One Night

Yohji looked across the flower shop and sighed. Once again Aya had spent their entire shift acting as if Yohji didn’t exist and he was beginning to become seriously frustrated. He was positive that Aya felt something for him and Yohji realized that the feelings he had for Aya were much stronger than he’d originally thought. After he recognized the depth of those emotions, Yohji came to the conclusion that he’d been attracted to Aya for a while but for some reason, possibly because of the influence of Neu, had ignored the attraction until now.

His mind had been so wrapped up in Aya for the past several days that he hadn’t had a single thought about Neu, much less had the opportunity to be depressed over her. Even now that she was once more on his mind, the pain was nowhere near the crushing feel that it had been before. Yohji knew it was because of the awareness of his feelings for Aya, now to figure out how to force the stubborn bastard to admit what *he* felt.

Glancing around the shop, he noticed that Ken was busy watering the plants outside and decided now was as good an opportunity as any to try to get Aya to talk to him, since it was it would be a while before the fan girl rush. Yohji made his way to the back where Aya could usually be found and nonchalantly leaned a hip against the worktable.

Of course, Aya refused to acknowledge his presence so Yohji said without preamble, “Aya, we’ve got to talk. You’ve been ignoring me for three days and I’ve about had it.”

Aya set the sheers down and purposefully pushed them to the side, insinuating he might be tempted to use them if they were within reach. The frigid look in Aya’s eyes as he answered sent chills through Yohji. “To ignore you, Kuhoh, I’d have to be aware of you. Have you been nearby? I hadn’t noticed.”

‘Damn, he could be such a bitch’, Yohji thought, but then figured Aya was trying a little too hard pretending not to notice him and that in itself was telling. He noticed the slightly elevated breathing and the barest hint of color gracing Aya’s cheekbones. Granted, the same things could be caused by anger, but Yohji didn’t think that was the case in this instance. He’d seen Aya angry often enough to tell the difference. “I think you know I’ve been here all along and it’s time to quit your dicking around. I meant what I said the other night. I want to go out with you, Aya. Would you please go out on a date with me?”

Aya glanced down at the table and played with the cut flower stems lying there. Suddenly his hand curled into a fist before he looked up at Yohji softly said, “I can’t, Yohji; my sister is still missing.”

Yohji threaded his hands through his hair in frustration, his voice reflecting his confusion. “What the fuck does that have to do with anything? It’s not like you don’t carry your cell phone all the time. We don’t even have to leave the apartments. I’ll rent some movies and bring in take-out for dinner. We can just spend some time together.” Yohji almost added ‘like the other night’, but upon remembering the way that night ended, he decided didn’t want Aya to make a wrong assumption… again.

Aya’s expression melted to a look of sadness before turning into one of resolution. “I can’t do things and be happy while my sister is in the hands of those people. What kind of person do you think I am?”

Yohji was truly perplexed and about to say more when the door of the shop opened to admit a rush of girls in high school uniforms. He was suddenly surrounded, as were Aya and Ken. Omi arrived shortly after that and there wasn’t another opportunity to catch Aya alone before he retreated to his apartment for the night.

*****

It was too stuffy in his apartment. Yohji didn’t want to spend another evening as he had the past few, staring at his four walls while hoping Aya would come to his senses. Since Aya was still being such a stubborn bastard, Yohji thought maybe he should simply give up and go out. He then decided he’d go for a drive instead. It was a nice night and it would help clear his head. Yohji was locking his door behind him when Omi, dressed in his mission clothes, rushed up the stairs on his way to Aya’s apartment. Yohji intercepted him and asked, “What’s up kiddo?”

Omi talked so fast Yohji could hardly understand what he was saying, “Kritiker thinks they’ve found Aya’s sister. Quick, Yohji, change into your mission clothes and meet us in the basement.”

Yohji was immediately happy for Aya but tamped that feeling down…. Knowing where the girl was and retrieving her were two different things. “Omi, go ahead and start the planning; I’ll grab Aya and meet you in the mission room.”

Yohji watched Omi descend the stairs while he knocked on Aya’s door. When it opened and Aya saw who was at the door, it immediately began to close. Only Yohji’s quick action prevented it from being slammed shut since he blocked it with his foot. Sighing in frustration, Yohji said a bit sadly, “It’s not what you think, Aya. Put your mission clothes on. Kritiker thinks… they may have found your sister.”

The door swung wide open and Yohji felt his shoulders grasped in almost a painful grip while Aya practically shouted, “What?! Where?!”

“Omi has all the details. After you change, we’ll meet in the mission room.” Yohji said, watching Aya intently. The look of vulnerability that briefly passed over Aya’s features, before they closed off once more, had Yohji wanting to gather Aya in his arms for a hug he knew would be rejected.

Yohji reluctantly turned and left the room to change his clothes. Why had he never noticed before this week how Aya was hurting? He’d always been too wrapped up in Kudoh Yohji’s problems to notice anyone else, he realized. Yohji was ashamed of himself. He hadn’t always been like this, but years of being Kritiker’s dog had stripped away the thoughtful part of him that always cared about others, leaving behind a somewhat selfish person in its stead. Yohji found that he no longer wanted to be that way and decided there and then that he was going to stand by Aya no matter what. He was going to fight to bring his friend the happiness that was determined to elude Yohji or die trying… even if it cost him his own happiness.

*****

The meeting didn’t last long. Omi had the address and layout of the hospital before the rest of them arrived. Going over the plans in detail, they split into two teams to drive to the location. Yohji didn’t trust Aya behind the wheel and convinced him that if Aya needed to hold Aya-chan, he wouldn’t be able to drive. So here they were racing away in Yohji’s Seven while the other two were on Ken’s bike. The private hospital they were headed to was on the very edge of Tokyo, almost in the country, and it took them over an hour to arrive.

It was a quiet drive with Aya staring out the window. At one point Yohji reached over and squeezed Aya’s hand, which was gripped tightly before being released. That simple act of acceptance gave Yohji a small bit of hope for the two of them.

When they arrived, Ken took point outside near the emergency exit as Omi broke into a closed office to hack into the hospital system to find Aya-chan’s location. Yohji and Aya entered the hospital proper since it was near the end of visiting hours and no one would question quests arriving for a quick last minute visit. They immediately headed for a stairwell to await Omi’s instructions.

“Abyssinian, Balinese, check out room 412,” Omi’s voice came over the comms. “The medical chart of that female’s description fits all the stats and symptoms of … wait, there is an order to transfer. Hurry, they may already be transporting her! Siberian, get to the ambulance bays and see if any activity is going on down there. Bombay out.”

Aya sprinted to the fourth floor with Yohji close on his heels. They burst through the fourth floor stairwell door and rushed into room 412, but the room was unoccupied and looked as though it were recently vacated. Aya quickly turned around and headed back the way they came even before Ken’s voice crackled through their earpieces. “There’s someone being loaded to an ambulance, but I’m unable to verify if she matches the picture. All I can see is dark hair and it looks like a young woman, but it’s impossible to tell for sure. They’re getting ready to leave so I’m going follow. Bombay, catch a ride with Balinese. Siberian out.”

Omi’s voice came next. “Abyssinian, Balinese, I’ll meet you at the Seven. Siberian, let us know which direction to go. Bombay out.”

Less than a minute later, Yohji and Aya met Omi at the car. “Siberian, which direction should I take?” Yohji urgently asked into the mic while he quickly unlocked the doors so they could climb inside. Not waiting for an answer, he started the car and backed out with a squeal of tires.

When only silence greeted them, Aya yelled desperately over the microphone. “Siberian, do you read us? Which way did the ambulance go?”

A bit of static preceded Ken’s voice. “Uh, sorry, had my mic on mute. We’re headed north toward Koshigaya and are about two miles from the hospital.”

Yohji wasted no time in getting on the correct road. He broke all the speed limits to catch up to Ken and they soon had the ambulance in sight.

“We don’t want them to get to their destination. Up ahead, there’s a place where we should be able to safely force them off the road,” Aya said in a voice now eerily calm, his Abyssinian persona firmly in place once more despite the turmoil he must be feeling inside.

“Let me know when to make our move.” Yohji backed off a bit in order to follow until they could close in. “I only hope it’s soon because this is going to suck if night falls before we can stop them.”

With no warning, the ambulance hit its siren and began to pull away from them. “Shit!” Yohji cursed in annoyance as he accelerated past Ken to follow. Yohji was worried about Aya but had no time to spare to see how his friend was handling this latest development. Yohji had his hands full dodging cars that were trying to pull back into traffic after yielding to the ambulance.

Yohji was about to overtake the vehicle and force it to pull over when it unexpectedly lost control. The ambulance swerved to the left, then to the right and back to the left before it slowly overturned to land on its side as it slid to a stop at the edge of a steep embankment, teetering precariously.

Bringing the car to a screeching halt, Yohji quickly jumped out but not before Aya was already racing past him toward the ambulance. They were only a few feet away when the vehicle lost its battle with gravity and plummeted over the edge.

“NO!” Yohji heard Aya’s agonized shout as he recklessly followed the ambulance down the hill, slipping and sliding against the brush and rocks.

“Aya, you maniac, you’re gonna get yourself killed,” Yohji yelled after the idiot, following in his wake over the edge. Yohji was grateful for his gloves and long duster during that wild ride down the hill. He knew he probably would have left most of his skin behind on the rocks and brush without them. They had almost reached the bottom when a loud explosion burst through the air.

“AYAAAAA,” was the tormented scream that immediately filled the night. Yohji saw Aya head unheedingly for the flames and frantically ran to try to stop him. Knowing that he had only one chance to keep Aya from entering the inferno, Yohji launched himself and tackled Aya to the ground.

Aya was a man possessed, kicking and fighting to free himself from Yohji’s grasp. Ken and Omi were almost there so Yohji yelled, “Omi, get a tranq dart. Quick!”

Yohji barely saw Omi grab and throw the small dart, which struck Aya in the throat and caused him to still almost instantly. Yohji watched a motionless Aya until another explosion brought his attention back to the ambulance. He got up and walked over to Omi, the look on his face somber.

“What’s the chance that wasn’t his sister?” Yohji asked as he watched the flames continue, heartbroken by the possibility that they might have been so close to rescuing Aya’s sister and then failing.

“Unknown, Yohji,” Omi said as he looked away from the flames, his eyes reflecting the same sadness at the possibility that Aya’s sister had died in the crash. Looking away and shifting about uncomfortably, he gave Yohji a little hope with his next words before dashing them again. “This was just a lead and it might not have been her, but if not, why the chase? I’m going to call and have a team come here to extract the body and take it to Magic Bus for identification as soon as possible. It’s all we can do; let Aya know one way or the other if that was his sister.” Omi got on the phone to make the arrangements.

Yohji turned and called out to the last member of the team. “Ken, help me drag Aya’s ass up that hill. I sure as hell can’t get him up there by myself, and I’m not waiting til he wakes up to kick the shit out of me for stopping him from committing suicide. I want him at the hospital before he regains consciousness, where he can’t go for his katana.”

As he waited for Ken to come and help him, Yohji felt a deep sense of failure. Especially since he’d vowed to help Aya regain his happiness. He knew Aya was going to blame Yohji for saving the bastard’s life, even though the rescue attempt would have been futile, but he’d would put up with any blame Aya saw fit to heap on him. Yohji had sworn to stand by Aya for as long as the suicidal idiot managed to stay alive and he wasn’t backing down now.

*****

Yohji’s luck held and Aya didn’t wake until shortly after they got to the hospital. Omi and Ken had arrived and were already in the morgue waiting room. Sitting in the car, he allowed himself the rare pleasure of watching a sleeping Aya. They were to join the others as soon as Aya regained consciousness. Yohji watched Aya's eyes open and waited, not sure what mood Aya was going to be in after being knocked out by his own teammates.

Aya blinked his eyes a few times and looked around in confusion before recognizing where they were. His face took on a grim expression as he asked, “Where’s my sister?”

“Omi arranged for the passenger of the ambulance to be brought here for identification since we don’t know for sure it was Aya-chan. We figured you’d want to wait here rather than at home to find out for sure,” Yohji said softly. He didn’t know what to do. He wanted to pull Aya into his arms and offer comfort, but knew the gesture would be rebuffed. All he could do was stay close and offer what support he could.

Aya rubbed his hands over his face as he sat there saying nothing. Yohji knew Aya was probably pissed at all of them even though they had saved his life or at the very least kept him from being severely injured. He was about to break the uncomfortable silence when Aya spoke in his emotionless mission voice. “Where are Ken and Omi?”

“They’re in the waiting room across from the morgue on the lower level. We’re to meet them there.” Then Yohji paused. He really didn’t want to say any more but knew that Aya needed to know what was going on so he continued. “Omi said they were trying to track down your sister’s dental records, but also began a DNA test in case they couldn’t locate them, even though that takes longer.”

Aya leaned his head back and closed his eyes as if exhausted before suddenly sitting up straight and leaving the car. Yohji scrambled to follow, not wanting to let Aya out of his sight. He noticed Aya was walking with a limp but wasn’t surprised after their slide down that hill. He was sporting a few scrapes, cuts and bruises himself.

Yohji wished that Aya would go home and wait for the outcome of the tests but knew that would never happen. Aya would remain here no matter how many hours it took for the results. When they got to the waiting room, he watched Aya cross over to where Omi sat before asking in a frosty tone of voice, “Any news yet?”

Omi looked a little unhappy. “Uh, no, Ayan. They’ve been unable to find Aya-chan’s dental records. Apparently her dentist’s office was destroyed in a fire along with all of his records. We’re going to have to wait for the DNA results. The preliminary one can tell us if you are related or not but that can take over eight hours. You should really go home and let them call when the results are in.”

Aya shook his head with an angry look on his face, “I’m not leaving until I know.” With that he sat down in a seat on the opposite side of the room.

Yohji sat next to Aya and offered silent support. Hours went by. Omi and Ken refused to go home, either, but finally decided to go to the coffee shop for a snack. Aya declined all offers of food or drink, but Yohji asked them to bring him back some coffee. He was dying for a cigarette yet decided that he could hold out a little longer. Yohji didn’t want to leave Aya alone, not when he was in this state of mind.

Aya sat as still as a statue beside him. He didn’t move at all even though Yohji continued to shift positions, trying to get comfortable in the crappy waiting room chairs. It had been a long day before they’d even started the mission and it was now almost six in the morning. At least they didn’t have to work later that day. Omi was going to call Momoe-san and ask her to take care of the shop until further notice.

Over the passing hours, Yohji mind had been running in circles with thoughts of the past week’s events culminating in last night’s tragedy. He hoped that the body from the ambulance was not Aya’s sister. Yohji had a feeling that the hope of recovering her was all that kept Aya alive. Without Aya-chan to live for, Yohji wasn’t sure his friend would even bother to continue on in this farce of an existence they led, and was positive that Aya wouldn’t turn to any of them for support if the worse came true.

He glanced over at Aya and finally spoke what had been on his mind while they sat there. “Aya, I’ve been thinking about what you said yesterday... of not going out with me because your sister is missing… trying to understand why you would think she would want you to deny yourself the possibility of a little happiness in this bullshit life you lead. The other night you said that I should move on because Asuka would want me to. I think your sister would want you to grab any chance at happiness you could also.”

Watching closely for any reaction from Aya, Yohji continued. “Just because you find a little enjoyment while Aya-chan is missing doesn’t mean that you aren’t trying to get her back every day or that you’ve abandoned her. Aya, look at me.”

Yohji waited until Aya reluctantly met his eyes then said, “If, heaven forbid, that person in there is your sister, please let me be there for you. Even if you can’t allow me to be more than a friend, at least let Omi, Ken or I in so we can offer you our support. We’re your friends and that’s what friends do. Please, don’t shut us out.”

Aya held Yohji’s gaze until the others’ return interrupted them. Omi approached with a cup in each hand. “Aya-kun, I brought you some tea. You should really have something. Yotan, here’s your coffee.”

Yohji dragged his gaze from Aya and noticed Omi’s worried expression even through the exhaustion they were all fighting. Nodding his head in thanks, he took a long sip of the coffee before he grimaced. “Shit, this stuff is terrible.” Even so, he forced himself to drink it, desperately needing the caffeine boost. Yohji noticed that Aya didn’t even try his tea but really couldn’t blame him if the stuff was as bad as his coffee.

Yohji finished the noxious brew and felt a little refreshed. Now that he’d had his caffeine fix, Yohji really needed to appease his other addiction. Since Ken and Omi were back to keep an eye on Aya, he figured he could grab a quick cigarette. Standing up with a groan, he told them that he’d be right back.

Yohji went to the nearest exit and had a quick smoke, all the while thinking about what he’d said to Aya and if anything had sunk in. Aya wasn’t looking too good, but it was probably exhaustion plus all the stress he was under right now. Yohji wanted to pull Aya into his arms and take him as far away as possible, where the world couldn’t hurt him any more. He hadn’t felt like this for a long time and his heart was breaking for Aya. He only hoped he could reach Aya before the idiot did something stupid.

Crushing his cigarette underfoot, Yohji walked back to the waiting room. Turning the corner, he saw Aya in the hallway speaking with what appeared to be a doctor. Suddenly, without any warning whatsoever, Aya collapsed. Yohji moved so quickly that he caught him before he hit the ground, beating both his teammates and the doctor. He looked at Omi and shouted, “What the fuck just happened?”

“Not now, Yohji-kun, we need to take Ayan to the emergency room right away,” Omi ordered, turning to lead the way.

"You think?" Yohji growled, hoisting Aya over his shoulder and glaring at Omi’s back as he followed him to the elevator. He’d take Aya to the emergency room, but then he’d better get some damned answers in a hurry or the team was going to be down one archer.