Friday Afternoon

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If there was any time the schoolgirls decided against going to the Koneko, it was Friday afternoons. That shift almost always belonged to Aya and Ken, Omi being late with cram school, and Youji preparing for whatever Friday night fling he was hoping to wrangle. There were a few girls who found this day to be their favorite day to frequent the shop, if they were the type that loved a little angsty drama, often accompanied by harsh words, a few stupid arguments, and the cutest shade of red that filled Ken's cheeks whenever he was particularly pissed at his cold as ice coworker. Today, however, those girls had decided against making their rounds, and therefore, the shop remained empty throughout the afternoon, leaving Aya and Ken to sit in awkward silence for much longer than either felt comfortable.

"Change the azaleas, Ken." Aya barked, tossing out yet another pointless order to keep one or both of them occupied. Usually, it was something to occupy Ken while Aya sat with his book, contently buried in its pages.

Ken scowled as he rose to do as asked, hating when Aya ordered him about since both of them were technically equal when it came to shop hierarchy. But then, Ken really hated sitting around with nothing to do, and not having a book like Aya, nor much desire for one, he took the still fairly fresh azaleas into the back and brought out a new batch.

They hadn't even seen a passerby in over an hour. Everyone was out doing much more productive things with their Friday apparently, and frankly, it pissed Ken off. He hated this shift. He would much prefer to be out there as well, making good use of this day, but no, he had to be stuck with the Ice Queen.

Ken and Aya could get along fairly well, never friendly, but congenially enough. Something about these Friday afternoons though resurfaced all those old feelings of animosity that first boiled up the night they met, and then carried into the following morning. Both had gotten in some pretty good hits against the other, though it was never forgotten who won. Ken didn't doubt he could beat Ran in a fair fight again if it came to it. He just wondered what Aya would think of that.

"Damn, this is driving me crazy. Can't we just call it a day, Aya?" Ken slumped back down into the chair he had pulled in front of the main counter. He hung his head back to look up at Aya on the stool behind it. "Nobody's gonna notice."

"We don't get paid to close shop without cause."

"We get paid to take missions—"

"We get paid to keep up this pretense. If we're discovered, that's the end of everything. You'd do well to remember that, and stop whining just because you're bored."

"Hey!" Ken was out of his chair in a second, fists clenched. The day had been far too uneventful and he was more than trigger happy. Any kind of action would be better than this, even if that meant taking out his frustrations on the redhead. "Well, sorry if I don't like reading…William Blake," Ken said, peeking at the cover of Ran's book, "But just because I have a need to be more physical than sitting on my ass for eight hours doesn't mean I'm whining. Not without good reason, anyway." Ken grumbled, folding his tight fists under his arms as he crossed them. He turned away from Aya, staring out the door and just praying one of those schoolgirls, any one of then, would come bouncing in, even all she had on her mind was how to get his cell number.

Aya placed his book down behind the counter and sighed, stilling himself so as not to get too short with Ken and start a real fight. He knew how easy that would be, and though a sinister part of him longed for a tousle, he chose his words carefully. "Ken, if you want something to do so badly, why don't you go into the back and start that inventory we've been putting off. It's at least more physical than staring at the door."

Ken turned back to Aya sharply, a challenge in his coffee-colored eyes. "So I'm bored and whiney, and now you're going to try and pass all that work onto me?"

The venom in Ken's tone made it very hard for Aya to remain civil. He took a breath before speaking. "I only suggested it, Ken, to—"

"To get outta doing it yourself. Hell, no. You're helping too."

"Ken, someone has to man the counter if—"

"If nothing. No one's coming anyway. 'Sides, we got that bell for a reason. We'll hear it if anyone comes in. Don't try to get out of helping coz you like sitting on your ass."

Aya's right eye twitched involuntarily. One more barb and he could not be held responsible for his actions. This tense afternoon with Ken had been too much for his nerves. For both of them. It had been weeks since their last mission and both of them had energy to burn.

Aya stood slowly from the stool, trying to keep his temper in check as he stared Ken down from his extra inch in height.

"Fine." he said. "We'll both do it." Stalking from the counter, Aya clipped along with each step, his feet echoing his tried temper. He could hear Ken plodding along behind him and had a very tempting urge to stop suddenly, just so the brunette would run into him and fall back on his ass. Ken is just the type of person who would do that sort of thing. Aya almost smirked thinking about it. "The paperwork is on the shelf in the storage closet." he mentioned off-handedly, heading for the small closet and opening the door to step inside, searching for the inventory lists.

"Turn on the light." Ken commanded, still surly as he entered behind Aya, looking over the shelves on the opposite side.

"Youji blew it out this morning. I forgot to change it."

Ken huffed. "Nice goin'."

Aya swallowed back a 'shut up' and kept searching, blindly reaching out his hands along the shelves.

"Quit looking over there, Aya. Omi put the lists on this side."

"I very clearly remember that I put them over here."

"And Omi put them on this side."

Aya prepared himself for another retort when the sound of the creaking door caught his attention. "Ken! Watch the door!"

"What for?" Ken shot back, not moving to stop the closet door as it slipped shut with a definitive click.

Aya immediately pushed past Ken back to the door and turned the knob, hearing the short clicks that indicated it was very much locked. He turned his hard gaze on Ken and nearly spit fire in the face of the brunette's stubbornness. "Watch the door because you broke the lock and you still haven't fixed it."

Realization dawned on Ken then, overtaking his scowl easily and leaving him with a look of incredulous shock. "Me? Omi was going to fix it." Ken pushed Aya aside, trying the door for himself, with the same lack of success. "Damn it."

"It must have slipped Omi's mind." Aya growled.

Ken kicked the door, knowing it would do no good. All of the doors in the Koneko were built especially strong, with locks nigh impossible to bust, for security and protection reasons if they ever needed a quick place to duck out of sight or to hide documents. The doors are not, however, supposed to lock from the inside.

Ken kicked the door again before turning around with a great huff and allowing his back to fall against it. It was then he realized how dark it was. He had asked Aya to turn on the light for a reason, and with the door now shut, it was even darker. He could barely see Aya next to him, and the room was so cramped, Aya was only a few inches away.

"We'll just have to wait until Omi or Youji returns."

"What? No way! Youji'll be out all night!"

"Then Omi will—"

"Be out all night too. Remember?" Ken prompted, though he didn't wait for Aya to respond. "There's a big test next week. He's staying with a friend tonight so they can get an early start tomorrow studying. We won't see either of them til tomorrow!"

Aya pushed Ken away from the door and tried the knob one more time, just to be sure. He didn't like the idea of being stuck with Ken in a dark, tight closet for twelve hours after being stuck with him all afternoon. "Then…when we hear the bell. A customer will come and we can call for them."

It was probably a blessing Aya couldn't see the look Ken gave him in the dark. "Customer? What world you living in, Aya? There are no customers. It's only an hour til we close, and this is the slow time, after having no one since before three. The street's already dead for the day. We're stuck here."

Violet and brown eyes met dimly in the dark. This was the last place either of them wanted to be, especially with present company. They liked each other well enough on a normal basis, but Fridays were a whole new world and they were not in the mood to deal with the person most likely to infuriate them for the next half a day. And night.

Sleep. How the hell were they going to sleep in here? And eat? Ken had barely been able to grab lunch with anal Aya barking at him to hurry up.

Pushing the redhead out of the way again, Ken could think of nothing better to do than bang as loud as possible on the door.

-----

"Ken, will you give it up. It's been almost two hours." Aya was sitting against the smaller shelves at the back of the closet. Ken was only five feet away from him, still pounding on the door, but everything felt closer than reality with how narrow the place was. "My head is about to implode if you don't stop that."

"Hey, anybody!" Ken called, one last time. He knew Aya was right, and had a growing headache of his own to be honest, but he refused to believe he was going to be stuck all night with Aya, starving and blind in the dark.

And yet it was only after a few knocks more that Ken finally gave up, more exhausted than he would admit. Her turned with his back to the door and slid down until he was sitting. Not even a bit of light reached inside this place, and though their eyes had adjusted, it made little difference. Ken could still just barely see Aya's shoes as the redhead stretched his legs out, but nothing else.

"I can't…take this. I hate small spaces."

Aya cocked his head, unseen in the dark. "I never knew you were claustrophobic."

"Nah, I'm not. Not really. I just don't like them. 'Specially when it's dark. Reminds me too much of…" Ken didn't finish. Aya didn't expect him to, and didn't prompt for more when Ken trailed off.

There were just some things you didn't touch, some places you never went. Both understood that, even during yelling wars or all out fist fights.

Aya never talked about fixed soccer games.

Ken never talked about comatose sisters.

"Can we at least…talk about something?" Ken asked, letting his head fall back to hit the door with a dull thud. "I can't just sit here in silence all night, and I'm nowhere near tired. It can't be more than seven or eight, right?

"I suppose." Aya paused, unsure how to move forward. He had never had this much non-mission-related time with Ken. And now Ken wanted to talk. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know. Not missions."

"Not soccer."

Ken grumbled. "Fine. Not poetry either then."

"I'll take that as a kindness considering your expertise on that subject."

Ken grumbled again. He really hated it when Aya talked like that, as if he was purposely trying to prove Ken was less educated than him. Just because Ken used slang and wasn't always proper with his speech didn't mean he was stupid. "Whatever. Can we just talk about something. Random things. Like…what's your favorite color?"

"You want to know my favorite color?"

"Well you're not coming up with any ideas, so…"

Aya felt his headache worsening. He pressed his thumb and forefinger to his temples. "Fine. Orange."

Ken chocked down a chuckle. "Guess that explains that awful sweater."

That was it. Aya could only be gracious under pressure for so long. "And what's wrong with my sweater?"

"It's ugly as hell, that's what. Maybe if you weren't a redhead it wouldn't look so bad, but newsflash, orange and your shade of red don't mix. You look like you're trying to start a rainbow or something. And with your personality, that doesn't work."

Aya was on his feet the next second, staring through the dark to find any convenient spot he could glare at. "And your fashion sense is so commendable. It is not appropriate for you to wear a monkey-suit to work just because you own a motorcycle. And that dew rag is ridiculous."

"Hey!" Ken happened to like his dew rag and thought it looked pretty good. The schoolgirls certainly seemed to like it. The next second, he was on his feet too, also fighting blind, but enjoying yelling at the dark regardless. "At least I'm not a spaz about every damn, stupid little thing. You drive me crazy with your neat-freak, holy-than-thou, I-give-orders-even-when-we're-NOT-on-a-mission bullshit. One of these days I'm gonna grab onto one of those stupid ear-tails and yank!"

This was getting childish. Both knew that. But now that it was, and buttons had been pushed, there was no way this was going to end without turning to blows.

Aya glared in front of him, seeing the shuffling movement of Ken but no discernable outline. Still, within such a small space, he knew if he launched himself forward, he would make his mark, there was no doubt about that. Give him one reason, he thought. One reason to show Ken a lesson.

"Do you really want a repeat of the last time we fought?" Aya warned.

Ken scoffed. "You mean when I wiped the floor with your skinny ass?"

Aya's fists clenched. "That was sloppy. This time I'll be sure and finish what I started."

"Hearing a lot of words from ya, Aya. Nice change a pace, comin' from you, but you actually gonna make good on that? Or are you really as full of hot air as you look?"

Before he could even finish those words, Ken flew back against the door, pinned. He never even saw Aya coming. He struggled, feeling the harsh grip on his shoulders as Aya tried to wrestle him down to the ground, but he could see only hazy movement in front of him and the dim, cat-like glow from Aya's eyes.

Ken growled low and pushed his weight forward, knowing his extra muscle would easily outweigh Aya's extra height. The pair tumbled to the floor with Ken landing on top, holding Aya down by the shoulders. He straddled Aya's waist, locking his knees around the redhead's legs, and successfully keeping Aya from doing anything more than thrash.

"Even easier than I thought." Ken said triumphantly, a little winded, but thoroughly hyped on very pleased adrenaline. He kept his full-body hold on Aya tight and leaned his face down to better see the snarling features of the man beneath him. "Giving up already…Abyssinian?" he whispered.

Feeling his blood boil in the face of Ken's taunting, Aya didn't even pause to think before slamming his body upwards with as much force as he could summon, knocking the wind clean out of Ken's lungs. The brunette gasped, doubling over and cradling his ribs, completely vulnerable as Aya gathered his wits, took hold, and flipped their positions in a matter of seconds. Suddenly, it was Ken beneath Aya, held down with his legs trapped between Aya's knees. Ken tried to glare, tried to curse and scream, but had no breath yet to utilize and simply struggled. He squirmed and kicked and bucked, anything to get even one limb free. That's all he would need. Just one.

Aya wasn't smiling as Ken had when he was in this position, but he was certainly pleased with himself. He wasn't as foolish as to lower his guard by leaning low to whisper jeers.

"Are you going to calm down now?" He said, holding Ken firmly in place. "I can stay like this all night if I have to."

"Damn…it…Aya!" Ken gasped, still fighting for the air Aya had robbed him of. "You damn…arrogant…bastard!" A rush of anger fueled Ken enough to free an arm, just one, and it was all he needed to grip Aya hard before rolling.

The space in the closet was too cramped for this fight, and this second roll pushed Aya right into the wall, bouncing them quickly back to land with Ken still underneath Aya. Ken continued to struggle, tugging his arms free to grip Aya's shoulders, and bucking his hips in an attempt to free his legs. They continued to roll, heading one way that landed with Ken once again on top, before Aya slammed him into the wall and they went rolling the other way again. They could hear the shelves above them rattling, but paid no mind. They just continued on, grappling, and kicking, and clawing, and growling like animals.

Their faces were close now, each able to feel the other's hot breath on his skin, and every inch of their bodies seemed tightly pressed together. They could only imagine how grimy with dirt they were making themselves, rolling on the floor this way, but neither was in any mood to back down or call it quits. Both were out to win. And damn it, someone was going to.

It was after almost ten minutes of this that Ken finally thought he gained the upper hand. Rolling into one of the walls yet again, he managed to keep Aya pinned instead of bouncing off towards the other side. He held the redhead steady with Aya's back against the wall and his own body pressing forward to hold him there. Aya was so stunned at being unable to move that Ken managed to slip his arms around him in a bear hug, locking the redhead's arms to his sides. Ken coiled his legs around Aya's as well and held firm.

They weren't going anywhere for awhile.

Holding Aya this close had their faces nearly touching. Ken was looking directly into that violet fire and he could feel Aya's breath on his lips, the air mingling between them. He would swear he could also hear and feel Aya's heartbeat through their connected chests. Or maybe that was just his own, beating so hard and fast, he thought it might explode if he didn't hold them still like this so they could both catch their breaths.

Neither spoke, staring into each others' eyes and counting their heavy, uneven breaths. They let a minute pass. Two. More. Finally, their hearts still racing, Aya tried to move first. He shifted his hips, pulled at his legs, and tried to loosen the tight grip holding his arms down. Nothing. He shifted his hips again, more violently, never once moving his eyes from where they were locked on Ken's.

Aya didn't have any success at escaping, but the more he shifted and struggled, the more it became clear to him just how tightly met they were. And how perfectly aligned. Each small motion from him seemed to press them closer together, their chests tight. Their legs locked. Their noses lightly pumping. Their hips…grinding.

A gasp left Aya's throat unbidden, and he went rigid, stilling all movement, even his breath as a jolt of electricity shot up from his groin. He wondered if Ken realized what had just happened, but the wide brown eyes staring back at him answered that question fairly quickly. Aya assumed this would cause Ken to immediately release him and their pointless tousle would be over, but Ken didn't move. He just continued to stare, still holding tight.

"Ken…" Aya said breathlessly, his voice ragged from the fight, lack of air, and his growing problem.

Ken's eyes didn't look so wide after awhile. The brunette loosened his hold on Aya but kept his legs locked.

Aya didn't understand this. He wanted to say something, to tell Ken it was over now and that if they didn't want things to get more awkward than they already were, he should let him go so they could pretend this never happened. But why wasn't Ken getting that on his own?

This was becoming embarrassing. Aya pulled his arms free and started to push Ken away, but Ken wouldn't let him. Instead, he grabbed hold of Aya's wrists, keeping the redhead's hands on his chest. The next moment confirmed Aya's suspicions that Ken was not thinking clearly.

A low grunt accompanied the action as Ken grinded forward, rolling his hips into Aya's in a manner impossible to be mistaken for an accident.

Aya fisted the fabric of Ken's shirt, unable to move his hands with Ken still gripping his wrists. Heat was building below his waist and he wanted to tell the brunette to stop. He wanted to throw Ken into the opposite wall. He wanted…he wanted Ken to hurry up and do that again.

Impatient, Aya rolled his hips first, unthinkingly, foolishly. But he couldn't seem to care right now. His blood was boiling. His nerves were shot. The tension in him that had made this argument so easily turn to violence, was turning even more easily into desire. Their hot breaths, the sweat on their bodies, the hard surfaces around them, the dark, their tight connection. The combination engulfed them suddenly, and before either of them realized what was happening, they were grinding their hips together. Hard.

Ken tried to say something, his lips close to Aya's ear, but what came out was a whimper. Aya's hands were still fisting his shirt and he released the redhead's wrists, moving his own hands to Aya's hips. He clung to those thin hips tightly, pulling Aya harder against him with every buck.

They looked into each others' eyes, hazy, still unable to see more than shadow and the sparkle of white around their pupils. They thought of meeting mouths, of meeting tongues, anything, but the intensity at their hips made it impossible for them to do anything more than press their foreheads together, gasping.

"Ken!" the name slipped from Aya's throat before he could stop it, his head tossing back where it hit the wall hard enough to sting. He grit his teeth, but ignored the pain, concentrating harder on the fire building so strongly in his gut.

All his anger was being poured into this, all his frustration with Ken, and he didn't want it to stop, because at the end of it was something that made him forget how angry Ken could make him.

Shuddering breaths left Ken's lips, his forehead digging hard into Aya's for support he couldn't seem to grasp. With each thrust he grunted, chocolate locked on violet, and it felt so good he was shaking. But as good as it was he wanted more.

"Nnnn…" he tried, his voice catching in his throat. "N-not…enough…" he finally gasped, looking into Aya's eyes for permission he wouldn't be able to see even if Aya gave it.

Ken slid his hands from Aya's hips to the front of the redhead's pants. He had to slow their movements to do this and it ached so bad he could feel his eyes beginning to water. By the time he got Aya's zipper down and was tugging at his pants, Aya had nearly accomplished the same with him. As soon as their pants were at their knees, they reconnected, trembling at the bolder feel of their erections meeting through thin cotton.

"Aya!" It was Ken's turn to call out and he didn't try to mask it. The sensation was building on itself faster than either could move, than their pulses could keep up. It would be over soon and they just wanted to reach it, desperate for that blinding light and split second of untamable bliss.

Aya had left his hands at Ken's hips, allowing both of them control over the rhythm now, which they had silently decided needed to pick up. Both were pulling and thrusting and gasping so loud it filled every inch of space around them. So close. A few moments more, they could feel it, both of them together, rising and reaching their peaks. One final buck of their hips and they clung to each other as spasm wracked them, Ken crying out into Aya's neck as the redhead released his cry to the ceiling.

Their pulses and breaths slowed, their grips on each other loosening. Brown and violet found one another again, their vision strangely sharper now. Aya could see the beads of sweat on Ken's forehead and Ken would swear he saw signs of a lazy grin looking back at him.

There wasn't anything to say so they said nothing. They untangled their legs and Ken scooted back so they could lie together comfortably while they recovered. They seemed to realize together that they had just experienced something so passionate without ever touching intimate skin, and though being trapped by cotton made both feel a little uncomfortable, they couldn't quite move yet to remedy that. They just stared, disbelieving into each others' eyes, while lying on the closet floor.

"Hey, guys, I'm back!" Omi's voice called suddenly, the bell of the shop door dinging with his entrance. "We decided to just meet for lunch tomorrow and study!" There was a pause, where Omi looked around the shop for signs of them, they imagined. "Guys? Hey, where are you! Aya-kun! Ken-kun!" Omi continued, his voice fading as he went upstairs to check for them there.

Aya and Ken stared at each other, reaching agreement without a word. Ken lifted a shaky hand to brush a few wet strands of crimson out of Aya's eyes. Aya reached forward to fist Ken's shirt again, pulling the brunette closer. As they leaned in, forming their bodies together as they had been before, both were quite certain…they could call for Omi later.

THE END

A/N: This is a belated gift for Miss Vampire, a loyal reader and amazing artist. Check her out at deviantart! Hope you enjoyed. I felt like returning to my roots. Let me know what you thought and I'll be sure and get out some more fanfics soon. As always, see ya next ficcie!

Crimson