Three Kitties and a Tomcat

Title: Three Kittens and a Tomcat
Author: Opus
Warnings: Bad language...
Disclaimer: Matsuri Akino's and whoever Weiss belongs to, not me, no money, please don't sue.
Summary: A mysterious encounter in the night...
Author notes: /.../ indicates Chinese, //...// is telepathy, normal quotes is japanese and single quotes is English

Oh and BTW, if anyone is interested in Lavendar Onion's Durchgreifen, I do have access to it, just let me know.


Chapter 6


Normally Leon avoided Chinatown like the plague, but in the pre-dawn dimness he found himself wandering its winding streets. Fuck, this was why he had chosen to be a sniper- he needed to be a loner. Teammates had to know each other in order to work together, but there were certain things he didn't want to share. As far as he was concerned, what he kept in his closet was his own business.

He angrily kicked a soda can out of his path. So lost was he in his thoughts that he almost didn't hear the car pull up beside him. It was a glossy black, very expensive, and he immediately recognized the face behind the tinted window as it lowered.

"Ah, Detective Orcott," the elderly Asian man said amiably, "It is no time to be wandering the streets alone; please, allow me to offer you a ride."

Leon groaned inwardly, he was so not in the mood for this. However, he would have to be a complete moron to refuse the invitation.

/Thank you honored sir,/ he said in Chinese as he got in and sat down. /But I am no longer a detective,/ he added.

The elder laughed. /Your manners have improved a hundredfold, Mr. Orcott. And yes, I have heard that you have abandoned your pursuit of justice in favor of becoming a flower man along with several Japanese associates. Quite hard to believe./

Leon grunted and looked out the window.

His host grew serious, and continued, /I do not think you have abandoned your pursuit of justice- you have merely chosen a more direct route, one I think more suited to your personality./

Leon winced at that. When he'd been a detective, things had gone wrong from time to time, and he'd had to kill criminals in the line of duty. Their faces would haunt him for months afterward. Now he killed people as a matter of course, and it weighed just as heavily on his soul. Now this guy was saying it suited him better? He bit down the angry outburst that strained on the tip of his tongue.

/I know of these enemies of yours, these ones who attacked you this night. They are powerful indeed./

/That they are. Do you know who's pulling their strings?/

/That, I cannot say. You will be moving, yes?/

Leon sighed, /Yes, as soon as possible./

/Then you should move into Chinatown; it will be safer for you here. There is one who trespasses in others minds. If that one tries to gain knowledge from us, he shall find himself with a very nasty headache, I think./

Leon perked up at that. Weiss was being offered sanctuary and protection! Why?

/I don't want to bring trouble into the community.../ Leon started.

The man made a dismissive gesture. /It is no trouble. You see, your enemies are our enemies as well. They and those they work for are an evil that cannot be touched by the law. It is in everyone's best interest for me to offer whatever aid you need to bring them down as quickly as you can. Here, have your Persia contact me./ He handed Leon a business card. /I would like to coordinate with him for the use some of your...expertise...in the future./

So that was it. The man would lend his assistance to Kritiker in exchange for the destruction of Schwartz and the use of Weiss for his own purposes. Well, Tsukyouni was a smart kid, and it was up to him whether or not to accept whatever terms were laid out. He took the proffered card. /You are aware I can't make any promises.../ he said.

/I understand./ 'Would you like my driver to take you home?'

'Nah, here's fine,' Leon said and got out. /I thank you for you consideration, and your time, sir,/ he added politely in Mandarin and bowed slightly.

The patriarch laughed. 'I had suspected before, but now I am certain- you have been blessed by the Count. No wonder your powers are so strong. May fortune shine upon you and your associates, Detective, if anyone can defeat these emissaries of darkness, it will be you and yours.' The door closed and Leon watched the car drive away.

'Shit,' he said and lit himself a cigarette. So much for covert operations. He hated this. Things were so much simpler when he worked on his own. You did the job and disappeared- the hassle of a cover job or identity was usually unnecessary. Powers? How much did the Chinese man know of his powers? Was it the ability to keep people from seeing him when he didn't want them to, the ability to hide from a telepath? That was what saved him at his first encounter with Schwartz, and what enabled him to save his teammate just hours before. Or was it his phenominal rate of healing? He could only hope it was one of those.

He chose a roundabout way to return to the flower shop. In a way, it wasn't so bad having teammates. After being alone for so long, the company was nice. They were a decent bunch of guys- for assassins that is. His affair with Aya was an unexpected twist, though.

Leon stopped that line of thought right there. What was done was done- he couldn't take it back. He would just have to deal with the consequences.

The sun had already risen by the time Leon entered the kitchen of the Koneko. Youji had the side of his head down, using his arms for a pillow, and was fast asleep. Long, honey blond hair had slid down to partially cover his face. In sleep, his fellow assassin looked so peaceful, so vulnerable...

And it was altogether too tempting. The playboy woke to a hand on his shoulder, followed by a tongue tracing the outer edge of his ear. "Nnh. Hunh, wha-?" One sleepy emerald-green eye opened and peered through the long strands of blond hair, then widened in horror. "LEON!!" He bolted out of his chair and attacked the taller blond. "You sick bastard! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Leon easily dodged and blocked his blows, laughing his head off.

"Why do you tease him like that, Leon?" Aya asked calmly, handing him a mug. Both blondes paused mid-blow to turn to the redhead, whose presence in the kitchen had previously gone unnoticed.

"Because it's fun to see him get so pissy, that's why." The American took the coffee from his red-haired bedmate, then rested his free hand on Aya's hip and pulled him in close for a leisurely morning kiss.

"Nan da yo...?!!" Youji managed to croak out. One second he was being obnoxiously molested, the next completely ignored. But now all thoughts of killing Leon had fled his mind, and he watched in frozen shock as his two teammates moved against each other sensually. Long, slender fingers wound their way through long strands of yellow-gold and held tight. Low moans were heard from both as they deepened the kiss. The playboy now caught glimpses of their tongues meeting in languid caress as two sets of lips unhurriedly devoured each other. Fascinated in spite of himself, Youji gawked at their display, eyes wide and jaw dropped. There was even a touch of color in his cheeks.

Leon did things like this when they went clubbing. He was an evil tease, through and through, messing around with other attractive men and women, but never going home with them. Youji was used to that, but this wasn't the club. This was in *their* home, in *their* kitchen with *their* leader! Right in front of him, as if he didn't exist! And what about Aya? Their fearless leader was never one for wanton displays of affection in public. Or in private either, as far as any of them knew.

There was a sudden crash as Ken dropped the dishes he was bringing back to the kitchen.

Leon and Aya disengaged to see where the noise came from. Neither seemed particulary perturbed. "You alright, Ken?" Leon asked.

"Gomen...you guys startled me, that's all," Ken said nervously and bent down to pick up the pieces.

"Yeah, nobody expects to walk in and find his teammates to be making out in the kitchen, if you know what I mean," Youji added. "Especially not when it's you, Aya."

Aya merely grunted in response, and Leon tried not to laugh as he drank his coffee.

"I don't mind, it's just...well, Youji's right. I didn't expect that from you, Aya," Ken said as he put the broken bowl into the trash. "You're not exactly a friendly guy."

The redhead merely grunted in response.

"You don't mind?" Youji asked, surprised. "I would have thought you'd be at least somewhat of a homophobe."

Leon finally burst out laughing. "You do realize you're the only completely straight guy on this team, don't you, Yo-tan?"

"Nani o...?!" Both Ken and Youji said at the same time.

"Oh come on, Ken, you shouldn't leave love letters from Tsukyouni lying around if you're trying to hide your relationship with him."

Ken turned a bright shade of red. "You READ them?!!!"

Leon only shrugged and said, "Hey, it's not like that. You left one in the living room and I only looked at the first line to see what it was...it was pretty obvious."

"Oh no," Ken groaned, wanting to crawl into a corner and die.

"And speaking of Persia, I have something for him," Leon said and pulled out the business card.

"Is that who I think it is?!!" Youji gasped as he saw the name.

"I'm afraid so. He paid me a visit while I was wandering around last night, actually, this morning. He wants us to move into Chinatown. For some reason he knows a lot about Kritiker and Schwartz, not to mention who they're working for, though he wouldn't give me any details. Fortunately for us, he's offered his assistance, but it's up to Persia whether or not we accept it."

Youji rubbed at his temples. "Great."

"I'm sorry, guys, it looks like my presence here blew our cover."

"Given the circumstances, it might not be a bad thing. I'll talk to Persia." Aya took the card and left the kitchen.

Ken exchanged a look with Youji, then fled the room, his cheeks still burning with shame.

"You could've handled that more tactfully, ne. He's still uneasy from that stunt you pulled last night." Youji scolded.

Leon shrugged. "I really don't see why he should be so mortified, when it's obvious the rest of us don't care. And as for my weirdness...that's why I've never been on a team before." He put the empty mug in the sink and started to head upstairs to his room.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To shower and get some sleep. What of it?"

"You never fully explained yourself last night."

"I don't intend to. And to be perfectly honest, I don't even have all the answers myself, so how could I explain everything?"

"Don't give me that!" Youji reached out for his teammates arm, but Leon was gone. Cursing, the blonde ran up the stairs to try to catch him in his room, but the door was already shut and locked.

"Shit." He breathed and leaned against the door. He could hear the shower turn on. That guy could be so difficult. His nose wrinkled suddenly. He looked down. You Mangy Bastard looked up. "Did something crawl up your arse and die, you little monster?" The cat merely twitched his tail. Disgusted, Youji got away as quickly as possible, but he was in no way through with his stubborn friend.

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TBC



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