Yohji, unusually for him, didn’t sleep through that morning. That was the morning after the new member had come into their lives and Ken and he had beaten the crap out of each other. Coming home late as usual, Yohji had found the shop in disarray and Ken together with a vaguely familiar redhead out cold on the floor. It must have been some fight, he decided, but didn’t know why he then chose to haul the new guy up the stairs and into his room. He had let the undoubtedly beautiful redhead sleep in his bed as he sat watching and smoking. It was a shame that he’d woken up so pissy though. The personality certainly didn’t match the looks.
Now Yohji was looking for Ken, intrigued as to why both he and the taciturn redhead had received the same treatment at the hands of their hot-headed team-mate as soon as they had arrived. He found him nursing a black eye and several other contusions and abrasions in the back room of the shop. Omi was muttering under his breath as he treated them.
"Yo, morning chibi," Yohji greeted. Omi looked up from what he was doing and smiled at Yohji, although there was a worried look in his eyes.
"Yohji-kun, have you seen the new guy?" he asked.
"Yeah, relax, he’s still here. No thanks to Ken-ken though!"
The brunet shot him a glower but Yohji was unrepentant. Ken’s welcome to Weiss, BAM! routine was getting old to put it mildly.
Omi seemed to agree for he cleared away his medical supplies without another word to the athlete. "I’ll get the shop opened," he said, "good job I don’t have school today. As it is we’ll be opening late." With that parting shot he disappeared leaving Ken looking somewhat abashed.
Yohji parked a hip on the workbench and lit a cigarette.
"Damn it, Yohji, can’t you take that outside?" Ken immediately whined.
"Not today, Ken-ken," Yohji said coolly and took a deep drag. "So-o, what did the guy do to piss you off? Come to that, what did I do when I arrived, that got me the same treatment?"
Ken flushed suddenly and turned his head away. This intrigued Yohji even more and he chuckled softly. That turned Ken’s head back to face him, fury burning in the chocolate colored eyes.
"None of your damned business," he snarled.
"You made it my business when you beat the shit out of me," Yohji said, "never mind the fact that my arm was still in a sling at the time. Now you’ve done the same with the new guy. I think you owe us both an explanation."
"If I do tell you, will you promise me that it will go no further?" Ken demanded.
"Rather depends on what it is," Yohji said with a smirk. The expression died, however, when he saw the panic in Ken’s expressive eyes.
"Never let it be said that Kudoh Yohji is without understanding and compassion," he said. "I promise you, Ken-ken."
"Thanks, Yotan, I appreciate it," Ken said before promptly clamming up again.
"And?" Yohji prompted.
Ken sighed. "I saw you both as rivals," he muttered.
"Rivals?"
Ken looked down at the floor as if seeking inspiration while Yohji finished his cigarette and jumped off the counter to extinguish it in the sink. He perched back up on the counter, willing to wait all day, if that’s what it took.
"When you play soccer you get to know guys pretty well," Ken started, "how to read them, stuff like that. An alpha male sticks out a mile."
"What has that got to do with the price of rice?" Yohji demanded, completely at a loss by now.
"When you arrived, I recognized you as a dominant male," Ken continued, "though as it turned out I needn’t have worried. You like girls too much to be a threat."
Now that was really weird, Yohji decided. Threat to what? And would it make a difference if Ken knew that he liked guys almost as much as girls. No, revise that, since that icy redhead had appeared, he could get to prefer guys. Realizing his attention had wandered, he smiled, a genuine one for once.
"What sort of threat, Ken?" he asked gently and then watched as Ken went bright red again.
"You promise you won’t tell?"
"I’ve already said so haven’t I?"
"I know you like girls and all," Ken said so softly that Yohji had to strain to hear, "but have you ever been attracted to another guy?"
Yohji knew he had to be honest now or Ken would never trust him again and that just might turn out to be lethal. "Yes," he said, "why?"
"I….I think, no, I know, I’m attracted to Omi. Have been ever since I arrived here but he was only sixteen then and he’s still underage now."
"Whoa! Hold on there, Ken-ken. That’s quite a lot to take in at one go," Yohji said. "Let me get this straight. You saw Aya and me as rivals for Omi, am I right?"
Ken nodded miserably. Then he noticed the name. "Aya? That’s a girl’s name," he said.
Yohji shrugged and lit another cigarette. "Whatever it is, he’s told us to call him by it," he said. "Anyway, we’re getting off the subject. I can’t speak for Aya but I could never imagine myself falling for Omi. He’s just a kid."
"I know," Ken said miserably. "He’s not eighteen till the spring and even then, I doubt if he could fall for a dumb ex-jock like me."
"Oh, I don’t know," Yohji said, considering the matter, "the two of you do get on very well most of the time. He might even feel the same way. Why don’t you ask him sometime?"
Ken’s eyes widened in surprise. He obviously hadn’t even considered doing that.
Yohji shook his head in amazement. "So, you see us as rivals when you haven’t even made a move? What the hell am I going to do with you, Ken-ken?"
Ken flushed again and gave an uncertain chuckle. "Pretty dumb, huh?" he said. "Is…Aya okay?"
"Well he was pretty pissed when he woke up," Yohji told him, "but I think that might just be normal for him."
"Ouch!" Ken exclaimed. "Couldn’t have picked a worse enemy, I guess."
"No," Yohji said thoughtfully, "I don’t think I’d want him as an enemy. He seems quite the vengeful type."
Ken wasn’t really listening as he reran some of the conversation in his head. "Did I hear you right?" he demanded incredulously. "Are you really into guys too?"
"Can we just keep that our little secret?" Yohji pleaded, his voice suspiciously like a whine.
"Okay," Ken said easily, "as long as you keep your promise. You really are a slut though, Yotan."
"Hmm? Well, that may well change. Who knows?"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Yohji thought about a certain redhead and smiled almost wistfully. Yep, for the right person, he could become a one man guy. He chuckled to himself. And pigs would take flying lessons! "Just that one day I might just meet the right one," he said.
Omi chose that moment to reappear with Aya in tow. Apparently the redhead was being given a guided tour of the shop. "And this is the workroom where we put the arrangements together," he was saying. His blue eyes narrowed on seeing both Yohji and Ken still where he’d left them. "Yohji-kun! Ken-kun! We have a shop to open! And as you wrecked it, Ken-kun, I think you should help clear it up! And put that cigarette out, Yohji-kun!"
Yohji sighed as the redhead shot an icy purple glare at him. It was going to be one of those days. And what Ken saw in the chibi when he was in this mood was anyone’s guess! With another sigh he put out the smoke, and followed Ken into the shop.
Once there, Ken turned to him and grinned. "Thanks, Yotan."
Yohji raised a languid hand in acknowledgement of his thanks, before picking up the orders for the day. He started work on the arrangements, his hands full of flowers and his head full of Aya.