Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Yotan's Dating Service ❯ Meeting New People ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: If I owned Weis Kruz, I wouldn't be writing fics about it. And there would be a lot more yaoi in the series. Also, I am broke, so suing me would get you some pocket lint at best. :)

Please REVIEW!!!

Yotan's Dating Service

Chapter 1

Shuldich sat in an unnamed bar somewhere in Tokyo, nursing the similarly unnamed alcohol in front of him. One would think that he'd want to avoid bars and alcohol, considering that he was around it all the time for his job, but nevertheless, he always found himself in one of these places on the rare nights he took off. Not that he didn't like his job - being a manager to a club was the best occupation he could possibly think of. But it did get tiring after a while. It always felt like there was a pressure on him when he was in crowds, like everyone was trying to imprint him in some way.

He supposed that that was why he always ended up in a place like this he mused, examining his surroundings. It was well lit but a bit smoky, a bar with several tables against the wall. There was a jukebox softly playing in the back of the room. It was nice, peaceful. Somewhere people could go to meet one another, or just be by themselves. No blaring music, no press of bodies or flashing lights.

He really did appreciate these places. He glanced back at his drink, not even trying to figure out what it was. It was a clear liquid - in Shuldich's experience, that usually meant it was to be respected in the alcohol world.

There had been a time when he would have gulped something like this down like water, but that was before, when he was still living in Germany. When he was still reeling from his life falling apart again and again.

Shuldich realized that he was falling, yet again, into depression. Normally he wouldn't care about that, but with his job at the club he had to stay at least semi-respectable. Had to make a good impression on the employees. That meant he couldn't come in the next morning with a hangover.

Shu looked up at the bar once more to distract himself. There weren't too many people there - enough that the place looked prosperous, but not bustling, some people sitting at tables, one group of college students in the back, quietly laughing and chatting. The bar was almost filled up, but still had a few seats here and there, and was well within the lady bartenders capabilities to handle while still chatting with her customers.

He looked at the bartender for a moment, appreciating the view. She was a bleached blonde, which would usually put him off, but it worked for her. She had a nice figure, and an even nicer, warm smile. Shu idly wondered what she was like.

You mean what she's like in bed. Oh yeah. That's right, couldn't get attached. Couldn't let himself wonder about these people who surrounded him night and day. Because if he did…well, people had gotten hurt in the past.

Shu sent one more longing glance at the woman, who, in his slightly tipsy mind, embodied the fact that he would probably be alone for the rest of his life.

He felt himself sink deeper into depression.

She deserved someone better than himself though, Shu could tell just by the happy smile she was sending to the man she was talking to. Someone like that man would deserve her way more than he. Even if he did look like a playboy.

Shu took another moment to examine the man sitting at the bar, laughing and talking to the woman. He was tall for a Japanese person, with dyed hair - or was it dyed? Shu realized that the man he was looking at had some European in him, explaining the strange coloration. He didn't know why that would change his perception of the man, but it did.

Maybe he reminded Shu of his old lover… Jei…

But those thoughts were not helping his already damaged psyche. He went back to drinking, occasionally casting glances at the man, who he had to admit intrigued him. He had good fashion sense, wearing a black sleeveless crop top and skin tight black jeans, a navy blue shirt sitting on the stool next to him, no doubt to keep him warm in the still cool spring air. The lean muscles were wonderfully set off by the golden tone of his skin, a tattoo Shuldich couldn't quite make out setting off the golden tint even more. His light hair was worn just past his jaw, but tied in the back with little chunks escaping to brush the man's fine regular features.

As Shuldich watched, the man smiled broadly and said something to the woman which made her smile and laugh, slapping his arm playfully. Old acquaintances perhaps? Shu didn't think they acted like lovers…

He felt a pang of jealousy when he thought of the two together. Jealous for their happiness. It wouldn't last, he thought to himself. It never did.

The man abruptly looked in Shuldich's direction, causing him to jerk his head back to his drink. Before turning he had caught the small frown cross the blonde's face as the man looked at him.

He had missed the predatory gleam in his eyes.

+++++++

Yohji was having a nice conversation with Miaka, the girl he had finally managed to set up with Rui, a man Yohji thought genuinely deserved her, when he noticed the lonely looking man sitting at the bar. He was a good -looking man, with long silky-looking red hair. He was wearing white slacks and a white tank top. Yohji almost winced at the yellow bandana, but was quickly distracted by the mournful aura that positively consumed the other man.

This rankled on Yohji's nerves. As the sole operator of Yotan's Dating Service, it was literally his job to set people up with others, making all parties involved happy in the end. Yohji was frighteningly good at his job - it usually only took two dates for him to set people up who would be genuinely happy together. So far, he had never failed to find someone for everyone.

This man sitting by himself though - he looked lonely. He looked like he needed someone. He looked like he needed Yohji.

Yohji grinned. Ah. He thought. New blood.

He had noticed the man looking at Miaka before retreating back into his own world. It might give Yohji an opening to talk to the man.

With grace bought by long nights spent in clubs, picking his way through crowds with sometimes multiple drinks in his hands while inebriated himself, Yohji slid off his stool, and looked at Miaka with a gleam in his eyes.

"Business," he explained shortly, nodding to the other end of the bar.

She laughed. "Always on the job, huh `Yotan'?" she joked.

Yohji merely grinned in response, and headed over to the redhead, idly wondering what he was going to say this time. It always depended on the person. That was one of Yohji's strengths - he could adapt to the personalities of those around them. "Good with people" was what Yohji described himself as. "Manipulative bastard" was what his best friend Botan called him.

All other thoughts aside, Yohji was now standing almost beside the redhead. He felt the familiar tingle of anticipation for the conversation he was about to begin. He always felt this way before speaking to a stranger. It was one of the only reasons he left his house and it's soft, warm bed at all - meeting people was like a drug for him.

He noticed the man glance covertly over to where he and Miaka had been standing a few moments before, noticed him sigh and slump a bit more.

"She's taken you know." Yohji said, slipping onto the barstool next to the man, who looked at him in shock.

It was quickly replaced by a smug smirk and a lifted eyebrow. This was obviously the man's mask, but only someone who had a similar mask would be able to detect it. Yohji smirked back.

"Oh? She's yours then?" the redhead asked, his smirk going condescending on the assumption that Yohji would consider the woman as a possession.

Yohji grit his teeth, but didn't let his annoyance at this assumption show. He didn't like anyone thinking he would do any woman wrong. He knew what it was like to lose someone precious, like Asuka had been. He wouldn't let anyone think he didn't appreciate any lover he took. And he wouldn't let this man think that someone like Miaka was a possession.

"No, actually," Yohji said, keeping his tone mild, "She has someone else in her life. And I'm not the sort to let anyone come between two people's happiness."

++++++++

Shuldich again had to revise his opinion of this man. He looked like a playboy, but his words said otherwise. Of course, he could be lying, but Shu had the feeling that he was being truthful. And Shu's `feelings' were almost always correct. Almost always.

"Ah, the sappy type," Shu sneered, deliberately trying to provoke the man. "It'll never last you know."

There, He thought, Now leave me alone to my depression.

He did not expect the other man to laugh. It was a rich sound that Shu immediately loved and hated at the same time. It reminded him of a time when he could laugh like that, so open and sure. Confident. It annoyed him that the man was shaking off his attempts to be an ass so easily. Couldn't the guy take a hint and leave him alone?

"I suppose some would think that," The blonde said, his eyes still twinkling in mirth, "But you don't know my reputation for setting people up. I've never failed in my matchmaking. The people I get together always turn out happy"

Shuldich snorted. "It'll just take some time is all," he said. "Just wait for a few years and see. Then maybe you won't be so pompous about your little `reputation'."

"Well, now I understand why you're sitting alone in a bar," the man said, his eyebrow lifted and smile still in place. "With that type of attitude, you'll never get yourself a date."

Shuldich sneered at the concept of dating. "Well, not everyone wants a date. Some people like to be alone in a bar, with their drinks." Shu shot a meaningful look at the man next to him. "Alone." He stressed again.

The bastard just smiled sunnily at him. What was he, deficient?

"You just say that because you don't want to admit you're lonely."

Yet again, this man had managed to shock Shuldich. How dare he presume to say such a thing! It didn't matter that he may be right - he had no idea what had led Shuldich to be alone, what he had gone through because of forming ties with people. His life was a constant reminder of that fact - from the time his parents had died through what was deemed as `unexplainable circumstances', to the most recent episode. All his fault. There was too much going against relations with people, too much going for a solitary nature. And without even mentioning his own name, this man had the gall to saunter up and calmly tell him that he was lonely?

"You have no idea what you're talking about" Shuldich snarled, just trying to get the other to * leave him alone. *

"About you in particular, no, I suppose not," The man said, mollifying Shu somewhat, but not enough to make him stop wishing for the man to go away. "But I'm familiar enough with loneliness to see it in someone else." He said, losing the smirk and irritating the German all over again.

Shuldich decided to ignore him. Maybe he would go away on his own.

"The name is Kudoh Yohji," the man said, not waiting for a response. "And I'm in the business of setting people up. Yotan's Dating Service at your disposal," he said with a little ironic bow to Shuldich. The smirk was back.

With that, the man started to Talk.

"So, you like little Miaka there huh? Yeah, she's a cutie, but not your type I think. She's so innocent, you'd think that working around a bunch of drunks would break her of that, but no. It's sort of nice to know that people can be uncorrupt, you know?"

And so on. The blonde did no shut up at all. Just when Shuldich thought that the man would run out of things to say, he wold go off on another subject - music, popular stars at the moment, popular stars ten years ago, his favorite food, the whole concept of food itself, how the bar should really sell more food, even the weather was touched upon.

Wondering how the blonde was still talking after an hour of being all but ignored by Shuldich kept Shu from falling into depression again. It was also slowly driving him completely * insane. *

"Enough!" he finally moaned at the blonde, putting his head down on his arms. "What will it take for me to get you to leave me * alone*?"

The smile on the blonde's face seemed to get bigger, if such a thing was possible. Why, oh why, did Shuldich suddenly feel like he was walking into a trap?

"Let me set you up with someone," Yohji said.

"No." Shuldich replied, not missing a beat.

Yohji just shrugged. "So, you hear about the recent scandal in the Royalty? It was quite something-" he started.

"ARG!" Shuldich said.

Beside him, Yohji sighed. "You know you want this."

"What, to be pestered by an incessant overbearing blonde ass for my Friday night? I think not."

"Not that," Yohji said with a hint of humor in his voice again. "You don't want to be alone."

"And you came to that conclusion because of my breathtaking conversational skills, right?" Shuldich replied sarcastically.

Yohji looked at him seriously for a moment, his emerald eyes growing intense. "You haven't left yet." the blonde pointed out. Shuldich sat in shock for a moment, for the third - or was it fourth? - time that night. The thought had never even crossed his mind; why not? It would have been the smart thing to do when the blonde started really pissing him off. Just get up and leave… He almost missed the next thing Yohji said.

"Look, why don't you just give it a chance? I'll tell you what. I'll make you a bet on it - if I can't set you up in three weeks time, I'll, I don't know," He said, his hand waving as he tried to think up a suitable `prize'. "Get you the penthouse suite of the Rozenkruz Hotel."

Shuldich nearly choked. It was the most expensive hotel in the city, perhaps in the world. There had to be a catch. "And I have to pay for what exactly?" He asked suspiciously.

"Nothing. All expenses paid" Yohji said, with a small smile. He looked like a cat who had just caught a particularly difficult mouse.

"There has to be a catch. You don't even know my name for God's sake," Shuldich tried to argue. But in his minds eye, he could already see himself lounging on the more-than-king size bed, with a chocolate hot fudge sundae and steak and all sorts of good food being delivered directly to his room. Being above all the city, not having the feeling of pressure on his mind every time he was in a crowd… He quickly became fond of the idea.

Shu realized that Yohji was looking at his expectantly. "Well?" he asked.

"Well what?" Shuldich replied, his mind still on the hot fudge sundae.

"What's your name?" Yohji asked, rolling his eyes.

Shuldich looked at him for a moment, considering the man sitting in front of him.

"Shuldich." He finally said.

Yohji beamed. "A pleasure to meet you Shuldich." He said, not even stumbling over the unfamiliar language. He took out his wallet, and handing Shu a card said, "I'll expect a call from you tomorrow afternoon. The bet is for three nights in the Rozencruz Hotel's penthouse, if I don't find someone you fall for in the next three weeks. I'll tell you more about my procedures when you come in." His tone was all business when talking about his work.

He was sliding off his barstool when something occurred to Shuldich. It was unlikely, but… "What if I lose? What do you get?" He asked the man who was already starting to walk away.

He looked over his shoulder as he said, "The usual expenses, which are I assure you, minimal. Which is a good thing," he added with a wink, "Because I don't lose."

With that, he sauntered out of the bar, leaving Shuldich to his alcohol. He quickly finished it off, no longer being in the mood to get drunk or even mildly tipsy. He was too busy wondering over what had just happened.

What * have* I gotten myself into now? He wondered before leaving the bar.

{"I don't lose."} He had said. Well fine, Shuldich thought.

Neither do I.