It's nine forty-five, you're expected at the shop in fifteen minutes.
And if I don't show up...
They'll assume you're late, get angry.
And...?
Call.
And if I don't answer?
At the end of his shift, Omi might come up.
And?
Knock.
And if I don't answer...?
My lights are off...
He'll think you're out.
He'll leave.
And if I don't move from here?
If I...
You'll miss your afternoon shift, too.
Another phone call?
Another knock, perhaps.
And if I don't move from here?
Out again. Irresponsible Youji.
And if I...
You passed on the mission. You were absent for several days.
Someone would get suspicious, break down the door--
Or assume you had taken off without warning.
But I wouldn't--
Who knows that?
I have a date on Friday--
Which you would be breaking.
I--
Does she even know your phone number?
Your last name?
I--
If she asked at the shop, maybe--
Irresponsible Youji.
Tsk.
Even his dates.
His precious women.
The door...?
If I never...
Never moved from here...
Untouched, unbroken.
Never moved...
The lock, unpicked.
If I...
There's no double to my key.
No one would break the door.
No one would think the worst.
No one would notice a difference and say, "But Youji wouldn't..."
If I never moved...
Think hard, Youji.
If you... if I never moved again...
Is there anyone, at all,
Who would know to break down the door?
"Masaka!" Ken staggered against the counter, clutching at his chest. "My... my heart... the shock is too great!"
"Hurry up and die, then," Youji growled, shoving the younger man's elbow as he passed. Ken flopped obligingly to the floor, flinging the arm not grasping at his heart across his eyes.
"Felled in my prime, oh the cruelty! You finished me off, Youji!"
"If only I were so lucky," Youji bit out, glaring angrily back at the man on the floor and the boy behind the counter hiding his laughter behind one delicate hand.
"Maa, Youji-kun," Omi half-giggled. "It is rare for you to be early. Are you--"
Youji paused with his fingers in the loops of his apron, then dropped it back onto its hook. "Deliveries today, we got any?"
"Ahh..." Omi pondered.
Ken dragged himself off the floor, still laughing softly to himself. "Haaai, kore," he produced a list from the front pocket of his own apron. Brown eyes scanned it quickly. "Six."
"They're mine, give." Youji plucked the list from his teammate's fingers.
"Demo, Youji-kun, Aya-kun usually..."
"I'm here first, so I get to choose, na? I'm doing deliveries."
"Well, I guess that's OK, but--" Omi began. The door to the back room clicked shut. "A-anou ne..."
"Someone got up in a foul mood," Ken said brightly, propping both elbows on the counter and smiling over folded hands at Omi. "Saa, as soon as Aya puts in an appearance we can leave, na?"
"Business-minded as ever, ne, Ken-kun?"
Left.
Two lights.
Left again.
Stop sign.
Cul-de-sac.
Roses.
"Kaobara-san? Hai, special delivery. Ahhh, shall I tell you who they're from? I'm jealous... He has good taste though, doesn't he? ... Jaa, sore de wa..."
Right.
Right again.
Straight through the intersection.
Three blocks south.
Wedding arrangement.
"Your groom is a lucky man, I should only be so fortunate one day..."
Turn left.
Seven needs gas.
Station on the return route, before the last delivery.
Ramp 5 onto the highway.
100 miles due north.
Exit 6.
Three left turns.
A nice neighbourhood.
A nice house.
Casablanca lilies.
"Wakabito-san? These are... these are..."
100 miles straight south back to Tokyo.
"Ahh, Youji, that's not like you!"
"You're not acting like yourself lately!"
Watch for the signs, it's the seventh ramp on this side.
"These are..."
"Youji, how unlike you!"
"These are..."
"At a loss for words like that!"
Unlike me...
What would you know...?
"You haven't been yourself."
Would you know me...
"These are..."
...if you saw me?
Seven still needs gas.
"Ara... and it's the last copy left, too." The feminine lament sounded blatantly ludicrous in that nasal, heavily masculine voice. Youji looked up at the owner of the large hand over his grasping the leatherbound hardcover. Long practice kept surprise to a minimum, actually prevented the instinctive start and jerk away. Balinese's forest-green eyes were steady as they fixed the smug foreign face framed by that fall of sunset orange.
"Don't tell me you actually have an interest in the Rubaiyat."
"The what?" Schuldich's left eyebrow disappeared under his headband.
"Thought so," Youji said, pulling the slim volume from the shelf as the German's hand lifted and folding it possessively against his chest.
Schuldich's head cocked to one side. "I'm not going to take it from you--what's so special about that book?" He cast an eye around the signs topping the nearby bookcases. "I'll admit, I was expecting to turn you up either in Sci-Fi or Fantasy, not Poetry."
"So you knew I was coming?"
"Of course."
Youji ran a hand through his hair, then planted it on his hip, falling into his usual lopsided slouch. "Really, of all the places you could choose as our rendez-vous point, a bookstore? Why not a bar, or a club, someplace more... fitting?"
The redhead snorted, rumpling his long suit-jacket to plant one hand in his pants pocket. The other waved dismissively at the brunet. "How passé, Kudou. Don't you know the most fashionable place to pick up a date is a bookstore nowadays? So much more intellectual, a true meeting of minds." He chuckled. "Besides, hot as you are in leather, I prefer your casual-wear." He looked pensive. "And it's easier to get off you."
Youji rolled his eyes, but didn't manage to completely mask the shiver that had played across his shoulders. "Whatever."
The German shrugged. "Truth be told I have this fantasy of fucking you up against one of the bookshelves during peak business hours--" Jade eyes flicked to his watch and back to Youji's face. He grinned widely. "Which would be about now, actually."
The brunet pushed past him quickly, cheeks shading themselves darkly pink. "Just let me buy this and let's get out of here."
Schuldich laughed and followed.
"S-stop that! Can't you be a just a bit more--ah--discreet?"
The door hit the wall again, loudly as Schuldich pushed Youji back against it, hands and mouth everywhere at once. "There's no one on this floor, I can tell," the German assured him, voice bedroom-low. "And we came up the back anyway," He mirrored the words with one hand, running up along the back of Youji's thigh, tracing a finger along the centre-seam of the seat of his jeans. "So there's no problem, right?" The brunet jerked away from that touch, against the heavier-set man.
"I said--ahh--" Reaching to knock that one hand away had left him open to having his loose, longsleeved top slipped over one shoulder, a hot mouth planted at the base of his neck. Youji's head fell back, eyes closing involuntarily. "Schu... anyone could come up--"
The redhead kneed Youji's legs apart, lifting one between them. Youji gasped, arching his back in an unsuccessful attempt to keep his groin out of reach. "Schuldich--inside..."
"OOOOI! Omi, ya up here?"
Youji's eyes rounded. "In!" he hissed, grabbing his orange-haired partner by the lapels and throwing his whole body-weight into his room. As they hit the floor on their sides, he kicked the door shut.
"I should kill you," Youji growled, heart thudding in his chest.
Facing him, Schuldich smirked. "I do it on purpose, you know."
"Assho--oof." Youji's breath cut short as the redhead rolled him abruptly onto his back. "Haa--" his eyes squeezed shut as a firm hand grasped between his legs.
"Because you get so hot when you're embarrassed."
"Schu--"
Sure fingers already had his jeans open, taking his cotton-sheathed arousal in their uncompromising grip. His shirt was up under his arms, a tongue dipping into his navel.
"Schuldich--" his hands fisted beside him. "Please..."
"And you're cute when you're flustered."
"Schuldich--!" Youji almost sobbed as the redhead rose, lips closing over one flushed nipple, grip on his erection tightening. "Let's move to the bed...?"
"Later." His hips were lifted, jeans discarded.
"We're too close to the door, I--" He had to lift his arms as his shirt was yanked off, then he was flipped onto his stomach.
"You'll have to try and be quiet, won't you? Lips curved against his shoulder, the sadistic smile he didn't have to see to recognize.
"Goddamnit..." Youji struggled shakily up onto his hands, since his hips had already been lifted into place and Schuldich probably wouldn't wait. He felt warm, bare skin against the backs of his legs and wondered when the other man had managed to get his pants down. Schuldich was always too quick to follow, three steps ahead of him.
"Schuldich..."
A wiry arm snaked around his waist, helping him stay up. Long, silky hair trailed across his back before warm breath spilled over his ear again. "Yes?" Youji whimpered, tossing his head almost desperately to throw his hair out of the way and give the redhead better access to his neck. The German's tongue ran a teasing circle of his jugular pulse, making him writhe. He barely heard the distinct pop of a cap being opened, no question as to what that was.
"You're still... angry at me... aren't you?" Youji gasped, biting down a moan of protest as the hand supporting him went to tease his nipples, ignoring the painfully throbbing length pressed up against his abdomen.
Schuldich licked quickly up along the vein, planting a brief kiss just before it disappeared beneath the jaw. Then the German leaned back and Youji didn't even have time to brace himself--
His head flew back, mouth open in a soundless scream as he was penetrated. It was always like this, sort of sudden and brutal and half by surprise or force. Youji's head fell forward again, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes.
"Now why would I be?" Schuldich's right hand landed next to Youji's, the arm around his waist tightening as the redhead thrust into him. Youji always wondered how the other man could keep his voice steady during this, when he was reduced to a panting, incoherent mess, lucky if he could get his voice to obey him at all.
"You know..." Youji's arms buckled and Schuldich's hand moved fluidly to brace his chest. "Last night..."
Smooth cotton pressed against his bare back, soft, firey tresses slipping over his shoulders, falling either side of his neck. "You're such a temperamental kitten," the redhead purred, thrusting hard, kissing the side of Youji's mouth as he gasped. "I wouldn't hold that against you."
"The hell... you wouldn't," Youji sobbed. The tension in him was so high it hurt, his body trembling so violently he could barely stay upright. He uttered a low sound, somewhere between a moan and a whine. Schuldich had his hand very deliberately clear of his erection, and in this position he couldn't even spare a hand to touch himself or he'd fall. "Bastard..."
"Temperamental indeed." Schuldich bit his ear lightly. "Can't you take what you need?"
Youji flushed hotly. He might have put up more of a fight for his dignity on another day, but... "Not like this!" he hissed. "Schuldich, please--"
"Please?"
"Don't be an ass--" Youji cried out at a particularly violent thrust, his elbows giving way. He slumped, burying his face in folded arms. Another low moan escaped him. "I... I can't..."
"Oh, really," Schuldich huffed, sounding annoyed.
The barest touch was all it took at this point. Youji sank his teeth into his forearm to muffle himself--biting down harder as Schuldich took hold of his hips with both hands and finished with a series of short, rough thrusts.
Even breathing.
The sheets were soft, even if they badly needed cleaning, now.
Youji pressed his cheek to the smooth muscle of Schuldich's chest, his arms around the larger man's waist tightening slightly. They'd moved to the bed later, as he'd said, and Schuldich had taken him again, though surprisingly he'd been nicer about it. The only reason the German was still there was he figured there was a round or two left in his partner before dawn. Right now he was just giving him time to recover.
"Hey... Schu?"
"Yo." He didn't even sound tired.
"Did you really know I was there? At the bookstore?"
"Why?"
"Because sometimes I go, and you don't show up."
"Much?"
Youji sighed but didn't answer. A pensive hand stroked his hair. "I'm a busy man. Maybe those nights I was seeing someone else."
"Bullshit..."
"That is," Schuldich allowed. It was a compliment in itself.
Silence filled the moonlit room.
"Schu..."
"Hm?"
"If I didn't show up... for a while..."
"How long?"
"A week, say. What would you think?"
A heartbeat pause. "That you'd finally had some crisis of conscience and decided you couldn't consort with the enemy any more, probably."
Youji's eyes closed. "That's it?"
"Or maybe you found someone else to fuck--though going back after me--" he clicked his tongue. "I don't know..."
"Ah."
"Why?"
Of course.
Schuldich shifted, trying to get a look at his face, not managing with the brunet curled against his chest, head down. "Naa, Kudou..."