Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ In Two ❯ Chapter 1
Anime/Manga: Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Shounen / Hentai / Drama / Comedy | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 10.19.2014 | Pages: 14 | Words: 12.2K | Visits: 500 | Status: Completed
“In Two”
by Viridian5
10/14/14
RATING: NC-17; Yoji/Aya. If m/m interaction bothers you, pass
this by.
SPOILERS: Some spoilers for “Mission 6: Fraulein-- The Image
of a Girl,” “Mission 16: Schatten-- Return to
Battle,” and “Mission 21: Trane-- Memories”;
small spoilers for Crashers Knight and Ran volumes 1 and 2.
SUMMARY: While they’re undercover as gay boyfriends,
Yoji’s not so sure that Aya is just pretending.
ARCHIVAL/DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere, as long as you ask me first.
FEEDBACK: can be sent to Viridian5@aol.com.
DISCLAIMERS: All things Weiß Kreuz belong to Koyasu
Takehito, Project Weiß, Polygram k.k., and Animate Film. No
infringement intended.
NOTES: Sequel to “All-Time
Low” in the Something Else series. Read-through and
audiencing by Rosaleendhu and Esinde Nayrall.
================
“In Two”
by Viridian5
================
By the time Yoji left Aya’s room, he felt that he’d gone through enough “gay boyfriend training” for the night’s mission to no longer flinch in shock at Aya hugging, kissing, or hell, even just touching him. That didn’t mean he didn’t still flinch somewhat in his mind, but he could disguise a physical reaction now.
Though in some ways it would have been easier for him if Aya hadn’t been acting so sexy, since sexy, slinky, on-the-make Aya kept breaking his brain, especially since he shouldn’t be reacting this way to a guy, let alone Aya. He also wished Aya would show some sign of being disturbed over the gay things the night’s mission would make them do. If Yoji had to feel this off-balance, he should have company in it.
Maybe it’d be easier if Yoji didn’t think of him as Aya. He could use the name Aya told him to use for him during the mission, “Ran.”
Nah, nothing would help. The clubbing clothes Aya wore tonight made him look slimmer and more delicate than his usual bulky mission and flower shop outfits, and his shiny lips and the smoky black kohl around his eyes made him look sexier, but Aya’s coloring made him way too distinctive for Yoji to succeed in pretending.
But that softer, sexy, come-hither routine Aya currently had going on fascinated Yoji too, because he wouldn’t have thought Aya could pull that off at all, let alone so convincingly, and he wanted to study it longer.
When they showed up to get their communication gear put on them, Omi looked at them appreciatively but Ken laughed, picked up a Polaroid camera, and said, “Smile!” Hell no. Aya made it worse by unexpectedly grabbing Yoji by the neck with one arm and kissing his cheek in a flash of slightly tingling heat. Damn it! At least Aya let go and felt more like the usual Aya once Ken put the camera down. Ken chortled as he shook the photo to make the image appear.
When Yoji saw it, he noticed that Aya had made a victory sign with his other hand. “What is wrong with you today?” Yoji asked him, annoyed that it came out as a whine.
“Do you remember all the times you messed with me just for the fun of it? I’m just starting the payback,” Aya replied. “Besides, it’s the kind of the thing you would do. I’m getting into character.”
That didn’t matter. “Payback’s a bitch and so are you?”
Aya shrugged.
“You suck. I actually like you better when you don’t have a sense of humor. And why the hell would you let Ken put an image like that on film? What if the fangirls saw it?”
Omi said, looking too serious, “You’re right. That picture might get us more business.”
While Aya shot Yoji a venomous look for giving Omi the idea, Yoji moaned, “I’m having a terrible day.”
“You don’t want to do that, Omi,” Aya said. “We’ll no doubt just get more fangirls squealing and underfoot who don’t buy anything.”
“I suppose.”
“If I know it’s destined for public display, I also won’t rest until that photo is destroyed.”
Thankfully, Omi smiled and answered, “I won’t display it in public since I don’t want to discourage you from doing fun, spontaneous things in the future. You have my solemn word.”
“Good.”
Tonight was going to suck.
As usual, Omi taped Aya’s communication gear on, no doubt to get an official excuse to feel up Aya’s chest. The kid had an obvious thing for Aya, something Yoji didn’t mind, partly because he found it amusing, and see, he had no problem with gayness. He just didn’t want to be personally involved in any. As Ken put Yoji’s on he did it as quickly as possible, as it should be.
Omi and Aya together as a couple created such a ridiculous mental image, like a Shih Tzu attempting to get it on with a Doberman Pinscher. Yoji wondered if Omi would be even more attracted to Aya if he’d seen him earlier today, when Aya was totally acting the part of a sensual, softer, look-at-me gay boyfriend, though for all Yoji knew Omi preferred Aya grumpy, stoic, and standoffish.
At least the equipment wouldn’t be on all the time to hear everything he and Aya had to say to one another while playacting same-sex bliss. No way Yoji could’ve done this mission if that had been a necessity.
As Yoji and Aya went to get their coats and boots, Ken said, “Have fun!” with a way too chipper voice. Bastard.
At the closet, Aya took Yoji’s coat out and presented it to him as if he wanted to help him put it on. “Hell no,” Yoji said. “I told you I’m not the woman.”
“I told you it doesn’t work that way, and I meant this as a thoughtful, romantic gesture for our characters, but if you have a problem with it....” Aya tossed the coat at Yoji’s face, too fast for Yoji to catch it with anything but his face. By the time he pulled it off his head and could see again, Aya already had his own coat on and began to strap a sheathed knife to the outer side of each of his shins.
“That was real fucking mature, Aya.”
“You asked for it.”
“Does this mean you’ll be a bitch all night if I don’t play along to everything you want?”
“No. I would just appreciate it if you didn’t set us up for failure before we even left the house. Make your decision and commit to it, Kudou.” He chose boots with top openings large enough that he could easily reach in to take out the knives but not large enough for other people to notice the knife hilts.
“You’re so gung ho, but you can’t playact a happy couple all by yourself. You need me.”
“I didn’t suggest otherwise.”
“So you have to treat me right.”
“I’ve already done so much negotiation with you today that it’s like we actually are in a relationship.”
Yoji didn’t really have a smart answer for that, so he just said, “We’ll take my car.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m less pissy when I’m in control of at least something,” Yoji snapped back.
To his surprise, Aya replied, “Oh. That’s worth it then.” Aya stood up, changed his body language and facial expression back to his “sexy gay boyfriend” setting, and purred, “Coming?” in a way that made Yoji unwillingly get a little bit hard. Damn it.
Aya stayed silent during the ride, which should have been preferable to Yoji than getting more of the “sexy gay Aya” routine. Should have been. Needing some conversation, Yoji asked him, “You are aware that Omi feels you up every time he wires you up for comms, right? You’re aware that he’s into you?” If Aya hadn’t been before, he certainly should be now.
“I’m aware. I’m not blind, Kudou. Or insensate.” At least he answered as regular Aya. And he stopped looking out the window, became more present, and deigned to act as if Yoji still existed.
“Then why haven’t you said anything? Told him to keep his hands to himself? Or said you’re into him too, since you keep letting him feel you up?” Given how well Aya played at being gay, he might actually be gay.
“I’m not ‘into’ him, and if I let him know I was aware of what he was doing I’d have to bring everything out into the open and tell him that. I don’t mind the status quo, and he does a better, more thorough job at placing the gear than Ken does. If Omi really wants matters to change, he can come out and tell me he wants me. Since he hasn’t, maybe the status quo is okay with him too.”
Well, yeah, but... “Or maybe he’s scared to ask you, since you can be pretty intimidating to try to talk to.”
“Yet not so scary and intimidating that he’s too afraid to grope me before almost every mission?”
“That was actually logical. I hate you.”
“I know.” Aya sounded entirely too smug about it.
“So?”
“So what?”
“So who or what are you into?”
“I never agreed to bare my soul to you. Also, ‘what’? I don’t have sexual relationships with objects.”
Yoji hadn’t meant it that way, but he had to joke along. “Really? There are some really good sextoys out there.... Plus, there’s the way you handle your katana....”
“You haven’t suddenly become my confidant.”
“It’s not healthy to keep things bottled up inside.”
“I’ve found that it’s not healthy--for me or people around me--to let too many things out.” Aya sounded completely serious and somewhat sad.
Now Yoji really wanted to know, but Aya said, “We should probably park here. The club is popular enough that it’s almost impossible to find parking closer, especially at this time of night when it’s in full swing.”
“All right,” Yoji answered, “but if I find an open spot during our walk to the club I’m going to whine about it.”
“I’d be more surprised if you didn’t.”
“You shouldn’t insult your boyfriend so much.”
Aya rolled his eyes and answered, “But you whine so cutely, Yo-chan.”
“Fuck you.”
“If you’re lucky.”
To think, Yoji had been complaining that Aya didn’t speak enough.
Yoji noticed two open parking spots during their walk and twitted Aya about them. It would’ve been nice to park closer from how damned cold it was outside. They both hunched against the icy wind, but Yoji noticed Aya putting a sexy bit of sway into his walk as they reached the club. It made him increase his own sexy swagger, though not to the point that he became a cartoon or a stereotype.
Omi’s voice in his ear let him know that Omi and Ken had also found a parking spot so they could wait in their car as backup. Before Yoji could say to Aya that Omi and Ken probably had a closer spot, Aya replied, “Don’t even start, Yotan.”
It surprised Yoji that he enjoyed hearing Aya call him “Yotan,” even in that annoyed tone of voice, but maybe it shouldn’t since Aya probably called him “Kudou” so often as a distancing tactic. With how much time they spent working together and all the times Yoji had his back and saved his life on the job, Aya should damned well use Yoji’s personal name or an affectionate nickname for him.
The club’s doorman didn’t appear to turn anyone away, but he and some of the other men on their way in gave Yoji and Aya some very appreciative looks anyway, even with their long coats still on. If Yoji had to be a gay man out on the town, he’d rather have a pretty piece like Aya on his arm than a guy like, say, Ken. Yoji had standards.
Aya became ever more sexy Ran as they entered, reminding Yoji to keep his own act going. Since Aya had been feeling so chivalrous earlier, Yoji handed him his coat too to give to the coat check people and walked to the bar to start scoping the place out, figuring out the best places to be see and be seen in. The club mostly seemed and sounded like one of Yoji’s clubs except that it didn’t have any women in it, not even as bartenders, waitresses, and coat check girls. Instead of bemoaning the lack of pretty scenery, he decided to see it as helping him stay in character by getting rid of temptation.
That Yoji, what a comedian. No way Aya would pay for both coats when they returned to retrieve them.
When he looked toward the bar area, he saw three men confronting Yoji. Wait, not confronting. Propositioning maybe. Seeing their posture, Aya upgraded that to a definitely. Yoji had a nervous set to his shoulders that someone who knew him could recognize. One of the men walked away, perhaps managing to read Yoji’s tension, but the other two remained. The sudden blast of anger and possessiveness Aya felt surprised him.
Running over would look too suspicious in this crowd so Aya just walked as quickly as he could. When he reached Yoji he slung an arm over his shoulder, smiled, cast a very direct look at Yoji’s two suitors, and said, “Yotan, you always manage to make friends so quickly.”
“Sorry. Like I said, I’m already here with somebody, and he’s pretty possessive,” Yoji told them.
“His answer is no,” Aya said as he let a bit of Abyssinian show in his eyes. His Yoji!
When Yoji’s swains left with mumbled polite words, Yoji relaxed a little and let some relief show. It made Aya smirk and say, “This is a club, not prison. You could give them a more forceful no if the polite version didn’t work.” He could laugh about it now that they were gone.
Yoji’s laugh wasn’t all amusement. “Hey, they came at me in a group, and desire is a powerful thing.”
“If I can curb my desire to do things to you, surely they can.”
“Wait! What kind of things do you want to do to me?” Then Yoji calmed down a bit. “Just kill me, right? You threaten it often enough.”
Aya patted his back then slid his hand down to briefly stroke the bared skin at the small of Yoji’s back, telling himself he could excuse it as part of their cover. Yoji should consider himself lucky that Aya hadn’t ended that downsweep with a smack on his pert ass because he couldn’t portray a gay couple on his own if Yoji ran away screaming into the night. “I haven’t done any of them, now have I. C’mon, let’s check this place out. I’m especially interested in the upper level. Or you could stay at the bar alone and maybe fend off more men trying to pick you up.”
“I’m with you.”
“I figured you’d say that.”
As they both stood at the railing on the edge of the club’s partial second level, Aya realized that someone could see almost everything in the club from here, a perfect vantage point for a predator. When he leaned into Yoji to covertly share that with him... and nuzzle his neck... Yoji shuddered at the touch of his lips and whispered, “This view is probably why this is his favorite place to hunt. Maybe we should stay up here.”
“There isn’t much room for a lot of people here. I don’t think he’d choose victims who are up here with him because it’s more likely he’d be remembered leaving with them, so downstairs is the place we should be if we want to act as bait. Plus, I think we should check out the whole of the club’s layout and take a turn on the dance floor.”
“You’re seriously going to dance? You even know how? You usually hug the bar on most of our club missions.”
As Aya kept nuzzling, it pleased him that Yoji wore a cologne he liked tonight and hadn’t splashed on too much the way Yoji sometimes liked to do. “Yes and yes. It’s a good opportunity to prove what a close, loving couple we are.”
“You’re going to dance dirty with me?” Yoji sounded simultaneously nervous and intrigued.
“Yes.” Feeling evil, Aya said, “If I’m not dancing with you sexily enough, I give you permission to amp us up. It’s important for the mission.” He might be revealing too much of himself tonight, but the rare opportunity to have Yoji couldn’t be ignored. He allowed himself so little, so couldn’t he let himself have a little something tonight, a break from the tragedies of--and resulting self-denial in--his life? It’d be satisfying to give Yoji a taste of his own medicine too.
Aya couldn’t help a small grin as Yoji took in a deep breath and said, “For the mission.”
“For the mission. Let’s go back downstairs.”
Although Aya tried to lead him in, Yoji refused to walk another step forward into the dark space of the room in front of them because he knew what the musky scent and soft, wet sounds and moans he heard meant. He couldn’t see well enough in the darkness to tell whether the people there were just making out or having full-on gay sex, and he’d rather not be any closer to them to find out. Even though he felt unwillingly intrigued by Aya and even enjoyed the nuzzling-- it’d felt good and he was a hedonist, so sue him--no way he wanted to be near a bunch of strange guys in the dark as they did gay things together and maybe thought a slim, pretty guy like him was a bottom. He couldn’t do those things, he just couldn’t. Fuck the mission. Some of the clubs he went to had areas like this, and he’d even used some of them, but not here, not now, and not like this.
But Aya could be fiercely unsympathetic to other people’s problems and fears and might take advantage of their cover to demand he investigate up close anyway. He didn’t think he could afford to start an argument here.
They’d gone far enough into the darkness that he couldn’t see Aya’s face to get an idea of his reaction to his refusal to go further. Yoji said, “C’mon, Ran, let’s dance instead,” and nearly vibrated as he waited in dread for Aya’s response.
Aya’s hand grabbed his and tightened around it, but not in a forceful demanding way, in a comforting way. “All right. Let’s dance.” As he leaned in close to Yoji, he whispered, “We’re here to be seen anyway, and there’s no chance of that in this area. He won’t go groping around in here looking for victims. Don’t worry about it.” Not a word said about Yoji’s cowardice and squeamishness.
“Thanks,” Yoji murmured back as he kissed what turned out to be Aya’s nose. Usually he’d think that Aya probably just didn’t want to go that deeply into making out with him either but couldn’t currently believe that, not with how Aya had been all day so far and how unexpectedly caring Aya had sounded. It blew his mind.
As Aya pulled Yoji out of darkness and toward the colorful flashing lights of the dance floor, he had a challenging look in his eyes, daring Yoji. “You’re really going to dance sexy out where people can see you, Ran?” Yoji yelled to him over the pounding music.
The commanding “get over here” gesture Aya directed at him couldn’t be misinterpreted. Yes, sir.
They started out facing each other, and damned if Aya didn’t do exactly the kind of dancing he’d promised, starting with full-on crotch-to-crotch frottage with his hands draped possessively on Yoji’s ass, thumbs sometimes stroking the bare skin just above the top of his pants. Yoji’s dick really liked it. It also really enjoyed Aya grinding his ass against it, and Aya’s ass looked damned fine in shiny, tight, curve-hugging leather. Who wouldn’t get hard with some wild, pretty thing giving him the business? Who knew Aya had this in him? Aside from dancing dirty, Aya grinned, whipped his hair, shot hot lusty looks at Yoji, and, from the look of the front of his pants, got hard himself.
Aya couldn’t be that good an actor, so was he into guys? It sure as hell seemed like it. But maybe he was just into Yoji. Almost everybody was.
But whenever some other guy tried to grind his dick against Yoji’s ass, Aya thankfully pulled him away. Knowing that Aya had his back killed any lingering discomfort over the situation for Yoji, making him feel almost safe.
Yoji could feel some of the other guys in the club watching them and lusting after them. Understandable, and it was even good for the mission. Sensing all that attention made him feel even sexier and hornier... as long they continued just looking but not touching.
The longer they danced, the longer Aya teased and the more Yoji wanted to bend him over a table and give it to him hard. Yoji had enjoyed some backdoor lovin’ with some of his ladies in the past, so he had some ideas of what to do and how good it could feel. Assfucking wasn’t gay if it wasn’t some guy doing it to your ass. At a moment when Aya faced him, he put a finger through the O-ring dangling from Aya’s black leather choker and pulled him in closer for a hot, deep kiss that Aya reciprocated, which made parts of their bodies rub enticingly against each other again.
With all that going on, Yoji didn’t notice the... weird feeling on his chest at first, but as he felt it sliding along his skin he started getting concerned and became even more concerned when he realized the comm equipment taped to his chest under his top was coming loose and moving downward. While that had happened a few times on missions before and he hadn’t cared as long as he could keep communicating with the others and it didn’t get in his way, usually he didn’t have his midriff bared to the world in front of strangers when it occurred. Anybody around him would soon be able to see it, and while regular club people might just think it was some decoration or get-up their dark beast could get suspicious of it and flee the scene before they noticed him.
Aya’s roving hands must have come across it too because he pulled Yoji off the dance floor and into a shadowy area. “Here’s a peril of heterosexuality,” he whispered into Yoji’s ear. “Ken wants to get his hands off you so fast that he’s not as careful and thorough as Omi when putting this on.”
“Ha, ha. Can you just fix it?” Yoji answered.
“Yes, though I’ll have to grope you in the process since it’ll help us retain our cover too. I hope you’re okay with it. I know that everything we’ve been doing so far is just an act.” Aya sounded way too amused.
“I’m expecting it, and I don’t even mind right now.” His cock was only rock hard for Aya as part of their cover, yeah.
Aya kept his promise, shamelessly groping as he moved the equipment and his hands under Yoji’s top. Although Yoji thought Aya didn’t have to fiddle with his nipples so much while refastening everything properly, he couldn’t know for sure. Either way, his nipples could currently cut glass they’d gone so hard, surprising since usually that didn’t do anything for him.
Unable to take it anymore, Yoji decided to grab Aya and sexily relieve his frustrations with him, make him stop teasing him and put out. It’d even help their cover. He’d explode otherwise.
Unfortunately, Aya pointed at the door, whispered into Yoji’s ear, “That might be our man,” and did a very fast walk away to follow him.
Yoji saw an obviously sober man leading two very drunk or stoned men outside. It might or might not be their dark beast--it could be a designated driver instead--but they had to investigate him.
It didn’t decrease Yoji’s lust at all, and he wondered how Aya could walk so fast with an erection since he had some difficulty. If Aya actually still had that much of an erection after leaving the direct stimulation of the frottage on the dance floor, where any guy would get hard. Maybe Aya had just been messing with him during the nipple thing? Yoji needed to find out, dammit.
Aya had left without his coat, so when Yoji went past the coat check guy he said, “When he needs air, he really needs air. We’ll be right back.” On their way in, club goers got a wristband from the door guy so they could go outside and come back in during the same night, making Yoji confident that they could accost the guy outdoors then return for their coats.
He couldn’t run as fast as Aya but moved as quickly as he could. No way he’d leave Aya--even if Aya had been fucking with his head instead of his more deserving bits--without backup, especially when Aya just had two knives--that he’d have to thoroughly change his fighting style to use, no less--instead of his trusty katana.
It would look even more suspicious if he and Yoji simultaneously left the club at a run, so Aya went out alone and trusted Yoji to come out to back him up after. This guy might not be their guy, so Aya intended to catch up and say that the drunk guys were his friends and ask if they were okay. If this turned out to be an innocent designated driver situation and the inebriated understandably didn’t recognize him, he’d claim mistaken identity since he saw them leave at a distance. Keeping that in mind, he tried to keep his pace at a little above a normal run instead of a breakneck “cheetah chasing down prey” speed. The running also prevented him from really feeling the cold.
Aya didn’t appreciate the timing. He’d proven beyond a doubt that Kudou’s hedonism far outweighed his supposed heterosexuality and they’d started to really get somewhere, then this. After this distraction Yoji might remember how straight he was supposed to be and not be as amenable to seduction and exploring gay sex with Aya by the time they could be alone together again. All of Aya’s work and time could be ruined. Someone needed to pay.
The possible dark beast manhandled the two men into the backseat of his car, which could be an admission of guilt or just struggling with drunk people. Catching up, Aya asked, “Hey, are you guys all--”
The sober man swung a tire iron at him, which Aya dodged, then continued to attack him with it in a way that suggested some martial arts training. Definitely a dark beast.
Good.
As he got a line of sight on the goings on, Yoji turned his comm on and said, “Bombay, we may be facing down the target. He followed the MO of our dark beast and he’s currently trying to beat Abyssinian to death with a tire iron.” Usually Yoji would make some joke about the target maybe just wanting to kill Aya for being Aya but couldn’t tonight, not under these circumstances. “Backup would be appreciated.” Then he provided the location as he increased his speed. Aya better appreciate his pain and suffering.
“Got it, Balinese,” Omi answered. “We’re on our way.” They might not be in time though.
Yoji wished he could lend Aya a hand by slinging his wire over there, but Aya and his opponent moved and circled too quickly for him to get a clear path to just the target’s neck. Normally he’d figure Aya could handle the fight, but tonight Aya just had two small knives against the length, weight, and reach of that tire iron. Normally Aya would probably be beating the guy to death with his scabbard by now.
Damn, the sound that tire iron made as it whooshed around so close and quickly to Aya, and it had to sound much worse closer up. Although Yoji debated yelling to let Aya know he was coming and possibly distract and discourage the target, he decided not to since it might distract Aya too. He hated feeling this helpless! It made him put on an extra burst of speed.
The target obviously noticed Yoji from the look on his face and the way he abruptly stiffened. Aya took advantage of that instant’s hesitation by ducking beneath the man’s guard and stabbing him in the stomach with both knives then tearing with them. Screaming, the man brought the tire iron down hard, and Aya didn’t completely dodge out of the way.... Horrified, jumping forward, Yoji slung his wire around the guy’s neck and yanked with all his strength, slicing deeply as he strangled him. The target’s weapon fell to the ground, then his corpse, still caught within Yoji’s wire, which Yoji reeled back in before he moved to Aya’s side. Kneeling, head down and hair covering his face, Aya’s hunched posture spoke of pain.
“Aya!”
Aya looked up, his expression twisted a bit. “He just hit my upper arm. It doesn’t feel broken; I’ve broken enough bones to know.” The harsh, somewhat breathless sound of his voice also made his pain obvious.
“I don’t know if I trust you to tell me the truth about that. You spend way too much time trying to seem like a badass.”
The strength of Aya’s death glare hadn’t been diluted by his injury at all.
Omi and Ken drove up and rushed out of their van, Ken with plastic to wrap the corpse in and Omi with a medical kit. “Bombay, don’t let Abyssinian fool you,” Yoji said. “He got hit in the left arm hard. With a tire iron.”
“It’ll need to get X-rayed,” Omi said.
“We can’t leave yet,” Aya answered as he tucked his knives back into his boots one-handed. “We got a guy, but it might not be our guy.”
“Are you kidding me?” Yoji asked, shocked and angry. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“We don’t know what he looks like, and this guy didn’t give me a chance to interrogate him. I believe in being thorough. We can put my arm in a sling for now and go to the hospital after the club closes. It’s only three more hours.”
“What if I say no?” Yoji asked. “What if I refuse to help you in this... lunacy? We can’t get Ken kitted up in time, Omi would face too much scrutiny with how young he looks, and neither of them work for the dark beast’s preferences anyway, if our dark beast is even still loose, so it’d have to be me as your backup and I refuse. You can’t take him on alone with one small knife and a badly injured arm. Give up your suicidal pride and, and... just give up!”
“I’d do it alone.” Aya gave him this look, this vulnerable, imploring look.... “But I’d prefer to do it with you.”
That look and admission battered at Yoji’s defenses, so he tried to appeal to a higher authority. “Bombay....”
“I don’t really like it, but it is only three more hours and I’d prefer to be sure,” Omi said. “I won’t let him go in there alone, not even with me and Siberian sitting outside as backup, but it’d be okay if you’re in there with him. You’re used to spending the whole night out in a club anyway.”
This mission, this dark beast, had seemed more important to Omi than usual from the start. If the kid was gay, the way he often seemed to be, this one might really hit home for him.
Damn it. “...fine. But we’re going straight to a hospital after this!”
“That’s fine with me,” Aya answered softly.
Omi used a tight wrap of bandaging to apply some compression on Aya’s swelling upper arm and even had a black arm sling for him. Yoji didn’t know what to say about that. (He didn’t say anything about Omi lightly molesting Aya throughout it either, especially when he had Aya’s shirt off to apply bandaging. If asked about it, the sneaky kid would probably say he was just trying to keep Aya warm.) At least Omi surprised Aya with what seemed to be an injection of painkiller, and Aya looked less strained and somewhat fuzzier after it. Too bad Omi wanted them to continue the mission just in case they hadn’t gotten their man, because Yoji would’ve been fine with shooting Aya up with happy juice and just taking him to a hospital while he couldn’t resist.
Ken came back from putting the corpse in the van and said, “His intended targets are out cold, so we don’t have to worry about them being witnesses, but what do we do with them?”
“I’m sure they wouldn’t thank us for it, but I say we call the police to alert them to two unconscious men out on the street,” Omi said. “We’ll put a blanket over them to keep ’em warm until their pickup arrives. Balinese, get Abyssinian back inside. He’s shivering.”
“That could be shock!” Yoji protested.
“Nah, I know what that looks like. He’s just cold, especially since he’s injured and his adrenaline rush is fading.”
How was this his life? At least the odds that a second guy would target gay couples in that club tonight were ridiculously low.
His arm hurt less, but his head swam. He’d forgotten how sneaky Omi could be, always a bad mistake. Hopefully this drug wouldn’t screw him up too badly. Still, he had Yoji returning to a gay club with him for another three hours, so he hadn’t entirely lost. Pain or no pain, he didn’t want his night out with Yoji to end yet, didn’t want their unusual intimacy to end yet. His injury narrowed his options for teasing Yoji, but he’d make do somehow. Happily, he could justify it by also using the time to make sure Weiß had the dark beast it had come here for.
Yoji might not believe it, but it really didn’t feel like the tire iron had broken his arm, though the bruising would be spectacular. Hopefully the swelling would be less so. Aya had moved one of his knives to hide inside the sling but hoped he wouldn’t have to use it.
As they returned to the club, some of the people at the entrance gave them odd looks, which Yoji answered with “He thought he could go without the sling and party as usual. He was wrong.” Then he gently and affectionately pulled Aya in closer to himself while managing not to touch his injured arm. That and the need to maintain their cover spared him the glare Aya wanted to give him.
Yoji sat them at the bar and ordered a drink for himself. “None for you, Ran, since you’re medicated.” Once it arrived, he leaned in close to ask, “So, are you gay or what?”
“How doped up do you think I am?”
Yoji grinned. “A little. C’mon, throw me a bone.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to do all night.” To Aya’s gratification, Yoji nearly spat out his drink. His moment of vulnerability earlier had obviously gotten to Yoji, so Aya said, “I wouldn’t call myself ‘gay.’ I’m just more into men these days.”
“But you haven’t really done anything with it. You can barely stand to even be around people most of the time.”
“Lately.” He’d been attracted to Kikyou, and Kikyou had certainly seemed attracted to him, but nothing had ever come of it, fortunately given how horribly things had ended. Ditto Botan. But Yuushi, Yuushi had been niiiiiice....
Fuck, Aya felt nearly high. How strong had the shit in that needle been?
“How much experience have you had?” Yoji asked, sounding nearly scandalized, the hypocrite.
“A gentleman never tells.”
Yoji looked at him, really looked at him, then asked, “Are you into me?”
Aya had to smirk. “Isn’t everyone?”
“Well, yeah, but....”
“Don’t panic on me.”
So everything earlier hadn’t just been Aya messing with his head. Aya wanted him. Given the slightly vague look in his eyes, he probably had the painkiller making him more open, enough to admit to it. Maybe some more fishing could get Aya to tell him for how long.
He remembered putting Aya in his bed and watching over him until he came to when Aya’s first visit to the flower shop had led to a “welcome in” fistfight and mutual knockout with Ken. Something about Aya had appealed to his chivalric instincts. Had Aya felt something in return from that? Had the attraction started then and Aya just hadn’t been able to handle it? Yoji remembered tonight’s kisses and dirty dancing and the way his body had reacted to them.
He remembered how his heart had stopped when the tire iron had struck Aya down, worse than it should even for a teammate.
Aya had shown him a sexy side and a softer side tonight. Had they been for real or all an act? If they were real pieces of Aya, Yoji... might be interested in return. Enough to give things a try, anyway.
It seemed that Aya knew his way around gay sex from past experience. (How much past experience?) He could show Yoji things.... The thought of it made his cock rise with interest.
Yoji took a deep drink of his martini.
Aya leaned his good side against Yoji and rested his head atop Yoji’s shoulder, which felt surprisingly good. “Is it okay?” he whispered into Yoji’s ear. “You don’t have to feel anything back.”
Now his heart ached as well as his cock and balls. “It’s totally okay. I’ll have to think about how I feel in some other ways, but it is totally okay.” When he gently set one finger on Aya’s lower lip, Aya’s tongue tip peeked out to touch it, which sent what seemed like a bolt of lightning through his cock and made him remember his earlier desire to bend Aya over a table and fuck him hard. “Okay, I feel things back.”
“Good.”
Would Aya still remember, feel, and think all this stuff once the painkiller wore off? He’d displayed some of this even before the shot, but Yoji wanted to be sure. “I’m keeping you under observation during and after your hospital visit later.” Aya currently wasn’t in the right shape for anything strenuous anyway.
“Mmmm.”
“Excuse me,” a handsome stranger said from beside Yoji. “Is he all right?”
“Yeah. Well, kinda,” Yoji answered, annoyed but trying to be polite. “He’s on painkillers yet still hurting, but he really wanted to go out tonight and I couldn’t say no. I’m trying to keep him from overdoing it.”
“It’s sweet the way you’re so attentive and taking care of him. Can I buy you a drink? I’d offer him one too but I’m sure that’s off limits for him right now.”
...no. Way. Son of a bitch, it couldn’t be.
From the way Aya briefly tensed, he had the same impression.
If this was their guy, he’d spike Yoji’s drink and check to see that Aya was already fairly doped up. They’d have to watch for that.
Apparently in an effort to make them more attractive victims, Aya put a yaaaaay smile on his face and made his eyes a little vaguer as he said, “Yotan, let him buy you a drink. You shouldn’t suffer just because I stupidly hurt myself. We’ll be calling a cab service to take us home anyway.”
If this was their guy, did they really want to take him on while only Yoji would be able to put up a really good fight? The revelations from their conversation made Yoji feel more protective of Aya, something Aya would probably want to beat the shit out of him for. “I don’t know, Ran.” Aya kept... reacting when Yoji used that name, just tiny twitches but huge to someone accustomed to Aya’s minimalist emotional tells. He responded so readily and instinctively to “Ran” too. Had Aya gone undercover tonight under his real name? Yoji would have to find out later. “I want to make sure I’m alert enough to look after you.”
Aya pouted. “Yotan. What’s the point of going out if you don’t live a little?” He moved to let him get eye contact with the man and directed his next words to him: “You have to forgive my rude, overprotective boyfriend. He’s sweet but he can be a bit stiff sometimes.” Then he snorted.
Yoji got it immediately. “You like me when I’m stiff.”
“Yeah, yeah. Let the man buy you a drink.”
Yoji noticed the guy having a brief moment of disgust over their slightly rude gay humor, which added another tally to the column of “homophobic serial killer” because why else would such a person go to a gay club? “Okay, kind sir, yes you can buy me a drink, but I’m doing it to make my kitten happy.” If Aya was going to kill him later anyway, he might as well go all in and make it worth it.
“Yes, you’re really suffering for my sake. Baby.” Poor, poor Aya couldn’t really retaliate or even show the full extent of his annoyance until after their mission. Returning to the club really was paying off for Yoji.
The stranger waved the bartender over and said, “Get him another one of whatever he’s having. On me.”
They might have their guy. Aya put his hand on his chest to adjust the comm equipment under his shirt to let Omi and Ken listen in, bomping it three times first to make sure they knew it hadn’t turned on by accident. Someone who didn’t know Aya was wired wouldn’t figure it out from how casually Aya made the gesture. Yoji heard Ken ask, “Wait, really?” in his ear.
“Yeah,” Yoji answered, which also could’ve answered Aya or their new “friend.”
When the drink arrived, Yoji turned away from it a bit, as if to whisper something in Aya’s ear, giving the guy a chance to incriminate himself or not, while Aya seemed to be looking away as well but actually glanced to the side. “He did it,” Aya murmured, which meant they either had their beast or some other creep who could also use a taste of justice.
Kritiker’s autopsies of the other victims managed to figure out what drug had been used, so Yoji knew what behaviors to mimic. The club’s chancy lighting would give him the opportunity to let the liquid slosh out of the glass to the floor now and then, and when he’d go to drink he’d have his lips closed and try to keep the liquid as far away from them as he could. This wasn’t his first rodeo, whether for pleasure or Kritiker business. He picked the glass up and smiled at their beast.
Aya got up to stand between them and hang on their new friend’s arm, blocking Yoji from view a bit and being a sexy distraction. Yoji took advantage of it to let some liquid slosh out onto the floor. Aya said, “Thanks for the drink, but you have to realize that it won’t get you a threesome with us. We don’t swing that way.”
If Yoji had actually been drinking something he would’ve spat it out across the bar. He just barely bit back his shocked “Aya!” and turned it into an equally shocked “Ran!”
Aya really did respond too quickly to that name for it not to be his real one. “What? I want to be upfront with him.”
“Ran.”
He pouted again. “You always tell me I should be nicer to people.”
Well, yeah, Yoji did. But it worried him that Aya seemed to be part acting and part getting tipsier.
“I’m not angling for a threesome,” the man said. “It’s just that I lost my partner recently, and it’s made me appreciate people in love more. I didn’t fully know what I had until I lost it.”
Did the guy kill them for being happy together while he didn’t have his someone anymore? That was no excuse. Yoji had lost Asuka but didn’t punish other people for it. Well, no one aside from the people who’d killed her.
“I’m sorry,” Aya said. “I can appreciate that a bit. Yotan and I have known each other for a long time but only got together fairly recently. Can you believe he thought he was straight?”
If Aya hadn’t put his side with the injured arm next to Yoji, Yoji might’ve elbowed him for that.
“Especially with the way he dresses?” Aya continued. Damn, he played mean.
Urge to apply his elbow rising.... “You like the way I dress, kitten,” Yoji replied.
“Only because it’s you doing it. Getting together.... It took so long for it to happen that I started to lose hope, but love eventually found a way,” Aya said, voice wobbling a little with emotion, and cast a look and smile on Yoji so loving that Yoji’s heart pounded and yearned for someone to honestly look at him and talk to him like that, even though he didn’t deserve it.
“I’m sorry it took so long,” Yoji answered, with a wobble in his own voice.
Hell must’ve frozen over, because after that Aya mostly small-talked their beast, with Yoji providing occasional commentary. Did that mean that Aya could do it if he wished but usually didn’t want to, or that he just felt particularly inspired or comfortable tonight? (Take Aya to a gay club and see what new personality came out?) Perhaps being mildly high helped him too. Aya sounded suspiciously knowledgeable about the area’s gay clubs--had all that information been in the mission briefing or did Aya know from personal experience?--but so did their potential dark beast, including the clubs their murderer had hit.
Since the guy would get suspicious if Aya blocked his view of Yoji drinking his roofied drink the whole time, Aya worked out a system. If he put his hand on Yoji’s thigh, he’d soon lean back and Yoji would have to mime drinking for their audience. Yoji’s dick couldn’t help reacting during this, making Yoji wonder if Aya intended to make him half-hard or just counted it as a pleasant side effect. Considering that Aya had to do it with his right hand, making it cross his body to even touch Yoji’s hip, it hadn’t been a casual decision.
Maybe being in a state of ever-rising arousal explained why Yoji felt weirdly jealous whenever Aya flattered, teased, or touched their target, even though he knew Aya was putting on an act, even though he and Aya weren’t truly involved with one another since Yoji loved women and Aya tended to be Aya, so often cold, haughty, and annoying.
Yoji should start showing the effects of the drug about now, so he started acting sleepy, a bit silly, and touchy-feely. Continuing their petty little war of one-upmanship, Yoji expressed the touchy-feely aspect by leaning in close to Aya, nuzzling his neck, and occasionally nipping at his ear, things Aya seemed to actually enjoy from the soft sexy sounds he occasionally made and how he moved to give Yoji easier access instead of pushing him away. (Unless he was still acting or stoned or both.) Yoji had to admit that he kind of liked doing this tame bit of making out with a guy and only partly from the rush of power from making the usually disdainful icicle react to him, want him, gave him.
Though earlier Aya had admitted that he’d been reacting to Yoji all along....
It sickened Aya to have to chat this man up and be friendly to him, but it’d be worth it if it snagged their murderer. Toying with Yoji helped him kill time during it, especially since he’d rather be hanging on Yoji’s arm. Already erect and aching, he wanted to stroke that rising bulge in Yoji’s too tight trousers so badly, the bulge he’d created, wanted to do things to and with Yoji that would be illegal to do in public, though the longer he sat here near Yoji with his hand occasionally on Yoji’s thigh the less he cared about legality. He couldn’t stop thinking about it, if you could even call what he was doing now “thinking.” Fuck the mission; he’d much rather fuck Yoji.
Damn it, whatever Omi had shot him with made him stupid and horny.
Then Yoji started nuzzling his neck, one of his sensitive spots, toying with him in return, increasing his desire to grab Yoji and do something with him. Throwing Yoji down and fucking him would just be self-defense at this point, right?
No. He couldn’t. They had a mission and he had some self-respect.
He let Yoji torture him like that for a long time and couldn’t help thinking that he only had to move his own hand a bit more to--
No. He couldn’t take it anymore. Aya turned his face toward Yoji more and murmured, “Time to wrap this up.”
Good. Yoji didn’t think he could take much more of this teasing, so he started to loll more as the drug he should have drank would be taking more effect. Aya said, “Thank you very much for the drink and conversation, but I think Yotan and I should be getting home. We’re both kind of unsteady.” Aya further sold it with a little giggle. Perhaps he’d forgotten they had Omi and Ken listening in on this too. “We just need to call a cab.”
“I could drive you home.”
Bingo.
“That would be very nice of you. It’s no bother?” Aya asked.
“No bother at all.”
“We just have to get our coats.”
Since Aya had a bum arm and a sling, Yoji helped Aya get his coat on. Although Aya couldn’t completely conceal his frustration over needing the help, Yoji didn’t think their dark beast noticed.
As they departed, Aya walked in a more loose-jointed, relaxed way than usual and with a slightly tipsy slant, while Yoji lightly leaned on him to make it look good. Unfortunately, he had to lean on Aya’s uninjured side, so when the time came to strike he’d have to fling himself clear so they could both fight. When they went out into the cold, Yoji wondered if he should pretend that it sobered him up a tiny bit, if that’d be more realistic, but decided against it. Better to look helpless to keep him comfortable with them.
“Where is your car? Is it far?” Aya asked, no doubt to get the information to Omi and Ken.
“We’re going left and then around the block.”
Hear that, Omi and Ken?
He, Aya, and the possible dark beast reached the man’s car too quickly for Yoji’s tastes. Worse, it waited in a fairly dark and deserted area. Surreptitiously looking around, he didn’t see Omi or Ken anywhere, which he hoped just meant they had a good hiding spot nearby but he couldn’t rely on them being hidden and in reach. He hoped the guy tried something before Yoji and Aya had to get in his car, something more nasty than the future rape drugging Yoji’s drink and taking advantage of Aya being high implied he’d do, because he’d rather imprison, not murder, a possible rapist but he also refused to let either of them get in the car.
Suddenly things happened way too fast. Aya moved then let out a strangled scream of pain that scared the shit out of Yoji before the guy crumpled to the sidewalk with Aya crouched on him a second later, stabbing the hell out of the guy’s neck with his uninjured arm, gone berserk. Did the guy even have a chance to realize that the soft and fluffy kitten who’d hung on his arm was actually a saber-toothed tiger? If not, too bad.
Afraid to get too close to Aya in that state, Yoji stayed back and tried to call him out of it. “Aya! Aya! Aya!” No good.
“Holy shit,” Ken said as he and Omi rushed up to the scene. “What the hell?”
Some sanity returned to Aya’s face as he said, his voice still sounding somewhat strangled, “He punched me in the arm. Right where I was hit earlier, deliberately. Bastard.” Although Aya rarely let how much he hurt show, he currently appeared to be in a world of hurt, and his skin looked so much paler in his pain that the splashes of blood on his face stood out even more. Examining his knife, he muttered, “I blunted the point....”
“You have a gift for making a guy feel useless,” Yoji said.
“I’m sorry. Next time I’ll let him hit me more so you can have the opportunity to get a shot in.”
Now Yoji felt like a dick. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Was this our beast?” Omi asked. Nearby, Ken muttered to himself as he laid out some plastic and dragged the corpse onto it.
“Probably? He fit the MO in a lot of ways and he did attack Aya out of nowhere,” Yoji replied.
Sighing, Omi said, “Even if he isn’t and there’s a third predator at the club tonight, the mission is over and Aya’s going to the hospital now.”
“I’m not going to argue with that,” Aya answered quietly, which had all three of his teammates staring at him like he’d grown another head. Aya must have been in agony. He stood up on his own but seemed somewhat shaky.
“I’ll take him and stay with him to make sure he stays there until they want him to leave. I don’t think he’s safe to drive in his current state, and it’s not his car anyway,” Yoji said, and Aya didn’t even threaten to bite his head off for implying that he had a human weakness. Scary. “And don’t shoot him up with more painkiller before we go, Omi. It made him kinda loopy.” Though not in an entirely bad way.
“I wouldn’t anyway, since it would get in the way of the doctor’s examination, but that’s good to know,” Omi replied. “Sorry, Aya. I’ll call ahead so they’ll be ready for your arrival.”
“I don’t refuse medications just to be an obstinate bitch,” Aya answered.
“But that is part of it?” Yoji asked.
“If you don’t want to need a hospital visit yourself, drop it,” Aya replied, reassuring Yoji.
Aya stayed quiet on the ride to the hospital, usual for him but disappointing after he’d shown how he could be at the club. It might be from the renewed pain.
“Are you okay over there?” Yoji asked.
“...yeah. I’m just tired, in pain, and not looking forward to the time I’ll have to spend at the hospital.” Aya used a wet wipe to get the dried blood off his face. “You don’t have to stay the whole time. I could take a cab home.”
Aya could also escape against doctors’ directives. Again. “Nah. I’ll stay and help you out.”
Being a Kritiker hospital, it took them in faster and would put them in front of a doctor faster than an ER would. “Please take off your shirt and bandaging and put on a hospital gown so the doctor can examine you,” the nurse said as she handed Aya the gown.
Aya managed to get his sling off but struggled with his clingy, tight-fitting top, his injured arm too painful and swollen to remove it easily. It looked like Aya would struggle with it on his own for as long as it took, which might be a very long time, so Yoji said, “Let me help get that off. Don’t scowl at me, especially since you were all for me putting my hands on you earlier.” He took off his gloves to feel things (up) better.
Aya didn’t actually scowl, although he did look somewhat annoyed and embarrassed. After a moment’s deliberation, he replied, “...all right.”
“Lift up your arms as much as you can.”
“All right.”
Aya’s glossy black top felt soft and smooth in Yoji’s grip as he carefully pulled it off over Aya’s head, which revealed Aya’s leanly muscled arms and torso and some scars on his pale skin. It was clearly a man’s body but still somehow alluring. The laces holding the sleeves together had left some indentations on Aya’s skin. Yoji unwrapped the bandaging too and damn, the bruising and swelling looked extensive and awful. While he was there, Yoji took off the slim black rubber bracelets around Aya’s wrists and the comm equipment taped to Aya’s chest, back, and neck, and he didn’t even grope Aya or tweak his nipples the way Aya had his earlier, though maybe he removed it all a little more... sensually than he had to. When he felt Aya staring at him, he looked up into Aya’s face and saw him blushing a bit, cute, and Yoji read desire and a bit of embarrassment and confusion in his gaze. His top coming off over it had left his red hair very disheveled, giving Yoji the urge to tame it and smooth it down with his hands and find out how it felt. Actually, Yoji wanted to touch more than just his hair... but he felt protective of Aya too.
Aya backed away from Yoji a little and winced as he moved to remove the studded black leather choker from his neck, making Yoji ask, “Can you keep that on? It won’t get in the way of a doctor looking at you or be close to where he’s X-raying. It looks like it hurts to move your arm that way, so I could take it off for you later.”
The doctor walked into the room before Yoji got an answer to that. After listening to Aya about how it had happened and taking a look at Aya’s arm, the doctor sent him down the hall for X-rays and told Yoji to stay in his current room. Yoji appreciated the time alone to let himself think.
After their sexy time out together, Yoji could understand his feeling of confused lust but the tenderness he felt toward Aya now worried him because it seemed different and deeper than what he should feel for a male teammate. Aya wouldn’t be injured and vulnerable forever. In fact, he might soon be back to the Aya Yoji usually knew, as if Aya hadn’t made passes at him, confessed to him, and been talkative and fun tonight. Plus, Yoji wasn’t gay. (Though neither was Aya, who claimed to be bisexual....) Yoji could be in for a world of hurt if he didn’t check himself before he wrecked himself.
Having X-rays done of his arm involved a lot of positioning it in ways that hurt, pressing it against things that made it hurt, and keeping very, very still. The thin hospital gown didn’t protect his arms or torso much from the cold, especially since he couldn’t do the ties in back, so he shivered too, sometimes almost convulsively, which didn’t help his arm. Unfortunately, the only thing coming to his mind to distract himself from it also hurt, though in a different way. Although he’d done a lot of molestation, he’d also revealed too much and become more emotionally involved. Yoji seemed interested and receptive at the moment, but the influence of his hedonism and chivalry would fade as Aya returned to being more Aya-like and healed from his injury, and Yoji’s gay panic would inevitably kick in.
Knowing that, should Aya accept sex from Yoji tonight if he offered? Sure, he’d have the memory and pleasure of it but also know what he could never have again. Then again, Aya didn’t know if he could say no, not when he wanted Yoji so much.
Before they’d gone out tonight Aya had been realistic about his chances with Yoji. He’d figured that at best he’d get to feel Yoji up, flirt openly with him, and be bantering pretend boyfriends for a night, which he’d told himself would be enough for him. But something had changed over the course of their time out together, making him want more for longer than a night and even think it might be possible, which was stupid and unrealistic.
It didn’t mean he should back off. If Yoji would eventually come to his senses, Aya needed to grab as much as he could while he could.
Of course, getting his fool ass injured would get in the way. Unless he found a way to use it....