Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Yotan's Dating Service ❯ Date Number One ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: Me? Own Weis Kruz? I only wish.

Authors Note: Okay, I'd first like to thank everyone for their reviews, :) and for their constructive criticism. Thank you! Someone recently told me that `Shuldich' is actually spelled `Shuldig', but since I already have so much of this written out I'm going to keep it as is for now. Second, I have used one word of Japanese in this fic, which I usually don't do because I get mixed reactions to it, but the situation called for it. I'll post again when I get five more reviews, even little "write more" messages, but don't be afraid to tell me (nicely would be good for my sensibilities) I'm screwing up. But you don't need to say anything constructive. Just let me know you're out there!

WARNING: There are some unconventional pairings in this fic, such as Ran x Botan. Uh, I think that's the weirdest, but there's also some Omi x Nagi, and Birman x Manx. Also Crawford x Someone who i am not revealing at the moment. Heh. You'll just have to read on to see. :P

I think that's all for now, so enjoy!

Yotan's Dating Service

Chapter 2

Shuldich did end up calling the next day, despite his better judgement telling him it was a Bad Idea. He couldn't help it though, the idea of room service goaded him on. Not to mention a certain blonde's words.

{"I don't lose"}

Shuldich snorted. `Didn't lose' indeed. The man needed a lesson in humility, and Shuldich thought himself to be the perfect person to give it to him. But first he had to wake up.

It was a nice day outside, and for once Shu didn't mind the sun shining into his flat, which was just a block away from the club he managed, the Starlit Epiphany. Usually, the mornings after his nights off were living hell for him. This was partially because of the hangover he couldn't admit to, because he had to keep up his image with the employees. He always had to seem like he was taking life lightly, so as not to raise suspicions, always look like he didn't need them to look in on him. It wouldn't do for his employees to think he needed help. That would lead to attachments. And attachments were underscored on his list of things to avoid.

Shu just lay in bed, enjoying the sunshine as it streamed through the curtains he hadn't closed the previous night. He really was lucky to have gotten such a nice place, he knew. His flat was fairly large, and on the corner of the building, giving him a lot of light in the day, and making the rooms seem even larger. It wasn't that big - the living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom, but he enjoyed the location. Nearly everything in his apartment was Spartan, yet comfortable. But then again, he also had a fascination, bordering on obsession really, with gadgets.

The gadgets were one of the reasons Shuldich had stayed in Japan. Here, he had the best entertainment system he could ever dream of. His kitchen had more of what he could only describe as `toys' than he knew what to do with. Really, he only used the microwave and the coffee maker, sometimes even the stovetop, yet he owned a combination apple peeler/blender/French fry maker.

The only thing Shu had actually taken advantage of was the timer on the coffee machine. He loved his coffee machine with a passion. It made coffee as fast as he could wish for, and it was always ready for him in the morning.

That morning Shu climbed out of bed feeling better than he had in a long time, stretching in the light. It was nice to be on the fourth floor sometimes. It meat that he would get most of the morning light the saps lower down were missing out on.

He got his coffee, murmuring a quick thanks for the coffee machine. The first cup of the day, black to wake him up. He would add sugar and maybe even a little cream later, when he wasn't in such need of his morning caffeine.

As he was sipping his coffee and looking out one of the large windows in his living room, Shuldich contemplated the bet he'd made with the blonde - Yohji, he remembered - the previous night.

It seemed simple enough. He just had to not like any of the people Yohji paraded in front of him, right? Simple.

He got the card out of his wallet, which was sitting on the coffee table with his keys. He picked up his phone and got ready to dial the number, and felt a tremor go down his back.

He saw his old lover, Jei, happy again, laughing with him in the orphanage where they had both grown up. He saw them making plans for the future together. Saw his parents, hugging him. Saw his first friend, Sano, in the orphanage.

He saw again his friend Sano laying broken from his fall off the roof of the orphanage. He saw his parent's bodies, foam dripping from their slack mouths, already dead from brain damage. He saw again Jei laying in the arms of another. He saw Farfarello.

And he knew if he called this number, he'd be caught up in it again, in life and people.

{"You know you want this."}

No he didn't. Didn't want to be close to anyone ever again.

{"You don't want to be alone"}

Because… because.

{"Why don't you give it a chance?"}

…

{"I don't lose."}

The last thought convinced him. He dialed the number.

+++++++

Yohji was jolted out of his precious sleep by the harsh ringing of the phone. He wanted to kill it, honestly wanted the noise to die a horrible death and rot in the pits of hell. He hadn't gotten home until very late that night, morning really, since he still had to go to other places, check up on his contacts into the world, meet new people and get them to come to his business. He was his own walking poster.

That damn phone was still ringing. The noise was grating against his nerves, which is why he had gotten it in the first place. He knew that he'd never answer the phone if nothing was forcing him to. So he'd gotten the most annoying, loud and generally crappy phone he could.

Sometimes he really hated foresight.

He picked up the phone.

"Smudd yu wan" He mumbled into the receiver while glancing at the clock. Nine o'clock.

There was a pause on the other end while Yohji woke up more. He'd thought what he'd said was something along the lines of "what do you want", but he could have been wrong. Maybe he'd told the person to fuck off or something. He'd always been half afraid he'd do that in the mornings, because he so often wanted to swear at people who woke him up. Maybe he'd finally done it.

"Kudoh?" Asked the voice on the other line. Yohji knew that slightly nasal voice. Knew it from where though? Last night. A club? No, no, it was a bar. Yeah! Shuldich, that was it!

"Shuldich." He said into the receiver, smug that he could remember anything at all this early in the morning.

"What's up?" he asked the red head on the other line.

Another pause, in which Yohji woke up fully. The man couldn't be regretting their bet, could he? He'd damn well better not, because he needed the companionship more than even he knew. Yohji could see it in his eyes. Too much time cut off from society did things to a person.

"I was… Wondering… when should I come in?" He grit out. Yohji got the impression that he was having an internal struggle of some sort. Yeah, definitely regretting it. Well, he'd just have to get the red head in as soon as possible then.

"How are you for this afternoon? Around three?"

"So eager to be in my presence again, hmm?" Shuldich asked in a mocking voice. Yohji rolled his eyes.

"Of coarse. That must be it," He replied sarcastically, a smile on his voice nevertheless. "The address is on the card I gave you. See you then." Yohji hung up the phone and lay back in his sweet, soft bed, never wanting to get up. A little more sleep couldn't hurt.

But he found himself sleepless, laying on his bed with his eyes closed or partially open, looking at nothing in particular. The truth was that he was eager to see the red headed German again. Too eager. I wouldn't do to get too emotionally involved with one of his cases.

Time to get himself up and face the new day. He grunted when he pulled back the curtains, the bright sunlight streaming in the window. It was too early to put up with this so-called `sunlight'. The world obviously hated him, to send so much light this early in the morning. He closed the curtains again.

He actually preferred the sunlight to rain, or worse yet, clouds, but would rather he was graced with the furnace-in-the-sky at a later time in the day. Around one-ish was optimal, but he'd settle for noon.

He stumbled out of his bedroom, going down the hall to the bathroom, not caring if the floorboards creaked with his every move. He only made an effort to be silent when it was late at night out of respect for Momo-san who lived on the third floor, right below him. But it was daytime, and Momo would be down in the flower shop on the first floor. No one would hear his staggering footsteps, or the sound of the hot water pipes bringing up the nearly scalding water he needed to wake up. He threw a towel over his hips and headed to the kitchen to start the coffee machine. Unlike Shuldich, he had no gadgets in his kitchen. He spent all his money on things of physical comfort and luxury, such as silk sheets, his car, clothes, his bed and clothes. Also unlike Shuldich, Yohji liked to cook. It wasn't something he let get around, because then he'd have people expecting him to cook for them on dates.

He'd cooked for Asuka. But he wouldn't cook for any other woman or man he dated, if he wasn't serious about them. He liked to think that he put something of himself into the meals he prepared, making them special, and that wasn't something he was prepared to just give away to anyone.

As he cracked the eggs for a breakfast omelet, Yohji had the brief fleeting thought that he might be slightly insane, to have these notions about food. He rethought though - he wasn't insane, he was just weird. Very weird.

When he was done cooking the omelet and grabbing his coffee, Yohji went back to his room to eat in bed. Aah, laziness. A benefit of being self-employed. Then again, he had his own sense of duty to his clients to deal with too, he thought as he took a few files off his nightstand to consider as he sipped his coffee.

He then got dressed and headed down to the second floor, to his two-room office. Once there, he went on the computer, setting up the dates he'd just arranged in his mind. He didn't always get involved with the people he was setting up - just in special cases. Botan, his best friend since grade school, had been one such. His two friends when he was in the hotel business, Manx and Birman had been others. There had been a few more - Omi and Nagi, Ken and Aya-chan. More recently, it was a small group of women he just couldn't seem to get a match for. He was hoping that Shuldich would be good for one of them - he seemed like a fairly unique person. He wouldn't be content with a `normal' girl.

It was two thirty when the phone rang, and Yohji decided it was time for a break. He picked up the receiver to find Botan on the other line. He sounded upset, which meant that his lover Ran had probably done something bone-headed again. Not that Botan was too good with the whole relationship thing either - they both had problems. But that was one of the many things keeping them together.

It appeared that Ran had said something about Botan's ex-wife and their daughter. Yohji winced. That was a difficult subject, and one he'd thought Ran would know enough to skirt around. This had led, however, to Botan saying something about Aya-chan, which was never a good idea around the Ice Prince.

"And now he's barricaded himself in the kitchen, and I think he's planning on using some of those knives on * me* and Jesus, why did he have to bring them up-"

Yohji rested his forehead in his palm, closing his eyes. He knew the two loved each other more than anyone else in their lives, he knew they wouldn't leave each other for the people around themselves, who had once been their worlds. But sometimes, Yohji thought that they could both use some serious psychotherapy.

"Have you tried * apologizing* yet?" He asked Botan.

"Apologize?! To him? Me? He's the one who said that he was glad Sylvia went back to America with our daughter!" Yohji winced. All right, he could admit that that was pretty bad, even for Ran.

"Nonetheless, you're sorry for saying whatever it is you said about Aya-chan, right?"

There was a considering silence on the other end for a moment. It was one of the things he liked about Botan's friendship, they both listened to each other, considering the words before replying. Botan sighed. "I suppose I am. But Yotan…"

"I know buddy. I'm sure he's sorry too. Just go patch things up, and call me later. I have an appointment in fifteen."

Yohji shook his head as he hung up the phone. With friends like those, it was no wonder he turned out so strange. He wandered over to the other room, one filled with comfortable couches and an oversized armchair - his preferred spot - and a coffee maker. He made a bee line to the last piece of equipment.

He was just waiting for the coffee to brew and looking through the file of the woman he was setting up with Shuldich when there was a knock on the office door.

++++++++

Shuldich considered the building in front of him for a moment. Somehow, he thought it was fitting for someone like Yohji to work upstairs from a flower shop. He just stood there looking at the flowers for a few minutes, pretending to be interested in them. He was early, he told himself. The man might not want him there until three. Maybe he was in the middle of an appointment. Maybe it would be better to just turn around and go back to the club right now, before he got himself tangled up in this mess.

But no. Shuldich does not run from a bet. He would prove this man wrong, and get his penthouse suite for three nights as well. He steeled himself, and walked to the stairs leading to the second floor.

When he got there, he was surprised to find two doors in front of him. One looked quite like a house door, with a little "welcome" mat that had a kitty drawing on it. It didn't look like something Yohji would own. The woman in the store downstairs then? It seemed likely.

The second door looked for all the world like something you would find in a bad sixties movie about detectives. There were venetian blinds on the large window, and the words "Yotan's Dating Service: Kudoh Yohji" in bold white writing on the glass. He knocked on the door.

He only had to wait a few moments before it was pulled open, the man Shu had come to see standing there, silhouetted against the light reflected off the windows of the building across the street. He looked… good. Like sunlight and honey.

No! He had to stop thinking these flattering thoughts about the man. He was Shuldich's opponent. He was the enemy. He was… smiling quite warmly at Shuldich. Dammit. Time to take out the cynicism, his best defense against those who thought to get close.

He rolled his eyes as he looked at the man, and said, "I hope you're not planning on going out dressed like that Kudoh, or you'll be arrested for indecent exposure."

It was almost true too; he was wearing the red crop top with the zipper halfway down, showing off vast expanses of his chest as well as his bare abdomen. His leather pants had to be painted on, there was no way any human could squirm into them without breaking a leg.

The man just smiled wider and motioned for him to come in. "Coffee?" He asked.

Shuldich shook his head and sat on one of the two armchairs in front of the desk. Yohji went to the chair behind the desk, and Shuldich experienced the switch from normal-social Yohji to Business Yohji.

He picked up a folder that was sitting on the desk, apparently just put down. "Alright, here's the deal. I need to know how often you will be available in a week for dates, how much money you're willing to spend - it needn't be a lot, the girls usually pay for half, and I'll give you a card that will get you discounts. I'll need you to fill out this form, saying that you won't sue me for anything your date does, because I'm not responsible for that. Then I'll go through this file here, about the woman you're going to be dating, and we'll set up a good time for both of you. I won't let you look at the file, because that's a violation of her privacy, so don't even ask. I will however give you her picture so you will know who you are meeting. All clear so far?"

Shu nodded, and smirked, knowing that he wouldn't let this man get his way, no matter what. He took the forms and read them over while Yohji waited patiently for him to sign. He let out a little smile when Shuldich gave him back the forms, and put them in a file Shu assumed was his own.

"Great," said the blonde, taking a picture out of the woman's file, "Now for your date. This is Hell, a nice girl who wants someone strong and supportive. Personally, I think she wants to support someone else though, which is admirable. She's a scientist, genetic engineer I believe, and is very devoted to her work. I found it took a while to win her respect, but once you do, she softens right up."

Shuldich looked at the picture of the woman Yohji had handed him. She was pretty, with blue-black hair and glasses that covered the colour of her eyes. In the picture, she was wearing a lab coat, but not smiling. Shu thought she would look better if she smiled.

"If ever you don't want to go out with someone I set you up with, just tell me and I'll arrange for other accommodations. Are you interested?"

Shuldich considered the question carefully before nodding yes. He was curious about the woman, and why she wouldn't smile for the camera. He wasn't planning on getting attached, so what could be the harm?

"Good," Yohji said, picking up a pen and paper. "Now onto the details."

Which took a good half an hour to complete. The questions ranged from how much Shuldich was willing to pay for a date - quite a reasonable amount, as he spent his money on absolutely nothing except booze and gadgets, to which days Shu could take off - anytime really, as it was during the day that he was needed, to make preparations for the night. And the questioning continued with his likes and dislikes. He liked comfort, good food being cooked for him, quiet. He disliked people in general.

Yohji gave him a strange look at that. "Why do you manage a club if you don't like people?" He asked.

Shuldich just smirked. There was no way he was going to let this man under his skin, and letting him know that he liked the club for the fact that there were people who just didn't care to get close would do just that. He could be surrounded by people in the club, and still be completely alone.

Yohji just shrugged after studying him for a while. He went back to his notes.

"Okay," he said after a while. "Your date is for Tuesday night, which means it should start a bit early. Hell doesn't strike me as the type to stay up on a school night if you know what I mean. You're going to a restaurant called `The Bombay Katzchen.' This," and he gave Shuldich a card with his signature on the back, "Is so you'll get a discount at the place."

"What did you do, sleep with the owner?" Shu asked.

"I get discounts there for two reasons. First, I send them fully one quarter of their business. Second, I set up the chef with his boyfriend." Yohji replied with a smug smile.

Shuldich rolled his eyes as he got up and prepared to leave. He stopped as Yohji called him back.

"Just a second Shushu," he said, fiddling with something under the desk. Shuldich turned around and looked back at Yohji, about to tear into the man for the little nickname. There was a flash before he could get out a word, and a Polaroid came rolling out of the camera in the blonde's hands. "Alright, I think we're done here for today," he said, ushering Shuldich to the door, not letting him get a single word in. "Remember to give me a call Tuesday night, after the date, and tell me how things went. Oh, and if you want to buy flowers, Momo-san downstairs will give you a discount. Thank you for coming!"

And with that, Shuldich found himself standing outside the closed door, wondering what to hate the blonde for more; the nickname or the photo?

"This man," Shuldich growled under his breath, "Is going Down."

+++++++

The days between the meeting and the date passed much too quickly for Shuldich's liking. Every minute that passed, he could feel his dread growing. He did * not* want to do this anymore. Damn that man for talking him into this. The penthouse wasn't worth this kind of effort.

{"I don't lose"}

Shuldich felt his animosity grow as much as his dread when he thought of those words. Oh he would lose all right. And Shuldich was not planning on making the loss easy on his checkbook.

Tuesday night found Shuldich standing outside The Bombay Katzchen, looking for this Hell woman he was supposed to meet. He was nervous, but no one could tell by looking at him. He looked smug. He looked like he was confident. He looked like an ass.

Or that's what Hell seemed to think when she came up to him. The woman was a step beyond aloof, she was frigid. He now knew why she wasn't smiling in the picture Yohji had shown him. The woman seemed to dislike people smiling at all. She even glared at the nice waiter who came to serve them, setting the man's hand trembling as he poured their water. Shuldich took pity on the man by smirking lazily at him, an act Hell didn't seem to approve of at all. The waiter's nervousness just made Shu smirk all the more though. Other than frigid ice bitch sitting across from him, he was enjoying himself.

The appetizer was great; warm whole wheat bread with little dishes of balsamic vinegar and vegetable oil to dip it in. They were waiting for their dinner to arrive when the frigid ice bitch started to grill Shuldich. She asked such questions as "What are your prospects," and "how much have you invested in bio-engineering stocks."

By the time the entrées arrived, Shuldich knew that this wasn't a date. It was a business meeting. The woman wanted him to sell himself to her like he was some sort of investment. Shu was glad of the main course not only because it was delicious - penne with a light garlic and vegetable oil sauce and sautéed jumbo prawns - but also because it shut the woman up, at least for a little while.

He could feel her cold eyes on him the entire dinner though. It rankled. It made him fume. It was exactly what he needed to win against that blonde bastard.

But oh, was the food good. He was looking forward to his favorite part of the meal - dessert. The waiter came over to see what they would like for said course, when that woman, that frigid ice bitch, took out her wallet and asked for the check.

Alright, so usually, he was not that bad of a guy. Sometimes, but not usually. But no ice bitch was going to come between Shuldich and his dessert.

"Ignore that. I would like a hot fudge sundae." He said to the poor, hapless waiter, glaring all the while at the woman sitting across from him. Originally, he was only going to get a little piece of apple pie, with a bit of ice cream. But he'd been craving a hot fudge sundae for days now, and he figured he deserved it after dealing with the woman all evening long.

"I refuse to help pay for such extravagant excess." She said, glaring at Shuldich.

"Listen Ice Queen," Shuldich said, still smirking dangerously, "I have had to put up with your interrogation all evening long. And now I'm having my dessert. If you want to join me, you are free to do so. If you're going to ask more intrusive questions, or are going to be a nasty bitch, then get out."

The woman just stared at him for a few seconds, while the waiter got back to what he deemed to be a `non-lethal' distance.

"You…" She started, the rage starting to build in her eyes. "You ASSHOLE!" she shrieked, slapping him across the cheek soundly before getting up. "You aren't worth the time it would take to berate you, you uncouth, dirty, son of a bitch!"

With those parting words, the woman turned on her heel and stomped away, out of Shuldich's life forever. Oh boo fucking hoo, he thought to himself.

The waiter came up to him with some trepidation. "Sir, " he said quietly, "Er, do you still want your hot fudge sundae?"

Shuldich smirked at the boy. "Of coarse I do. Would I go through all the trouble of getting Ice Bitch away if I didn't want to enjoy my dessert?"

The man quickly walked off to the door leading to the kitchen. There, there were two boys standing and watching him. The blonde one was obviously a chef for the restaurant, the other looked like a patron. The chef gave him an absolutely sunny smile and started over to his table.

What is it with blondes and smiling? Shuldich thought to himself. The kid sat down across from Shu, taking off his little cliché chef's hat.

"That," he said, "was brilliant. I haven't seen anyone get her so worked up yet, and she's been through three dates which ended, well, badly."

"So it's not just me, huh?" Shuldich said, smiling at the boy. It was, for once, a real smile. Not a smirk or grimace, but a smile. He couldn't help it, the kid was just so… genki.

The kid laughed. He was cute, Shuldich had to admit that, but if he didn't stop acting so inhumanly * cheerful, * Shuldich was going to develop a nervous twitch in record time. "No, it wasn't just you. I take it you're one of Yotan-kun's datees?" At Shuldich's nod the kid continued. "Well, don't worry about this, the first date sometimes doesn't work out. But Yotan-kun is really good at what he does. Nagi-kun," This with a glance to the dark haired boy who'd just pulled up a chair, "Was the first person Yotan-kun set me up with, and we've been happy for a year and a half now."

"Omi!" a shout came from the kitchen.

"Oops!" the genki kid said, hurriedly getting up and putting his little chef hat back on. "Gotta get back to work." He leaned down to the dark haired boy to give him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you in half an hour." He said softly. There was a moment when their eyes locked, and love poured between the two. Shuldich could have barfed.

On the way back to the kitchen, Omi passed the waiter holding Shuldich's hot fudge sundae. Nagi's eyes didn't leave Omi until the door was well and firmly closed. Shuldich poked at the sundae, wondering if it had been ruined for him by the sweetness that he'd just witnessed.

"He's right you know," Nagi said. Shuldich looked up to find the kid's intense blue eyes boring into him. Shuldich raised an eyebrow. "About Yotan." Nagi elaborated. "He really won't rest until he's found everyone a match. And it usually doesn't take too long either."

"He introduced you to small and genki over there?" Shuldich asked, gesturing to the back room and almost wishing `Yotan' had stayed out of their business if that was the sort of sap which usually resulted from his pairings.

"Yes, but it was so much more than that." The boy said with a frown. Shuldich raised an eyebrow. It seemed he was doing this a lot lately. "I came to Yotan not knowing I was… not interested in the opposite sex," the boy started, a faint blush starting on his cheeks. "He set me up with another one of his `problem people'- people who he doesn't know what to do with. Hell is one of those, and so was Tot. She wasn't actually that bad, just a little crazy. She had this thing with her stuffed rabbit…" Nagi took a moment to shudder. "Well, at least she was intriguing. But the thing was that Yotan knew exactly what type of person to set me up with. It's uncanny, but he can usually tell with people.

"As soon as he figured out that I wasn't going to do well with Tot, he took me back to his office. That was the first time I saw Omi," The love shining out of his eyes on the thought again had Shuldich almost gagging. He swallowed a spoonful of ice cream and took a break from sweets until the boy resumed talking in his soft, low voice.

"I guess Yotan saw me looking at him at the flower shop, because two weeks later he called me and said he had a date for me. It was Omi. The thing is, that he had to hunt him down, interview him, convince him to go on a blind date, and I'm sure he did more that I'm not even aware of. All to get me together with someone I could be happy with, and so Omi could be happy with me. He really will stop at nothing to get what he wants."

Shuldich spent the rest of the hot fudge sundae talking to Nagi about life in general. Neither of them touched on their pasts, or anything personal, but both felt they could grow to be close friends. Nagi worked in a library, something Shuldich thought fit perfectly with the soft-spoken, seemingly fragile kid.

By the time Omi came back, they were, if not close, than at the very least friends.

+++++++

Yohji was getting ready to go out clubbing when he got the phone call. He sighed, looking at the phone - he didn't want to answer it for several reasons. First off, he had to go out and meet people, so he could lure them into his business. Second, he wasn't in that talkative of a mood right now, especially if it was who he thought it would be, which ties in with reason number three: it might be Hell. Literally.

Yohji hadn't really thought that Shuldich would get along at all well with the woman, but the benefits outweighed the risks. He might have been able to get rid of the woman at last, he tried to justify to himself. But really, he had one driving reason for setting Hell up with Shuldich. Revenge for how much effort the man had been to ensnare on their first meeting. And for ignoring him. Yohji hated to be ignored.

He picked up the phone, and immediately wished he hadn't at the loud obnoxious voice coming at him. Yep. He was catching hell from… Hell. He almost chuckled at the horrible pun, but that would be a very bad idea. Asuka would have laughed and whacked him on the arm… Asuka.

Yohji immediately sobered up. "Are you even * listening * to me!?!?" came out of his phone.

"Of coarse I am Hell-sama. I'm very sorry I haven't found a man suitable for you yet. I am still looking, but it is difficult. All of the best men are taken or gay you know, " He said, trying to lighten the woman up. "I just need to look harder. I will keep trying. I think I may have met someone today who meets your specifications though," He was seriously not in the mood for pacifying the woman, but she was influential enough that she could destroy his reputation. "His name is Masafumi, a genetic scientist with large dreams. I believe he invests large quantities of money regularly. Really Hell-sama, you should meet the man." He knew she would meet him. He knew how to make her do exactly what he wanted, "people person" as he was. "Manipulative bastard" whispered his subconscious, as it always did. Sometimes, he really wished Botan wasn't such a good friend, so he could kick him for saying things that would haunt him.

There was a pause on the other line. "All right," came finally. "But really Kudoh-san, what were you thinking?"

Really? Yohji thought, I wanted to punish the man for ignoring me for a whole hour. "He needs a woman with backbone to help him," Yohji lied to the woman. "You saw him tonight. The man needs to be set straight, and I immediately thought of you Hell-sama. Ah well, I'll get the right woman for him yet." There, Yohji thought. That should mollify her enough. And now for the finishing touches. "I'll have the next date time and place, as well as some information about Masafumi, posted on my site for you. You remember your password? Yes? Good. I hope you have a good date then, and tell me the results later."

The other line started to beep just as he was hanging up. Yohji nearly growled. If this was Botan again about Ran, heads would fly.

"Hello," He said harsher than he really intended.

"Well, it's a pleasure to hear from you too baby," a slightly nasal voice said sardonically.

"Shuldich. What the hell did you do to her?"

"Oh, she didn't give you the full play by play rundown? Not surprising, as miss frigid ice bitch wasn't what I'd call a considerate date. Did you really think we'd hit it off, `Yotan'?"

Oh, how he didn't want to deal with this right now. But still, he had to smile. He'd gotten under the man's skin. Served him right. "It was worth a try," he replied. "Oh well. I think I have a better match now though. Just come in whenever you feel like it." He paused for a moment before specifying, "In the afternoon. Whenever you feel like it, in the afternoon."

"Aw, poor little Yotan isn't a morning person. Alright, but if I come by and you're not up yet, where should I call?"

"Just knock on the fourth story door. It's my apartment." Yohji said without thinking. He winced. Damn, he'd let someone know that little piece of information. Usually, Yohji didn't like people to know where he lived. He'd been through a few stalkers in the past few years, and didn't like to let information like that slip. "Just don't tell anyone where I live, ok?" he said, trying to cover for the mistake.

He got a snort as a reply. "Whatever you say, Yotan." Then he was gone.

Yohji left the house kicking himself for letting someone get past his careful shields. He had very few rules when it came to himself, and most of them made a lot of sense.

He didn't let himself get too drunk, because he had a tendency to make stupid mistakes when he was.

He didn't let anyone get close enough to be considered a lover, because he needed those people to be his customers, among other, deeper reasons. Not the least of which stemmed from Asuka…

He didn't let anyone know where he lived, because stalkers were just plain scary. Any of his one-night stands were taken either to a nice hotel, or to their house. But somehow, he didn't feel uncomfortable with Shuldich knowing where he lived. Which made him feel uncomfortable in itself. Which made him confused.

That was the reason the red head wouldn't get out of his mind when he went out clubbing that night. That was the only reason, Yohji told himself as he shot back another glass of tequila.

Shit, that was what, this fourth? In half an hour? Not too bad for him but still… he was getting no work done here. He decided to head home after getting only seven numbers. Scarce pickings, but it was after all a Tuesday night.

Once home, Yohji went up to his apartment and put on a pair of not-totally-skin-tight jeans and a long red knit sweater. Then he headed down to Momo-san's cool room in the back of the flower shop, where she kept all of the flowers over night. She was there, just as Yohji expected, working on her arrangements for the next day.

He wordlessly took up an order and the required flowers, sat beside her and started arranging.

This was what he needed this night, he realized. Momo-san was the perfect anchor, always quiet when you needed someone to just be there, always ready to give words of advice if you needed them. The old woman was really incredible. She seemed too small to order people about, but somehow, she always got her way, even with the stony Ran.

Tonight, they just worked in silence on the arrangements until the last one was done. It was quite late when they finished, and Yohji was happy he'd come to help or the woman would probably have gotten an astonishingly small amount of sleep. But she would never complain.

Now she looked over at Yohji with a knowledgeable gleam in her eyes. "What's bothering you tonight Yotan?" she asked.

"Nothing I suppose," Yohji said with a slight frown. He realized that that was wrong, something was bothering him. But he didn't know what.

She nodded at him as if she knew what he meant. "Come up for a cup of tea then." She said, heading up the stairs. Her two cats followed, the calico and the Balinese, to her apartment. They went through the second floor to get to the third - unlike Yohji, Momo had two stories to her floor. She had donated the two rooms Yohji used for his office, saying that she wouldn't need them. They sat at the kitchen table, sipping tea as Yohji told the woman about all the cases he was dealing with in his work.

Yohji didn't notice when he started dwelling on Shuldich, but Momo did, and she smiled as she realized what Yohji did not. But she knew Yohji, he was like a grandson to her, and knew that he wouldn't just accept the feelings he was developing.

She sometimes found Yohji's lack of willingness to take a lover, of either sex, infuriating. But she understood. With Asuka's death, something was left raw and open in Yohji. Taking a serious lover would just irritate the wound, until it closed and healed on it's own. But that didn't mean that Yohji could just sit back and let the world pass him by.

The problem was, that Yohji didn't *want * to heal. But now, maybe he had found someone he'd be prepared to heal for… if only Momo could open the way a little.

"And after I just sat there, talking for an hour, a whole *hour *, the guy has the nerve to call me up and berate me for my judgement-"

"Oh Yotan," She sighed, interrupting him, "When will you take a lover for yourself?"

Yohji looked sad for a moment. Momo knew he was thinking of Asuka. "Never Momo-san. I don't deserve-"

"Nonsense. It isn't up to you what you deserve. Your lover will give what they feel you deserve, and if you love them back, you will trust their judgement." Momo sighed again. "You can't keep yourself in a cocoon from the rest of the world forever Yotan. Someday, you'll have to come out. And when you spread your wings, you'll know it was for the best. Right now though, you're still afraid of the change, between your nice little known world of depression, and the world you could fly freely in. So stop being an ass."

Yohji's mouth fell open at the last comment. "Momo-san…" he said weakly.

Momo got up and patted Yohji on the cheek. "You think too much Yotan. Now go to bed, and keep this in mind. You don't have to go out and look for someone to fill your beloved's place. But when someone comes along who makes you happy, who makes your blood soar, don't let it pass you by because of a ghost."

With that last bit of wisdom, Momo shooed Yohji out of her apartment and up to his own, to get some much-needed sleep.