Performed by: the BeeGees
Author's notes: Okay, my father was playing the BeeGees greatest his on the stereo when I had the urge to suddenly write a 'fic about Youji. My first *very light* lime fanfic, because I don't do the details stuff. >p Besides, it's ten days from Valentines that I wrote this fic down. Please tell me what you think of it?

/Why do you have to be a heartbreaker/
Asuka banged her lunch tray down hard on the table, making everything else tremble and spill. Youji, on his part, knew his partner's fits… and just kept quiet, taking a big bite from his doughnut. Here we go again. And yet another round of "if-you-had-acted-a-little-faster-we-would-have-caught-them-by-now". He tried not to sigh.

She, in turn, ignored his silence, and deliberately knocked the bottle of ketchup over the edge of the table, which Youji caught expertly. Fuming, she glared at him from where she sat, her fists clenching and unclenching.

"Look, Asuka I--"

"Just shut up, you asshole." Her voice was trembling in rage. "For six months I have been looking forward to cracking this case and getting a promotion, and just when we were about this close--" She indicated with her thumb and index finger-- "Look at me, Kudou! Just when we were about this close you mess up. YOU FUCKING MESS UP!"

"Hey, hey, hey, it's not just all my fault there, Asuka!" Youji raised his voice as well. It would never do to talk without raising your voice to an enraged Asuka. "If you had called for backup like I told you, we wouldn't have been stuck up in that dipshit in the first place!"

"And let the third division take all the glory? You moron, did you ever pause to think things out? We'd get stuck in the background while Chad and his cronies take all the credit!"

"It would still be the same either way, won't it?!"
"NO!!" She was shouting now, and standing up, and everyone in the late night café bar turned to watch the scene. Youji found this quite embarrassing, but Asuka didn't care.

/Giving a lesson that I never knew? /
"All you ever think of is sucking up to everyone, Youji Kudou. All you ever think about is yourself. Getting a promotion would've given me a raise, and I would have enough dough to finally pay up my rathole. I thought we were supposed to be partners? But all you think about is your fucking self!!" She had to pause and catch her breath, she was so angry.

"Bullshit, Asuka, you know we couldn't pull a trick like that on the Slim gang, we'd be outnumbered! I'm not about to risk my life and my partner's life for a stupid little setup--"

"WHAT, YOU THINK I CAN'T MANAGE ON MY OWN?!?! YOU BASTARD!!" And with an angry sweep of her hand that sent the trays and the dishes clattering on the floor, she turned on her heel and left, leaving her trenchcoat, curious eyes following her out the door.

Cursing softly under his breath and picking up the mess, Youji grabbed his coat and raced after his partner out the door. She had the goddamn keys to the car.

/Got to get out of this spell that I'm under…/
"Asuka! Asuka, wait!"
   
 Without pausing to turn around, Asuka quickened her pace. "Go to hell."

"Wait, damn it!" He dashed toward her. She might be the quick one, but he was taller and had a longer stride. He soon overtook her by the phone booth and blocked her way. She glared at him angrily. He realized that it was just an effort to hide the already glistening tears.

"Look, I'm sorry about messing up the operation. I admit… I was scared for both of us so I hung back." He sighed. "But don't go on like this, ok?" He handed to her her jacket. "And you left this."

Asuka looked away, and tried to suppress a sob. "Yeah, thanks. Although I don't know how your 'sorry' is supposed to give me the extra dollars I need to pay up the damn rent." She took the opportunity to gibe at him; her grudge didn't die that easily. Both were quiet for some time. Then Youji spoke.

"You could stay over at my place."

His partner's eyes widened in disbelief, and a little color crept up her face. "Me? Move in with YOU!? Come on, you must be kidding, Kudou." She shook her head and laughed. "You've got to be kidding."

Youji shrugged. "Well, I was the one who busted your 'dreams', so I suppose I ought to make up for it. And besides," he narrowed his eyes in annoyance, because he knew she knew what he was possibly thinking. "--we're partners, that's all."

Asuka was still laughing to herself. "You're stupid, so stupid, sometimes, Kudou. I amuse myself." Then she fell silent and appeared to think it over. "Well, I suppose you do need to pay me back for all that… and no doubt Madame Croak would kick me out by the end of the week…"

"Well? Is that a yes? I have to move my stuff out to give space for a roommate, you know," Youji feigned annoyance, but surprised himself by actually looking forward to mornings with Asuka. Bullshit, he scolded himself. We're just partners…

/My love for you./
"Wake up, airhead, it's time for breakfast." Someone shaking the bed so hard it squeaked, and a couple of his pillows toppled to the floor.

Thinking that there was an earthquake, Youji swung both feet off the bed and dashed to the door, all in two seconds, his brain still half asleep. When his senses finally caught up with him, he heard his partner's amused laughter, and realized that he was still in his boxers. He blushed furiously and grabbed a bathrobe by the coat rack behind his door.

Asuka, laughing, proceeded to pour coffee into two mugs in the small table by the balcony. "Ne, baka! I was wondering when you'd wake up!" She was fully dressed, though Youji didn't know how she did that in so short a time.

"I swear you slept later than me…"

"And you woke up later still. Just goes to show you're a lazy potato, ne?" Still chuckling, she pulled out a chair. "Well, are you eating, or are you eating?"

It had been almost three weeks since Asuka officially transferred into Youji's flat. Her stuff had been few and lightweight; he didn't have to rearrange his setup at all. At first he had suggested that Asuka take his bed and he would sleep on the couch, but she would not hear of it.

"This is your place, after all," she reasoned out, and as usual, Youji lost. So he had taken to sleeping on his bed for a time, while Asuka slept in her fold-up bed in the cramped guest room. For the past few days, however, things had been a little more intimate, and they ended up sharing Youji's bed at last. (*hint, hint*)

Youji made a mocking face at her. "You're not fair. You didn't even wake me up!" His partner just laughed all the more as she buttered her toast.

"That means you lose for the fifth time this week, Youji, and you get to wash all the dishes, ne? ALL of them." Asuka winked.

Youji sighed, pretending to be crestfallen. "My house, and yet another woman conquers it still! When shall I have my peace?!" He dug in into his own meal, as Asuka read aloud the morning news.

I have to admit, he told himself, Having Asuka in the house is not such a bad idea at all… He watched her from where he pored over his eggs and bacon. Especially how she banished the loneliness he always felt when he was alone at night. For some funny reason he knew, deep inside him, that they were more than just partners.

He had kept the ring inside his jock drawer in his room. It had cost him three months' worth of payroll, but it didn't matter, because he knew what he was doing. He would wake up, every morning, and find her there beside him, or hear her voice in the kitchen. Youji smiled as he daydreamed.

/Why do you have to be a heartbreaker?/
The old jeweler looked up from his reading at the tall officer leaning over his counter. It was past midnight and the stupid man had shades on. Either he was blind, or he was one of the druggies looking for a good time robbing a pawnshop. Well, thought the old man, to hell with him.

"What you want, Sir?"

The officer made no response, and seemed to dig into one of his pockets. The old man tensed; if it was a gun, he'd have to be quick. His gnarled fingers reached under his table for the alarm button.

Instead, he opened his palm and drew forth a rather impressive-looking golden ring. He addressed the old man.

"You take exchange?" Well, at least it wasn't a goddamn gun.

"What the hell you think a pawnshop is for, boy?" He took out his lenses and proceeded to examine the tiny amethyst embedded on the ring. "Not bad, I'd say about thirteen grand, plus a little interest to make it thirteen and fifty. Too tiny to be a Tiffany, but enough to make a girl swoon." He looked up at the officer, his eyes twinkling teasingly. "You won't be marrying soon, I reckon?"

The young man shook his head rather slowly. "I'll have it for ten grand, sir, and no papers. Just a small exchange, mind you." He proceeded to drop the ring into the old man's wrinkled palm. "She won't be needing it anymore."

The old man took out a fat envelope from under his desk and counted the crisp, green bills inside, subtracting and adding when necessary. When he finally finished, he gave it to Youji. "Heartbroken break up, or something?"

He only accepted the envelope and smiled sadly, never taking his shades off. "Something like that." He started to walk away.

"You be careful now, that's a lot of money you're handling. Heard there was a shooting about three blocks away from here and a lady and her date got wasted just over two hours ago."

He never turned back and answered.

/When I was being what you want me to be?/
Aya glared at his teammate and deliberately donked him on the head with the handle of the broom. Youji gave a start, and looked around, dazed, before he frowned at Aya. "What you do that fo'?"

"For daydreaming on the job, you silly baka-san." Omi, the youngest of the four, chuckled, avoiding the flowerpot Youji hurled at him, which Ken caught fair and square, his training in the soccer team making it merely a reflex action.

"Shut up, Chibi, I was not!" He went back to changing the pots for the gardenias, then remembered that he left the spade inside the stockroom. "Just having a hangover, that's all."

"You were daydreaming too!" Omi danced around, "Just staring at nothing and humming to yourself. Good thing Aya-san donked you flat!" This time he ducked behind Ken, sure that another flowerpot would fly his way.

"Hn." Aya, disgruntled, went on with unlocking the front door. "Three days before Valentine's day, and we expect customers to double in their purchases on flowers, Kudou. We can't afford to daydream." His cold lavender eyes glinted. "And besides, with Schereint on the loose, there's no telling what they've got planned next. So next time, keep sharp, Balinese!"

Youji opened his mouth to answer, but Ken, who hated a confrontation between friends, blurted out cheerfully, "Which one is it this time, Yo-tan? The teacher from the University at the edge of town? Or the chemist who just got a job?"

"Personally I think the chemist suited Yo-san well," commented Omi, arranging the potpourri packets neatly along the corner of the shelf. "She was nice and pretty, and she liked him too!"

"Hai, hai, I think the mole's a pretty sexy touch, don't you think, Yo-tan? Yo-tan?" Youji was staring off into space again.

"Uh…huh? What did you say again, Ken-kun?"

Omi sighed sagely. "There you go again, daydreaming. When are you ever going to get your nose back down to earth, Yo-san?"

Ken nodded. "It's Valentines, Omi-chan. Yo-tan's probably deciding deeply as to who he's going to take out to dinner and stuff. Such things cannot be harried--"

"He's deciding where to stick his little twinkie in on the 14^th," came the acidulous monotone from the kurenai headed leader, who bent down to pick up his Abyssinian, narrowly missing the rag Youji threw at him.

/Suddenly everything I've ever wanted…/
"Huh?" He didn't get the last question.

She only laughed. "I meant, that based on the laws of Arrhenius, an acid has the capacity to neutralize a base. When this happens, the latter, also having the capacity to neutralize the former, creates a neutral substance. This is how salt is formed!" She shook the contents of the salt and pepper shaker in front of him.

"O-oh!" Youji laughed. "I never liked Chemistry much. If this is what you call your 'daily dose of knowledge', pray spare me!" He took the shaker from her hand. "All I know is that vetsin makes French fries real tasty. That's all. No more, and no less." He put down the shaker once more with resolve. "I'm not going back to studying my high school notes, mind you!"

"Silly Youji," the raven-haired chemist intoned, chuckling. "Your brain will grow weeds if you don't practice with it occasionally, you know. But you're charming anyway. Just a lazy potato, ne?" She winked at him rather seductively.

Something sleeping for a long time inside Youji woke up with a start. He stared at her, as if seeing her for the first time. Queerly, he noticed just now that the mole just under the side of her left eye made her look uncannily like--

"Asuka?" He opened his mouth without thinking first. He couldn't help it.

/Has passed me by…/
Fuu looked at him queerly for a moment. "Asuka? What--" Her face lightened up with the realization. "Aah. A former lover?"

Youji shook his head vehemently. "No, no, not at all…what I mean is yes, she's a sort of former friend but no, I'm not thinking of her, it's just what you said earlier reminded me of a conversation we had a… a long time ago." Flustered, he bowed his head in embarrassment. It was the first time he had lost his cool in front of a girl. Loosing poise was Omi's job.

Fuu cocked her head. "Chemistry?"

"No, about calling me a lazy potato. She used to do that too, after she'd wake up waay earlier than me, after sleeping later than I used to after--" Again, he faltered. This was embarrassing. But Fuu seemed to know what to say.

"Ne, that's okay with me. Everyone's got monsters of the past, Youji, and it's understandable that it should resurface in this time of year. I understand perfectly. I used to have a boyfriend too, long ago…but…but he left me as well--" Fuu's voice trailed. "But now that I've found you, I think I don't mind anymore!" She smiled at him.

Youji smiled back. "Yes, I agree." He paused for a while. Then, "Hey, Fuu, are you busy tonight? 'cause I was thinking maybe I'd be a little lonely, you know, without Asuka and everything, but only you…" It was his turn to wink at her hintingly.

Fuu blushed an angry red and she looked down at her food, and Youji was almost afraid he'd turned her off with his proposal. But in the next moment she looked up at him. "T-tonight? With you?" Then, as she was wont to do, she laughed. "You've got to be kidding, but… well, ok."

Youji's smile widened, and he never felt better in days, even a little jittery, although he had made love with more than one woman already. He couldn't understand why this was happening to him and Fuu when there were so many other women in between. His natural assassin instinct went on alert all of a sudden.

Maybe it's just some sort of trap.

Maybe. But what he knew was that this was the first time since Asuka that he had felt this way toward a woman. He ignored his silly intuition. I'm getting too worked up. Aya's missions are getting into me.

"Okay, it's settled then! My place at seven?" His face tightened in mock annoyance. "And no Chemistry books allowed inside. I'll take care of the wine and flowers, you just come in with, well, with yourself."

Fuu shook her head and smiled. "You're so silly sometimes, Kudou, that I amuse myself!"

Youji wondered where he'd heard that before.

/This world will end…/
The night was just as Youji hoped it would be, and the sense of completion that accompanied it was something he had not felt for a long, long time. It was as if part of him had been fulfilled at last.

In the course of their love making, he had revealed to her his past--how he had learned to love Asuka, his feisty detective partner, how he had planned on proposing to her that very night they were given a "track-and-kill" assignment by the chief and she died on a skirmish. He had told her of his lonely quest of finding someone else, someone like Asuka, for a long time without much success.

She had cried softly when the part came about having to pawn the ring that he had so carefully hidden from her for almost an entire month. At that point Youji stopped his ministrations and asked her why she was weeping.

"It's nothing," she had whispered, looking up to him. "It's just that I could not believe even my former boyfriend would do such a thing as you did… and what sadness you had to go through."

When they had both spent themselves, and gratefully at that, and they had fallen asleep in each other's arms, the assassin instinct inside Youji did not cease to cry out its warnings, although he didn't know why.

/Not you and I---/
The old man was jolted awake by the shaking of his nephew's hand. Grumbling to himself, he roused, cursed the boy, and went to the front of the jewelry shop, where a figure in dark shades and a long trenchcoat leaned over his counter. De ja vu hit his old memory like cold water. Where had he seen this scene before?

Ah, he remembered. It was that lanky officer ten years ago, whom he had mistaken for a mafia when he was just a heartbroken duff. It was amazing how his memory still served him faithfully.

Only this time it was a woman, and she was much shorter. Silly teenagers, thought the old jeweler. At this time of night still wearing colored sunglasses. I suppose this one is a mafia too? Something inside him told him it was a funny twist of Fate. "What is it, ma'am?"

The woman looked him in the face. "I hear from your nephew that you are the matron of this pawnshop. I am in need of your services."

"Yes? What can I help you with?"

She seemed to pick out her words carefully. "I understand you catered to a customer…some years ago, about a small--" she indicated with her fingers "--golden ring with…a tiny amethyst embedded in the mid--"

Without another word the old jeweler ducked under the counter, rummaged around the safe a bit, and produced a velvet box mothbitten by age. He opened it, and procured exactly what the young woman in front of him asked, judging by the slightly surprised look on her face. "This it?"

She dug into her pockets and produced a check, signed it and handed it to the old jeweler. "This should be enough, Grandpa, for your trouble. And sorry for waking you at this unholy time of night." She took the box and walked away.

"'Signed in the name of Masafumi Takatori!' Are you sure this is not a fraud?" the old man called after her, though he knew within him that it was not.

"It is not fraud, Grandpa, I assure you. In the morning, you may exchange it in the nearest bank and find that it is in truth that I have signed. If it is too much, please keep the change. I'm taking the ring."

"Taking the ring? Are you daft, girl? Someone pawned it to me ten years ago, and I can't simply give it up like that! What if he comes back and changes his mind? That's an engagement ring!"

The woman hesitated just before she opened the front door, and turned slowly toward the jeweler. "I'm sure he would want the woman he wanted to marry to have it, don't you think? That is why I'm taking it. Let's just say I was late ten years."

The jeweler stood speechless as Nu closed the door behind her and stepped into the night, thankful that the old man did not see the tears welling up beneath her tinted shades.

/…Not you and I./
Youji's eyes flew open just as his indigo alarm clock screeched into the night. One of the bay windows was open, and the cold night wind rushed inside, chilling him.

His first realization was Fuu. She was not just Fuu, the chemist he had played with the past few weeks. He was sure of it. Everything she did, she said, from that first conversation in the University campus up to their recent liaison. She was like… like…

Like an assassin. And… there was a silent malice in her nature that he'd only realized now. His goosebumps stood up on his sweaty skin.

The woman he'd slept with was a Schereint. Fuu was not Fuu at all, but the one they called Nu, the silent one with the quick fists. He had given his heart and his soul to a wily assassin, the very one they had been hunting.

But why was he not dead then? Youji pinched himself hard to make sure he was not dead and the sting that accompanied it reassured him he was alive indeed. But why didn't she kill him when she had the chance all along? Surely she had known since before that he was a member of the Weiß? And she was with him…

He turned over, and reached out a hand in the dark, and found the space next to him warm, but empty. She had awakened, and she had gone out of bed. But he swore she had slept later than he…

Then another realization hit him, harder this time, deep, deep down, and yet deeper still. The mole on Fuu's face had not been just a coincidence. The words in her speech, the de ja vu that accompanied it, how it made him think of someone he had loved long ago. How she always managed to wake up earlier than he did after--well, after what they usually did at night.

His fingers closed around something cold and smooth and tiny, amid the rumple of the sheets. His throat constricted, and his vision blurred. She had returned while he was still sleeping, elected to leave him something instead, and left through the window. He knew, without having to look at it what it was.

"Damn you Asuka," he growled to himself, both angry and heartbroken for the second time. "Damn you, bitch. You did it again." Unmindful, hot tears spilled from his eyes.

The amethyst glinted in the silver moonlight.

______________________

The next day, he had his shades on the whole morning, and never took them off. When Omi asked what was wrong, he only mentioned an sore eye infection, but it was only Aya who saw the ring he had inside his apron pocket. 

~~~~end~~~~~

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