Aya sat on his bed contemplating the events of the past few weeks. Yuki was here, as safe as he would ever be, after being rescued from the ruins of Orphen. His katana was here, now named Shion after his old sword-master even though the man had been a traitor to Kritiker, courtesy of Ken who had travelled to Japan to collect it as Yohji had broken his promise to return it. He couldn't really blame Yohji for that as the man didn't remember him or any of his life as a Weiss assassin. It hurt though, still, and he wasn't sure if he would ever completely get over the tall blonde. They had been together through so much. But then, it was his fault. He had sent him away to Europe, telling him that they could no longer afford the emotional involvement. What a fool he had been!
A knock at the door interrupted his reverie and he bade whoever it was to enter. The door opened and Ken poked his head round it.
"Just to let you know that dinner is ready," he said and pulled back ready to go.
"Ken..."
Ken reappeared. "Yeah?"
"Yohji was happy wasn't he?"
Ken cocked his head slightly, obviously thinking about it. "Yeah, I think so. He was certainly a lot happier than he was last time we saw him."
"He got his wish then..."
"You mean all that stuff about forgetting his past with Weiss? Yeah, I guess he did. Aya... you need to move past this too."
"I know." He sighed quietly before frowning at Ken. "Have you got over... Omi?"
"Not entirely," Ken admitted.
Aya nodded and climbed off his bed. "Then we both need to move on."
"Yohji loved you, which is more than I can say for Omi." The words seemed to have been torn out of Ken.
"Not enough," Aya said. No, if Yohji had loved him enough, he wouldn't have got caught up with those last two women, would still be here. He glanced at Ken, still fidgeting by the door. "Omi loved you. He just had to...distance himself."
"Yeah, all the way to Nagi." Ken's tone was bitter and his hands clenched into fists. "Anyway, let's go and eat." Aya allowed the subject change without comment.
It was still raw in both of them, the betrayals of the other members of Weiss. And Aya supposed that Omi's betrayal of Ken had been worse than Yohji's. Aya knew he had pushed Yohji away, Ken had been forced to watch as Omi turned into Takatori Mamoru almost in front of his eyes. From his point of view he had never felt quite as close to Omi as to the others. For all the boy's denial and compassion, he was still a Takatori. Finally he'd chosen family over team.
He followed Ken down to dinner, his mood bleak. Just as it had been since Ken had brought back the katana and all that went with it.
* * * * * * *
Dinner was a quiet affair if you discounted Michel's chatter and even he fell quiet when he realised that nobody was actually responding. Chloe watched Aya closely throughout the meal, uncaring if the other man noticed. Something had changed in their team mate since Ken's return from Japan with a samurai sword and nothing else; something had died.
Yuki, too, kept flicking worried glances in Aya's direction. The teenager had a huge hero worship thing going on, Chloe knew, but his regard for Aya had changed subtly to concern. So he wasn't the only one who had noticed the difference. He resolved to have a serious talk with Aya after dinner.
Aya got up from the table, food only half-eaten, excused himself and went back upstairs to his room. Chloe finished his own dinner and, leaving Yuki, Free and Michel to deal with the clearing up, followed Aya.
A knock on the door received a sighed, 'come in' so Chloe opened the door and entered the room. Like so much of Aya, his room was stark and minimalist with only tiny flashes of colour or personality showing through. The walls were a shade just on the green side of white, with one Hokusai print and a framed photograph of Aya's sister the only decorations on them. The top of the dresser was clear of anything apart from the katana and its stand, almost the focal point of the whole room. On the nightstand was an open book and there were several bookshelves filled with neatly shelved books. The desk was also neat and devoid of anything suggesting a personality. Chloe sighed.
"What's the matter, Aya?" he asked. "You've been in the strangest mood since Ken brought that sword back."
"It doesn't matter," Aya said, "and it won't affect my performance."
Chloe folded his arms and glared at Aya. "There's more to this team than performance and you know it!"
"I will deal with it."
"Deal with what, Aya?"
"It's none of your concern."
Chloe was hard put not to hit his red-haired team mate. The man got him so frustrated when he closed off like this. He decided to try another tactic.
"You're upsetting Yuki and Michel and they don't know what they've done."
Aya actually looked up on hearing that, his lovely eyes full of pain. "It wasn't my intention to upset anyone."
"I don't suppose it was. Listen, if you want to talk about it, I'm always prepared to listen."
"I don't...I don't know, Chloe. It could change so much and that would not be a good move."
"And if I could promise that it would change nothing? That it would go no further than this room?"
"Ken already knows the truth."
"Yes, but I think Ken is going through something very similar. Am I right?"
Reluctantly, Aya nodded. "You'd better sit down."
Chloe sat on the room's only chair and leaned back, arms folded across his chest, ready to listen. He loved beautiful things and Aya certainly fell into that category. He hated seeing the quiet man like this.
"Weiss was a group of four, Ken, myself, Takatori Mamoru and Kudoh Yohji. I realise you know that but, what you may not realise is that we had paired up." Aya sighed and fell silent.
"Which explains why Ken also has his unhappy moments."
Aya looked up quickly, his eyes blazing. "He has every reason to be unhappy. He was betrayed by that damned Takatori!"
Ah, that explained Ken's fits of depression Chloe realised but opened up whole new areas of Aya's story. There had been real hatred in the way he'd said the name Takatori. "You didn't like Takatori Mamoru?" The fury in Aya's eyes died as quickly as it had erupted to be replaced by sadness.
"It's complicated. Enough to say that he and Ken were a couple for several years. Kudoh and I were... close also."
"You were lovers." Aya glared at him for that but Chloe could see the pain behind the glare. "More than lovers, you were in love."
"If you know, why are you asking me?"
"All I know, Aya, is what I'm seeing in you. I know the basic facts but not the story behind the facts." He shrugged slightly. "For example, I have no idea what sort of man this Yohji was or how you came to love him."
"I seem so incapable of love?"
"No, but I think you're not the type to give your heart lightly."
"I should never have given it at all. It was stupid. Two killers whispering words of love? Stupid!"
So, apparently the love had been a two way thing between them. The unknown Yohji was becoming more and more intriguing. "We are killers, yes, but we are still human beings with human needs, Aya."
Aya glanced up at that. "That's what he used to say."
"And he was right. Tell me about him."
"I...I don't think you'd like him, Chloe."
And that gave rise to another question in Chloe's mind. "Did Ken like him?"
Aya seemed to think about that. "Actually, they got on very well indeed, most of the time. They were a bit like Michel and Yuki are. They teased each other and insulted each other but underneath I think they really cared about each other."
"So I'm guessing that, basically, Kudoh Yohji was a nice guy."
A tear escaped one of Aya's lilac eyes and ran unheeded down his cheek. "Yes...yes, he was."
Resisting the urge to take Aya in his arms, which would be a huge mistake, Chloe sat back. "Tell me."
"He was, on the surface, a lazy, teasing playboy. Underneath all that was the darkness that we all share but he never let it take him over until the very end. He was...is tall, has green eyes and his hair used to be beautiful although he cut and dyed it before the end. He wore sunglasses, day and night. It turned out they were prescription lenses and in the end he exchanged them for contacts. He was kind, gentle, considerate with us but deadly with his harigame. Also, again until the end, he was good at watching your back in a fight."
Chloe took all that in. Yohji sounded like quite a guy. "You keep saying the end. What do you mean?"
"Our last mission together. He had been in Europe because I thought it best to put some distance between us. Ken had gone with him. They both came back...changed. While they were gone our fourth member had become the boss and I trained two doomed new recruits. I think we all lost our will to go on during that time."
Chloe nodded his understanding. Losing your will in their job was almost inevitably lethal. "You rediscovered yours."
"That was Yuki's doing. He needed my protection and repaid me by saving my life so I had to save his in return."
"Yes, yes, I know that bit. And Ken found the will to go on also."
Aya sighed gustily. "Yes, I think prison did Ken a lot of good. Brought him back from the idea that killing was his whole life."
Chloe's mind made a quantum leap in understanding. "And this Yohji prevented it from becoming yours."
Aya stared at him, shock apparent in his eyes. Finally he nodded the admission that Chloe was right. "Ken says Yohji seems happy." The words were said slowly as if Aya was trying to convince himself that they were true.
Chloe frowned. Aya had to bury this and move on and it seemed to him that there was only one way he could do that. "Why was Ken the one who collected the sword and not you? Wouldn't it have been better for you to assure yourself that Yohji was happy?"
"Takatori Mamoru thought it better that Ken collect the sword rather than upset Yohji."
"If Yohji doesn't remember anyone, how could you upset him anymore than Ken did?"
Aya stared up at him. "You think...?"
Chloe wasn't entirely sure what he thought but it did seem that, having let his team down once, Takatori Mamoru was very likely to do it again. "I think you should check it out for yourself."
There was a painful intensity to Aya's gaze as he took in Chloe's words. "You think I should go to Japan?"
Chloe nodded. "Yes, I do. You can't get over this until you've seen for yourself that Yohji's better off without you." He stood up, ready to leave. "Talk to Ken, find out exactly how long he spent with Yohji. Exactly what he saw."
"And whether Takatori Mamoru was present?"
Chloe smiled. "That's what I like about you, Aya, you catch on so quickly."
"I would need to clear it with Krypton."
"Leave that bit to me. Just book a flight and go." Chloe quietly left the room, shutting the door behind him. He smiled slightly to himself before descending the stairs and phoning Richard Krypton.
* * * * * * *
Having spoken to Ken and found out a couple of things, Aya decided that Chloe was right. He did need to see Yohji for himself. As he sat on the plane he thought back to what Ken had told him and wondered why he had never asked for the details before.
Ken, it seemed, had been escorted to Yohji's apartment by Takatori Mamoru and Naoe Nagi. They had told him over and over again that he could only spend a few moments with his old team-mate as they didn't want Yohji to be confused. When he had actually spoken to Yohji, the man had seemed confused but content. The only problem had been his reluctance to part with the sword. Then his wife had come to the door and told Takatori Mamoru that she didn't want him bothering her husband again. Ken added that Yohji seemed to cringe into the background when his wife had appeared. The whole visit had lasted no more than five minutes but he still felt that Yohji had been happy enough.
Not sure if he should be angry with Ken for not pushing the issues, he suddenly realised why Takatori had asked for Ken to collect the sword. Between his own feelings at seeing Takatori again, and his desire to be away from Japan, Ken was the perfect choice if Takatori wanted Yohji kept exactly where he was. That in itself led to all sorts of speculation, none of it helpful. He would have to see for himself once he reached Tokyo.
* * * * * * *
Aya stood outside the apartment block that Ken had written down the address for. He had been surveying both the place and his quarry's movements for three days now and still his heart gave a slight lurch at the sight of Yohji, dressed in a suit, heading off to work each morning. He followed at a discreet distance, marked the never-changing routine of Yohji's day, and planned where he would approach the seemingly contented man. Every evening, after leaving his office, Yohji would go to the same bar and have a beer and a smoke. Some things, it seemed, never changed. The bar was where he would make his approach.
Yohji appeared, as usual, that morning and set off towards the station where he would catch the subway train into the city, Aya tagging along behind him. Yohji turned the corner and Aya followed only to be dragged into an alleyway by a strong arm.
He struggled but wasn't really surprised at the strength in his assailant. Takatori must have got wind of his being in the city and sent one of Kritiker's agents to warn him off.
"Why are you following me?"
Aya went very still at the sound of the voice, Yohji's voice. Some instincts, it seemed, never died. "Yohji?"
The arm holding him tensed while Yohji's other hand dropped the briefcase and tore off the knitted woollen hat Aya was wearing to hide his hair. His face was tilted until green eyes were able to take all of it in. The moment stretched out for eternity, green eyes locked on violet.
"Aya..."
~TBC~