Oracle 2: Morning Rain

From the Ronin Series
scribblemoose

Nightingale's song
this morning,
soaked with rain

Issa

Ronin cowered under the sofa, watching as Aya backed away a step from Ran's fierce expression.

"Not Takatori," Aya said, hastily. "I mean Omi. I'm dating Omi."

"You're... what?" Ran was on his feet, a mixture of instinctive anger and deep confusion in his eyes.

"I..." Aya's mind went blank; she stared at him and tried to think. Omi was his friend, she reminded herself. Surely it would be alright, she could explain. "I'm seeing Omi," she said. "He's my boyfriend."

"Why?" Ran struggled.

Aya couldn't think of a way to answer that without making it worse. "Ran, I'm sorry, I..." She stepped forwards, and tentatively touched his arm, but he snatched it away from her. She recoiled, hurt. "Ran!"

"What Aya means-" Yohji interjected, trying to catch Ran's eye and failing.

"Shut up, Kudoh," said Aya and Ran in unison, glaring at each other.

"It has to stop, Aya," said Ran, steel in his voice.

"No! Ran, think about it, it's Omi, you like Omi, he's your friend."

"But he's a-" Ran paused: perhaps he was thinking about it, but it only seemed to make him angrier.

"Please, Ran, I love him, I can't-"

"That's enough, Aya," he said, coldly. "You heard me. It's over."

"What?! What d'you mean?"

"What I said. As soon as we get back, you finish it."

"You bastard! You can't do that!" Aya glared back at him, her eyes flashing with fury and hurt.

"Go to your room, Aya," said Yohji, quietly.

"No! Tell him, Yohji! Tell him he's being stupid and..."

"Go to your room. Now. I'll come talk to you in a while."

"But..."

"Now, Aya!" Yohji's serious, dangerous voice. The one even Ran didn't argue with. Often.

She threw one last look of anguish at her brother, and ran to her room, fighting her tears until she was safely behind the door.

Yohji sat back on the couch, and lit a cigarette.

"Ran-"

"Don't-" Ran's fists clenched at his sides, the rest of his body deadly-still. "I just... I'll kill him. I swear, I'll-"

Yohji blew out a long plume of smoke, and arranged his lighter neatly on the arm of the sofa. "No, you won't. It's Omi, Ran. Not some monster. It's just Omi."

They both knew there was no such thing as 'just Omi'. But it seemed to soothe Ran a little, just the same.

"But... she's only... he's... but... I... why the fuck didn't she tell me before? Why didn't I know?"

"Probably because she knew how you'd react," said Yohji, gently. "She knew it would upset you, although I think she was hoping maybe you'd be a bit more sympathetic than this."

Ran turned to him, and for a moment Yohji thought he was in danger of getting hit. But then the anger seemed to drain from Ran's body, all at once, and he slumped down on the sofa, elbows on his knees, hiding his face in his hands.

"Shit," he said. "Oh, shit."

Yohji bravely risked putting an arm around his shoulders, and was surprised when it wasn't shrugged off.

"I've fucked up," came Ran's muffled voice from behind his palms. "She'll hate me forever."

"We can fix it," said Yohji. "She knows it's not easy for you. That's partly why she was so terrified."

Ran scrubbed his face with his hands and looked up. "Terrified?"

Yohji risked a half-smile. "You're scary, you know."

To Yohji's relief, Ran managed a half-smile back. "Fuck off," he said.

Yohji gave his shoulders a squeeze. "It'll be okay. It'll just take a bit of getting used to. At least she told you."

The smile faded on Ran's lips. "You knew," he realised.

"Yes," Yohji admitted. "But she had to tell you for herself. I didn't like not telling you."

He kept his eyes steady on Ran's, trying to look calmer than he felt. He'd been dreading this moment almost as much as Aya-chan had.

"How long?" Ran shuffled forwards, and Yohji's arm fell from his shoulders.

"Since that episode with Schuldig. It was the way Omi reacted. He took a bullet for her, Ran. That must mean something, surely?"

"He was reckless," said Ran, stubbornly. "He didn't think, that's why he got injured, he could've made things worse, charging in like that."

"Exactly," said Yohji. "Love doesn't make you wise, Ran. It makes you crazy."

"You should have told me."

Yohji didn't answer. Maybe he should have, but it was too late now.

He realised Ran was getting up, moving off the couch.

"Where are you going?"

"I need some air. I need to think."

"It's late. Don't be long, huh? There's... things, out there."

Ran gave him a withering look. "I'll be fine," he grunted.

Yohji watched sadly as Ran fetched his coat, stuffing his arms down the sleeves as he stalked from the cabin.

Ronin tentatively emerged from under the couch, and looked up at Yohji with somewhat timid emerald eyes.

"'s okay, kitten." Yohji patted the space next to him where Ran had been just a few moments before. "Scary man's gone."

Ronin brushed his nose along Yohji's thigh, and started to purr.

* * * * * * *

"Sweetheart, let me in."

"Fuck off Kudoh."

"We have to talk."

"What part of 'fuck off' don't you understand?"

But she'd at least come and opened the door.

"We have to talk about your language sometime," he said. "It's not lady-like."

She snorted, and went back to her bed, leaving the door open for him to follow.

"Has he sent you to try and persuade me to finish with Omi? Because it won't work. You can save your breath."

"No, he hasn't. He's gone out."

She looked up at him, startled. "Out?"

"Went for a walk." Yohji sat on the bed next to her, and Ronin jumped up between them, padding over to sit on Aya's lap. She automatically started to stroke the little cat, without even thinking about it.

"What happened to the bandage?" said Yohji, noticing for the first time that the katana wound he'd treated that morning wasn't covered. "You should keep it wrapped up until-" His eyes went wide as she showed him her palm. Completely healed, except for a faded, rule-straight scar.

"Got better," she said. "Weird, huh? I guess it wasn't as bad as it looked."

Yohji frowned, stroking the scar with one finger. "But..."

"Anyway, that's beside the point." She snatched her hand back and stroked Ronin hard, hard enough that he gave a little meep of protest before he settled back to purring.

"You need to give him a bit of time to get used to the idea. It'll be fine, I promise. It could have been a lot worse."

"He was so angry all of a sudden." She looked at Yohji with red-rimmed eyes, and he realised she was still trembling a little from crying. "Not that I was scared. But he's never been that angry with me before. Not even with the katana thing. He looked... furious."

"You're lucky, sweetheart. He gets mad at me all the time."

"I don't know where he gets his temper from. Dad was so quiet."

"Wherever he got it, he wasn't the only one. You can be scary too, you know. Maybe it was your mother?"

She shook her head. "She was even quieter. Traditional, you know? She believed her place was to look after her husband, and us, and..."

The tears came back, then, noiseless, trickling down her face to splash in Ronin's soft fur.

"Yohji, I miss her so much," she whispered. "It hurts."

Yohji reached out to her, his heart aching. "I know." He knelt behind her on the bed, cradling her in his arms, her back warm against his chest, his head close to hers as she wept. He kissed her hair.

"She would have liked Omi," she said, quietly. "Well, except for him being a... you know."

A killer. Well, yeah, that would put even the most tolerant parent off, thought Yohji. "Everyone likes Omi. Even Ran. He just wants to protect you. I honestly think it would have been the same whoever it was. He's not good at sharing, in case you hadn't noticed."

She managed a weak smile, wiped her wet face with the back of one hand.

"Tell me more about your family," said Yohji gently. "What was your father like?"

"Kind," she said. "Patient, stubborn. He always had time for people. Sensitive. You wouldn't believe it, but Ran used to be a lot like him, before.... well, before. He thought the world of Ran. So proud of him. He wanted Ran to be a teacher, and I think he would have been, if... It's what he used to say he wanted to be, when we were kids, a high school teacher."

"What about you? What did you want to be?" Yohji settled himself behind her, still holding her close, tangling his fingers alongside hers in Ronin's fur.

"I wanted to marry the lead singer of some Tokyo pop band, mostly," she said, with a little laugh. "I was so girly you wouldn't believe. It was all make up and boys. I always liked computers, so I'd say I wanted a career in web design, maybe, or programming. Or art. I was good at art. My mother wanted me to be a nurse, but..." she gave a bitter little laugh. "I never want to step inside a hospital again now, I can promise you that." She fell silent for a few moments, rhythmically stroking Ronin from ears to tail. "I never gave the future a thought, to be honest. Still don't. What's the point? You never know what's going to happen, or even if you're going to be there. Living in the present is a much safer bet."

Yohji couldn't argue with that. The way his life had turned out, the future seemed too much to ask for, sometimes.

"You must feel sorry for me," Aya-chan continued. "You shouldn't. I'm lucky I've got you, and Ran. It's just that sometimes I get sad."

"Of course you do. Ran does, too, but he'll never talk about it. At least not to me."

"Me neither."

"He probably should."

"Mm. If he lets me live and ever speaks to me again, I might ask him about it."

"Baka. Of course he'll speak to you again. He's just being all snarly and possessive, and not what you need right now. I'm sorry, sweetheart."

"There's things I'd like to know, about my mother and father. Things they might have told him but not me, with me being young. Growing up stuff. They must have left things, that weren't in the house, papers and things, but-"

"The Takatoris were very thorough," said Yohji. "I wouldn't bank on anything surviving. If it had, I'm sure Ran would've..."

They lapsed into silence again, Yohji rocking her gently in his arms.

"She used to make the most amazing cakes, my mother," Aya-chan whispered.

She talked for a long time, and Yohji listened. She talked about her mother: how beautiful she was, how she used to spend hours in the school holidays making up games for them, how she would tell them stories at bedtime and act out the voices and everything. She told him about the time her mother had had to go into hospital to have her appendix removed, and how Aya had found a nine-year old Ran in the little summerhouse in the garden, crying because he missed her so much. How she'd looked after him and their father for the next three days, trying to be as much like her mother as she could, knowing she was doomed to fail.

"Is that what it feels like to him?" she whispered. "Is he trying so hard to be like them for me, and knowing he never can be?"

"Sometimes. He loves you so much. He just wants what's best for you."

"I know, Yohji. I know." She yawned; Ronin had fallen fast asleep on her lap, and Yohji knew it must be getting late.

"You ready to sleep now, princess?"

"I think. Yes. He's not back yet."

"No, but he soon will be. Don't worry. By morning it'll all be better. We'll go find that shrine, like you wanted to, and we'll make Ran get us lunch, and then we'll pack up and go back, and you'll be with Omi again."

"And Ran won't kill anybody? I mean... none of us?"

"Definitely not. I can't promise he'll slap Omi on the back and call him brother, but it'll work out. You'll see."

"Okay."

Yohji slid slowly off the bed, careful not to disturb Ronin. "I'll see you in the morning."

Aya yawned again. "Thanks for listening," she said.

"Anytime. 'Night, sweetheart."

"Night, Kudoh."

Yohji slipped quietly from the room. It was nearly midnight, and the fire had burned down to ashes, leaving the room slightly chilled. He paused to fetch another sweater and his coat, and went in search of Ran.

* * * * * * *

He found him at the edge of the woods close to the cabin. He was leaning against a tree, hands stuffed in his pockets, gazing up at the stars.

"Hey." Yohji stamped his cigarette out with his foot and waited, standing next to Ran, not quite touching. "Beautiful night."

"Hn."

"You coming in soon? Only the bed's kinda cold. Could use warming up."

"Aya?"

"She's okay. A bit sad. You know, she didn't want to hurt you."

"Hn."

Ran showed no signs of moving, so Yohji lit another cigarette. He looked over to the cabin, realised he could see the balcony. Like Botan must have, that night, when he saved Yohji from Neu.

Botan.

"There's a lot of memories here, huh Ran?"

"Hn."

It was going to be one of those conversations, evidently. The ones where Yohji made all the running and Aya managed a range of different grunts.

Yohji felt tired, all of a sudden.

"I was thinking of Botan," he murmured, half to himself.

"Botan?"

"Yeah, you remember, tall guy, made origami a deadly force for the good." Yohji knew he sounded overly flippant, but he didn't have the energy to guard his words any more.

"Yes."

That was one up from 'Hn', at any rate.

"Can I ask you something?"

"What?" Ran didn't look at him, still staring at the constellations laid out before them in the inky sky.

"Botan and you... you liked him a lot, didn't you?"

"Liked him?"

"You hung out with him a while, and you said... I thought... There was more to it than that, wasn't there? Something happened."

"If you mean did we have sex, yes, we had sex. I thought I told you."

"Yeah, you did, only..." Yohji dragged heavily on his cigarette. He wasn't sure why he was digging all this up, now, or all times. Sometimes he wondered if he secretly liked torturing himself. He was fairly sure that wasn't it, though. "But you... there was something there. A connection between you."

"Yes. He was... well, he was fucking annoying, and I only knew him for a few days, but... yes. I liked him. Why?"

"You liked him a lot," Yohji persisted. "Loved him, maybe."

Then, Ran turned to look at him, exasperated. "No," he said. "It was good, while it lasted. I don't know what you'd call it, really. But whatever it was, it wasn't love."

"You sure you know the difference?"

Ran kept his steady violet gaze locked on Yohji. "Yes," he said.

Yohji looked at Ran for a moment, and then all of a sudden, he was kissing him. He should have been talking, getting him to think about Aya, reasoning with him, persuading him, but he was cupping his face in his hands, pushing him hard against the tree with the weight of his body, and kissing him passionately. Ran was startled for the barest instant, then he wound his arms around Yohji's neck and started to kiss him back.

"Ran," Yohji gasped, "Ran, please come to bed."

"I thought you came out here to talk," said Ran, more than a little breathless himself. "About Aya, to persuade me not to..."

"It's been a long night," said Yohji. "Right now I just want you. I want to make love to you and hold you and then in the morning we can talk. Please, Ran. Please."

Ran assented with a squeeze to Yohji's hand, and followed him back inside.

* * * * * * *

They barely managed to get out of their coats before they hit the bed. It was like it used to be after missions. Desperate with the need to escape, to hide in each others' bodies until the nightmares weren't a threat anymore, to chase conscience and reason away. They undressed in a frenzy; Yohji wanted to cover every inch of Ran's emerging flesh with lips and tongue, to worship the ivory skin and the firm muscles that shifted underneath, flexing tantalisingly with the effort of getting out of clothes. When finally they were naked, he found himself on top of Ran, gripping his hips with trembling thighs, clasping both their cocks together in his palms.

"Can I? You? Can I?" he panted.

"Yes," breathed Ran. "Please."

Yohji kissed him hungrily, winding eartails around his fingers, then moved his mouth along Ran's jaw to his neck, licking softly around the shell of his ear, tasting ridges and hollows with the tip of his tongue.

It didn't matter how many times he did this, how many times he kissed Ran's skin, stroked the elegant length of his erection, cupped his balls in his palm. However many times he kissed his way down breastbone, past ribs to quivering belly, however many times he licked the head of Ran's cock in swirling laps, the sweet taste of his precome tormenting his tongue, however many times he parted Ran's lean thighs and knelt between them, his heart racing with excitement at what he was about to do... it was never the same, never what he expected, and it was never, ever enough.

He took Ran's cock into his mouth, loving the thickness of it, not taking it all the way down but relishing the feel of it on his tongue. A rummage under a pillow produced some lube, and he took time to slick Ran thoroughly, making sure not to wet his own dick until the last minute, knowing if he touched it too soon or for too long it was likely to embarrass him.

He rolled on his back, pulling Ran on top of him, still kissing and licking, marking Ran's skin briefly with little nips and bites along his shoulder, then settling to suck at the junction of throat and collarbone, raising a bruise before Ran noticed well enough to stop him. Ran paused to line himself up, then sank down on Yohji in one move, all the way, sheathing him, hiding him, holding him.

Then he paused. He looked down at Yohji, both of them breathing hard, and ran his fingertips slowly down Yohji's face, his eyes deep, intense, as if he were searching for something.

"Ran...?"

"I..." He looked panicked, then, worried.

"What?"

"Nothing." A smile chased the troubled expression from Ran's face, and his eyes gleamed with lust. "Fuck me, Kudoh."

Yohji had no problem with that idea at all. But he wondered.

It had broken the urgency, somehow, that inarticulate little exchange, and Yohji took his time, holding Ran still and pushing up into him with long thrusts. He watched Ran stroke himself for a little while, before batting his hand away and replacing it with his own, and they moved like that for a long time, holding off for as long as possible.

Ran writhed on Yohji's cock as if he were dancing, his hips slow and sinuous, his eyes closed, his arms stretching above his head, muscles flexing. It was just too beautiful a sight for Yohji, and he came suddenly, taking both of them by surprise. The world blacked out for a moment and Yohji felt nothing but the slick heat of Ran's insides clamping around him, and suddenly he was gliding easily in and out of Ran's body, bathed in his own wetness as he felt the last few spurts. He came back to earth as the first splash of Ran's semen hit his chest; somehow Yohji had managed to keep stroking his cock, and now it was pumping its load over Yohji's skin; Ran had hold of it and he was aiming, Yohji realised, spreading the thick stripes of white across his body to make sure he was completely covered. When the last dribbles had been coaxed out, Ran dipped his fingers in the warm pools and spread it over Yohji's chest and belly like lotion, watching, fascinated at the way it thickened as it cooled. Finally he sat back, Yohji's cock softening now inside him, but still firm enough to stay put and be felt.

"You'll need a shower, now," Ran said, with a smirk.

Yohji quickly scooped up a fingerfull of sticky come and painted a line down Ran's chest with it.

"You too," he grinned.

Ran laughed.

"Unless you want me to lick it off?" Yohji offered.

"Shower," said Ran. "Then sleep. Need sleep."

"I could make do with a wash. I don't want to wake Aya-chan up running the shower."

"It's a bit late for that, Kudoh. You came like a steam train."

"Oh." Yohji winced. "Was I loud?"

"Yes would be an understatement."

"Damn. I'm sorry. I can't seem to help it."

Ran leaned down to swipe a kiss across his lips as he raised his hips carefully, letting Yohji's cock slip out to slap wetly on his belly. "I like it," he said.

"Oh, God, Ran..." Yohji pulled his head down again for a longer kiss.

By the time they'd showered and got into bed, snuggling together to avoid the cold of the sheets, Yohji was bone-weary. There was no doubt about it, Fujimiyas were hard work.

But worth it, he reflected, sleepily running strands of damp crimson silk between his fingers. Very, very worth it.

* * * * * * *

Omi whistled to himself as he whisked eggs in a large bowl, keeping his eye on the warming oil in the pan on the stove. He'd discovered French toast whilst on a mission in Europe a year or so previously, and had been partial to it ever since. He added milk and pepper, and had just dunked the first piece of bread when something on the TV caught his eye.

It was the street, where he'd been last night. The mission. When they'd captured the spy. It was cordoned off with yellow tape, surrounded by bystanders.

"...the officer is survived by a wife and two teenage daughters."

Officer?

But Ken had said... Ken hadn't...

Omi put down the bowl and took the pan off the heat, flicking channels to find the full story somewhere else. Gathering bits and pieces from different news programmes, he managed to piece things together. The policeman had been found last night, not long after they'd left the scene, in the alley where Ken had said he'd left him, but not unconscious. Dead. Stabbed and mutilated, apparently, as if clawed by some kind of feral animal.

But Ken had said...

He'd been very distracted lately, though. Irresponsible, even. Charging at Schuldig like he had, not thinking... but surely Ken wouldn't have...

Just unconscious, he'd said.

Omi went back to whisking, forgetting at first that he'd already put in a slice of bread. He cursed, and put the whole messy bowlfull in the pan, his mind racing. Ken was already out, gone to soccer practice, so he couldn't be asked. He didn't want to tell Manx, he'd promised Ken that he wouldn't. Only one thing for it, then.

Omi settled down to a breakfast of bread omelette, and planned a trip to the morgue.

* * * * * * *

Yohji could smell the rain when he woke, he could hear it pattering against the window to the balcony. He could feel Ran's warm body cuddled up to his, the soft sheets caressing both their bodies. The room was filled with the smell of wet grass and warm wood, and, very faintly, sex. He felt comfortable, and sleepy, and content.

Ran stirred a little and swatted at his nose, which was being tickled by a strand of scarlet hair. Yohji was reminded suddenly of Ronin, and had to stifle a giggle.

He was about to settle down for another half an hour so of delicious sleep when the phone rang. Ran sat up, instantly awake, if groggy, and reached over Yohji's prone form to pick it up.

Yohji refused to listen to the conversation on principle, hiding his head under a pillow. He'd caught the name 'Manx' early on, and that was all he needed to know.

As if it wasn't bad enough that they had to go back today, and that he had to help Ran face Omi without causing him any permanent damage, now there was Manx afoot. He had a sudden vision that his day was not going to live up to its early promise.

"Come out, Kudoh. Time to get up."

"Shan't."

"Come on, you lazy bastard. We need to buy food."

"What? Why?" Yohji cautiously emerged from behind his pillow. "We're going home. What d'we need food for?"

"We're not going yet. We're staying for another few days. Ken and... Omi are joining us here later today."

"Oh." Yohji sat up, watching as Ran got out of bed and started searching for clothes. "Did they cock up the mission, then?"

"She didn't say. Just that they'd be along late this afternoon, and we should all stay here until we get further instructions. They'll explain when they get here." Ran's tone implied that their explanation was in no way optional, and that it had better be good.

"Oh." The implications of this change of plan started to sink in. No need to rush about and drive back to Tokyo in the heat of the afternoon. No shop. No work in the morning. Unusually, for anything remotely associated with Manx and Kritiker, it sounded remarkably good.

"Okay," said Yohji. Ran was already dressed in jeans and a sweater, pulling a comb through his hair. "This is turning into an actual vacation. I can't remember the last time we had one of those. We can go to the hot springs. Just as soon as you've had a talk with Aya-chan."

"Hn."

"She's not going to change her mind," said Yohji. "Even less so if you start laying down the law or trying to hurt Omi."

Ran frowned irritably. "I wouldn't hurt Omi."

"You were threatening to kill him last night."

"That was different."

"But you do have to talk to her."

"Hn."

"What are you going to say?"

"I don't know," confessed Ran, and sat heavily on the end of the bed, his back to Yohji.

"You're not going to try and stop them seeing each other, are you?"

"She's too young. She's only seventeen."

"Nineteen, if you count the time she..."

"I don't. Neither does she."

"So what were you doing when you were seventeen?"

He looked at Yohji over one shoulder. "I was at school," he said. "Why?"

"Yes, and-? Were you dating? Seeing anyone?"

"No."

"Oh." That took the wind out of Yohji's sails somewhat.

"Why, were you?"

Oh yeah. And then some. "I don't really remember. I expect so. I think most kids are."

"Oh." Ran sounded genuinely surprised.

"So when did you..."

"Much later. I was in Crashers. I must have been nearly 20."

That confirmed some of Yohji's personal suspicions. "But the point is..."

"How old were you, Yohji?" Ran had twisted round so he was facing Yohji now, sitting cross legged on the bed, looking oddly innocent and curious in a way he hardly ever did.

"Like I said, I don't really..."

"Yohji..." a low growl. It was disconcerting, how often Ran could tell when he was lying.

"Fourteen or so. But... that was different. The point is that it's not unusual for people Aya and Omi's age to be dating. I'd say it was pretty standard. And at least we can keep an eye on them. It's not like you'd have to get used to the idea of her actually going out, or the risk of her boyfriend finding out about us."

"What, you and me? You think it would be difficult for her because I'm gay?"

"I was thinking more of the whole assassin thing," said Yohji with a wry grin.

"Oh. Yes, of course."

"You're not telling me you hadn't thought of what would happen when Aya grew up?"

"No, I just... I didn't expect it now. In a couple of years' time, maybe, when she's at college, or after. Not now. And not Omi. Definitely not Omi."

"No." Although Aya's choice was making more sense to Yohji, in hindsight. Omi was cute, and he had the whole big blue eyes and cheerful disposition going for him. Most of all, he knew what had happened to her, and he understood what it was like to lose your family. And, of course, he cared for her.

Ran was looking lost, plucking bits of fluff off the comforter.

"We need some ground rules," suggested Yohji. "Especially because we're all living together. Like, they shouldn't be in each others' rooms alone. Or something."

"He's been looking after her," Ran realised. "We've gone out and left him alone with her lots of times. What if... Oh, shit, Yohji, do I have to have that talk with her as well? The sex one?"

"Um..." Yohji paused for a moment to imagine Ran, of all people, explaining the facts of life to Aya. "I don't think that's necessary. They cover the basics at school, I think and anyway... Ran, have you ever actually had sex with a woman?"

Ran looked at him and slowly shook his head.

"Never wanted to," he said.

Yohji was learning more about him every day.

"So there you are. Maybe we could ask Manx, or Birm-"

"You could do it."

"Oh no. Oh, no, Ran, you don't know what..."

"You're not going to tell me you never had sex with a woman either?" There was a grin on Ran's face that was teasing and incredibly hot all at once.

"No, of course I have. You know I have." There was that time you walked in on me and that dancer from the club, remember? "I mean, I'm probably not the best person to advise her. It's different for girls. There's birth control, and..."

Ran went a little pale.

"You don't think they already..."

"No," said Yohji, quickly. "I mean, Omi wouldn't... would he?"

"I'll call Manx tonight," said Ran.

"Excellent idea," said Yohji.

There was a knock on the door, and Aya-chan came in. She was dressed in a blue silk robe, her hair tied loosely down her back, Ronin perched on one shoulder. She looked sad, a little grumpy, even.

"I thought I'd come and get the lecture done with," she said.

"Come here, sweetheart." Yohji patted the space on the bed between himself and Ran; she popped Ronin down on the bed and knelt there, daring to meet Ran's gaze. Yohji gently stroked her hair.

"I'm sorry, Ran," she said. "I didn't want to make you mad, really I didn't, I-"

Ran took her hand, and clasped it in both of his.

"It's alright," he said. "I'm not mad."

"You were last night."

"That was last night. I've had a chance to think." He glanced at Yohji over her shoulder; Yohji nodded encouragingly. "I'm not going to try and stop you seeing him. But there has to be rules."

Yohji could sense the smile spreading across her face, even without seeing it.

"Of course," she said. "I understand. What rules?"

"I still need to think about that," said Ran. "But I want you to promise me one thing."

"What?" she asked.

"Don't do anything Kudoh would do," said Ran, with an absolutely straight face.

"Oh, absolutely," she said, and laughed, flinging her arms around Ran's neck, whispering something in his ear that Yohji couldn't hear.

"Hey," he said, in his best offended tone. "Are you saying I have loose morals?"

"Yes," said Ran and Aya, in unison.

"No-one understands me, cat," said Yohji, turning his affections to Ronin, mussing the fur along the furry belly that was offered to him. "You can never trust a Fujimiya, you know. They're nothing but trouble."

"Hey, Aya," said Ran. "Your wound. What happened to it?"

He was holding Aya's hand, turning it gently in his, examining it closely.

"Oh, it healed," she said.

"Already? But it was so deep." He traced the line of her scar with a gentle finger.

"I figure I still have some of the old regeneration thing going on," she said, with a shrug. "My body does weird things sometimes. Like my hair grows twice as fast as it should, and you know I haven't had a single cold since I woke up... it's just like that, I guess."

"Are you sure you're alright?" Ran was worried, and Yohji wondered if he should have been.

"Well, yes, baka! I'm more alright than I should be - that's not a bad thing, is it?"

"No, of course not, I just..." Ran frowned.

"So when do we have to go home? Yohji promised to take me to the shrine, remember?"

"We're not going home, Princess," said Yohji, "we have to stay a few more days. But before you go all shi-ne on me," he added, seeing the start of a glare in her eyes, "the good part is that Omi and Ken are joining us for a couple of days."

Aya beamed at him through her raven bangs. "Really? Omi? Here?"

They both felt Ran stiffen a little, but he didn't say anything.

"Yes," said Yohji. "Manx seems to think the mountain air will be good for him. So why don't you run along and make up rooms for them, while we get breakfast?"

Aya bounded off the bed, a broad grin on her face.

"Oh, and Aya," Yohji added.

"Yes?"

"Make sure Omi's room is the one at the other end of the house from yours, alright?"

"Yes, Yohji-san," she said, cheekily, and fled before Yohji could throw the pillow he was reaching for.

"You know, that girl's getting distinctly disrespectful," said Yohji.

"Really?" said Ran, a smirk on his lips. "Well, she certainly doesn't get it from me."

He almost dodged the pillow.

* * * * * * *

"So who was it?"

Yohji opened his eyes and squinted at Ran through the mist. He was feeling particularly languid and relaxed; the water was very warm and his loins were very happy after a long and satisfying session of lovemaking. He'd never done it in hot springs before, although he'd always wanted to, and the springs behind the cabin had captured his imagination the very first time he'd been there. They were private, above all, far enough off the beaten track that it was very, very unlikely anyone would find them at all, and with the added bonus that they were on land which, like the cabin, belonged to Kritiker and was therefore fully alarmed. So no interruptions.

He had his suspicions about hidden cameras, but he could live with that. Especially as the thought didn't seem to occur to Ran.

"Who was who?" he asked. There was still a fine rain falling, which was rather pleasant, a cooling spray to counter the heat of the water they sat side by side in. And it kept Ran's hair deliciously wet and plastered around his face, which looked adorable.

"Your first. When you were fourteen."

Yohji didn't recall Ran ever asking him anything about his past before. He'd listened patiently while Yohji had talked about it, but he'd never really asked like that, out of the blue.

"My first was earlier."

A scarlet eyebrow shot up.

"Don't get judgy. I won't tell you if you get judgy." Yohji took a long drag on his damp cigarette.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to. It's surprising, is all."

"Well."

"Was it with a woman? Or a man?"

"A woman. At least, that time was. I was thirteen. It was a friend of my mother's."

To his credit, Ran kept his eyebrows under control, although the effort of doing so was writ clear on his face. "Oh?"

"She was going through some kind of trouble at home. I don't think her husband was very nice to her: he hardly ever seemed to be there, and when he was he was often drunk. My mother used to send me round to help her with jobs around the house, and we'd talk, watch TV and that kind of thing. Then one day she asked me if I found her attractive."

"And you did?"

"Oh yeah. Fuck, I was a healthy 13 year old boy. I found anything that moved attractive. And she was nice. Younger than my mother. Very independent-minded. We kissed and one thing led to another." He sucked thoughtfully on his cigarette for a moment. "I'm not even sure she knew how young I was. I looked older, I think."

"You had an affair with her?"

"No. The next day I went round to her house after school as usual to help with some chores, and it was just like it had never happened. She was always nice to me, though. I missed her when she moved away."

"Oh." Ran looked a little stunned.

"It was a year later that I started dating, I suppose."

"And..."

"And?"

"Who was the first man?"

Yohji paused.

"Ran..."

"Yeah?" Ran smoothed his wet hair over his skull, rubbed the water out of his eyes.

"Why are you asking me this stuff? I mean, why now?"

"Just curious," said Ran, casually. "There's so much we don't know about each other. Considering all we've been through."

That was true. Very true. They'd talked about a lot of things, over the years, death, religion, hell, mission tactics, and, again, death. Never the everyday things.

"He was my best friend. We messed about as kids and sort of kept messing about after. You know, between girlfriends and all."

"As kids?"

"Yeah. Exploring. You know."

The expression on Ran's face showed clearly that he didn't.

"Then do most... do..." he struggled.

"I don't know." Yohji picked up Ran's hand under the water, raised it to his lips to kiss. "It's not that unusual, I don't think. Does it matter?" He nibbled gently at the end of Ran's middle finger.

Ran smiled, and sank a little further under the water.

"So what about you?" asked Yohji. "Who was your first?"

"Yuushi." And then, when Yohji looked blankly at him, "Knight."

It was on the tip of his tongue to make some obvious comment about always going for team-mates, but somehow Yohji managed to control himself for once.

"How did that come about then?" he asked, instead.

"After a mission, one time," said Ran.

Yohji waited. Ran didn't say anything.

"Well?" asked Yohji, eventually.

"Well what?"

"What happened?"

"We had sex."

"Yeah, I got that part, I mean..." I mean how did he get you into bed when you were virginal, when it took me months to seduce you? "How did it happen? Did he just pounce you after a mission, or..."

"No, it was more gradual than that. I realised I liked him, in that way, and... well, he liked me too, turned out. But we didn't do anything for a long time. It wouldn't have been right, working together and everything..."

Yohji smiled. That sounded very much like Ran. "But?"

"But one time he was really upset, I never did find out why, but we were in his room and just talking, I was sort of keeping his mind off things and, well, things happened. Started out as a hug, and there was kissing, and... things happened, slowly."

So very different to what had happened between Ran and himself. Yohji remembered that night vividly: the stench of blood and fear and whiskey, desperate kisses and wild sex. Very wild sex.

"And then there was Botan."

"Yes. And you."

"And that's it?"

"Pretty much. The odd one night stand. You know what I was like, back then."

"Yeah." Cold, heartless, sexy as sin. Irresistible.

"Botan bothers you. You were asking about him last night."

Yeah. And now Knight bothers me, too. "Not really. I just always wondered what happened. You were so cut up when he got killed."

"He cared about me. He cared about people. I couldn't do that. Not then. It seemed so sad, that he should die, when he could have done so much more than me."

Yohji twined his fingers more firmly around Ran's. He couldn't think of anything to say.

"You know I love you, Yohji?"

Yohji stared at him. The sun filtered through the morning rain, making Ran's skin glow, his eyes shine. Water beaded on his pale skin, ran in little rivulets down his chest to the warm spring water. His hand felt soft and strong, curled around Yohji's. The world stopped.

Love?

"Yes," he whispered.

Ran cupped Yohji's face in his other hand, the one that wasn't gripping his; he drew him closer and kissed him, lips and tongue, perfect lips and tongue. Yohji felt long fingers run through his hair to the back of his head, pulling him gently away from the rocky edge of the pool. He let Ran guide him, not breaking the kiss, pulling Yohji into his lap. They were both hard, both sore from before but hard just the same, their cocks bouncing together, skin greeting familiar skin. Ran pulled the hand that was still joined with Yohji's to brush knuckles along the sides of both their erections, still kissing, swiping his tongue along Yohji's lower lip, noses brushing together.

Then Ran's hand was tracing down Yohji's spine, pausing at his waist, his hipbone, and finally cupping around his butt. The water moved around them, the kisses were soft, everything damp and warm.

Fingers kneaded and stroked Yohji's butt, probing his crack, pulling his buttocks apart. He felt the invasion of one finger, and another, and something wetter than the water that lapped around them. Ran lifted him easily, nudged the head of his cock into place, and pushed Yohji's hips down, swallowing the gasp that Yohji released as he was impaled on Ran's erection .

He couldn't speak; he was lost in the sensation of Ran filling him, stretching him, carefully but not gently. The kisses that rained on his face and neck, the teeth that nipped at his shoulders, the fingers that teased his nipples and raked down his chest. He wound his arms around Ran's neck, clutching the rocky edge of the pool to gain the purchase he needed to raise himself up and down to meet the rock of Ran's hips; the breath caught in his throat as Ran took his cock in both hands and started to stroke in time with his thrusts.

The rain got harder, splashing in the water that churned around them, but the sun shone brighter, streaking from sky to earth in wide, glittering shafts. There was a hint of rainbow to the east, the promise of clear skies beyond. Yohji bowed his head, oblivious to the landscape, burying his face in Ran's neck with a whimper as Ran kissed his hair.

He erupted quickly over Ran's fingers and belly, filling the water with white, and yet it still felt good, Ran moving inside him, building steadily to his own completion. He felt soft kisses on his ear, his neck, his mouth, and then suddenly the body in his arms snapped tight as Ran came, jerking inside him, filling him, kissing him with tight, shuddering lips.

He gasped for air, his forehead resting on Ran's, his sore cock beginning to protest, even through the sated pleasure. He didn't care. He didn't care at all.

"I love you," he gasped, suddenly, quickly. Before the moment went. Before he got scared. Before it was too late.

Ran kissed him again, and held him close for the longest time, in the steam and rain and sun, until Yohji's legs were cramping under him, and Ran's cock slipped soft from his body.

"We ought to get back," he whispered. "Aya'll be waiting to go to the shrine."

Ran nodded his assent; Yohji clambered creakily from his lap and reached for a towel.

He felt like singing.

* * * * * * *

"Oh, God, Farfarello! Stop that!"

"Be quiet, Schuldig," said Nagi, quietly. "Crawford's trying to have a vision."

"But it's disgusting! For fuck's sake, cover it up, Farf. None of us wants to see that."

Farfarello's insane eyes sparkled at him; he laughed.

Laughter was supposed to be something pleasant and cheerful, thought Schuldig. Not like that. Not like that at all.

"Crawford, make him stop," he whined.

"Farfarello!" barked Crawford. "Stop!"

Farfarello switched off the laughter instantly, and accepted the roll of bandage that Nagi handed him. Schuldig tried not to watch as he wrapped it around the freshly sliced flesh of his arm, humming to himself as if he were arranging a vase of flowers rather than dealing with a gruesome, self-inflicted wound.

"What did you see?" Nagi was asking Crawford.

Crawford was giving one of his self-satisfied little smiles, pushing his spectacles up his nose.

"Oh come on, tell," said Schuldig, not watching Farfarello as his tied up his bandage and licked his blood off a long, cruel spike of a dagger.

"I'm not sure, exactly," said Crawford, sounding absolutely certain. "But you're in luck. We're due a little vacation."

He looked around at them, and the light of the sun that crept through the murky windows glinted off his glasses.

"Let's go to the mountains," he said.

Illustration by PL Nunn

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