained in that lett--"

//"A letter doesn't cut it! Aya-chan doesn't want your money! She needs to see you with her own eyes. You don't have to tell her about being an assassin. Ken is an assassin too, and you're letting him be with her. For god's sake, Ran, you're practically encouraging the two of them to get together."

//"*Was* an assassin. He's back to his roots, being with children, teaching them his love of soccer-- Ken is a good man."

//"And you aren't? Do you remember how close Ken came to *enjoy* killing? How blood thirsty he became?"

//"*No* *longer*, Youji. *We* are already protecting him from ever crossing that line again. We came back to Tokyo to restore the balance he lost. He is no longer an assassin. Aya-chan can give him that safe secure love he needs to heal. He is a good man and I am glad Aya-chan loves him."

//"Rrraaaannnnn."

//"Youji-- I am just a murderer."//

'I am just a murderer.' 'I am just a murderer.' I can feel my eyes harden as those words echo in my head. Gods, I hate that line. Did I mention how stubborn he was? The man just *refuses* to see the good in himself. He's not an icicle, or Scrooge, or some brutal savage. He cares, God damn it! Why can't he ever admit that there's any good in him? He didn't have to care about me or Ken enough to help us build another life. We sometimes think he's only back in the trade because he thinks he doesn't deserve a second chance. No matter how much we try to change his mind, he refuses to budge on his stand with his sister. We dare not push it any more. He has threatened to disappear on us and never return if we ever try and trick him into letting Aya-chan see him when he's in the shop. Some days... Ken and I are half-afraid that he will disappear on us anyway, just so that he'll remove our last reminder of our time together as Weiß.

He misses her terribly. If there's anything Ken and I can do-- at the very least, Ken frequently rides by the store on his motorcycle with Aya-chan ridding pillion. It gives Ran a chance to watch them from behind his flower arrangement on the second story. It's a pity we can't do much else for Aya-chan.

I get up to stretch and take a circle of Ran's room. As usual, there's nothing out of the ordinary here. Should any of our nosy customers ever make it up this far there's nothing in his room to give him away. The door that leads to the stairs to the mission room looks exactly like the door to the linen cupboard beside it. We always make sure it's locked. Ran's also careful about putting away his equipment and not bringing any of it into our living quarters. Of course this time round, Ken cleaned his equipment for him and made sure they're stored away properly. One of these days, Ken and I *will* finally convince him to dispose of the contents in that room and give up the assassin trade.

Ran doesn't need to kill anymore. None of us do. We're already very well off from our previous jobs. We don't have to work if we don't want to. With Kritiker gone, we don't even have an obligation to take missions anymore. We figured out long ago that Ran had us set-up the shop just to give us something to do in the day. The rascal got me hooked on Ikebana, in any case. Will wonders never cease-- I even took up some courses and now regularly participate in the conventions and shows on the Japanese art of flower arrangement. Ken's jokingly proposed that we rename the shop Youji's Creations. We have enough corporate clients that we're actually turning a profit with the shop. But Ran went back into the 'business' anyway.

We were furious with him when we found him out. We were even angrier to learn that he had managed to hide it from us for over five months while we lived together. How he managed *that*--? But it's hard to keep it a secret any longer when you discover your friend in the bathroom trying to dig a bullet out of his shoulder. Ken handled that one then. Ran didn't make so much as a whimper as he located and dug it out without benefit of anaesthesia. I admit that I was scared for both of them at that time. I hadn't seen that mad gleam of anger in Ken's eyes since we left Kyoto and it was frightening to have it appear again. And Ran-- the guy was going into shock from the pain. That was about the only thing that kept us from tearing into him then. We also didn't exactly have medical supplies equipped to handle bullet wounds with a flower shop set up, you know. Band-aids don't cut it. We're better prepared now.

I can't help but reach out and stroke that faint scar on the mentioned shoulder. Well, with these new wounds, Ran's going to have one matched pair of scars now. Hope he doesn't pick up another two to make them a set. Ken and I waited two days, when we were sure he'd be physically okay, before we confronted him about his deception. Made him admit that he hadn't wanted us to know because he didn't want us involved in the business anymore. But angry as we were, we couldn't insist that he stop, not after hearing the kind of missions he takes.

It was like Kritiker all over again. The only difference is these jobs come from several private sources. They're all essentially vigilante justice though. He takes down the scum that the law can't touch. Sometimes, it does make me ponder whether Omi's grandfather might still be in the game. He was, after all, the one who first set up Kritiker, Weiß, Crashers, and the whole backbone of the organisation. The whole lot collapsed with the last mission. I keep pondering what would fill that vacuum, or if Omi might start another organisation under his grandfather's direction. Whatever was left, we guess Ran has, in some small way plugged the hole left by the disappearance of a vigilante assassin unit.

When we asked 'why' he told us that he's carrying on because of Botan. Makes me wonder what the man did to get under his skin. At least we don't have to worry that he's doing it out of enjoyment of the kill. Am I jealous? You bet! The man was practically a stranger to us, and he's pulling Ran's strings from beyond the grave. Oh scratch that. I'm not envious of a dead guy. I'm concerned that Ran's again living his life out of obligation to someone else. First it was his comatose sister. Now it's for a dead man's beliefs. I really never took Ran for a bleeding heart sort. Hell, in this dog eat dog underworld, a successful assassin can't have a heart. The way I hear it from my old PI contacts though, he's one of the most reliable hires in the market. Ran's careful how he selects his missions. Far cry from the days he'd just take everything Kritiker threw at us. He's already established a pattern that shows he has a conscience. (And I'm reminded again of that little girl he rescued and returned to Doc.) By right, he shouldn't be this successful, but the jobs still come in, and his clients are happy with his professionalism. He may be choosy, but they can't fault the results.

After everything he's given us-- we couldn't turn our back on him, so we've assigned it as our task to take care of him. Ran was reluctant to let us at first, but he knows he'll have an easier job of it now that he doesn't have to hide from us anymore. He has steadfastly refused to let us in on his missions though. He's very firm on that. Not that he thinks we can't pull our own weight in a fight, we understand that. He's afraid that we'd revert to the madness we almost descended into while we were in Kyoto.

I feel my eyes drawn to the trench coat that's lying over the dresser and am reminded that I need to pack and prepared it for transport to Ran's leather smith. Ken's already dealt with worst of the bloodstains and the rest of Ran's assassin gear. The black jeans' were thrown in the wash with the rest of our coloureds the moment we got them off and I can faintly make out the sound of the dryer at work in the laundry room on the second story. The vest was clearly a lost cause and if Ken followed procedure, it should be up in smoke by now. Burnt in the metal drum we have on the service balcony for disposal of that sort. Ken's already left the box in the room for me, so I prepare to fold the purplish black leather trench coat that Ran's made his trademark.

He's attached to the coat. No matter how much abuse he puts it through, he'll never get rid of it. He'd take it to have it repaired and may switched to wearing something else for a while, but Ran'll always don it again when he gets it back. I remember him sporting a white trench coat for a while and I sometimes wish he kept it. He does look good in white, blue and grey. But he only wore that as an interim 'uniform' until the leather smith repaired the extensive saltwater damage his black trench coat suffered from our immersion in the sea.

I can feel a smile quirk on my lips to remember a picture he showed me once of yet another trench coat he had before he decided to adopt this piece. That black trench coat had zips on the sleeves, which he'd release to bare his arms. Good for the summer months, but if he'd been wearing that piece tonight his shoulder would have been a mangled wreck. I poke my fingers at the three holes in the trench coat. Aya's damn lucky he doesn't have anything more serious than a few torn muscles. As it is, he'll be out of commission for a month or two from this injury. A little lower and the bullets would have torn through his lung or even his heart.

As I close the box on the coat, I'm again wondering what happened on this job. Something totally unexpected must have entered the picture to catch him off guard and it looked like a close thing too. Ran's never sloppy. Working alone, he never goes for the open confrontation anymore. Not that he could face up to one since he lost Shion's sword. I don't think Ran ever got over having to kill his former Sword Master. Nor do I think he'll ever try to replace that sword. He uses daggers and shuriken now, has a veritable collection in the attic. Probably enough to make anyone with a knife fetish drool. I gave him my watch with the wires a long time ago. Never even realised how proficient he's become with their use. He never lets me forget that he doesn't use my wires to kill anymore though. He uses them to bind, or as a lifeline to help him climb or swing over chasms. Ran doesn't garrotte his victims; he's essentially a blades man. We know he still carries the gun he killed Shion with as backup. Ken and I thought that he'd have got rid of it by now. It's the same gun Birman used to commit suicide with too, and we know he was fond of her. We *really* think he's in this just to punish himself.

At least we know he doesn't have a death wish and he's not into the dramatic 'face your punishment' shit like we engaged in with Weiß. That only made the jobs more dangerous and gives some desperate bastards the chance to fight back. Ran sees no point in it. He takes out his targets quietly and without warning now. We see some of his work in the papers, but most of the time his kills don't hit the news. Almost all his victims look as if they weren't aware of their demise. Death delivered in seconds. He's merciful that way.

Done with the last reminder of his nighttime profession, I'm back at Ran's side again and looking down at him. He's so pale-- I have to remind myself that his breathing is not laboured. And that despite the slight frown, he doesn't appear to be in agony. I groan when I hear the door opening behind me again and this time I'm swinging around, prepared to send Ken back to bed one more time.

Messy red hair that for once isn't held back in a yellow bandanna, green jacket that's tossed over an arm-- Heh, should have guessed Schuldich'd show up eventually. Looks like he got dragged out of bed. Wonder how he heard?

#Crawford.# That name appears in my mind as he nods to me and pulls out the chair from across the bed to join my vigil. I glare at him, not appreciating either the physical or mental intrusion. The German's been insufferable since we let him have a key to the place. Schuldich gives me a smirk to let me know that he heard the sentiment as he puts a small brown bag on the blankets over Ran's legs. I grin back and take out a jelly donut from the offered bag before we settle back into the privacy of our thoughts. Am I still wary of him? Nah. Schu's got the grace to stop eavesdropping on us now.

I bite into the donut to distract myself as Schu reaches over to touch Ran's unmoving hand. Why is this Schwartz guy here? Would you believe Ran and Schwartz occasionally work together? Yeah, Ken and I had the same reaction when Ran came back from one of his missions and admitted to their partnership. Practical Ran, he doesn't hold grudges, or rather, has held none since Takatori Reiji. He's freelancing, so technically that means he's got no set loyalties, and therefore no reason to look at the SS and Schwartz as adversaries. Schu's been a regular at the Koneko no Sumu Ie II since then.

It surprised us all really. The guy's actually easy to get a long with if you give him a chance. Okay, it's more like he's starving for company and he tries his best to behave so that we don't throw him out of the shop. The way we figured it, Crawford's too busy with the rebuilding of the SS to give him the time of the day. Nagi's more interested in hanging out with his girlfriend or chatting on the internet with pixel people. Farfarello's hardly a sparkling conversationalist. The poor guy's bored to tears. It amuses him to hang out in the shop with us and fend off our daily fan club of schoolgirls. Or at least that was his initial excuse.

I have to hide my grin with a cough as I recall his early association with us. Honestly, at his age, you'd think he would have more sense than to 'bully' someone to show his interest. Elementary Schoolyard tactics don't work on Ran. How do we feel about it? Oh, wait, Ken's pretty much on 'Cloud 9' over Aya-chan most of the time, if he isn't out with his kids. It took him two weeks to notice Schu regularly camping out near the cash register to disturb Ran. The substantive question is how do *I* feel about it? Possessive, extremely, extremely possessive.

Yeah, I happen to 'like' Ran too, not that I ever showed an earlier inkling to having any feelings that way before. I was too obsessed with Asuka and feeling miserable about my loss of her to think of anything else. Schu just jumpstarted my attention with his appearance. A bit belated, isn't it? Yeah. And to be brutally honest about it, I, in all likelihood would not have begun to think of Ran in that way if Schu hadn't shown an interest in trying to get in his pants. Hey, better late than never, right? What about Asuka? I've accepted that she's dead. Besides, she'd be the first to tell me to accept the situation and get a move on with my life.

Okay, I have to acknowledge that Schu's sincere about it, I remind myself as I swallow the last of the donut and try to squelch my jealousy as Schu reaches over to brush the fringe from Ran's eyes. He really does care about Ran, but so do I. It can get trying between us. Ran's delivered more 'scowls of death' our way than I care to count, for what he thinks is us just horsing around. The most frustrating thing about the whole mess is that he's so innocently oblivious to the real cause.

Schu's released Ran's hand and is just leaning on the bed now. He must have felt my discomfort and jealously for his actions. We catch each other's eye and shrug in understanding at the little liberties we take when Ran isn't fully aware of us. Fn, I wish we could be sure that we won't freak him out if we made an actual move on him. We don't even know what he really feels about engaging in a male/male relationship. Schu won't dare pry cause he doesn't want Ran to be mad with him.

We tried bringing him to a nightclub once and discovered he blushes at any overture. It's endearingly cute, but it doesn't tell us anything since he does it with women as well as men. The only thing we learnt from that little experience is that our little kitten probably never dated much before he became an assassin. We've even speculated over the possibility that Ran's still a virgin. He's still not one to mess with though. Uncomfortable or not, he has a very effective icy glare that can send people scurrying. So the 'damsel in distress' idea went out the window. Ken needed rescuing more than he did. Ran was in pretty good form making sure his future brother-in-law didn't inevitably cheat on his sister. Where his own social situation is concerned though, we're convince the man's wearing blinkers. Has two serious suitors under his nose, and he *doesn't* realise it. Far as we can tell, he thinks we're flirting for fun. It hasn't seemed to sink in that we're serious about it. This? From a guy who played matchmaker with Ken and his sister? Ken, now that he's noticed Schu hanging out with us, could just about die laughing at our failed antics. And of course, our clients love it. I could scream. We might as well be one of the crowds of underage schoolgirls clamouring for his attention.

Strangely, this 'shared misery' brought Schu and me closer as friends rather than pitting us against each other as sworn enemies. Yeah, I was the one who offered him the key. (A point Ken will never let me forget whenever I start bristling to see Schu helping Ran in the kitchen when he's on breakfast duty. I'm not a morning person. Never was, never will be. Yeah, that's one blemish on Ran's character that I will never get over.) With the amount of time Schu spends over here, he practically lives with us anyway. Of course, it has nothing to do with the jelly donuts or fresh bagels and cream he regularly brings to us for snacks. Or that wonderful coffee he makes that easily shames our efforts... well okay, that contributed to the decision. No one objected. We've sort of grown accustomed to him.

Why don't *we* get it together since our shared object of lust is so clueless? Two dominants don't mix well. Yeah, we tried. Neither of us were willing to give in. Schu catches me wincing at the memory and his eyes regard me curiously. I push the recollection at him and am rewarded with a groan that echoes my sentiments as he buries his face in his hands.

It was an unmitigated *disaster*. We made the stupidest move of our existence when we started the attempt in the living room downstairs. How were we to know that Ran would be coming home early from his reconnaissance? We were so engrossed in our struggle for domination we didn't hear him coming in by the roof access in his mission room. So we ended up overturning the couch and landing on the floor just as he came down the stairs on the way to the laundry room, per his normal routine after an active evening out. Guess he thought the noise we were making was coming from the TV. Boy, was he proven wrong. With the state of undress we were in, Ran got an eye full. I couldn't say who's face was redder.

He bolted back up the stairs and we distinctly heard his room door slam before we had a chance to scramble to our feet. Ken, the little jerk, didn't help one bit. All he had the strength to do was hang onto his room's doorjamb and laugh at us. Ran couldn't look at either of us for a whole week after that without blushing. Worse, he kept trying to get out of *our* way until Ken broke down to clue him that it was an experimental fling and that we *weren't* a couple. It's a matter of pride that we didn't let Ken explain to him that *he* was the object of our pursuit though.

Schu's peeking at me from between the fingers of his hand as I take a deep breath and let it out again in a huff at that recollection. His other hand comes out to make a waving-tilting motion about what followed. Yep, I thought he'd feel the same about it. Did we give up that night? Nah, the whole situation was already in enough of a mess that we thought we might as well go the whole hog and make it worth our while. Though, we moved it over to a hotel room to give it another try rather than take it up in my room. Didn't want to let the kitten hear us through the walls and embarrass him any further. But like I said, two dominants don't mix well. Overall, it wasn't that disappointing a night, but we'd rather not do it again. After that little adventure though-- God help me control these hentai thoughts of sharing Ran.

Damn. Schu just jerked his head up to stare at me. I didn't mean to project that image. Bracing myself for some merciless teasing, I sit myself upright and give him a challenging look. I think I heard my jaw hit the floor. Whoa! I pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming. Did he just do what I thought he did? That was *graphic*. Heh, guess I'm not the only hentai in this room. Looks like he's been dreaming about it too. Schu has his elbows on the bed while his head's resting on his hands as he grins at me and I find myself giving him an answering grin as wide as his own while we're sharing some mental images. Is this freaky or what? I swear, we're leering at each other and exchanging hentai images over our mutual object of lust. If we don't watch out, we're going to start drooling on Ran's sheets, that is, if the gushing nosebleeds don't start first. Darn the tight pants.

A small noise from the man in the bed shakes us out of our lurid reverie. We drop all other thoughts as we reposition ourselves around him. Ran eyelids start to flicker and it isn't long before a pair of tired lavender eyes peer up at us.

"How do you feel?"

"Hurts." His voice is dry and raspy.

Schu and I waste no time in getting painkillers and a glass of water for him. We've seemed to come to an understanding, Schu and I. We easily slide into a ready position to support Ran between us to help him take the pills and water. Schu's hands are over his to steady the glass, while I'm supporting his back and rubbing it soothingly, careful to avoid the area where the wounds lie.

"Knew you were too stubborn to die on us." Schu's tone is light enough to draw an answering scowl from Ran.

"Feel up to telling us what happened?" Wish I didn't have to ask. But I need the debriefing to know if Ken and I need to do any follow up to cover his tracks, and to retrieve his car.

"Amateur PI stumbled in, shook up security in the building. Guards got him." Ran sounds a little shaky as he pushes the glass away from him. We can see that he's pale as much from pain as he is from blood loss. "Got my target. Lost one dagger escaping. It's clean, not traceable. Couldn't handle the gears so the Porsche's still parked in the hospital garage two blocks from my target. Covered my tracks before I came back."

Schu catches me rolling my eyes behind Ran. Gotta love Ran's economy of words. We both know the sort of targets he takes on. Security is usually top notch and swarming with guards. He probably had to fight his way out. Makes me wonder whether or not he had to shake pursuit, and how much time he spent wandering around the city, criss-crossing his own trail after that to make sure he couldn't be tracked down before he came home. We can both tell that Ran's about done in. He needs rest more than anything else right now. We can call Doc in the morning to give him a through check up.

The next few minutes start to get surreal as the painkillers work their magic. Ran's posture is starting to sag-- and without a show of self-consciousness about it, he's leaning into my arms to use me like a pillow. It doesn't miss our notice either that he kept one hand holding on to Schu's. I can feel a grin pulling on my lips as he snuggles up against me. He must have been happy to see us after all.

Schu gives me a wry grin as he helps me settle back on the mattress without dislodging Ran against my chest and without making him loosen the grip about his hand. Ran's already out like a light by the time Schu toes off his shoes and slides into bed with us. #Maybe he wasn't as oblivious as we thought he was?# Schu pushes the thought at me as he pulls the blankets over us.

Yeah, maybe not. Talk about being unobservant. I'm starting to wonder whether Schu and I were driving Ran crazy with our smothering rivalry. Though, I also ponder whether or not Ran's aware of what he just did with us. Was this really a conscious action or did the painkillers make him careless? He certainly didn't appear to encourage either of us previously.

#You worry too much, You-tan.#

/Don't want to traumatise the kid, SchuSchu./ I think to him, knowing that Schu's listening with his mind. We must really be connecting, Schu and I. Here we are, me cradling Ran in my arms, Schu curled up on his other side with Ran's hand gripping his shirt, having shifted there after Schu settled in with us, and we're not snarling at each other.

#Guess-- we've agreed?#

/Have to do this carefully, you know?/ I reminded him softly. /He's made a motion towards acceptance, but we don't want to freak him out by coming on to him too fast./

#Right. If he wasn't so out of it, he probably wouldn't have made this move. We can stick with cuddling for now# Schu's grinning from ear to ear now as he strokes a hand over the one holding his shirt. #Heh, I was wondering why Crawford was looking so embarrassed when he booted me out of bed and told me to run over.#

I look over Ran's head at him in disbelief. I thought Crawford was a homophobe. He certainly expressed clear enough disapproval over our flirty ways that one time he visited us at the shop. If he actually foresaw all of this...

#Yeah, ol' stick up his ass is a romantic after all.# Schu shares the memory with me, and I can't help but snicker with him at the image of the man whose face was as red as a tomato. #He kept muttering something about us not ever forgiving him if he didn't send me over. Wasn't awake enough to understand what he meant then.#

/So we're going to be doing good, heh?/ I can feel my smile matching his.

#Yep.#

I guess Ran must be feeling cold, or maybe he doesn't think that we're near enough. He just tugged Schu closer and it gets very cosy as Schu obliges by draping his arm over my waist and hooking his leg around mine so that we have Ran cuddled between us. Schu's starting to purr like a cat that caught the canary and snared a whole vat of cream for dessert. I can't say I blame him, I feel the same way too as I feel Ran shifting in his sleep to let me spoon behind him. My belated worry that my erection is still present fades as I fit myself against him. He's drugged out and hurting, that's enough to kill any lecherous feeling Schu and I were sharing earlier. Neither of us have any intention of taking unfair advantage. But once he's better...

I hope Ken doesn't decide to check on us again and catch us like this. I want to be awake to see his expression when he finds out that Schu and I finally got through to Ran. That would be something to see.

Schu opens one eye at me at my thought. #Will wake you up if I hear him coming. I can't wait to see KenKen's expression too. Now go to sleep. It's late.#

I breathe a puff of contentment into the red hair against my face as I happily snuggle up against Ran and Schu. Heh, I wonder how we're going to explain this to Ran when he wakes up?