Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Love Me ❯ The Courting ( Chapter 1 )

Warnings: yaoi, sap and I do plan on doing a lemon later

Standard disclaimers…

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Love Me

Chapter 1 - The Courting

"So how long has it been?"

Waking up with a hangover would have been bad enough for most people, but waking up with a hangover with a very annoying and persistent friend intent on prying every single detail of your love life was what one Hidaka Ken was faced with. He was in his bed huddled in blankets and pillows, in an attempt to which proved completely futile, he had tried to ignore the blond in hopes of being left alone. Such was not his luck. He had clearly remembered locking the door last night and felt false elation when the blond couldn't open it after a moment worth of thumping on wood only to hear the jingle of metal and the evitable click signifying his doom. Ken cursed the bastard who invented locks that could be picked. He felt the mattress underneath sink slightly, but refused to remove the pillow he was currently buried under.

"G'way." His response was muffled under the cotton. He gasped when suddenly his safe haven was stripped and bolted upright. Immediately he regretted the movement as it sent his head spinning in a wondrous assortment of shitness. The brunette groaned in agony and slowly sunk back to place.

"Oi." Followed with a jab to his left calf. "Oi Ken! I'm staying until I get what I want."

"…"

"Our shifts don't start until noon, you'll have to face me for a few more hours even then. That makes it… seven more hours of nagging if you don't spill now."

Damn, the man was good at manipulating. Weighing the circumstances in his head, Ken relented; knowing very well those calculations only referred to the present day and that he would be subjected to even more if by some miracle he survived the currently allocated seven. It wasn't that Ken did not want Youji and Omi to know, in fact, he found it hard to keep the news from them by the time he was certain of his feelings. Originally, he planned on telling the two only after the leading man found out, but had either procrastinated or shied away each time. And without realizing it, time flew by. "I don't know… exactly, how long. A few months."

Youji Whistled. "So what did you plan on doing? By the looks of yesterday, you were going to do something soon."

"Why aren't you this diligent when working?" The playboy shrugged. "I'm still not sure… I just wanted him to know."

"So you were just going to tell him and hope he declare his undying love to you? Don't interrupt me. Look Ken, Aya's a frigen icicle. If you haven't noticed, the man has no social skills, throw something like a love confession in his face and one, he'll walk out on you affirming he really has no emotions, or two, even IF he had feelings, he won't know what to do in the situation, get flustered and still walk out on you." The words sunk in. Ken had been trying to avoid thinking of Aya's reaction, he half expected to be put down flat out and so wouldn't let himself dwell on it. Never had he considered Aya not giving him his truthful answer, especially due of his lack of tactfulness. Youji sighed. "C'mon Kenken sorry for bursting your bubble, but I want to help. I need you to understand the possible outcomes, you're in for some planning if you ever want to crack the ice. Are you sure about this? I mean, he's Aya, none of us barely know anything about the guy."

"I'm sure. Thanks Yotan." What Ken kept to himself, was the little bits of puzzles pieces he had managed to unearth and start to put together throughout the months. True, he didn't understand Aya nearly as well as he'd hope to one day, but he knew several of the man's quirks that no one else may ever notice; that he has a tiny almost invisible little scar on the other shell of his left ear which Ken had originally thought was just a play of shadows, or that whenever a customer requests anemones[1] in a flower arrangement Aya's eye will twitch ever so slightly, or that the man's favourite reading spot was in the single armchair in the living room and his sitting position is more relaxed if he's reading fiction instead of his normal philosophically enriched books. And probably most surprisingly, that Aya has a comatose imouto. He had accidentally stumbled upon this information when his curiosity of just what the redhead did in his free time grew so irrepressible he decided to follow him one day. Being led to a hospital was not what he had expected. Afterwards, he hacked into the hospitals' files and the found the name `Fujimiya Aya.' Further research disclosed the relationship between his leader and this mysterious other Aya, but Ken was so shocked and guilt ridden about prying into Aya's personal affairs he didn't dare speak a single word of it to anyone.

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After a long day's work of fending off rabid fan girls, the pair set their plan in motion. Ken retreated to his room to get ready and Youji strolled off in search of Omi. If they were to carry out phase one, they needed help from Omi's big blue puppy dog eyes. The plan was simple enough; subtly drop hints to warm Aya up, in other words, mild flirting. Youji being the self-renowned `Love Master' had thoroughly explained in very explicit detail several methods for Ken to exercise, each only succeeding in making the brunette blush madly. His personal favourite was to wait until the redhead was in the shower, then have Ken strip and join him so they could have "slippery romping sex." Ken had been appalled and accused him of just taking the storyline straight from a porno. Nearly everything he suggested ended with some sort of "romping sex," and least to say, the brunette refused them all. The last few hours had been quite… interesting. Youji did however manage to come up with a plan not X-rated, dinner with just the two of them. Ken was relieved to hear something he thought he could do, that is until Youji mentioned something about lusty looks and eating provocatively. He reasoned that Ken needed to flirt in some manner, or it would be nothing more two guys eating a meal together.

The difficulty lays in trying to convince Aya to go out for dinner. Of course they would tell him all four of them were going, knowing very well that he would be easier to persuade that way. The task now was to get Omi on their side as well, but it was already nearing dinner time and that meant the blond had to work fast if he wanted to weasel out of cooking, he was supposed to cook that night. He found Omi sitting in the mission room seated on the floor with his nose delved into his texts and madly scribbling away.

"Got lots of homework Chibi?"

"Eh? Oh hi Youji-kun. And yeah, but I'm almost finished. What's up?"

"Can you spare some time tonight, we're all going out."

"All four of us?"

"A mission?"

The two blonds turned to the source of the new voice and saw Aya standing at the bottom of the stairs looking at them expectantly. Youji inwardly cursed, he didn't even hear Aya enter the room and if he had not spoken up, the whole plan would have been fucked. Still, he managed to keep his tone level, "That's all you ever think about isn't it? Mission, mission, mission. No Aya. We want to go out for dinner tonight, you know, all four of us, it's been a long time since we had." Youji did not like the look on Aya's face, he'd need a little more reasoning than that. "Besides, we have no mission. Ken has already agreed, and don't you want to go too Omi?"

"Ne Youji-kun, are you trying to get out of cooking tonight?"

"Omittchi I'm hurt." Youji mocked an injury to his chest. "All I wanted was to spend some quality time together and you accuse me of such, such indecency!"

"Haha, I'm sure you are Youji-kun, but I want to go out for dinner too, you're catering skills are… um, unique."

The urge to defend his cookery was quelled. He did not want to point out his skills with whipped cream and spoil everything. He'd have to get back at the kid some other time. Instead he looked at Aya in anticipation and could see that puppy dog look from Omi out of the corner of his eye. He knew out of the four of them, Omi could be the most persuasive; proving they succumb much easier towards soft pleas rather than hard demands.

"Fine. Where?"

Youji smirked victoriously, he'd done his part tonight, it was up to Ken now. "L'uzzolo at seven"

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Ken's room looked like a tornado hit it and spit out all of his clothes before it left. To say the brunette was nervous was an understatement he was shitting his pants. They'd be going to a fancy Italian restaurant, the kind he didn't really like because he felt completely out of place in, yet he was the one who picked the restaurant. The reason, Aya liked Italian food and seemed to appreciate this restaurant in particular. And there was his true cause to panic. Whether the redhead knew it or not, this was going to be more or less their first date. Ken was regretting having chosen their location already, although it wasn't snottily high classed it was still a very nice place, and one which he couldn't wear his normal jeans and t-shirts. Jeans, t-shirts and the like were almost all he owned. Buying new clothes was also out of the question because their shifts didn't end until five and clean up took particularly long today, leaving barely more than hour to prepare and drive there. He'd even ask Youji for help with his attire, but the lanky blond said all Ken needed was a leopard print thong and he'd be set. Ken snorted, all day long the blond sent dirty images to his head, he suspected if that was all he could think of. Then the brunette absently wondered if Youji and Omi managed to coerce Aya into going. Ken bit his lip, butterflies fluttered in his stomach again and his heart was about to go into overdrive, the urge to chicken out beckoning. He shook his head vigorously, `No, this time for sure.'

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Freshly showered and dressed the playboy strutted out from his room uncaring of the fact that he had no audience believing he should always retain his sexy aura. He found Omi and hurriedly rushed him towards the garage not wanting to give a proper explanation until they were inside least Aya show up all of a sudden again.

"Matte Youji-kun, Ken-kun and Aya-kun aren't ready yet."

"That's okay we're not going in the same car."

"Why not? The last time we went, we couldn't even find a parking place for one car, and it's" he looked at his watch "still early."

Leave it up to the Chibi to be so observant. Guess he wasn't their mission planner for nothing. "Okay, we're actually not going there, well us two at least. I can't tell you why right now, just follow me out to the car okay?"

Omi gave Youji a questioning look. He didn't understand the details, he knew the playboy could be surprisingly secretive at times and nodded in agreement. "I left my jacket in my room when you dragged me off."

"I'll wait for you in the garage."

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Seven was backed out of the driveway quietly and the two blondes started on the road. Youji did not want to be interrogated by Aya as to where they were going since his hastily fabricated lie couldn't even fool Omi. The entire time he was in the vehicle, he kept looking from the white Porsche to the door, silently wishing Omi would hurry. He glanced into the rear view mirror and let out his breathe as the house disappeared from view.

"Ne Youji-kun, where are we going?"

"Huh? Oh, well, probably just grab a bite then find something to do till later." Youji inwardly wondered how they would spend the rest of the evening, Omi wasn't old enough to be let into any bars or clubs and even if they snuck into one, the boy's youth spoke volumes, what other than those are open late a night? He had told Ken they wouldn't return until late night to give them some `private time.' Though he was sceptical they would get much progress, still he didn't want to interrupt if by some miracle Aya was human.

"Mou, that's the big secret? And I told Ken-kun and Aya-kun not to worry about us."

He snapped his head almost painfully towards the other blond, eyes wide with shock. "You WHAT?!"

"I saw them on my way out and told them to go ahead without us. They'd be worried if we just suddenly disappeared. W-was I not supposed to?"

Youji groaned aloud and banged his head on the steering wheel. He couldn't blame Omi since he knew nothing about the entire set up, but that didn't prevent him from feeling excruciatingly frustrated. There goes the dinner plans. Either way he wasn't about to head back home, hopefully delaying whatever was to come as long as possible.

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"Ken-kun, Aya-kun, you two go without us, Youji-kun and I are going… somewhere else. Have fun and don't worry about us." Then the garage door closed shut behind him. Ken was left speechless. They haven't even set foot out of the house yet, and already the `date' was as good as over. The reason they lied to Aya about all four of them going together was because he was certain the redhead would refuse to go if it was just himself. He slumped his shoulders in defeat.

"Guess you'll want to stay home then." Ken could barely hide the disappointment in his voice.

"Iie, it is too late to start dinner preparations now and only for the two of us at that, we might as well go."

"Really?!" Aya nodded his consent and immediately Ken's face lit up as he gave the redhead one of the most sincere and beatific smiles he'd seen in a very long time. An expression of pure innocent joy few could ever mimic and fewer still who seemed genuine, an expression that he could only remember on his dear imouto. He walked ahead of Ken with the unexpected but welcomed fond memory and could not hide the small smile that touched his lips.

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They arrived at L'uzzolo in Aya's Porsche, and true enough to the restaurants' popularity, it took them several minutes to find a parking spot. L'uzzolo was neither large nor small but a fair size that seats less than a hundred people at maximum capacity. The décor theme was mostly of earthy browns and red hues accented with stark black outlines. A quick glimpse around the restaurant proved it was quite crowded, absently, Ken was glad he had phoned earlier to secure their seats.

"Konbanwan, would you gentlemen by chance have a reservation?" A middle-aged cherry woman at the front counter greeted them kindly.

"Hai, Hidaka desu."

"Arigatou gozaimasu," she glanced through a list and gathered two menus with her as she led the way. "Hai, Hidaka-san reservations for two. This way please."

They were led through the small place towards a table situated beside the window. Once alone, Aya voiced the question on his mind, surprising Ken with the sudden verbal communication.

"Reservations for two?"

"Eh?"

"…"

"Oh! …oh…" Ken quickly looked away from the intimidating stare and started to panic. He had completely forgotten about Youji and Omi when he made the reservations earlier, the thought of his first date with the gorgeous redhead had taken sole possession of his mind. Ken chewed over whether or not he should let Aya know the truth since he would hopefully be confessing soon anyways, but the situation didn't provide a good means for a heartfelt profession of love; the obvious being the fact that he got their friends to lie for him and worse *he* didn't even have the guts to ask Aya out, he wasn't even there when it happened! "Umm… Youji! Yeah, Youji must have changed the reservations before he left, because you know how responsible Youji is… Because there was supposed to be four of us and Omi and him didn't come so minus the two of them we have two left, four minus two is two, yep, so that's why the reservations were for two… probably… heh…" Realising he was blabbering nonsense Ken shut up and opened his menu to cover his face, hopeful it was as effective as a hole in the ground. If Aya could see his face through the thin piece of plastic, he would have seen such a vibrant shade of red it would have put a ripe tomato to shame.

A thin crimson brow rose slightly throughout Ken's little tirade. The brunette's reaction only solidified his earlier suspicions of his three team mates, all of them, with the possible exception of Omi were definitely up to something. Both Omi and Youji was the decoy for Ken or the other way around, Ken was the decoy for the two blonds. He didn't appreciate being deceived, but respected their privacy, just as he'd like his own to be kept as it was, secret. As long as dumb and dumber didn't do anything to interfere with a mission or his own peace, he'd overlook it for the time being. Overlook, not ignore, Aya stored this in the back of his mind for later analysis just as he did with other questionable behaviour.

The pair was well into their meal when Ken couldn't stand the awkward silence any longer. He tried a few unsuccessful attempts at conversation until what Youji said came to mind. Never before had Ken been on the courting end of an relationship, when in the J-league, girls flocked to him and he was both too young and immersed into soccer to pay them much attention. Being an assassin later in life wasn't much encouragement either. Ken simply did not know how to give someone a lustful look. He didn't have a mirror with him, only the lasagna in front of him. Too bad he didn't order some sort of soup, at least then he'd have a semi-reflective surface to work with. Absorbed in his thoughts, Ken didn't even recognize the change in his own facial features. Across the table, Aya did. The brunette was stating intently at his plate, eyes half-massed and lips quirking occasionally. He never realized the younger man loved lasagna so much.

"You'd best eat soon. I won't stay here all night so you can stare at your food."

Pulled from his internal contemplation, Ken snapped his head up to look at Aya. His gaze lingered before the words set in… he was caught staring at pasta! Pasta! Lustfully! Thoroughly embarrassed for the second time that evening, Ken adverted his eyes with the intent to hang his head in shame. His eyes traveled down from those deep amethysts down to soft lips down to the enticing skin of his neck down to his muscular chest hidden behind impeccable clothing down, down, down…

Fuck! The chicken's in the way! Ken damned the innocent piece of poultry on Aya's platter for blocking his view. Let's see, after broad chest comes washboard abs, then tantalising hips, then Aya's crotch, then… wait a minute. Ken's eyes widened to saucers. If not for the dish, he'd be ogling Aya's crotch. Aya's. CROTCH! Guess the chicken wasn't so bad after all… or was it?! Completely flushed and torn between conflicting positions he just grabbed his wineglass and guzzled the whole thing down his throat. Unfortunately it did little to relieve the tension. Once the thought of Aya's crotch entered his mind, he couldn't help but dart his eyes towards where the redheads' endowments were.

"How is everything for you gentlemen tonight?"

"Fine thank you. I'm done with this."

The waitress closed the distance between Aya and herself. As if in slow motion, Ken could see her arm move forward and reach for Aya's plate. He was stricken with fear and anxiety… the obstacle was being removed. He saw slender fingers flex and grip onto the edge of the plate, and then slowly, ever so slowly it was lifted. Instead of the expected mouth watering view, he saw nothing but a hard surface. Oh good, there's still a piece of wood.

"Ano-" Ken squeaked and cleared his throat. "Can I have more please?" He pointed to his now empty wineglass.

The waitress returned with dessert and wine. Brown orbs watch as the translucent liquid swished gently in its glassed confinement. It was a deep red almost maroon colouration and it's rippling was captivating. It reminded him of a movie he once saw where a woman licked her finger and slid it around the edge of her wineglass, if he remembered correctly, that was actually quite sexy. The brunette steeled his will, this was his last chance tonight. He tentatively brought his index finger to his mouth and flicked it with his tongue he ran his finger along the brim of his newly refilled glass and was rewarded with a "vring" sound. He tried again, this time dipping his finger into the wine and the sound was louder. Ken giggled and dipped his finger into his glass of water, he watch the clear liquid mingle with a sliver of red and brushed the edge of the glass. The pitch was lower on this one.

"Ahem."

Shit. Now he was playing with water. As he quickly shifted his hand he accidentally hooked onto the glass and the ice filled cup came tumbling down. A refreshing spurt of liquid drenched Ken's cream slacks and he yelped at the sudden onslaught. He abruptly stood up and surveyed the damage; it looked like he peed his pants.

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[1] In flower language anemones mean forsaken, fading hope

TBC

Thanks for the reviews, and thanks for reading

toniq