Between Heaven and Earth   von NanaSaintClair
                              ([Kaoru x Die] AU)
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                            Kapitel 1: Chapter One
                            ----------------------


The bright lights of hundreds of cameras flashed from all sides as the
black-clad man tried to make his way inside the high building. Although he was
wearing dark-shaded sunglasses, he still got annoyed by these lights, flashing
and flaring from everywhere as people from the press tried to gain some answers
out of him. But he ignored each of them and sternly walked through the main
doors with proud steps. 

When he entered the lift and the doors finally closed, his only sigh of relief
was a tiny growl of aggravation. Crossing his arms, he tapped with his left foot
on the ground as he waited for the lift to approach the upper floor where his
company had their rooms. As soon as he arrived his destination and the doors
opened, he walked out quickly and straight through the corridors to reach his
private office. Everybody he passed by stood up and said ‘Good morning’,
bowing politely to grant their boss the necessary respect, even if he never
replied anything to any of them in return. 

As he passed by the desk of his secretary, the lady immediately jumped from off
her chair and bowed in the same manner. “Good morning, Mr. Niikura. It appears
you’re getting even more attention than usual.”

The man pretty much ignored her slight sarcasm and walked into his office,
followed by the woman, as he mumbled: “As if I’d be fucking rock-star.”

“The media’s interest in you has increased since the Nagatomi case. To them
it’s a wonder that Mr. Nagatomi has gained an acquittal thanks to your
excellent defense. Evidences were against him,” the woman kept on praising her
boss, although she was quite sure that Nagatomi should have been in jail
instead. She couldn’t imagine how Niikura had managed the acquittal without
bribing the judges. 

“Whatever.” Fed up with the whole issue, the man sat down on his big leather
chair and finally pulled off his sunglasses. “Any important appointments
today?”

“Nice o’clock will be the meeting with Mrs. Inari and her lawyers. She
doesn’t accept to settle the lawsuit,” the secretary explained shortly and
Mr. Niikura replied with nothing but a curt nod. “I’ve made the reservation
at ‘Noir’s’ for two persons on your name and Mr. Matsuyama sr. asks for an
appointment in the late afternoon.”

“Call him and cancel. I’m in no mood for his antics today,” the man said
and dismissively waved his hand while opening a book. The secretary nodded and
waited until her boss looked up at her with a questioning glance. “That is
all, thanks.”

Bowing, the secretary then turned and disappeared. People described Mr. Niikura
as arrogant and selfish but in her language he was simply called an asshole.
Once she was out of his office, she took a deep breath before she headed back to
her desk, trying to please the grumpy thirty-and somewhat-year-old. 

---

Tentatively Daisuke entered his boss’ office and dropped his gaze in respect
as he lowly cleared his throat. The man sitting behind the clear glass desk
looked up from reading the news-roll and studied the young red-haired man for a
moment before he actually went to fulfill his task.

“Daisuke,” the man in white addressed the tall redhead and offered him a
seat in front of the desk with a gesture of his hand. The young man silently did
as he was told before the other guy continued with authority. “I think you can
imagine why you’re here.”

Daisuke looked up with innocent eyes and shook his head. “Not exactly.”

“Hm,” his boss entwined his fingers and leant back. “I’ll give you a
hint. Sasuke and Midori.”

The redhead raised his index finger as well as his brows. “That wasn’t my
fault. Midori was uncertain.”

The other man glared. “But you should’ve seen that coming with your
powers.” Daisuke dropped his gaze again, defeated, but his boss wasn’t
finished. “Then what about Miyamoto?”

With a gasp Daisuke’s eyes widened and he smiled apologetically, the little
wings on his back decreasing in size. “I was distracted for only one minute I
swear.”

“In that minute he decided to commit suicide for Heaven’s sake! What’s
wrong with you, Daisuke?” The other man slowly lost his temper and grew simply
frustrated from disappointment. “You failed all your missions.”

Blinking with his eyelids, Daisuke looked at his boss for a moment but then
suddenly dropped his gaze, feeling guilty. “I’m sorry, God.”

“Being sorry isn’t enough, Daisuke.” The man named God stood up and
sighed. “You’re an angel. You’re supposed to help people, guide them, and
make them fall in love, not cheat or die. In all the time I’m God, and
that’s a longer time than you can imagine, there has never been an angel like
you.”

The redhead felt as bad he supposedly was. He had never meant to make anyone
cheat or die. But he couldn’t force his will on others either. He would’ve
told God again that he was sorry but that wouldn’t help him since it wasn’t
enough. Daisuke sniffed a little and made huge puppy eyes.

“The circumstances make it necessary for me to punish you,” God said and the
angel gasped. “I have no choice, Daisuke. There are rules we follow and some
of them you’ve just dismissed and ignored. You’re gonna go back to
Earth.”

“I’ll get another chance?” Going back to Earth meant for an angel like
Daisuke that he would’ve to complete another mission. 

But God sadly shook his blond head. “Not as an angel. As a human.”

“What?” It was rude to ask the impolite one-word-question but the redhead
couldn’t help his outburst. He had been an angel for so long now. How was he
supposed to survive on Earth these days as a human?

“You heard right, son. I’ll send you back on Earth in human form. Take care
to survive. Devil likes fallen angels.” God’s heart went out to his angel
but there were rules even he had to follow. “You’ll have the chance to gain
access back to Heaven though.”

“How?” It was Daisuke’s only ray of hope since he was pretty sure that he
wouldn’t stand a chance as a human being now.

“You’ll either save somebody’s life or make two people fall happily in
love. That’s the condition.” Coughing, God settled back in his chair. He
knew as well as Daisuke that chances were low but if he ever wanted to be a good
angel, then he had to prove himself as a human first. 

“When will I have to go?” Lowly the angel asked and chewed on his bottom
lip.

“Now.” God ignored the gasp from his angel and went on. “I’ll send you
right down. But you won’t be called Daisuke anymore. The name stands for love
and help. It doesn’t suit the circumstances. Your new name will be Die.”

“Die?” Daisuke wrinkled his nose at the small name that meant as much as
death. “How weird. Will I lose my wings too?”

“Of course, or have you ever seen a human with wings?” God would’ve liked
to growl in annoyance but that was forbidden in Heaven as well. “You ready?
Fine then.” Not hesitating any split of a second, God raised his hand and
snapped with his fingers.

Suddenly there was nothing left but an empty space where once a beautiful
red-haired angel had been sitting.

---

Annoyed Kaoru sighed when he climbed inside his car and started the engine.
Yuki, one of his clients, lived outside the city in one of the big houses and he
preferred appointments at home. Niikura had never been one to decline,
especially not when his client was richer than the president. However, the
lawyer didn’t like the long drive. It cost precious time of his day and there
was still some work to do.

He sped off fast and decided to do the remaining work at home. The way there
wasn’t as far and he’d avoid possible traffic jams. The flat sports car
precisely steered along the already darkening road as the sun was about to go
down. The sun was deep but shining in a bright red light, almost blinding the
driver who still wore his dark sunglasses. He lit a cigarette and drove the
window down a little, before he pressed the play-button for the CD-player to
switch on.

Meanwhile Die tumbled and brought his hand up to hold his head. Being human felt
weird, suddenly realizing again how a body worked, that it felt pain. And Die
did feel pain once he had hit the ground rather violently. He silently thanked
God for removing his wings and still just dropping the former angel on Earth.
With no clue where he was, Die looked around and spotted the lights of a city he
recalled as Tokyo. He’d flown across once or twice before but it looked more
beautiful from above. The noises and smell wasn’t nice down here.

Taking some steps on steady ground, Die tried out his legs and feet. It seemed
as if they worked properly and the red-haired man jumped a little, testing them
further. Walking on clouds was like not walking at all, as if to slide, but not
like flesh on hard ground. It felt odd and Die couldn’t tear his eyes off his
new human feet on the dirty, real earth. How they moved across the stony
surface, step by step, left, right, left, right. Die nearly fell into
admiration. Maybe being human wasn’t that bad after all.

The two front lights of the sports-car blinded Die unexpectedly before all he
could do was stare as the deafening sound of screeching tires filled his mind.
But it was too late. The car hit the former angel, the impact throwing his human
body across the hood and then sideways on the hard ground in not more than
splits of a second. 

Kaoru cursed as the car had finally stopped and he hit the steering wheel with
his palm. He hadn’t seen the person who was obviously insane enough to walk on
the street. This was the last thing Kaoru could need right now but he had to
stay calm in order to sort out things. He wasn’t a lawyer for nothing. He knew
how to turn things to his advantage. Taking a deep breath, he climbed out of his
car and hoped that the person wasn’t badly harmed. He slammed the door shut
and paused for one moment, his left eyebrow twitching as he spotted the broken
front light. Then he shifted his gaze to the painfully groaning person and took
off his sun-glasses.

Die moaned in pain as he tried to get back on his feet. He felt a little dizzy
and his skin had got some bruises but there were no major damages. At least he
hoped so. When he finally stood, he turned to look at the man dressed in a black
suit. He hadn’t meant to do any harm and felt guilty for making trouble.

“You alright?” Kaoru called out to the man and ignored the fact that he was
stark naked, avoiding to step any closer though. One never knew what kind of
person walks around like this.

“I... I guess,” the redhead replied, being unused to hearing his own voice,
sounding a little harsher than up in Heaven. He held up his hand in a defending
manner. “Sorry... I haven’t seen you coming.”

“Obviously.” The lawyer wasn’t sure what to do. That man seemed to be
really crazy. Not only did he walk on the street daydreaming and naked, but he
apologized for getting hit too. Maybe he was plainly stupid and that, Kaoru
undeniably could use to his advantage. He walked around the car and inspected
the broken glass of the front light. 

Die raised his brows innocently. The scratches on his skin burned like fire but
he tried to ignore it. “Something broken?”

“The light,” Kaoru said and tried to look at Die as intimidating as
possible, waiting for any reaction.

“Umm... I really am sorry.” The redhead didn’t know what else to say. He
hadn’t even been five minutes on earth and had already caused troubles for
another human. Not a good start. If only he would’ve paid more attention to
his surroundings instead of his toes. “Can it be fixed?”

The lawyer nearly scoffed at this. It was just a light after all. “Sure, it
can. But it’ll cost a pretty penny. This is a Fiorano.” Kaoru wasn’t quite
sure if the man could recognize a Ferrari if he saw one. That guy just looked
too stupid, even if he wasn’t unattractive. Displaying a smug smile, the
lawyer lowly chuckled. “Don’t worry, your insurance will pay the damage.”


Die’s innocent and questioning gaze confirmed Kaoru’s guess that he either
wasn’t willing to pay or simply had no insurance. He hoped he was wrong with
both though. “You're insured, aren’t you?”

The former angel wrapped his arms around his chest, feeling how the chilly air
slowly cooled down his human body. He looked rather dumbfounded at the other man
and shook his head. Of course he had no insurance, only knew about something
like that because of pure coincidence. He didn’t have a penny to call his own
so far. He slowly shook his head as an answer. 

“Then how do you think you are going to pay the damage?” Crossing his arms,
Kaoru’s eyes darkened as he glared. On one hand he was lucky enough to have
found a person who believed that the damage was his fault, but on the other hand
Kaoru knew that if that freak had no money, it meant troubles for the lawyer. 

“I don’t know,” Die shrugged and started to hop from one foot on the
other. It really was getting cold with nothing else than human skin. “I have
no money. Don’t you have any?”

“Sure, I have, smart ass.” Kaoru could hardly believe the other man’s
stupidity. Because of how he said things, he did sound as if he wanted to pay
but couldn’t. “But I don’t see why I should pay the damage you’ve caused
with your idiocy.” Digging out his cell phone, the dark-haired man coughed
before he continued. “I have no choice but to call the police then.”

Although Kaoru knew his chances were little to not existing that he won’t be
blamed for the accident, he still considered calling the police just because
that strange man was probably escaped from some nuthouse. He threw a skeptical
glance at Die and hesitated. The former angel started to panic a little. He
didn’t know very much about the human rules on the road, but he knew that if
the police asked him why he had no money, not even clothes, they wouldn’t
believe the truth. He couldn’t possibly tell them that he had previously been
an angel who was now sent back to Earth. They would keep him in jail for as long
as he could explain his being with something a human mind could actually work
out. 

“No, please,” Die said not even thinking and stepped closer to the other
man. “Don’t. Not the police please. Can’t we settle this without them?”

Involuntarily Kaoru’s gaze dropped to Die’s lower regions but he forced
himself to look back into the man’s eyes. Why the hell was he naked for
God’s sake? “Listen, how are you gonna pay with no money. Hell, you don’t
even wear clothes.”

“I don’t have some!” Was the redhead’s plain answer as he helplessly
shrugged. “And I don’t know how to pay but please, just don’t call the
police. I...” A thought crossed his mind. “Can’t I work off my debts?”

A hardly audible snort emitted from the lawyer. “You’re crazy.”

The redhead had nothing to add and just kept on pleading with his eyes.
Shivering from the coldness, his teeth began to clatter. 

Kaoru ran a hand through his hair and sighed before he walked to obtain his
trench coat from inside the car. The fact that this guy was completely naked
disturbed him, the most because he wasn’t the worst to look at either.
“Here. Put it on. I can’t take your clattering teeth much longer.”

Gratefully Die reached out to grab the offered clothe and slipped in, tying the
belt around his waist. “Thank you.” He felt a little warmer with it but he
still was damn cold. The other man’s eyes were upon him and Die knew, that he
was pondering about what to do.

“Get inside the car.” Fed up with standing on the street, Kaoru opened the
passenger’s door and waited for Die to climb inside. The former angel did as
was told, instantly feeling the warmth that was provided by the expensive car.
The lawyer followed and climbed behind the steering wheel. “I’ll think about
you working off your debts. But first you tell me what you’re doing here on
the street with no clothes on.”

Kaoru started the engine and waited for the redhead’s explanation while
driving to his original destination. That would take long enough to decide
whether he would give Die a chance or take him to the police instead. 

For a moment Die considered making up a lie but decided against. What could he
possibly tell? Besides, there was a chance that the man believed him, other than
the police. “Actually I’m an angel.”

At first the lawyer pondered if he really had heard right, then he started to
chuckle until he had developed a hysterical but low flash of laughter. It took
him some time to gain back his calmness. “You know, I really should just bring
you to the next best sanatorium 'cause you’re heading for a straightjacket
with that story. So you better listen,” Kaoru became very serious and turned
his voice steady and deep. “Either you’re telling me the truth now or I’m
just gonna take you to the next police station. It’s your choice.”

Taking a staggered breath, Die slumped back in his seat, defeated. He raised his
hands as if to ask God what to do but he never received an answer. He felt
helpless but also desperate to make that man see he wasn’t lying. “But I
can’t help it. I’ve been an angel and God sent me back here, down on Earth,
in human form. I just arrived and already had an accident. So you see, I don’t
really have a choice. Only you have. You could either believe me and let me
honestly work off my debts or you take me to the police. All I can say is that
I’m really sorry for the troubles I’ve caused. I never meant to.”

To the lawyer it only grew more ridiculous. It was the most crazy thing he had
ever heard and he had heard a lot of stories! But this was just insanity. Still,
there was something about that man that was plainly naïve and childlike. Kaoru
contemplated if the man could probably be a robber or similar criminal but why
would he walk around naked then? The explanation that was the most agreeable was
that the redhead had indeed escaped from some nuthouse. Yet, he didn’t seem
completely nuts, more like a little stupid as if he didn’t know a thing about
life.

That brought Kaoru back to the angel story and he immediately cursed himself
mentally for even considering believing that kind of story. However, the man was
right and the lawyer had to make a decision. Either he brought him to the police
and won’t be paid for any damage or he made that nutcase work his heels off
for the lawyer. If he were really as dim as he looked, he would work way more
than needed.

Nervously Die played with his toes as he waited for the other man to say
something. But the other man kept quiet until they finally arrived their
destination. It had grown completely dark outside in the meantime and everything
the former angel could see were the outer lights of a white building. As Kaoru
climbed out of his car, Die too did so and simply trotted after the other man,
following him to the front door where he spotted the name ‘Niikura’.

“Where are we?” Finally Die dared to ask and tried to catch Kaoru’s gaze
who pretty much ignored the other man’s presence as he was unlocking the door,
checking the mail and carrying his briefcase.

“My place,” Kaoru brusquely replied and walked straight to his desk where he
put down briefcase and mail before he started to open each envelope and read
some of the letters.

Die nodded smiling. He was grateful that the nice man had taken him to his home
and not to the police. That could only mean he was given a fair chance to work.
Shifting his gaze around, Die’s eyes grew wider and wider. “This is
posh.”

The lawyer looked up from his mail and frowned for a moment. The guy he had
brought home really was like a kid getting huge eyes from seeing candy. Yet, he
was still a naked grown-up within Niikura’s expensive trench coat. Sighing,
Kaoru put the mail down and headed upstairs for his bedroom. He couldn’t leave
that guy the way he was now and looked for something to wear for him, something
casual, since he was a tiny bit taller then the lawyer.

Suddenly there were strange noises coming from out of Die’s belly. He had
never heard something like this before. Was his human body already diseased? If
Die knew that God wouldn’t hear it, he would definitely curse him right now.
But the redhead stayed silent and patiently waited for the nice dark-haired man
to reappear. He didn’t need to wait for long and smiled at Kaoru as he came
back with a pile of clothes in his hands.

“Here,” the lawyer said and handed the clothes to Die, wondering why that
freak didn’t wipe off that odd grin. “Come.” Coldly ordering, Kaoru headed
for the bathroom and fetched some salve from one of the boards. “Get a shower
and dress properly.”

Die obediently nodded. He knew that shower thing. Humans did that to wash off
dirt and smell. He tugged off the belt and slid out of Kaoru’s trench coat,
handing it to him. In the same moment his belly made those weird noises again. 

The lawyer raised one annoyed eyebrow and took a deep calming breath. “Fine,
I’ll see about something to eat. Tend to your bruises with that.” He placed
the salve for Die to see it and headed out of the bathroom, closing the door
behind him. He had seen how many scratches there actually were on the
redhead’s skin and a small, hardly existing part of him was guilty. He had
never asked the other man about his damages, only once asked if he was okay.
Nonetheless, Kaoru thought he had already made it up by bringing that guy here,
offering him clothes, a shower and even something to eat. It was more than he
had given in his entire life so far.

Meanwhile Die had fortunately found out how to turn on the water and it streamed
down in freezing cold droplets, making his skin get gooseflesh. He shrieked a
little at the sudden unexpected temperature and quickly turned the thermostat.
To his own surprise the water turned warmer and Die contently sighed once he had
found the perfect temperature to enjoy the drops running down his pale human
skin. He held his head under the stream and grinned, taking quite some pleasure
in showering. 

Once he was done, he put some of the salve on his bruises and instantly felt
them stop burning as much. Then he slipped inside the clothes the other man had
brought him and smiled at his reflection in the mirror. Indeed Die felt kind of
clean and pure, almost like an angel. Except that these clothes held that
man’s scent and some other rather chemical smell. Still, he was pleased and
left the bathroom in good spirits. As soon as another strange aroma filled his
nostrils, his belly growled again in this odd noise and Die stopped in his
tracks, putting a hand on his stomach.

Kaoru had lit himself a cigarette and was talking to one of his clients on the
phone when Die appeared from the bathroom and once again looked as if he was a
plain idiot. The lawyer couldn’t help but skeptically raise one eyebrow as his
guest tilted his head and patted his belly. He ended the call quickly and walked
into the kitchen. “Don’t stand there and look stupid. Come and eat.”

Eat? Die had seen how humans did that. Nodding, he headed to join Kaoru and got
a plastic plate with something out of a small oven. It smelled delicious and
immediately the redhead dug in his chopsticks and began to swallow some of the
hot food. He flinched when it burned his throat and was much too big to swallow
in one piece.

“Moron,” Kaoru muttered and watched the redhead with interest, not sure
whether he was supposed to laugh or to cry at the scene. “Chew it. With your
teeth. But wait until it’s not as hot anymore.” 

With huge eyes, Die’s mind followed the man’s words and his head nodded up
and down. Kaoru rolled his eyes at the weird person and gathered himself some
food with his chopsticks. If he believed in fairy tales, he really would assume
the redhead was an angel, or at least not from this planet. “Do you have a
name?”

“Yes,” the former angel said with his mouth full, hardly intelligible. He
swallowed the piece of meat he had been chewing and smiled. “It’s Die. And
yours?” 

“Kaoru.” He didn’t say anything else, didn’t smile or nod, just plainly
looked at Die. “Well, Die. When you’re done eating, call me. I’ve got work
to do.”

Taking his plate Kaoru headed for his desk and immediately started to read
through some important documents he had received within the mail. Nodding once
more, Die watched the other man leave before he unceremoniously kept on raping
his food. It tasted too good to him. In Heaven he had never had food, couldn’t
even smell it, not to mention taste and eat it. This was almost better than
being an angel and with Kaoru he was quite positive that he’d have a chance to
survive after all. He instantly started to like the man. He was nice.

When Die was finished eating, a sound left his mouth that had evoked from deep
inside his belly. Surprised, he pressed his fingers against his lips. Being
human was weird, he thought and turned to look at Kaoru who was still sitting at
his desk, a laptop in front of his face. But Kaoru actually looked at Die with a
disbelieving expression. “Full?”

Smiling widely, the redhead quickly nodded but Kaoru continued. “Fetch
something to drink from the fridge.” Checking for Die’s reaction, the lawyer
waited and decided to give that alien some more clues since he looked as dense
as one could be. “That thing there. Open it and take out two of the red
cans.”

Without to hesitate Die did as he was told and gathered two of the red cans
filled with liquid. He carried them over to Kaoru and placed them on the desk.
“Alright?”

“Yes,” the lawyer nodded curtly and a little bit exasperated. There was not
the time to explain that guy all the smallest things in the world and Kaoru
surely wasn’t a Samaritan who did that without getting anything out of it. But
looking up into Die’s two big innocent brown eyes, even the lawyer grew a
little weak, but reminded himself to make a better use of his house-slave as
soon as he had a little bit more time. “One’s for you. It’s coke in case
you don’t know. Now go and watch some TV for all I care. I’m gonna tell you
what to do when I’m done.”

Again Die obediently followed his new friend’s instructions, grabbed the can
with coke and moved to sit in front of the TV. He knew these things too, had
seen people watching other humans on screen with it. Yet, he didn’t know how
it worked, nor did he know how to use that can in his hands. He turned to look
at Kaoru who was unconsciously opening his can right in that moment before he
took a small sip and placed it back on the desk. Excited from curiosity, Die did
as he had seen and opened the can before he drank from it carefully. He was
pleasantly surprised that it indeed tasted just as good as the food had, maybe
even better. 

As the former angel sat there cross-legged on the ground, he stared at the TV
and slowly moved one of his fingers to press the small button in the front. It
was a small step for the nation but a big one for Die. In fact moving pictures
and sounds appeared on the screen. A huge smile spread across the redhead’s
face as he started to watch whatever was on.

After the third time that Kaoru had yawned, he looked up from his papers and
immediately spotted Die who was sitting like a good boy in front of the TV,
watching an old episode of ‘Colt Seavers’ in English. Scratching his cheek,
the lawyer wondered if Die actually understood one single thing of their
language. He closed the laptop and marched to sit on the sofa. “Do you
understand a thing of what they’re saying?”

Die was so deeply absorbed in the action on screen, that he hadn’t even
noticed Kaoru’s presence. Startled, he turned and smiled. “No, but it’s
still so good. See, that guy, he’s just so funny!”

“Ah yes, I see.” It wasn’t of any interest for Kaoru, yet it was
fascinating to see that his weirdo-guest had found something to entertain him.
“I’ll show you your room, c’mon.”

Not waiting for any reply, Kaoru stood up and went to the room next to where his
study was. Assuming that Die followed, he opened the door and switched on the
lights. In fact Die had made his way after the other man and looked inside.
There was nothing else than a bed, a small table and a chair. “It’s the
guest room and well, usually I don’t have guests of the sort that need an own
room.”

“It’s nice,” the redhead stated and broadly smiled, stretching his neck to
peek inside.

“You’re going to sleep in here,” Kaoru informed the other man, just in
case he didn’t get that either.

“Okay,” Die instantly agreed, being happy about his new room. “Where do
you sleep?”

“Upstairs.” It was still a bit risky to have a total stranger inside his
home but Kaoru knew how to defend himself and something about the naïve
red-haired guy told him that he needn’t to worry. He was probably too stupid
to steal something anyway. But just to be sure, the lawyer would lock the doors
from inside. “There are still some rules you need to follow in my home, like
taking no phone calls. Whenever it rings, leave it. Don’t open the door when
I’m not around and never, listen, never come inside my bedroom.”

Die intently listened to what Kaoru said and registered his smug smile at the
end of his guidelines. Shrugging, the redhead didn’t know what to make of it
anyway and simply nodded with another big smile. 

“Okay then, I’ll tell you everything else tomorrow,” Kaoru said and closed
the door again. “I’ll get a shower and go to bed. I must get up early.”
Walking back inside the living room, he fetched a book from out of the shelf and
handed it to Die. “Can you read?”

“Yes,” the former angel confirmed, smiling.

“Good. Read that.” With a tiny smirk the lawyer marched off into the
bathroom. 

The light brown eyes of the redhead shifted down to the book in his hands and
read the title. It was about cooking. Not minding that the least bit, Die
inwardly smiled and hugged the book close. If that meant he was going to work as
a cook, it was fine with him. He sat down on the sofa and finished watching his
newfound favorite TV-show, waiting for Kaoru to emerge from the bathroom. 

After some minutes Kaoru came back and just passed Die by. “Go to bed.”

That was everything the lawyer said before he walked up the stairs and vanished
inside his room. Being ever so obedient, Die made his way into his new room and
sat down on the bed. A happy grin spread on his features. The day had begun
being kicked out of Heaven and getting hit by a car, but in the end it had
turned out to be quite nice. Die had found a friend, a home and work. That
really wasn’t bad at all, he considered and opened his book.

Lying on his stomach, he started to read right away. He needed education about
the human population if he wanted to make it in this world. All he knew was from
what he had seen but not experienced for such a huge amount of time that he had
no recollection at all. 

When everything was quiet inside the house, Kaoru finally closed his eyes to
sleep. He had switched on the alarm system, making sure nobody could get in or
out, as well as locked his bedroom’s door. He still wasn’t sure about what
to do with the redhead. He was cute and likable, but it disturbed Kaoru a lot
that he didn’t know about the tiniest things. Yet, that made him unbelievingly
innocent again. The lawyer had learned not to trust anybody and therefore
appreciated someone loyal who would still work off his ass for him. 

And apparently Die seemed to be the perfect match.



                            Kapitel 2: Chapter Two
                            ----------------------


At five thirty sharp Kaoru’s alarm clock made sure that the man sleeping
beside it woke up in no time. No big deal since the lawyer was used to get up
early and he quickly opened his eyes, hearing the familiar beeping sound.
Yawning, he got up, stretched and cracked his neck before he shuffled to his
bedroom’s door and tried to open it. Only now he remembered why he had locked
the door. There was a stranger in his house and only God knew if Kaoru’s home
was still in shape, once he would open the door.

Quietly he unlocked it and walked down the stairs that led to his living room.
It was silent and neat, just how Kaoru liked it to be. Curious about his guest,
he headed for Die’s room and opened the door, peeking inside. The redhead was
sprawled across his small bed, his face hidden between pillows and covers but
his feet hanging down the edges. Kaoru’s eyebrows rose as he thought once
again that there was probably nothing but plain and innocent greenness inside
that guy’s mind. 

Coughing, Kaoru prepared himself to wake Die up. “You. Get up.”

“Wah?!” Startled, Die instinctively sat up in bed and batted with his
sleep-filled eyelashes in order to see properly. For a short moment he didn’t
know where he was and frowned. Usually when he woke up, it was after a very soft
slumber on some fluffy cloud somewhere underneath the sun. But truth be told, he
wasn’t that disappointed to see Kaoru instead. He was his new human friend
after all. A small smile crept on his features.

“Get up. You’re accompanying me at work today.” That stated firmly, Kaoru
turned on his heels and left for the bathroom.

The former angel’s head was spinning for a moment. He had never woken up like
that as a human and he still felt very sleepy, as if he could just turn and lie
down again with his eyes closed. But his new friend had told him to get up and
so did Die, slowly but with determination. He still wore the same clothes that
Kaoru had given to him yesterday and being fine with that, Die waddled into the
living room, waiting there together with his cooking book. 

When the lawyer came back, he for once remembered how it was like to be a good
host. “Get yourself something from the fridge if you’re hungry. I never eat
that early and fetch coffee in the office.” 

Oh well, maybe he wasn’t that much of a good host but it wasn’t as if Kaoru
would care. He marched back up in his room and got dressed in an agreeable black
suit. Meanwhile, indeed Die had decided that he could fill his belly with some
food again. Observing the insides of the fridge, he opened some of the glasses
and boxes, sticking his finger inside and tasting, before he settled for the
sweet brown cream. 

Kaoru passed Die by, not even paying attention. He quickly adjusted his hair
with some spray and used some eau de toilette before he went to gather his
briefcase. “Die, get going,” he called out and walked to get his coat, only
then taking a quick look at his new employee. “God.”

“Where?” The redhead asked when he was done licking off the sticky brown
cream from his fingers. 

Kaoru eyed him with a dreadful sigh. “You really need some clothes.” It was
unacceptable that Die worked even anywhere near the lawyer dressed in worn-out
jeans and a sweater, or worse: without shoes. Groaning silently, Kaoru quickly
made a decision for now. “I guess I’ll have to buy you some. But I’ll add
the money to your debts, be sure.” Turning, he left the house and headed for
his car. 

Die clutched the cooking book in his hands and tamely followed, smiling. New
clothes didn’t sound bad, even if he liked the ones he wore. They were casual
and comfortable. But he was convinced that Kaoru had a reason for making Die
dress in something else. The redhead was excited as hell about where his friend
would work and what kind of work he did. He looked like a man who did good and
much work, that was for sure.

After the ride in the car they were lucky to get inside the building without any
press being around today. Mentally Kaoru sighed in relief since he was sick of
being asked if he had bribed the judges. He hadn’t! He had won the process
fair and square with only the help of knowledge and good rhetorical skill. Die
cast a shy glance at his friend, feeling a little uneasy as they rode up the
building inside a lift. Fortunately they arrived quicker than any angel could
have flown the distance in the same time.

“Good morning, Mr. Niikura.” The usual greeting ceremony didn’t bash the
lawyer in any way. He didn’t want to make any friends inside his own company
but Die on the other hand was impressed by so many friendly people around his
new employer. The man really had to be a good person if they were all that kind
to him. The redhead merrily smiled and bowed in reply to all the ‘good
mornings’ he was faced with himself as the company of Mr. Niikura.

As usual Niikura just passed his secretary by without any notable gesture or
word. But the woman instantly jumped, startled, when his shadow run across her
small frame. She looked up and fetched the most important papers within her
hands when unexpected by her, another, quite taller shadow passed her by and
vanished after her boss inside his room. A little dazed she stood for a moment
before she gained her composure and followed both men.

Die practically beamed, entering the huge office. There were windows twice as
big as the ones Kaoru had at home and in the middle of the room, there was a big
black table with only some neatly filed books, a laptop and a phone. There were
some shelves with many books, closets probably with even more stuff to read and
Die was positively impressed at how clever of a guy his new friend had to be if
he had read all these things. His fingers grasped the cooking book even tighter,
closer to his belly. He wanted to read more, too. As soon as he had finished the
book Kaoru had given to him.

Said man placed his briefcase at the wall behind his chair before he slowly sat
down, stretching his back a little to find his favorite working position. Then
his gaze involuntarily met Die. The red-haired man stood with his mouth gaping
open and obviously took in his surroundings. Watching him always felt like a
matter of incapacity to decide whether to laugh or cry. Kaoru settled with
tilting his head and taking a deep breath. Die really appeared to be an alien of
some sort, that was for sure. But there was no time for Kaoru to muse any longer
as his thoughts got interrupted by a knock on his door, followed by the careful
entrance of his secretary.

“Good morning, Mr. Niikura.” She politely bowed and handed two files to her
boss. “Mr. Matsuyama will be here around half past ten, his assistant told me
on the phone. And this is today’s mail, sir.” She placed another folder on
his desk and waited for any possible instruction while Kaoru put his glasses on
and skimmed through the mail. Meanwhile the secretary couldn’t help but turn
and cast a glance at Niikura’s company, a tall-grown, slender young man with
short red hair. 

Die smiled at the woman. Every smile should be rewarded with another, he had
concluded. But the woman turned and her mind began to wander. She suppressed to
smirk, wondering about the man. Dressed as he was, he didn’t look like any
sort of Niikura’s clients, but then again her boss had all kinds of weird
people calling themselves his clients. She still couldn’t help but think the
redheaded man might be some sort of lover for Niikura. Hell, it was hard not to
consider. After all it was a well-known fact that her boss hadn’t any interest
in women but yet he was never seen with any guy either. Which was no wonder
really, since he was such a jerk. 

But being as he was earned him well, although it was a surprise to her. That he
had no intention of getting the ladies laid made women trust him with their
problems and cases of failing the law. Due to the fact that Niikura was a plain
and arrogant jerk, men weren’t disgusted by him but respected him even more
despite his sexual preferences. It was like they feared he would fuck their ass
if someone dared to disrespect the guy. Probably these rich guys, who chose
Niikura to be their lawyer, wished for their antagonists, whether suitor or
defendant, to feel the threat of getting their poor butts raped. Also, some
people said that men choose Niikura just in hopes to get laid. But all
speculations were in vain since the guy was never seen with the same person for
more than a few hours. 

“Ms. Suzuki.” The monotonous but clear voice of her boss, combined with the
tapping of his fingertips against the surface of the desk, made her snap out of
her temporary daze and she nearly startled. Niikura’s dark piercing gaze was
sternly directed at her and let her mentally shrink to the size of a small kid
as she reminded herself to get a grip. “Be so kind and bring me coffee.  Thank
you.” 

He emphasized the words to clearly send the message for her to leave better
quickly. The woman understood, bowed but stopped. “Should I bring two sets of
coffee or…?”

When her questioning eyes looked at Die, he just smiled. “No, no, thank you
very much.” He bowed as well, mirroring her gestures. He had thought it would
be a good idea if he tried to copy what other people did in order to become just
like all the other humans as quickly as possible. And besides, it was fun to
learn these things that he had had no recollection of. The secretary bowed again
and left with no further questions.

Kaoru eyed Die skeptically. “Why are you grinning like a fool?”

“Huh?” The redhead didn’t know himself if he was honest. “I don’t
know. Just because.”

“Just because, hm?” The other man nearly snarled, even if his voice was
merely above a whisper. 

“Yeah.” Die briefly nodded and shrugged. “This is the place you’re
working at? Does all this belong to you? The whole room and stuff?”

Kaoru almost snorted at this but due to his habit of hardly ever showing any
more emotion than necessary he kept quiet. “Yes, Die. The room, the stuff,
what you’ve seen outside on this floor, even the people. That all belongs to
me.”

“That all?” A small gasp of surprise left Die’s mouth. “That is quite a
lot.”

“It is,” Kaoru said and was just about to explain that it was just the
beginning of what he wanted to call his own in the future when Ms. Suzuki
entered the room with a cup of steaming hot coffee. She neatly placed it on the
desk and cleared her throat.

“Mr. Niikura. There is Yuki Kobayashi waiting outside. He said it was
important and needed to talk to you urgently.” She didn’t like that client
of her boss either. He was a self-absorbed bastard with one rich parent. Yuki
himself was a good-for-nothing who always ended up in troubles Niikura took care
of. The two of them would make a good couple in her opinion.

“Yuki? What brings him here, again?” Kaoru suppressed a sigh on the verge of
being fed up from dealing with the kid’s problems. But Yuki’s problems were
a lot of money for Kaoru and hence he just nodded. “Okay, two minutes. Then
let him in.”

As soon as the secretary had disappeared, Kaoru turned to face Die. “Listen
Die. Do you still have to finish reading your book?” The redhead luckily
nodded. Otherwise the lawyer would’ve given him just another random book to
study. “Good. Then go outside and sit down there. Take your time reading.
I’ve got to work.”

Nodding, Die smiled and did as was told. Shuffling outside he left the door open
for the client to get in and looked for a place where he could continue reading.
There were a few neat seats at the side opposite Ms. Suzuki’s desk and Die sat
down there like a good boy. His eyes caught sight of the client, Yuki, a young
man clad in a gorgeous dark red suit. To Die he was looking like one of the guys
he always saw on huge advertisements that hung around here in this city. But so
did Kaoru, Die mentally added, just that the lawyer was probably a little older
and for sure a bit smaller, too. With a content smile his gaze fell on his book
and he opened the page where he had fallen asleep last night.

An hour had passed and Suzuki couldn’t help but steal short glance at the
reading redhead every other minute. She wondered in what connection he could
possibly be to Niikura. The slender-framed man looked nice and not at all like
the usual clients or ‘friends’ her boss had. That was if he would’ve
friends. Suzuki was sure no sane person would interact privately with him by
free will. They all had their reasons and none of them were affection. The guy
opposite her had greeted her, bowed and even smiled. Could he truly be a friend
of Kaoru Niikura?

“What are you reading?” She dared to ask with a small smile playing on her
full lips.

Die looked up from his book and smiled in response. “It’s a book about
cooking.”

“Oh, and what makes you interested in cooking if I may ask? Any business
interest or just a hobby?” She tried with polite chatting.

“Neither of both,” Die said with yet another smile and shut the book. He
could actually do with a little break and the woman seemed nice enough to talk
to. He liked talking with humans. “Kaoru wants me to read it.”

For a few seconds the woman just stared at Die in bewilderment, noting a few
things in her mind. The guy was forced to read a cooking book, which was so
totally the impudent style of her boss that she wasn’t the least bit surprised
but only by the fact that the friendly red-haired guy actually did what was
demanded. But also, she noticed, that he had called her boss by his first name.
Few people were actually allowed doing so and all of them out of business, or at
least really well-paying patrons. Her interest increased by that fact. “And
you like it?”

“Yeah,” Die merrily answered, nodding a few times. “It is quite
interesting how many different things one can make and how many sorts of spices,
meat, vegetable and items there are on Earth. There’s just so many food and I
like food.” He didn’t lie when he said that. He had enjoyed the small meal
he had gotten from Kaoru last night and the brown cream from this morning. If he
would be able to create some of these things by his own, he’d be glad.

Amused, Suzuki smiled. She had never met a guy like that. He was a likable guy,
which one just had to adore instantly. One more reason not to associate him with
Niikura but apparently there was still some connection. Friendly, she reached
out her hand to Die and sweetly smiled at him. “What’s your name? I’m
Mai.”

It was risky to introduce herself with her first name without giving an impolite
impression but it was worth a try. She was lucky enough not to know that Die had
no clue about these things anyway. He took her hand and shook it like he had
seen it in movies. “My name is Die.”

“Die, well, nice to meet you.” She couldn’t help but widely grin. “And
you are... not a client of Mr. Niikura, I assume?” She took a guess and
wasn’t surprised when Die shook his head. “Then you are a friend?”

“Well,” he mused a little about his answer but actually he was quite sure
that this was right. “Yeah, a friend. But I also work for him.

“Oh.” Suzuki’s interest didn’t falter but increased as well as her
smile. “He never said we had a new guy in our team. Maybe I should note some
things about you, so we can officially add you to the staff.” Die shrugged. He
didn’t mind that if it was necessary and going to be part of a team didn’t
sound too bad. Although he still wasn’t certain about what kind of work he was
to do for Kaoru. 

“When were you born, Die?” The secretary opened a file in her laptop to
insert some personal information about the new employee. 

“Actually…” He thought about it for a moment but couldn’t help but to
reply with: “Yesterday.” Considering that he couldn’t remember his
original date of birth and that it had been unimportant during the time he had
been an angel, he could only think of the day he was forced to be human again. 

“Yesterday?” The woman smiled and grabbed Die’s hand, shaking it. “Happy
belated birthday then!”

“Thank you!” A huge grin spread on the former angel’s face. It felt nice
that actually someone seemed to appreciate he was being born or at least turned
into a human being in his special case. 

“Did you have a nice birthday then?” She tried to keep on with the small
talk, basically just being polite. But deep inside of her, the root of her
desire to know about his birthday was that she wanted to know whether he had
spent it with her boss or not. How deep was their supposed friendship?

“Could’ve been worse. I had a little accident just when I had arrived but
nothing major, just some damaged skin. It burned though,” Die explained with a
little sigh and a small shrug. After all he wouldn’t be here without that
occurrence on the road. 

The secretary gaped and made a pitying expression. “Oh really? I’m sorry.
What happened?”

The redhead waved it off, smiling lopsidedly. “Ah, Kaoru hit me with his car
but it wasn’t too bad. I just ruined one of the lights on his... car.” He
couldn’t remember the correct term Kaoru had used for the car’s name.
Mentally he still noted to himself to listen better and save everything, just 
everything  a person told him.

“What?” Her jaw literally dropped. That her boss had hit him with his car
was hardly believable since Die was just waving it off like that. What kind of
person hit someone with their car on that person’s birthday? What kind of
bastard-friend was Niikura? Yet, she should’ve known. It was just typical for
the jackass.

“Yeah, no problem. It was my fault, really. I didn’t watch my steps,” he
explained pacifying, then giggled a little. “Or rather I watched nothing else
but my steps.” 

Dumbfounded, she stared for a moment before she gained her composure and just
decided not to push this matter any more. He obviously didn’t take it as hard
and that he laughed about it, made her feel as if she was being fooled. “Well,
then. May I ask your surname, Die?”

“Uhm…” The question snapped Die out of his momentarily amusement. Did he
have a surname? He guessed not but he knew humans had surnames, so he should
have one too. But what was his surname? He could surely not remember his if he
had ever had one, not as an angel anyway. What was he to answer? Contemplating,
he just gazed at Mai with huge brown eyes.

While Suzuki was waiting for a reply and Die just helplessly looked back at her,
the door of Kaoru’s room opened and Yuki Kobayashi walked out together with
the lawyer. Die and Mai’s attention turned to the two men in their expensive
suits as they were shaking hands and Kaoru even placing one of his hands on top
of Yuki’s left shoulder. It looked pretty much as if they had sorted out all
of Kobayashi’s problems since he was practically beaming.

“It’ll work out just fine, Yuki,” Kaoru spoke with pretended sincerity. Of
course everything would work out fine but the lawyer was once again forced to
work hard for this and he wasn’t quite sure if his strategy wasn’t too
drastic. “Trust me.”

“I do, Kaoru. If anybody, I do trust you with this. I know you’re never
going to disappoint me,” Yuki said with charm in his voice, but yet knowing
that these friendly words would be of pressure for the lawyer and he would also
be reminded that he’d lose a lot of money if he wouldn’t work his ass off
for Yuki Kobayashi. “Thanks, mate.”

It wasn’t meant as this. It never was. Kaoru wasn’t any client’s mate. He
was nothing but their lawyer but for the sake of his financial status he claimed
to be their mate at any time if they wanted him to. He sold himself but it
didn’t matter. Nobody else was as successful as Kaoru Niikura and he wanted it
to stay that way. “Don’t mention it, Yuki. I’ll still send you a bill.”

Kaoru’s laughter wasn’t honest, even Die could tell, although he had no clue
as to why he did that. The two men exchanged some more sentences about that
Kaoru would never lose any process, that Yuki appreciated his work and last but
not least them saying goodbye. Die had a vague image of what a lawyer did, had
seen some of them working from afar a few times. They fought for somebody’s
rights, so innocent people wouldn’t be send into jail. Something close to
that, Die remembered. There was just something about this Yuki guy that didn’t
make him appear really innocent. Everything he did was looking like acted but
still his smiles, meant for Kaoru, were real. 

“Die.” Addressed from Kaoru, Die shook his head, dismissing his latest
thoughts, before he gazed at his friend. “Die, get inside the office. We need
to talk. What were you doing anyway?”

Kaoru’s gaze shifted to his secretary. He didn’t like the idea of them
chatting too much because of two reasons. The woman was supposed to work and not
to chat, and Die, well, he was hopefully not chatting about how he had been an
angel. That would not only embarrass the redhead but Niikura as well. Suzuki was
a tattletale in his opinion. Mai bowed a little while answering: “I was just
asking Die for his surname to add his personal data to our staff files, Mr.
Niikura.”

“And who told you to do this?” His lips a thin line, Kaoru stared the woman
down. “You won’t need that information about Mr.,” he quickly thought of a
possible surname that would fit the redheaded weirdo and could only come up with
the name of one of his former teachers, “Andou. He isn’t exactly working for
the company, but for me privately.”

With a small smirk Kaoru turned and waited for Die to get inside his office
before the lawyer followed. He could imagine how Suzuki’s mind would spin with
fantasies about which kind of private service Die had to offer. He knew his
secretary pretty well, concerning that. She was a nosy bootlicker. Paying his
attention back to Die, Kaoru slid back in his big leather chair.

“Sit down,” he ordered and motioned with his hand to one of the chairs in
front of the desk. Die did as was told and looked up at Kaoru with big eyes,
curious about what he would have to do now. “Are you finished with your book
yet?”

“Almost,” he sheepishly replied and opened the book to show that indeed
there were only a few more pages left for him to read.  

But Kaoru didn’t really care about where exactly Die had stopped reading.
Other things occupied the lawyer’s mind now. Things that were more important.
“Listen Die. Just finish the book and when you’re done, tell me. I’ll give
you another one then.” Nodding, Die complied. But Kaoru added: “Go there.”
He pointed at the right side of the room where a small, black sofa adorned the
room. “There you won’t bother anyone.”

Taking the offered seat on the small couch, the redhead opened his book and
started to read. With a pleased little smirk Kaoru turned his attention to the
case ahead, Kobayashi. The guy had ended up in trouble again and Kaoru was
forced to save his ass, and quickly. He got absorbed in books about criminal law
while Die on the other side of the room silently finished his cooking book. The
silence that had occurred between them within the last hour was interrupted when
suddenly the door burst open and a lanky dark-haired man stepped up to Kaoru.

“Hey Kao, busy?” He propped his palms on the desk and leant across to gaze
at the lawyer with a cheeky expression on his features. 

Dreadfully sighing, Kaoru stopped studying and looked up at his friend.
“Toshiya. What do you want?”

“Nothing really, just visiting you.” The lean man grinned and winked.

“How many times did I tell you not to just visit me when I’m at work?”
Kaoru snatched one of the cigarettes out of the pack that was placed on the desk
and lit it. He wasn’t really mad at his friend but Toshiya was plainly
annoying and it was no fun that he always visited with no reason just when Kaoru
had to work really hard on some strategy. “And yeah, I’m very busy.”

“I see,” Toshiya huffed out a breath and put his hands on his hips, gazing
around and for sure not missing the redheaded guy who sat on the sofa, reading.
“I do see very well even.”

Toshiya cutely smirked when Die looked at him with big, curious eyes. The
red-haired man smiled back in response as usual while Toshiya took his time to
regard the gorgeous being adorning Kaoru’s ugly sofa. “Hey,” he nodded
with his head and grinned at Die, before he turned his gaze back to the owner of
the sofa. “Who’s he? He’s cute.”

Die’s eyes widened a little at the remark. Cute? Was he cute? He guessed so,
if that man said so. Kaoru on the other hand rolled his eyes, annoyed. “This
is Die. He works for me. Die, this is Toshiya, an unbelievingly annoying friend
of mine.”

“Hello.” A wide smile spread across Die’s lips. A friend of Kaoru was also
his friend. 

Somehow Kaoru had the impression that Die was just as nuts as his always
disturbing friend Toshiya and he suddenly had an idea. In order not to end up
mentally disturbed himself, Kaoru needed to get rid of both and since Die was in
need of clothes and Toshiya practically was a fashion-whore... Bending down to
his briefcase, the lawyer quickly fished out his credit card, handing it to
Toshiya. “Here, Toto. Do me a favor and take out Die for shopping. I don’t
have any use for him when he walks around in these clothes.”

“Aren’t these yours?” Toshiya’s trail of thought ended up at the clothes
the man was wearing but luckily found back to the important part of what Kaoru
had just said. “Wait a second. You trust me to go shopping with your credit
card? What is this? Where’s the hidden camera?”

“Cut the bullshit, Toshiya. I mean it. Look at him. He really needs something
to wear. Not just something, everything. And I know how you love shopping, so...
deal or no deal?” Kaoru knew Toshiya wouldn’t decline. Hell, he already held
Kaoru’s bank account in his hands. He’d be a fool to decline and since Kaoru
was afraid that he would’ve to go to the Public Attorney’s Office soon, he
couldn’t possibly take Die with him. Not in those clothes anyway.

“One condition: you tell me about you and him later and I can buy something to
eat as well,” Toshiya demanded, raising his brows in a pretended snappish
way.

“Those are actually two conditions,” Kaoru sighed, “but anyway, you’ve
got a deal. Just take care of him. We’ll meet later at my place, ok?”

Skeptically the lean dark-haired man looked at his friend for a moment,
wondering about his motives. Usually Kaoru wasn’t that generous or cared about
others but Toshiya guessed he would’ve to ask him this evening about who
exactly Die was, so that Kaoru trusted a fashion-addict with his credit card.
Plus, Kaoru never made any deal that easily without getting any out of it.
Either Die was someone special or someone really important, or maybe both. But
one thing Toshiya instantly knew: Die was cute and extremely handsome, even when
wearing Kaoru’s old worn-out clothes. 

“Ok, fine.” Toshiya shrugged and looked at Die. “C’mon, cutie. Let’s
go and buy you something that fits your gorgeous frame better than Kaoru’s
old-fashioned trash.”

Die cast a questioning look at Kaoru who nodded. “Go with him. He’s
harmless.”

Complying, Die followed the slender-framed stranger out while Kaoru inhaled a
huge breath into his lungs, before puffing it out. Finally he could work like he
was used to: alone.

--- 

Quietly Die had followed the tall black-haired man outside, from where they had
taken a ride in his car to the best shops Toshiya knew about. He loved shopping
and didn’t complain, even if Die was very silent all the time. He had kept
staring out of the car for as long as the ride took, and obediently went into
every shop the other man wanted him to go. They made a little small talk but
nothing major, since Toshiya directed all his attention to what could fit the
slender redhead.

About two hours had passed and they had already bought a pair of jeans as well
as some other trousers, shirts and even a matching tie and jacket. With no clue
about what exactly Die needed, Toshiya thought it was best if he just bought a
little bit of everything. Whenever he asked Die whether he already owned
something or not, he’d reply with a straight ‘no’ anyway. Of course
Kaoru’s friend grew more and more curious about the red-haired guy but he
suppressed his questions until he would find a better time and place for them.

After some more time Toshiya happily sighed and turned to address Die. “You
hungry?” 

“Yeah,” Die shrugged although he wasn’t really that hungry but he liked
food and hence couldn’t resist trying some more. It never hurt, he decided.

“You must be after all the time,” Toshiya concluded and brought a cigarette
between his lips, lighting it afterwards. “I suggest we snatch something in
one of my favorite diners.”

With a smile Die agreed, wouldn’t have minded any place really. It wasn’t
long before they found the place Toshiya had been talking about and settled down
at one of the tables. When the waitress asked for their orders, Die simply said
that he wanted coke, the only thing he really knew. Then he simply did as his
company and began to study the menu. 

“The XXL cheeseburger, curry chicken wings and fried potatoes,” he ordered
once the waitress brought his drink. 

“Wow, you’re quite hungry,” Toshiya chuckled and ordered himself a burger,
too. The waitress marched off, leaving the two of them alone. The right time and
place for Toshiya to start his cross-examination. “Well Die, now tell me, what
exactly are you working for Kaoru?”

For a moment Die stared at the other man as he contemplated what exactly he was
doing. “I don’t know, really. Can’t say that now for sure. Maybe as a
cook?”

The answer made Toshiya frown. If Kaoru was in need of a cook, then Toshiya was
the Pope. But he believed Die anyway for now, just because he didn’t make the
impression that he was lying. “You know him for a long time? Kaoru, I
mean.”

Honest to the core Die shook his head. “Since yesterday. That’s when he
offered me the job and now here I am. Are you a good friend of Kaoru?”

It wasn’t Die’s intention to turn the conversation away from himself but he
was simply curious about human relationships and of course his friendly host.
Raising his brows Toshiya was a little surprised that he was being asked now but
he didn’t mind. “Yeah, you could say so. Heh, he trusts me with his credit
card, so yeah, I am a close friend.”

The small giggle of the dark-haired guy made Die join in. He instantly liked
Toshiya. That Die had been so quiet during the past hours was only due to the
many new impressions he had gotten while being on shopping-tour. When their food
was brought, he didn’t hesitate and snatched some of the food, checking for
its temperature before taking a huge bite. It tasted wonderful and Die
couldn’t help his sound of appreciation.

“You like it, eh?” Toshiya happily smiled and stirred his coffee with a
spoon. Watching Die made him ponder though. Who was this guy who Kaoru had
offered a job so generously to when he didn’t even grant his grandma any
penny? Not that he still had a grandma or Toshiya knew about. But he knew Kaoru
and usually he would never give a job to someone who didn’t even own clothes.
Die couldn’t be related to Kaoru either. They only knew each other since
yesterday and the redhead had no clue about what actually his work was about.
Concluding precisely, a thought crossed Toshiya’s mind. Either both man kept
Die’s job a secret or Kaoru was simply forced to employ the other man. It was
a possibility. Judges often demanded people to do community work. It might have
simply been a condition on Kaoru to have Die work for him and, as Toshiya knew,
the lawyer agreed to almost anything if it granted him a victory in some case or
the other. All in all it was the only believable explanation Toshiya could come
up with and hence didn’t ask the redhead any further. He would wait until
tonight when he could ask the lawyer in question himself.

“Well Die, now we’ve got pants and shirts, tie, suit. What’s left are
shoes and,” he paused shortly to drew up his brows in question, “underwear.
Do you need that too?”

“Oh yeah,” he replied with his mouth still full and swallowed it hard. “I
don’t have that either.”

Toshiya’s eyes grew wide and he couldn’t suppress his giggle. “That means
you’ve gone commando right now?”

He burst out laughing since that was probably the only thing making him fit
perfectly in connection with Kaoru. Yet, Die didn’t get that one at all but
since Toshiya was laughing so hard, he simply joined in. Only when the
dark-haired male’s laughter died, Die continued eating the delicious food. He
would definitely add burgers to his list of favorite food. With a smile and a
small shake of his head, Toshiya started to eat too, amused by the redhead. He
certainly was one of a kind.

It took them almost until the late evening when shops were already being closed
before both men finally arrived back at the Niikura residence. The light inside
indicated that Kaoru was already at home, which was rare since he used to work
late almost every day. Toshiya rang the bell and shortly after Kaoru opened,
cigarette in one hand, holding the cell phone at his ear with the other. He
turned and walked back to his desk as soon as he had admitted them entrance.
With their bags full the other two made their way inside and both slumped down
on the sofa, exhausted.

“You both wasted?” Kaoru smirked once he had ended the call and joined them,
standing next to them and crossing his arms. “I bet my bank account is
suffering seeing all these bags. I just hope it was worth it.”

“It was,” Toshiya immediately shot at him and nodded a few times. “Die has
a very nice figure and almost everything fits him. I guess you can now show
yourself in public with him.”

Kaoru ignored the little remark at the end and nodded. “Thanks Toto. I owe you
one. Want a beer?”

“Sure,” the other guy agreed without hesitation but when Kaoru turned to
gather some bottles from out of the kitchen, Toshiya quickly followed. After all
he had still some things in his mind that weren’t quite clear to him. “Well
Kao,” he quietly drawled, sure that Die wouldn’t hear them. “Who is
he?”

Grabbing three bottles of beer from out of the fridge Kaoru smirked a little
before he turned to face Toshiya. He wasn’t a lawyer for nothing, so he just
answered the question with another. “Didn’t he tell you?”

“Not really. Just that he and you only know each other since yesterday and I
can’t quite believe that you’ve offered a job to him so generously. I mean,
I know you. You either want to get into his pants, but that usually doesn’t
take you as much effort, or you’re forced to employ him,” the other man
babbled away. “Was he adjudged to work for you? Or did someone ask you to take
care of him?”

With a tiny smile Kaoru tilted his head, nearly amused. His friend practically
sputtered ideas that he could use to his advantage. If possible, Kaoru wanted to
avoid telling his friend the truth and his mind quickly came up with a
believable story with the help from his friend. When Toshiya finally stopped to
breathe, the lawyer simply nodded. “Yes, something like that. I’m doing a
favor for judge Yamada. He asked me to and I complied. That’s all there is to
it.”

“But c’mon, he doesn’t own clothes.” Toshiya wasn’t pleased with the
answer yet.

“I know. He’s some crime victim, I guess. Former junkie. I don’t know.”
Kaoru shrugged. The more weird his excuse sounded, the more he liked it. Maybe
then his friend would just drop the matter. “I wanna win judge Yamada’s
favor. That’s why I agreed.”

Toshiya raised one of his perfectly plucked eyebrows and looked at Die, who
unaware of this conversation was quietly watching TV. He really didn’t look
like a drug addict. Then again, who was Toshiya to judge? Turning his gaze back
at Kaoru, the taller man shrugged and sarcastically replied: “You’re so
kind.”

With another smirk Kaoru handed the beer to his friend and walked back to sit
next to Die, giving him one of the bottles as well. Nodding his thanks, Die
brightly smiled and took a sip while Toshiya was sitting down at the other side
of the large sofa. They silently watched a TV show, not really caring what was
on, before the lawyer coughed and got up on his feet. “I’ve still got some
things to work through.”

“Okay, I’ll head home,” Toshiya smiled and got up as well. He knew that if
Kaoru wasn’t in the mood for company, but only work, there was nothing he
could do here anyway. “Die, want me to give you a ride home?”

Puzzled, Die looked at the dark-haired man. If he meant, what Die thought he had
meant, then he didn’t get the question either. “Oh, I am at home. I live
here.”

Instead of being annoyed, it actually amused Kaoru how baffled Toshiya was
gazing at the redhead’s merry smile. But Kaoru decided to clear the situation
nonetheless. “He temporarily lives here for the time being. Until he’s
earned enough money to afford something on his own that is.”

“Oh.” Now that was funny. Or actually it wasn’t. It made Toshiya
suspicious. Was Kaoru really sure he didn’t want to get inside Die’s pants?
He wasn’t exactly bad-looking after all. Sighing he dismissed the idea and
mentally shrugged. “Well then, good night you two.”

“Good night, Toshiya.” Die gazed at the retreating figure with a smile
before he took another, bigger sip from the beer. “You know, Kaoru, I like
this best so far!” He lifted the bottle and grinned at the other man who
didn’t respond but turned to walk back to sit at his desk. “What’s it
called?”

“Beer,” the lawyer curtly replied and quickly thought of something for Die
to pass the time. He would suggest to check his cooking skills but it was too
early and probably too dangerous. Kaoru would’ve no time or muse to watch
after the claimed to be angel. If he really wanted Die to be of any use, there
was no chance avoiding to confront him with the doctrine of law. That would
prove whether the redhead was at least a tiny bit intelligent or not.
“You’re done reading the book I gave to you, aren’t you? Well, then I’d
like you to read another one. It’s about basic law, something simple for a
starter.”

The red-haired man’s eyes grew wide with interest while he quickly took
another sip from his beer. To him this tasted even better than coke. “Okay, I
will.”

Kaoru handed the book to him and walked back to his desk. It really was weird.
He felt like he had a trainee and he was quite sure that he had never ever
wanted one in the first place. But it still wasn’t too bad of a thing
actually. Die did everything he got told and if the guy owned indeed some
brains, he would soon enough be of help for the lawyer. Low budget of course.
With a tiny smirk tucked across his lips Kaoru got back to his papers and
laptop. He already had some plans with Die for the next day.



                           Kapitel 3: Chapter Three
                           ------------------------


The next morning Kaoru took a look inside the bags Toshiya and Die had brought
from their shopping tour. Quickly rummaging through their content until he had
found something suiting for the events ahead, he took the pile of clothes and
entered Die’s room. The red-haired man was still fast asleep, lying on his
belly, the book next to the bed. He had fallen asleep during reading since it
had been a little bit boring unlike the other book he was reading at first.

Kaoru dropped the pile next to Die and unceremoniously woke him. “Get up, Die.
Dress properly.”

Yawning and blinking with his eyelids to adjust to the bright morning sun, Die
watched the host march off, before he swung his legs out of his bed and
stretched. He had slept like a stone, another thing that was totally different
than in Heaven. There he only slept lightly, always on alert. Being an angel had
been a serious matter after all. Now he just smiled to himself and grabbed the
pile of clothes, taking a look at them. They were indeed fine and just the feel
of the material against his fingertips was making him smile.

Once Kaoru was done inside the bathroom, Die quickly headed inside in need for
the toilet. Gods, it felt weird, all these human needs, especially to let out
all the liquid he had consumed the day earlier. With a sigh he tended to this
urgent need, then quickly showered and got dressed. Then he even combed his hair
and put some wax in it. He had seen how Kaoru did that and he was happily
surprised when his hair suddenly smelled somehow nicely, even if he couldn’t
quite say of what exactly it smelled. To smell was one of the things adding to
the new sensations of being a human but he liked it. Only in the city there were
bad smells, but here, in Kaoru’s home, everything smelled nice to Die.

With a smile he grabbed himself something to eat from out of the fridge and ate
it before Kaoru already urged him to leave. At work Die began to greet back all
the friendly people who offered him and his boss a ‘good morning’. He had
brought the book and was ordered to read again while Kaoru made some phone calls
and studied some files. But after a while the lawyer checked his watch and got
up, slipping inside his jacket. “C’mon, Die. We’re heading to the court.
There’s an important trial today and I want you to watch.”

No question, Die was all up for it. Beaming he stood next to Kaoru in no time.
“A trial?”

“Yeah, the case of Mrs. Inari. She’s claiming for damages against her
ex-husband,” Kaoru explained while they were heading out of the building and
inside a cab. The lawyer hardly used his own car to get to the court. Modesty
was a thing judges appreciated more than to show off with expensive cars. “But
he’s actually trying to make the judges declare Inari for certifiably insane.
Should be interesting for you.”

He couldn’t help his last remark since he was sure Die literally was insane
but it made the redhead only enthusiastically nod. “It is. But why would he do
that? Is she insane?”

“No. Well, not really. Technically she’s been a pill-addict of some sort.
We’re claiming she’s not but that she’s been in therapy militates against
her. Now I’ve just got the medical certificate about her being released as
cured. That’ll erase his claim and she can sue him for what he’s worth.”
That someone actually listened to all that crap was indeed even nice, Kaoru had
to admit. No one of his friends or those who wanted to be his friends was truly
interested in his work. Even if they were listening, Kaoru could see that it was
because of different reasons and he had become mistrusting. People these days
only wanted to use any information for their own advantage. Not so Die. He was
gleaming for every tiny bit the lawyer told him and he was actually looking as
if he was really interested. Sure, there was still the possibility that Die was
a ‘spy’ but then Kaoru would’ve to compliment the one that had had this
idea – it was just too absurd.

“Why does she sue him at all? What kind of damages did she gain from him? Did
he hit her?” This was just too exciting and all these human-things were highly
fascinating for Die. He just wondered if it was normal for the human kind to
have this sort of problems. Why wasn’t Kaoru married? Did he have someone to
sue too? Would he fight today for the poor victim? A hundred new questions
followed the first and Die’s mind was overturning itself with thoughts.

“Psychological damages,” Kaoru stated as the car came to a halt and he
opened the door to climb out. “We’re claiming that she’s been mentally
abused. Because of his assaults on her she became an addict, went through a
therapy and now that she’s cured, she deserves some financial compensation.
Now shut up. No word about it in the court, okay?”

Of course Die would keep it secret, but he still couldn’t help it. He didn’t
really get what the whole thing was about. Mentally abused? How was that
possible? How could humans abuse each other mentally? Humans were supposed to
work, fall in love, have children, some not, but all in all not to mentally
abuse. Could they kill each other by mental abuse? That would be new to Die. He
really had still so much to learn.

During the trial Die sat and watched enticed by the whole matter and most of all
Kaoru. The best part was his final speech, when he delivered the pleading. It
was breath-taking even, and stunned Die watched when the lawyer turned things to
his advantage, leaving a good impression on the judge. That Inari’s former
husband had tried to declare her certifiably insane added at last to the things
that actually spoke against that man. She got compensated with a lot of money in
the end and after the judge had finally pronounced his judgment, she even hugged
Kaoru and thanked him. It brought a huge smile upon Die’s lips when he met
with Kaoru right after.

The lawyer was now in good spirits and even smiled back at Die before they made
their way back to the cab. “Now we’ll have a drink. I deserve one after that
case.”

Not complaining Die just widely grinned and followed. They were brought to a bar
Kaoru usually spent time to celebrate whenever he had won a trial. Most of the
people there were businessmen like him or at least richer than standard. Kaoru
led them both to the bar and instantly ordered two beer. “Consider yourself
invited, Die. I’m so relieved this is over and won. Inari isn’t exactly one
of my favorite clients.”

“Thanks,” Die beamed and took the offered beer that the bartender had
quickly served. “Why is that? Don’t you like all your clients?”

“Of course not. One can’t like everybody. That’s only human, my dear
angel,” the dark-haired man said in a teasing tone, still not quite thinking
that Die had been an angel, ever. “Inari’s actually quite a bitch.”

Unbelievingly Die raised his brows, not grasping that either. “Then why are
you helping her?”

“What do you think? For money naturally.” Kaoru scoffed a little but then
chuckled, too high from his victory to be seriously annoyed right now. “Being
a lawyer is a job, Die. I earn money by helping these people. If I only helped
those who I liked, I’d have not a penny.”

Humankind was indeed difficult to understand but Die guessed, it would be
normal. Every human was working to gain money and so did Kaoru. It would surely
take some time until Die would fully comprehend the matters of a lawyer’s
work. But he was eager to know all about it. Yet, there was something else in
his mind that he had contemplated since their ride in the cab. “Hey Kaoru, why
aren’t you married?”

“Why would I be?” Even if he wasn’t exactly prepared for the question,
Kaoru was used to it and casually shrugged.

“Because most humans are. They fall in love, marry, have kids. I haven’t
been an angel under Cupid for long, only had two chances to prove myself in this
department, but that’s what I’ve learnt.” It was true. Die had tried to
make people fall in love on two occasions but since he hadn’t been successful,
he was sent to try himself as a guardian angel. That hadn’t worked either.

“Not everyone is eager to marry.” Kaoru took a sip from his beer and lit
himself a cigarette. “Besides, I don’t go for women anyway. So don’t even
ask about kids.”

“You like guys?” Smiling Die scratched his head. That was new and yet not.
He had heard about those already. “I was never sent to guide a gay couple into
love. But you’re right. They can’t have kids. Women bear them.”

“Right.” It made the lawyer actually laugh. Die’s whole way of thinking
was quite adorable, even if completely silly and weird. But in a way he wasn’t
really dim, more like that his brain cells needed some training first. But right
now Kaoru didn’t want to think about it, didn’t want to think about anything
at all. Fed up with work for once he would call it a day. If he just thought of
laws right now, his head would throb. “I say, let’s have this beer and then
go home. I’d like to check if you’ve gained any knowledge about cooking.”

The small smirk upon Kaoru’s lips was teasing but Die didn’t even notice.
“Yeah! I’d love to! But don’t we need some things like food first? And
spices, I read so much about different spices.”

“Fine,” the lawyer agreed. “Then let’s get my car from the office and
buy some food.” He wasn’t that eager for shopping but what had to be done,
had to be done. He was actually in quite a funny mood to offer this at all, but
in case Die wouldn’t prove himself to be a good cook, it didn’t matter
either. Kaoru was never that hungry and he just liked to keep his ‘angel’
busy.

About an hour later they had gathered all the necessary items and drove back to
Kaoru’s house. He even switched off his cell phone what usually made him
restless, but the fact that he had still a working phone at home, fax and email
calmed him down enough. While Kaoru sneaked off to have a quick and relaxing
shower, the former angel started to prepare a meal. As soon as Kaoru emerged
back from the bathroom, a delicious smell filled his nostrils. Dressed in casual
jeans and shirt, he got closer and took a glimpse at what was in the pan.

“Fried rice-balls?” He raised one skeptical eyebrow. “Is that all?”

Die happily nodded. “I figured it wouldn’t take much time.”

“At least you’ve made many of them and it smells good.” The slightly
smaller man sniffed a little, then walked to gather something to drink from out
of the fridge. “When will they be ready?”

“I’m not so sure,” the redhead pondered and frowned. “The book says
nothing precise. Just that they should have a golden brown color.”

Setting the table with two plates, Kaoru shrugged, before he sat down and waited
for his meal. Shortly after, Die decided that it was good enough to try and
taste. He served the rice-balls and sat down opposite the other man. “Bon
apetit.”

A snort emitted from Kaoru. “Where did you get that from? The book?” Die’s
merry nod confirmed his guess and carefully he tried the rice-balls with his
chop-sticks. But he wasn’t happily surprised when the food was spicily hot.
“Urgh. Don’t you think there’s a little too much curry in it?” He
quickly took a huge gulp from his orange juice.

Tasting his food Die coughed. “Could also be the chili,” he breathed and
bravely kept on eating. “I don’t know. What did I do wrong?”

“Are you crazy to eat that?” The other man shoved his plate away and was
about to tell Die that he should stop eating that since Kaoru was in no mood to
call a doctor for him. Die wasn’t insured after all! But the doorbell cut the
lawyer off of everything his mind contemplated. With his drink in hand he got
the door and found Toshiya standing there was a sly grin plastered on his face.

“Hey! What are you two doing? I thought I could pay you a visit, since your
cell phone is off…” The sentence trailed off when Toshiya’s voice
purposefully got lower and he entered the house. The host didn’t reply
anything at all, just let him inside and got back to his seat on the table. He
knew too well that his friend was curious like hell about Die and that this was
the only reason for his spontaneous appearance. Toshiya slid on the chair at the
side between them, gazing at Die. “Hello beauty, how are you doing?”

“Hm?” The red-haired man looked up from his food, hadn’t dared to take
another bite and grabbed his coke. He took a mild sip, wondering if the man had
really meant him with beauty, before he answered. “I’m fine, and you?”

“Fine, fine. Oh, I’m interfering you two eating. I’m sorry, that wasn’t
my intention,” the tall dark-haired guy said but didn’t offer to leave
anyway. “Did Kaoru cook?”

“Nope,” the addressed man replied in a sly tone. “Die did. Wanna try?”

Mentally grinning in a dirty fashion Kaoru shoved his plate to his friend. He
could literally read the other’s mind. No, of course Kaoru hadn’t cooked. He
never did, not for guests anyway. Not even if he was charming them and that was
exactly what the other was hinting at. It was a little suspicious that Kaoru
offered his food so generously but Toshiya wanted to try nonetheless. He liked
the redhead and just to show him that, he would eat whatever he had cooked.

“Maybe you shouldn’t—” Die started but never finished when it was
already too late. Toshiya had taken the chop-sticks and eagerly munched down
some of the rice-balls. He should soon regret that though. Innocently the
redhead stared at the other man while Kaoru couldn’t suppress his snort that
mixed with some spiteful giggles.

“Do you like it, Toto?” He asked leaning closer and patting his friend’s
back. Sometimes it was just the friendliness of other people that annoyed the
crap out of Kaoru and his friend here was definitely too kind.

“Spicy,” he pressed out between his teeth but could not contain himself any
longer, reaching for Die’s coke. “Gimme that.” He brought the can to his
lips and drank it all out.

Die watched and tilted his head. Now his drink had gone. That wasn’t quite
nice. With large puppy dog eyes he looked at his host. “Can I have another
can?”

“Serve yourself,” he replied and lit a cigarette.

“I’m sorry,” Die began to explain once he had fetched something to drink.
“It was my first time cooking. Obviously I’m too dense for that too.” He
bowed his head low, referring to the time when he had failed all his missions as
an angel.

“No!” Toshiya shook his head severely, not able to take the look on Die’s
face without getting weak and to pity the redhead. He was sure that Die had
tried his best. “Don’t worry about it. It is good. For a first try it is
good, believe me.” He tried to be convincing and made the red-haired guy look
up with doubtful eyes. “Trust me. Kaoru’s cooking skills are way worse.”

That earned him a glare from the lawyer but Toshiya’s mind was too occupied
too notice. He hadn’t come here without ideas for the evening anyway. “Hey,
what do you think? Shall we go out and have a drink together? We can snatch
something to eat on the way. What do you say? Die? Kao?”

“I’m not in the mood,” Kaoru replied not even giving it too much thought.
He had planned on relaxing at home for once and maybe to tease his guest a
little but certainly not a night out with Toshiya. His friend was nice and the
best he had but he was an exhausting company. “I have an appointment
tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? It’s Friday. What about weekend?” His friend couldn’t
understand that at all. Usually Kaoru was anything but a party pooper, opposite
to what people might think. But he was still more of a workaholic.

“Can’t be helped,” he said and shrugged. “The client is important. Maybe
I’ll go out tomorrow night.”

“Too bad,” Toshiya sighed and looked at Die with huge eyes. “What about
you? C’mon, don’t let me down too!”

Thinking about it Die didn’t mind, not at all. The guy was nice company and he
would like to experience more from the human society and their habits. Yet, he
wasn’t quite sure if he was actually allowed to, and with questioningly raised
eyebrows he turned to look at Kaoru. “May I?”

Kaoru certainly hadn’t expected Die’s eagerness but he wasn’t exactly
surprised either. He just minded the fact that he would probably spill too much
information about his doubtful background. Then again an evening without any
human presence was so tempting. With no time to think about the whole matter for
long, he shrugged. “Do as you wish. You’re off duty right now.”

A bright smile nearly broke Die’s face. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. Just don’t be back too late. I’ll wait until
midnight,” he explained since he had no intention of giving Die or even
Toshiya a key for his home. Not in a million years! Kaoru unceremoniously got up
and walked inside the living room, taking a seat there in front of the TV. Beer
in hand he pretended to watch when in truth his ears caught every word that was
spoken between his guest and his friend.

“Awesome,” Toshiya beamed and stood up as well, dragging Die up. “C’mon.
You should wear the black shirt we’ve bought yesterday.” They disappeared
into the guest room where Kaoru had stored Die’s clothes sometime during the
day. He hadn’t like it when they were just decorating the middle of his
living, since he loved things tidy and neat.

Once the two men emerged back and passed Kaoru by, Die stopped while Toshiya
already went to the front door. “Erm... Toshiya? I... well, I don’t have any
money yet.” He felt odd, didn’t want to ask his boss for credit when he
still was in debts, and Kaoru ignored this statement on purpose. He had already
spent enough money on clothes and food. If Die wanted to have drinks, he
would’ve to ask Toshiya for an invitation.

The problem solved itself when the dark-haired guy just waved, “You’re
invited. Now come on,” and marched outside.

Another huge smile appeared on Die’s face and he was about to leave as well,
when Kaoru stopped him. “Die.” He waited for the redhead’s attention and
looked at him seriously. “I’d appreciate if you won’t tell too much about
your past.”

Although the red-haired man didn’t quite understand why that was a problem for
Kaoru or humankind in general, he still didn’t mind. If the lawyer would be
happy if Die wouldn’t tell TOO MUCH, he was fine was that. “Okay, no
problem.” He smiled. “Goodbye Kaoru! I’ll be back on time!”

With that he quickly hurried after Toshiya. Kaoru sighed and shifted into a
lying position, staring at the ceiling. Finally peace. With Die he almost felt
as if he had a kid to watch after.

---

Toshiya stayed true to his words and fetched something to eat from a drive-in
before he steered his car to where his favorite bar was. They had eaten their
food during the ride and headed straight into the location. Entering, Die
couldn’t help but gape. He had never been into such a place. There were
dancers on a small stage but he wasn’t sure if they were males or females.
Music sounded from everywhere around him, the lights were dim but colorful and
it smelled of pleasant smoke, unlike when actually a fire was burning.

“Come, come,” the dark-haired male waved for Die to follow, making his way
to a small table with four comfortable looking chairs. Both men settled down and
ordered beer. Die for sure wanted it and nothing else. He had developed an
instant liking for the bitter-sweet drink.

“How d’you like it?” Toshiya asked and leant closer to Die, who was still
gazing around in awe.

“Awesome,” he replied with a smile. “Are those dancers males or
females?”

Chuckling, the other man grinned. “Males. They’re cross-dressing. It’s not
everybody’s taste but I like it. They give a good show, better than naked
girls dancing. You don’t like it?”

“I like it,” Die nodded and took another glimpse at the dancing people. They
really were fascinating. He had never been to any show at all, whether with
naked girls or cross-dressing males. “Why do they do that?”

“You mean, dancing or cross-dressing?” Toshiya asked with a smirk but
realized what Die meant when he was nodding at the end of the question. “Well,
it’s some sort of art. At least that’s what I think. Some people are just
disgusted by dancing cross-dressers but so are they when meeting gays. I just
think that doing a show like that is very much about art.”

“It is,” the redhead agreed, because dancing seemed to him an art he should
be highly fascinated about. The way they moved their feet, their hands, their
whole body – it had to be art.

The other man liked the way Die was thinking. He hadn’t dared to judge or ask
about whether he was gay or straight yet, but he was determined to find out.
Because if this cute red-haired man was anything near gay, then Toshiya would
certainly not wait for long to properly check him out. Full stop. But first he
just wanted to enjoy his company and learn a little bit more about Kaoru’s
sudden guest. “And do you like working for Kaoru?”

“Yeah,” Die beamed and nodded several times, before sipping from his beer.
“I do like it. I started to read a book about basic law and at first it was
boring but now that I’ve seen Kaoru in a trial, I wanna read the rest so
badly.”

Although it was hard to imagine Die as a lawyer, Toshiya didn’t question his
interest. Anyone who had ever seen Kaoru in action would dream about being like
him. That was just Kaoru, a perfectionist, a legend in his business and for good
reason. It wasn’t hard for Toshiya to guess that Die hadn’t attended all the
schools to be educated enough to actually become a lawyer but if he had an
interest in law, it was for good. Then at least Toshiya didn’t feel as if he
needed to pity Die. “And you like him? Kaoru, I mean.”

“Yeah,” Die answered again with a small smile and a nod of his head. “He
is nice. And I’m so grateful that I can live with him. Without him I’d
probably starve on the street.”

The black-haired man bit the insides of his cheek, not really knowing what to
say. Maybe for once in his life Kaoru was actually doing something good for a
person, not just for money, though still not unselfish. If Die had really been a
former junkie, owning nothing but his skin, then he sure was grateful for any
help. But Toshiya wouldn’t push the matter any further. “I’m glad, really.
That you and him get along well is good. Just,” he bit his lip, not sure if he
should really speak of his worries or not. But in the end he decided to spill
the beans since he just liked Die already much. “Just don’t get involved
with him privately, if you know what I mean.”

“Huh?” Wasn’t Die already involved with Kaoru privately? He lived with him
and he was his friend. He and Toshiya and maybe also Mai were his friends so
far. Now Die really didn’t get what Toshiya was talking about. “No, I
don’t know what you mean.”

“I mean that he likes guys and you are one of that kind. A cute one for that
matter,” Toshiya said and grinned, but sighed afterwards. “Kaoru’s my
friend and I don’t wanna run him down but because you’re really a nice guy,
Die, I wouldn’t wanna see you become one of his flings.”

Die’s eyes widened a little. He didn’t see a problem in Kaoru liking him,
not at all, he would appreciate that. But he hadn’t even thought about having
a fling with the lawyer. Now the idea was kind of new and didn’t sound too bad
either. Love was a good thing in any way. Yet, Die had no clue about the
physical love between two humans, not to mention two of the same sex.
Technically he knew what they did but he had never experienced that himself in
human form. For now it was out of question anyway since he was here with
Toshiya, not Kaoru. What Die truly didn’t get, was why Toshiya wouldn’t
wanna see him become one of Kaoru’s flings. Would that be bad? Didn’t he
grant his friend such thing? “Why are you saying that? Kaoru’s your friend.
That’s what you said.”

“He is.” With a small nod and a sigh Toshiya tilted his head, not
understanding why Die didn’t just take his friendly hint. Was he already into
the lawyer? If that was the case, there was nothing he could do. To warn Die
wouldn’t help. “But he’s also a jackass. And I say that because I am his
friend. Everyone else just doesn’t dare to say it out loud. I know him for so
long and I can count on him any time, really, that’s why he is my friend. But
I’d never get involved with him on a sexual basis. No way. He’s just not
made for the everlasting love.”

“But there’s someone for every human, Cupid says,” Die countered, even if
what Toshiya said in the beginning might be true. But the last statement was
just not correct at all. “For you and for Kaoru too. And sometimes humans just
need a little help to see this other person with whom they are supposed to live
happily ever after.”

Now Toshiya was gaping, mouth open. Suddenly he broke out into laughter. Die
couldn’t be serious. That guy was a joker and his jokes were definitely ones
of the best. He always said such things from time to time and the black-haired
man was sure, Die was trying to kid him. “Man, you’re really good, Die. You
got me there.”

“Thank you.” Smiling Die was happy about the compliment. Being good was a
fine one of that sort.

Still with tears of laughter in his eyes Toshiya ordered another round of beer.
Maybe Die was a clever one, too smart to give away that easily if he had an
interest in Kaoru. Either that or he had simply none. But one thing was for
sure: he was a highly entertaining company. And so they chatted away, Toshiya
beginning to explain what he actually did for a living and Die listening
intently and asking away about everything he didn’t get in the first place.

---

Meanwhile Kaoru had become restless. Tapping his fingertips against the surface
of his desk, he just hoped for Die’s sake that he would be back in time. Not
that Kaoru was worried about him. That wasn’t the case. He had just never
waited for anyone and he was definitely feeling as if he was waiting for Die. It
was absurd. Why did he trust a guy who he hardly knew? Why did he believe a guy
who usually behaved like he had no brains at all? It was half past eleven when
Kaoru swore that if the redhead wasn’t back on time, he would surely kill him.
He could’ve run off with his new clothes, even if that wasn’t likely to
happen. Then he should’ve done that with the credit card. And Toshiya was
harmless and faithful, but certainly not attentive. He was careless.

Kaoru had tried to read, to watch television and in the end settled to do some
work. But he couldn’t help his mind drifting to the redhead. That was why he
had never any serious relationship. He had too many important things in his
head, was in charge of so many different serious matters, there was no space to
even think about someone else. Not even a guest who believed he had been an
angel. But the damage was done and Die was hired.

“Fuck it,” Kaoru sighed. When did it happen that he had turned into a fool?

---

After his fourth beer Die had stopped listening to Toshiya’s tales of how he
had become and still was a fashion designer. It wasn't that Die didn’t want to
listen but his attention just wouldn’t keep focused anymore. His limbs were
trembling in anticipation to move and every time he watched the dancers, it was
getting a tad bit worse. His eyelids blinked more often and faster and his hands
moved differently, although he couldn’t put his finger on the reason yet.
Unconsciously he quietly began to sing along to the music, no matter that he did
not know the lyrics.

“Oh my,” Toshiya mentioned when he took a glimpse at his wristwatch. “We
better go now or you will be in trouble.”

Die frowned since he hadn’t even realized how late it had become and he really
didn’t want to make Kaoru mad at him. With a nod Die got up on his feet and
stumbled a little. Was he still a human or why did he have the slight feeling
that he could fly? Well, he could definitely not feel any wings on his back and
the flying sensation was kind of different but still, his feet were so light
even. He couldn’t say it any differently.

“My god, Die, you’re shambling. Are you drunk already?” Toshiya couldn’t
help his giggles. The redhead was looking just too cute lurching like he did.

“What? I dunno,” he replied with a sheepish grin. “But my head feels a
little odd, like everything’s spinning.”

“You’re drunk, that’s what you are.” Putting an arm around the other
man, Toshiya guided him outside and neatly placed him inside the car. “Fasten
the seatbelt and don’t you dare to puke.” Shaking his head, he took the
place behind the steering wheel and started the engine.

Only a few minutes later they both stood in front of the door at Kaoru’s
house, or rather Toshiya stood and Die leant against him. Ringing the doorbell
it wasn’t before long when the owner admitted them entrance. Kaoru instantly
frowned when he saw the two of them and a small sound of surprise emitted from
his mouth when Die literally lurched forward to wrap his arms around the smaller
man’s shoulders, hugging him to steady himself.

“Hello back, Kaoru!” For a moment the lawyer was that dumbfounded that he
couldn’t help but just gaze quite stupidly as the redhead practically clung to
him. But when he heard the silly giggles of his friend, Kaoru glared and shoved
Die off.

“Yeah, great,” he mumbled but didn’t dare to keep his hands off Die’s
shoulders, afraid he’d fall flat against him again.

“I’ve seen cross-dressing dancers!” The redhead proudly beamed with a
smile that could lighten the whole city. “And I drank beer. But you know what,
I’m kinda tired or something ‘cause my body feels as if I could just lie
down, so heavy my limbs are and my eyelids, and there’s some sort of jumble
inside my head. Really odd, really odd,” he babbled away and tried to keep his
eyes focused on the man holding his shoulders for balance, of which he was
grateful for by the way.

Kaoru heaved an outrageously annoyed sigh, suddenly dragging one of Die’s arms
ruggedly around his shoulders. He was pissed but not entirely because of Die.
Without to care about gentleness he dragged the redhead into his room and
dropped him on the bed. Facedown the taller man muttered some thanks into the
pillow but didn’t even turn around anymore. Muffled, he wished Kaoru a good
night, even after he was already gone and had closed the door.

Toshiya mildly laughed about the whole situation because Die was just too funny
when drunk. But when Kaoru’s dark glare was suddenly upon the taller
black-haired man, his laughter died and he shrugged. He was about to ask what
his problem was, but the other man was already faster and snapped: “Thank you
for making him drunk! Was that really necessary? Tomorrow he’ll be hung over
and that’s certainly the least I can need.”

“Why are you mad at me? Is it my fault that he can’t take four bottles of
beer?” Toshiya pouted and crossed his arms. “Really, Kaoru. Four bottles,
and he was like that. You could’ve warned me if you’ve known he can’t take
that bit.”

With a hardly audible growl the lawyer went to gather one of his cigarettes and
lit it almost hastily. His friend was right. Not even Kaoru had known that Die
couldn’t take much but at least Kaoru would’ve guessed it. But still Toshiya
could’ve realized it earlier. “Oh well, forget it. At least you’re back
and I can finally go to bed now.”

Suppressing to roll his eyes upwards, Toshiya ignored Kaoru’s grumpiness, used
to it by now. That was just his character and long ago the other man had given
up on caring about it anyway. In all the years he knew Kaoru, he had been like
this but somehow managed to show his more friendly side from time to time. That
was probably why Toshiya was still his one and only real friend. “It really
wasn’t my intention to get him drunk. But you must admit, he’s cute when
he’s drunk, ne?”

Raising his brows, Kaoru just looked at his friend with indifference. “If you
say so,” he sighed again and took another long drag from his cigarette, slowly
blowing the smoke out, somewhat calmed down by it. He didn’t mind the two of
them hanging out, it had somehow been his idea in the first place, but there was
another problem coming closer in Kaoru’s opinion. Fact was, Die was nuts and
good only for working his heels off. The thing was, that no matter what he
believed he was or had been, he was a gorgeous, nice and cute male and Kaoru’s
tall dark-haired friend easily fell for other men. “Toshiya, I’d prefer you
don’t hit on him.”

That said, the other guy gaped. Sometimes the bluntness of Kaoru was hard to
take. “Why? Are you interested in him yourself? Just say so and I’ll keep my
hands off him.” Although it would be a pity if he would’ve to keep his hands
off the redhead, Toshiya would be true to his words. He had never interfered
between Kaoru and any of his guys and for their friendship he would do anything
to keep it that way. It was simple. Kaoru had known Die before and that’s why
Toshiya would back off. But only if the lawyer indeed held any interest in the
redhead.

“I’m not,” Kaoru honestly replied and thought about how to make Toshiya
see that he meant it without having an interest in Die himself. Not on a sexual
basis anyway. “I’ve already told you who he is and that is why I don’t
wanna get him involved with anyone.”

“I’m not anyone and you only told me that he’s some sort of fosterling of
this judge. So what if I just check out if he’s interested. I don’t even
know yet if he goes for guys. But seeing how he was fascinated by the
cross-dancers...” Toshiya drifted off and rolled his eyes in a dreamy manner.

“Toshiya, no.” The smaller guy wasn’t even in the mood for his friend’s
dreamy expression right now because this matter was serious to him. It would
only cause problems if Die and Toshiya had a thing going on. “Don’t even try
it. Could you do me this one favor? I never ask you such thing. But this time
it’s something else. If you wanna hang out with him, fine, do it. If you wanna
go out with him, I don’t mind. But just don’t try anything else. I mean it.
At least not as long as he lives under my roof.” He intently gazed at his
friend, hoping for his understanding.

Sighing, Toshiya gave in. “Fine. But when we moves out, I won’t care
anymore. Be sure of.”

“That’s how I love my Toto!” Kaoru grinned, relieved. Even if he
couldn’t show his appreciation like other people did, but he was still very
thankful to have a friend like Toshiya. Throughout the years he had learnt to
trust him and knew that he had a hard time to cope with Kaoru sometimes. Even if
he should be good with words being a lawyer, those that spoke of affection were
always hard to say, if not impossible. Kaoru had proved to be a good friend in a
different way, whenever Toshiya had been in troubles, or they simply stuck
together when the situation demanded it.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” the other man waved it off, openly showing that he had
understood the unspoken words of thankfulness. “You love me when I do as you
say.”

“Right.” Kaoru widely grinned. “Who couldn’t love a good boy like
you?”

“Stuff it, Kao. You’re not charming me with your words. I know you too
well.” With a smirk the other man turned to leave. “I’ll head home. Night,
Kao. And call me when Die moves out, yeah?” He didn’t wait for any reply and
left the house, sniggering. After all Kaoru hadn’t mentioned anything about
not teasing and urging him in any way concerning the redhead. Time will tell if
he would stay true to his words or not. Toshiya wasn’t so sure about Kaoru
really having no interest in Die at all.

Inside, Kaoru finished his cigarette and walked up the stairs into his bedroom.
Maybe he was too selfish asking his friend to keep his fingers off the redhead,
but he was sure it was for Toshiya’s best. Hell, Kaoru didn’t even know
himself why he had taken the risk to take the former angel with him. He felt
almost crazy having done this. Of course he had noticed that Die was a handsome
and even beautiful man, but the lawyer had no intention whatsoever in taking him
into his bed. He would if Die were sane. But that wasn’t the case and he still
needed him. Once he had had him as a lover, he wouldn’t allow him to be this
close to him anymore.

Sighing lowly, Kaoru sat down on the bed and rubbed his palms across his face.
It was possible, and almost crazy he mentally added, that Die could even turn
out to be a friend. But since Kaoru had already decided to use his stupidity to
his advantage, it was unlikely to happen. Now if Toshiya fell for Die and the
other way around, could he really use the love of his one and only friend? Nope,
he couldn’t.

Selfish, yes.

“This turns out to be a mess,” he mumbled and let his body fall backwards on
the bed. If he had met Die under different circumstances, he could’ve allowed
Toshiya to do as he wished. Then again, Kaoru would’ve probably taken the
chance himself. That was if Die weren’t crazy. Fact was, Kaoru had hit him
with the car and the damage was done. Now he couldn’t take his decision back
and end of story. All this thinking annoyed the crap out of him. Wasn’t it his
reason for not falling in love? There were more important things. There always
were. Nothing would ever change that. That he was sure of.

Closing his eyes he slowly and unconsciously drifted off and fell asleep.



                            Kapitel 4: Chapter Four
                            -----------------------


Surprised, Kaoru registered the fact that Die was already awake when he came
down the stairs the next day. It was later than usual, around nine in the
morning, but still early for someone who should be hung-over from having too
much alcohol. Raising his brows the smaller man addressed the redhead with a
curt nod and couldn’t help but ask: “Already up? Not tired anymore?”

A huge smile spread across Die’s face as he looked up at Kaoru while he was
sitting on the couch, cross-legged and with a book in his hands. “Yes and no.
I woke up and wanted to keep reading so badly that I couldn’t stay in bed any
longer. Should I’ve waited for you to call me? Sorry if so.” Indeed he
hadn’t been sure if he was allowed to get up before Kaoru would come and wake
him up but then again, he felt so useless lying in the bed and doing nothing,
that he had just taken the risk.

“No, I’m just wondering,” the lawyer remarked with a small, stifled yawn
and went to make some coffee. “And your head? Does it hurt?” He spoke a tad
bit louder, so Die would hear him from the kitchen.

“Doesn’t hurt at all. Why?” The former angel shouted back, just as loud as
Kaoru had done. He wasn’t sure why his head should’ve been hurt but it was
nice that someone cared about him and his head. So he just smiled and shut the
book, done with it.

“Just making sure,” Kaoru replied once he appeared back inside the living
room. “You were pretty much drunk last night and usually most people would be
hung-over, with a headache, or just feel sick the next day. But I’m glad
you’re not.” He almost smiled but more in relief that he wouldn’t have to
cope with a wailing, sick man beside him.

Happily Die shrugged and smiled. Had he been drunk last night? He had felt a
little odd and he remembered that he wanted to dance. But that made people
having headaches and feel sick? “Maybe it’s a natural talent that I
have?”

“Probably but you can’t take much considering what Toshiya's told me.”
Kaoru smirked and left for the bathroom. To have a talent that prevented from
being hung-over would be nice but since he could take a lot more than four beers
before getting wasted, Die’s ‘talent’ wouldn’t mean much to him.
Nevertheless, he should watch out for Die not having too much alcohol the next
time they went out.

Once Kaoru was finished inside the bathroom, he made his way to get the
much-desired coffee. He called for Die to join him and advised him to help
himself for something to eat. The lawyer never ate in the morning but he still
liked to sit for a while and enjoy not having to go to the office at weekends.
Although he didn’t care much, he was curious about the redhead and this was
the perfect opportunity to get to know something more than he already found out.
Pretending that he believed the story about Die having been an angel, but only
just pretending to, he suddenly started his inquiry.

“So Die, tell me,” he started and took a sip from the hot black liquid.
“For how long have you been an angel?”

The redhead pondered for a moment, then he simply shrugged. “I’m not sure.
Years I suppose. I can’t tell really because in Heaven there’s no time and I
forgot most of my life before becoming an angel.”

“You forgot? How come? So before you’ve been an angel, you’ve been human
and then turned into an angel?” This was getting interesting and most of all
kind of amusing. At least better than the morning shows in television Kaoru
usually used to watch during breakfast.

“Yeah,” Die answered, honest to the core, and helped himself to some more
chocolate cream from the fridge since he had developed an instant liking to the
sweet food. “I was human like you are and I am now again. Then I died and
became an angel. At first I could remember my past life as a human but the
memories quickly faded.” He sat down again and ate the chocolate cream with a
spoon.

“How did you die?” Kaoru didn’t know why he was asking that question, not
even sure if the other man could remember. But Die’s explanation was just too
simple for his liking. Maybe it was because he didn’t believe a single thing
of it and was looking for something else, something more to hold onto, which
would satisfy his mind.

“Overdose.” The usual carefree expression on Die’s face vanished and it
was the first time that the lawyer saw him smile in a sad way. But the other man
continued: “That’s what I was told. Can’t remember. God says it’s better
for angels to forget about their past lives in order to help humans on Earth.”
He shrugged. He hadn’t even wasted a single thought about his former life as a
human in ages and now it only made him realize that indeed he had gone through
life and death before. He didn’t like that he couldn’t remember. It
would’ve been helpful now.

Kaoru raised one eyebrow in suspicion but dropped it quickly again, not really
caring anyway. He was far from finished with his inquiry. So far Die had an
answer to every question and didn’t even hesitate to spill the beans. Then
again his statements were vague. Accused people usually said that they
couldn’t remember when being under oath. “Is everybody going to be an angel
once they die?”

“Nope,” the other man said and shook his head meaningfully. “Only those
who fucked up their lives. That sounds weird, I know. But these ones are
destined to make up by helping humans. I don’t get why either. There’s no
school or something in which angels get enlightened about everything.” He
shrugged again a little helplessly and kept on eating, right now sucking clean
one of his fingers.

For a moment Kaoru’s eyes fixed on Die sucking his index finger, before he
shook his head to clear his mind. “And for how long will an angel have to help
humans? Angels can’t die, can they?”

“For the rest of time actually.” The redhead’s gaze snapped upwards to
meet the inquiring dark orbs of his host. “I told you there’s no time in
Heaven, so that is just the way it is, because you’re right, angels can’t
die.”

“Then why are you back on Earth in human form?” Kaoru held Die’s stare
with his own, being totally serious, when for once even the red-haired weirdo
wasn’t smiling like a moron.

“It’s my punishment for messing up my missions.” That’s when the taller
man dropped his gaze and inhaled deeply, before pushing out the breath he held
for a moment in his lungs. Indeed it was punishment and if there hadn’t been
Kaoru who had helped him and still did, then this whole thing had probably
turned out to be way more difficult than it was now. Die was plainly grateful
that he managed so well thanks to the smaller guy. “Now that I’m here it
doesn’t feel like punishment anymore. Being human is way cooler than being an
angel. Yet, being human can be also hard and I know that if you wouldn’t allow
me to work for you and live here, then I were doomed. So,” he drawled for a
moment, and then a huge smile appeared on his lips. “Thank you, Kaoru. This
means a lot to me.”

For once Kaoru didn’t know what to say. Many people had thanked him before but
they had also paid a fair amount for his help. Die’s gratitude seemed to come
straight from his heart and that’s something the lawyer hadn’t experienced
often in his life so far. After all Die shouldn’t thank him but work off his
debts. Averting his gaze from the redhead, he muttered: “Don’t mention
it.”

And he meant it. There was no need to thank him. He did that for the purpose of
making good use of this idiot and not out of plain kindness. It reminded him of
a conscience that he wasn’t supposed to have. For a while it was quiet between
them, the lawyer sipping from his coffee and lighting a fag, while Die tried
some of the bread he had found in one of the cupboards.

“Smoking kills,” the redhead remarked, not even looking at Kaoru.

“Many things do,” he replied with a quick tongue without to ponder for
long.

“Can I have a smoke then?” Curious about the cancer stick’s taste Die
asked.

“Sure,” Kaoru pushed his pack of cigs over to his guest. “You know how to
light one?”

With a small nod Die grabbed for the lighter and put a cigarette between his
lips. He could do that. He had seen how the other man had done it. It couldn’t
be that difficult. Easily, he lit it, took a drag from the end of it and pushed
out the smoke. “I don’t taste anything at all.”

Kaoru rolled his eyes since he had watched each of the redhead’s moves.
“Because you do it wrong. Here, you have to inhale the smoke.” He took a
drag from his cigarette and inhaled it deeply before blowing it out again.
“And then push it out.”

Trying again, Die did just as his friend had done, inhaled deeply and blew the
smoke out with a smile that suddenly vanished.

“Tasted anything?” Kaoru asked bored.

“I feel sick,” Die blurted and made the smaller man actually laugh.

“You’re white as a sheet.” The other man chuckled and took another long
drag from the stick, just to demonstrate his superior abilities, even if he was
more or less oblivious to his actions. It just came natural to him.

Coughing Die tried again, but then decided to leave it. “Maybe not now.”

“Maybe not,” Kaoru agreed. “Might be better anyway. I have an appointment
later on and if you wanna come along, you shouldn’t be on the verge of
puking.” The question wasn’t really if the taller man wanted to come along
since Kaoru had already decided that he would definitely accompany him. The guy
should make himself useful.

“Where do we go?” The redhead widened his eyes in interest and handed the
unfinished cigarette to Kaoru.

“To a client of mine,” he halfheartedly explained, his focus on the two
cigarettes in his hands now. With a little growl he pushed one out in the
ashtray, before he continued. “One that I actually like. But he’s not the
youngest anymore and has some troubles with his son. Law of succession. Quite a
nasty thing, really.”

“I’ve read about it,” Die proudly announced with a smile. “There was
something about it in the book you gave me.”

“But that was only basic law. It’s way more complicated than this,” Kaoru
said as he leant back and frowned, already pretty much concerned about the case.
It would certainly not be as easy as usual.

“Why is it complicated? I thought that the law of succession would only be a
matter to handle once someone had died. But obviously the guy’s still
alive,” Die spoke out his thought and watched his friend with interest.
“Right?”

“The thing is that he’s still alive. But he’s quite old and he needs to
settle everything before he actually dies, or else,” Drawling for a moment,
Kaoru thought about whether he really should tell Die the conditions of this
case or not. But in the end he at least wanted to try. “Well, once he dies,
his son will inherit half of his company and Sakamoto owns a huge company. But
his son is somehow not reliable, always messes up in his life and isn’t really
capable of leading a company, not even one half of it. That’s why his father
wanted to find a way how he could avoid the whole matter, trying to fix
something up, that in the end his son won’t get anything out of the whole
estate, but maybe a fair amount of money.” He paused for a short moment, only
to get convinced by a nod from the redhead that he was still listening. “But
his son got wind of the whole deal and now it’s his son who sues the father in
order to put him under tutelage. My part is to avert that.”

“Oh, that sounds like a hard job.” Die was impressed by all the details and
facts and that obviously Kaoru was such a smart guy who could defend people from
being put under tutelage. These things about law he understood, but all the
other tiny parts of the relations between humans, between a father and his son,
Die didn’t get at all. Why was this so complicated? “Wouldn’t it be better
if the son just took the money and left the company to someone who can lead
it?”

Kaoru scoffed. “You tell him that.” In Die’s world everything just seemed
so easy. As if people simply accepted that they were stupid. “Besides, he
won’t be granted with the whole amount half the company is worth. That’s
why.”

“And why doesn’t that Sakamoto guy just give him the amount?” Die
inquired.

“Because Reiji, the son, doesn’t deserve it, seeing that he already wasted
so much of his father’s financial capital.” By now Kaoru was smirking a
little at the other man for not even guessing that. Hell, he really was such a
plainly naïve guy that if the lawyer wanted, he could make him believe that
Kaoru was the Holy Virgin.

“I see.” Scratching his red mop of hair, Die was pleased for the time being,
the answers enough for him to put some sense into the mess in his head and at
the same time he was able to re-think it and maybe come up with new questions.
One thing he already knew: that the humankind’s relations were far more
complex than it seemed from above.

Using the quiet moment and Die’s temporary silence, Kaoru stood up, about to
leave and get dressed in a proper way. “Clean the dishes, ok? I’m gonna put
on some neat clothes and then we can go. I don’t wanna be late.” He received
nothing else but a certain nod, of course, and that was nothing less than he had
expected.

Within a matter of minutes Kaoru had changed into the usual but good attire, a
plain white shirt and dark suit, before he appeared back in the living room,
ready to fetch his briefcase and Die. The taller man had successfully cleaned
the dishes and put them back into the cupboards, before he had quickly dressed
himself in something that would fit the occasion. It actually impressed the
businessman that Die looked that good within a dark blue shirt and the suit but
then he should probably thank Toshiya for having such a good taste in clothes.
“C’mon then.”

A nod was all that accompanied Die’s usual smile as he followed his boss. The
ride inside the car didn’t take them long this time and soon they arrived the
residence of Sakamoto. Beyond doubt Die was excited and most of all curious
about how that guy would be like, because he was trying to disinherit his son,
but on the other hand Kaoru actually liked the old man. Being of good use and a
loyal worker, Die was so friendly and carried his boss’ briefcase – after
the same man had told him to do so.

Ringing the bell Kaoru suddenly remembered one more advice. “Don’t speak
without being asked. Got that? I lead, you follow. Easy rule.”

“Yes, I understand.” Die gave a firm nod and forced his smile off his lips,
since Kaoru was suddenly that serious. “You lead, I follow. I can do that.”

On the verge of rolling his eyes, the smaller man got suddenly aware of the door
being opened and instead smiled at the old lady in the doorway. “Mrs.
Sakamoto, good morning. I’m not alone today. I hope that's fine with you and
your husband? This is Die, my assistant.” Formally Kaoru introduced the taller
man who instantly smiled at the nice and friendly looking older woman.

“Good morning, Kaoru,” she greeted back with a genuine smile and hushed the
two men inside. “Of course it is fine with us. Die, nice to meet you.”

Bowing, Die returned the smile that was stuck to his lips anyway and shrugged
off his shoes. “Good morning, Mrs. Sakamoto. The pleasure’s all mine.”

“The mister’s in the living room, waiting for you, Kao,” she told him,
using a pet name few people were allowed to address him with. It made him
mentally flinch since this wasn’t anything meant for Die’s ears to hear. But
he tried to ignore it and hoped that he hadn't even noticed as the old lady went
on to speak her mind. “He worries a lot about the whole thing with Reiji. If
only he would understand. Such a stupid boy.”

Following the woman Kaoru and Die entered the huge living room, where an old man
was sitting in an armchair, obviously glad to see the lawyer. Politely Kaoru
greeted the old man as well and introduced his new assistant. They instantly sat
down and Kaoru asked about the old guy’s well-being before they moved on to
even more important topics, in one word: Reiji. Listening attentively to the
whole conversation Die didn’t even notice the time passing by that quickly and
neither did the other two men. That was until Mrs. Sakamoto entered the room
again and bowed. “I’m sorry to disturb but it’s time to eat now. Jinji,
you know it’s not good for you to eat that late.”

“Oh woman,” the old man addressed her and waved his hand dismissively.
“Can’t you see that we have more serious matters to handle? We’ll eat
later.”

“But I’m sure Kao and Die are hungry as well. It’s past one already and
you need to take your medicine,” she protested with a frown of worry,
wrinkling the old skin on her forehead. As if on demand Die's belly was
grumbling, just the thought of something to eat making him hungry.
Apologetically he smiled at the old woman and blushed a little as he registered
Kaoru's gaze of abashment. The woman motioned with her hand at the two young
men. “At least don’t make these boys here suffer from starving!”

Of course her husband was ready to protest again but Kaoru, knowing that the
fights between these two could go on forever, cut in and smiled at the woman.
“Why don’t we eat here?” He cast a look at Mr. Sakamoto before he shifted
his gaze back at the missus. “If it doesn’t make too many circumstances, we
could eat here and continue discussing the whole matter while we have lunch.”

Fine with the idea, the old man waved his hand in an agreeing manner and growled
inaudibly that he was out-smarted by the lawyer. The old woman smiled, even if
she was still looking a little helpless now. But people, that looked helpless,
were without a doubt a case for Die! Without thinking he jumped on his feet and
broadly smiled. “I’m gonna help you, Mrs. Sakamoto. I could carry all the
dishes.”

With a grateful smile and another small bow, she gladly accepted and disappeared
together with the redhead inside the kitchen. Kaoru frowned. Die was a hopeless
case, always up to good. But this time it was even appreciated by the other man
and he smiled a little and turned his attention back to the old man and the case
at hand. “Well, I think—“

“That guy is really nice.” Suddenly Mr. Sakamoto cut in almost harshly,
shifting his gaze to look at Kaoru intently. “I’m glad you do have some nice
contacts as well. Other than the guys you're usually accompanied by, I mean. Die
is red-haired but at least polite.”

A little helpless about what to reply Kaoru just inhaled deeply and pushed out
the breath after some moments. He knew the old man too well to protest or to
deny the truth. “I guess so.”

“Facts, boy. Not guesses.” The old man smirked and leant closer to the young
man next to him. “You hang out with dimwits too often. And since you don’t
wanna marry my daughter, I have to at least make sure that you don’t get
spoiled by retarded cretins.”

“And Die is no such?” He couldn’t help his comment. Part of him hated to
be lectured like a schoolboy, even if it was okay that Mr. and Mrs. Sakamoto
mothered him. The old man had played a huge role during Kaoru's studies and if
it hadn't been him who had urged the young man to go on and achieve his goals,
then he weren't where he was now. That's why the former academic and his wife
owned some privileges that everybody else didn't.

“No, I just don’t like his red hair and well,” the man drawled for a
moment before he went on. “And sometimes his smile looks a little silly but
other than that, he’s attentive, helpful, polite and could probably defend you
in a fight. Depends. I couldn’t measure his arms yet.”

“Oh c’mon, stop that now.” This was too much for Kaoru but he still had to
laugh lightly. As if anybody cared about fighting for someone nowadays. And by
the way, he could defend himself on his own quite well. “It’s not your task
to hook me up. You have a daughter, remember? You could find her a matching guy
instead of me.”

“Ah, so Die likes girls?” The man obviously was all up for it.

Kaoru sighed and shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“You lose your drive,” he remarked chuckling, teasing the lawyer.

“I… Can we go back to the conversation we had before this? I mean, you’re
sued. Have you already forgotten?” He didn’t mean to be brash or rude but
the teasing was slowly making him feel embarrassed. Sakamoto was probably the
only one who did that; dared to do that and did it in such a loving manner that
Kaoru couldn’t threat the old man. Quite the contrary, he liked it. But
everything had its limits.

Right in that moment Die and Mrs. Sakamoto appeared back in the living room,
serving deliciously smelling food, while the old man was still chuckling at
Kaoru. It didn’t take them long to set the table and the feast began. In the
beginning the old man and Kaoru were both trying to keep on talking about the
case, but soon enough they all were pretty much occupied with enjoying the
wonderful meal. Die had to admit that this was probably the best thing he had
tasted on Earth thus far and he complimented the old woman. Kaoru just nodded
and agreed.

“Well Die, say,” the old man began and chewed on his food. “Do you wanna
become a lawyer like Kaoru here?”

He contemplated for a moment what to answer, smiling all along. “That’d be
nice.”

That comment made Mr. Sakamoto chuckle. “Maybe you two should team up. Kaoru
could do with a little less work. He works too hard, too relentless. Besides, he
needs someone to take care of him.”

The lawyer suppressed the urge to growl in annoyance as well as to say
something. He cast a glance at Die instead, checking for his expression. But as
usual Die just smiled all friendly and as lovely as one probably could.
“I’ll try my best.”

It nearly provoked a smile to rise upon Kaoru’s lips.

Late in the afternoon Kaoru and Mr. Sakamoto had finally finished to prepare a
proper defense and after promising to visit some other time again, off duty
then, Kaoru and Die left. The smile didn’t vanish from the redhead’s lips
and he was somewhat relieved and very happy that they had met such a nice
couple. “You know, Kao,” Die began and subconsciously used the pet name he
had heard before. “I really like these two. And they like you really much, one
can see that. I just don’t understand that Reiji person. Why doesn’t he get
along with his parents?”

Ignoring the fact that Die had addressed him with a pet name, Kaoru took a deep
breath and sighed hardly audible. “Long story. They’ve been three siblings
at first. The oldest one died long ago. I guess that Reiji’s problem is that
he never got along with his brother before he died. He had become the problem
kid, whereas Maiko, the daughter, was still too young to understand it. The
Sakamotos tried but they kind of failed to reach their son.”

“That’s sad,” was Die’s first thought and he voiced it out. “Family is
the basement for love.”

Raising one amused but also doubtful eyebrow, Kaoru tried to mock him.
“You’ve got that from Cupid again?”

“Yeah.” Nodding Die agreed, oblivious to Kaoru mocking him. “I wish had
parents like them.”

“Maybe Sakamoto adopts you. He seemed to be nuts about you,” he muttered and
steered the car back on the road.

“What does that mean, being nuts about me? Does he like me? I liked him
too,” Die babbled away freely. “But he likes you a hell lot more. Maybe he
would adopt both of us.”

Shaking his head Kaoru decided that the conversation was over, at least on his
part. Silently he drove them back home, refusing to talk anymore. Once again Die
had proved to be totally off this planet. Maybe he really came from Heaven. It
would explain many things. When they had finally arrived the Niikura household,
Die slumped down on the sofa and switched on the TV. As much as he liked to read
books, television was something he could grow addicted to. Only some minutes
later Kaoru settled down next to Die and grabbed for his cell phone, calling
Toshiya.

“What’s going on tonight, Tosh?” He began to talk straight away as soon as
the other man had replied. Die could only make out some Yeah’s and No’s all
the while and decided to follow the things happening on the TV screen. “Fine
then. See you there,” Kaoru finished the talk with his friend, only adding one
last statement after being asked whether he would come alone or with Die.
“Yes, I’ll bring him along. Bye.”

“Me?” Die couldn’t help but ask and poked his index finger in his chest,
instantly curious. True, he hadn't been able to ignore the conversation.

“Yes, you. We go out tonight. In a club, nothing too loud, more comfy and
neat,” he explained and got back on his feet. “I’ll get changed for that.
We can eat something there as well.”

Watching the other man go upstairs, the former angel shrugged and switched off
the television, before he headed into his room and changed at least his pants.
He quite liked the pair of jeans that Toshiya had chosen for him and slid into
the comfortable clothing, tying a white belt afterwards. Whether his shirt
matched with the jeans, he didn’t know, didn’t care about it either. With a
smile the man from Heaven casually walked back inside the living room and waited
for Kaoru, who appeared only minutes later, dashing past the redhead to fix his
hair. Quickly Die followed and mirrored the smaller man’s actions, using all
the stuff that his friend had used seconds before. When Kaoru raised one
delicate eyebrow, Die merrily grinned at him, resulting in the lawyer rolling
his eyes.

After a longer ride inside a cab, because Kaoru didn’t see any reason not to
drink tonight, they arrived the club not too late. It was a popular place,
mostly visited by people who had money to waste for expensive drinks within a
well-mannered venue. Visitors preferred it because it opened its doors late in
the afternoon and closed not before breakfast time. The music wasn’t loud, but
decent and stylish, not any alike where Die had been with Toshiya. The
red-haired man curiously shifted his gaze around and took in all his
surroundings while he was following Kaoru, who headed to the bar straight away.

“What would you like to drink?” Kaoru asked, leaning against the counter.

“I don’t know,” Die nervously smiled. “I still don’t have any money
and—”

“Stuff it,” the other man smirked. “I already paid the cab, didn’t I?
So, would I ask if I wanted you to pay yourself?”

Shrugging Die considered that probably Kaoru would not ask if he wanted him to
pay for his drinks. “Guess I’m invited then, huh? Then I’d like to have
beer.”

“You wish,” Kaoru chuckled. “I’ll just pay in advance and trust you to
invite me another time instead.” Turning to face the bartender, he ordered the
beer and a stronger drink for himself, before he paid both drinks and was
rewarded with fast service. He had just handed the beer to Die, who curiously
observed its color since it was actually within a glass, when someone addressed
Kaoru and demanded his attention. Not because of politeness but simply due to
his excellent manners around this kind of society, the lawyer shortly introduced
Die to whomever he was talking with. But in the end the redhead was pretty much
ignored and happy to see Toshiya finally bounce through the room, only to greet
the other man with a hug.

“Die! I’m glad you could make it,” he literally beamed in joy. “And glad
Kaoru pulled the plug outta his ass and brought you along.” He giggled at his
joke while Die was wondering why his friend would wear a cork in his butt.
“Um, I’d like you to meet some of my friends,” the joyful black-haired
went on and poked Kaoru in his ribs. “Hey Kao, can I kidnap Die for a
while?”

“Hello to you too, Toshi,” the other man cast a glace across his shoulder,
but wasn’t really annoyed at Toshiya for not welcoming him in a more
friendlier way. He looked at Die for mere seconds, before he shrugged and turned
back to the conversation with some other guys he knew. “Sure. Just don’t
make him drink too much and puke.”

Rolling his eyes, but grinning widely the tall black-haired hooked his arm
around Die’s and pulled him away to where his friends were. Kaoru’s lame
advocate-mates weren’t really of any interest for Toshiya and he was assuming
that a guy as cheerful and exciting as Die wouldn’t like their company either.
And indeed, the redhead didn’t mind at all. Whether he stayed with Kaoru or
wandered around with Toshiya didn’t matter to him, as long as he enjoyed
himself. That, he luckily did. He had a blast.

Throwing a last, short look after Die, the lawyer just hoped that Toshiya would
keep the promise he had given last night. The red-haired clumsy-boy didn’t
need any more confusion than his brain was already suffering. As he turned back
to gaze at the guy he had currently been talking to, the man grinned at him.
“Beautiful. Where did you find him?”

Kaoru suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and groan in annoyance, since for
once he really did have nothing going on with the company he had brought along.
But he was used to such blunt talking and without to bat an eyelash replied
monotonously: “I hired him,” he smirked at the widening eyes of the guy.
“He does indeed work in my company. Nothing to gossip. Sorry to disappoint
you.”

A relieved sigh escaped the man opposite Kaoru and he raised his brows. “Who
said I’d be disappointed?” There was no response from the lawyer and the man
pressed on further. “That means nobody takes care of your gorgeous self,
right? I could offer myself once more.”

“Thanks for your concern,” he gave a small but sly smile and took a sip from
his drink. “My gorgeous self doesn’t crave for attention.”

“It did. Once.” The man inwardly cringed but smirked back, trying not to
give away how pissed he was. “Maybe you’re just after red-headed guys
now.”

The whole conversation annoyed Kaoru to no end and he slowly grew impatient from
all the false politeness. “The redhead is nothing but a friend of Toshiya. Ask
him if you want details. Believe me one thing. If I truly wanted to get into his
pants, you’d be the first one to know.”

The self-important grin on Kaoru’s lips made the other man narrow his brows.
He took a breath, on the verge to reply something, but closed his mouth again,
turning away. Without another word he walked off, much to the other man’s
delight. He almost sighed in relief. There were enough other people he could
talk to who he hadn’t had something with, that made them pissed about nothing
of their business anyway. Fortunately there weren’t that many guys here, as
far as Kaoru could tell, who had made the same experience as the guy who had
just left.

Time passed by without any more quarrels like that and Kaoru enjoyed himself,
talking to different people he had never met before. Still, he couldn’t deny
that Die popped into his mind from time to time, making the lawyer gaze around
just to appease his odd urge to be sure that Die was fine. Whenever he did, he
found the redhead laughing along with other guys or simply chatting with them,
that smile of his always plastered across his full lips. But only then Kaoru was
soothed and would turn back to the people who he currently accompanied and
honored with his presence. But during a longer period in which he truly hadn’t
looked for the redhead, there was suddenly Toshiya right next to him, patting
his shoulder for attention.

“Hey Kao, do you know where Die is by any chance?” He bit his bottom lip,
embarrassed about the fact that he had indeed lost a tall, redheaded cutie.

“I? How should I know when he was with you?” It was just the perfect
occasion to tease Toshiya. Kaoru knew too well how easily his friend got
sidetracked and the mere fact that he had lost the red-haired man caused the
lawyer to cheer inwardly. “Maybe he’s snogging some girl in a dark corner.
Who knows?” He turned his back to Toshiya, knowing pretty well that the other
man would make sure to gain back his friend’s attention.

“You think so?” For a moment Toshiya contemplated if he had read all the
signs wrong and Die had really sneaked off with a girl. But then he just pulled
at Kaoru’s sleeve and made him look at him again. “No way. Maybe he’s just
outside for a smoke or getting himself another drink. I better go and look for
him. If you see him, make sure to call me.”

A small smile made its way upon Kaoru’s lips. “You do that, Tosh. We don’t
want to miss Die, do we?” He was teasing the other man but his advances stayed
ignored when Toshiya marched off with a frown that left deep wrinkles of worry
on his forehead. He was way too concerned about the whereabouts of the
red-haired beauty than to think about what exactly Kaoru had meant.

As soon as Toshiya was out of sight, Kaoru excused himself and went into the
directions of the gent’s. He had seen Die disappearing into the same direction
long ago and would’ve guessed that he was already back with Toshiya. But that,
he obviously wasn’t. Why he hadn’t told his friend what he had seen, was
simply because he didn’t want anyone to know that he had kept a watching eye
upon his company. But still, he wasn’t sure about Die’s true whereabouts and
he didn’t like the fact at all. The reason was plain and easy to comprehend.
If Die were gone, money was gone as well. That’s why losing him wasn’t
acceptable.

As Kaoru entered the man’s room, two males were just leaving, and he closed
the door after them, before he stilled for a moment. It was quiet and he began
to check underneath the cubicle doors for possible toilet users. In fact, there
was only one pair of feet in the last one, wearing shoes that perfectly
resembled Toshiya’s taste in fashion. Taking a deep breath Kaoru leant against
the doorframe and lit a cigarette. “You take quite some time, do you realize
that?”

Die’s eyes snapped up and focused the closed door in front of him. He was
quite sure who had spoken the words but just to be sure, he asked: “Kaoru?”

“That’s me,” he grinned lop-sided and took a drag from the cig, lazily
blowing out the smoke. “Who else happens to find guys in the weirdest
places?” It was almost a disappointing irony, that much was for sure. Die, who
he had hit with the car and taken home to be a useful slave, now locked up
within a toilet cubicle. Former angel Die. Kaoru rolled his eyes. “Unlock the
door.”

Without to protest the red-haired man reached out and opened the lock of the
door, relieved that it was truly just Kaoru who had been looking for him. As
soon as his eyes met the sight of the smart-looking lawyer, he felt sorry for
locking himself up and bowed his head. A shy smile appeared on his lips and he
blushed a little at the mere fact that he felt suddenly so foolish. But for once
he didn’t know what to say.

“Nice hideout,” Kaoru remarked with one eyebrow pitying raised.

“Err... not really a hideout. I was more...” Die scratched his red hair and
pondered how he could possibly tell his friend why he had come here and locked
himself up. “Taking a break?”

“Taking a break from what?” The other man couldn’t help his impatience. He
didn’t like Die to drawl and stutter. But suddenly a thought crossed his mind
and his lips curled into a grin. “From Toshiya and his friends?”

“Kinda,” Die lowly confessed and bowed his head low, before he lifted his
gaze and took a deep breath. “I didn’t mean to hide. I just... it was
suddenly so much and everyone wanted my attention and at first it was really
nice and cool, I had a ball. It was fun. But then everything was too much, they
were too many and I didn’t want to annoy you, so I figured I’d just wait
inside of here for a while and then go back out, once my head isn’t spinning
anymore. I...” He really hadn’t meant to be impolite. “I’m sorry and...
are you mad at me now?”

“Me?” Kaoru shot back, his brows rose with the frown that built on his
features. “Why would I be?” Suddenly he just had to chuckle before it turned
into laughter, even more when he looked into Die’s piteous big brown eyes that
were staring up at him in hope he would forgive the idiot for something that
didn’t even matter to him. Already after seconds his laughter had died though
and he just shook his head at the other man. “You really are an idiot, Die. I
need to tell you that.”

“So you are mad at me.” Again Die cast his eyes downwards, showing his
compliance. “I—”

“No, you moron. I’m not,” he replied with a sigh. “Toshiya is
desperately looking for you by now, but it doesn’t matter. Just say so, if
you’re not fine with your company.”

“I’m sorry ‘bout that too. Is he mad at me?” He was relieved that Kaoru
wasn’t pissed about what he had done but he also hoped that he hadn’t made
Toshiya sad or worry too much.

“It doesn’t matter.” At least it didn’t matter to Kaoru and it
shouldn’t matter to Die either. If Toshiya had kept an eye on the redhead, he
wouldn’t need to look for him now.

“Okay,” the former angel slowly nodded, believing whatever his friend told
him. He didn’t know what else to say anyway and it resulted in an awkward
silence between the two of them.

“Wanna go home?” Kaoru broke the silence once he had finished his cigarette,
facing Die with a questioning glance. He wasn’t in the mood to stay any longer
within the shallowness of the people in this place and since his company was
already hiding, they could as well head back home.

“I—I’d like to but,” he shrugged, “I don’t wanna make you leave just
because of me.”

“That’s okay,” Kaoru replied in a more or less monotonous voice. “I
wouldn’t ask if I wanted to stay.” It was the plain truth, not just
something one would say to make another one feel better. If he would mind, he
hadn’t said it. “Well, c’mon then.”

He was about to turn and leave when the taller man, who had finally risen from
his seat on the toilet lid, was pulling Kaoru back on his sleeve. He skeptically
registered the fingers that grasped his wrist before he faced the hesitating
look of Die. “Wait. I...um— I’m scared,” the redheaded man confessed
with a small apologetic smile dancing on his lips as he gazed at his friend who
was on the verge of asking what the hell was the matter now. “They’re gonna
ask where I’ve been and why I was hiding. They won’t let me go that easily,
I’m afraid, and I don’t think I’m ready to face them yet.”

Another small sigh emitted from the smaller man before he just looked at Die,
trying to sort out the information he had just gotten. This was ridiculous! How
could that guy just be that... friendly?! He could tell them to fuck off for
God’s sake! But no, he was afraid of them instead, that they would occupy him
by asking silly questions, which he – just for the record – didn’t have to
answer anyway. And one thing was for sure: if Kaoru just walked out with Die, he
would have to carry the redhead in order not to spend another two hours with
just saying goodbye to everyone. So the decision was easily made, since the
solution was obvious. “They will not even dare to approach you when you come
out of this room together with me. Trust me.”

And to avoid any possible exceptions of the rule, as it were just to make sure
that each person would think what they should, Kaoru reached out his hand and
grasped Die’s, pulling him along as he made his way out. With his chin high
and the usual confident expression in his eyes the lawyer easily walked through
the crowds of people and Die just followed, tightening his fingers around the
hand that held his. They did, for sure, receive some glances but neither of both
cared. To Kaoru it didn’t matter anyway, he never gave a damn about what
people thought, and to Die it was a relief to have an excuse, walking straight
out like that. Nonetheless he couldn’t deny that he was also proud to leave
with Kaoru like that as it showed they were friends. And Die was hellishly proud
to have the smaller man as such.

Outside they were lucky to catch a cab quite quickly, yet due to the excellent
commanding tone that Kaoru had used to call one. Not a sane person would’ve
dared to come between him and the cab, Die was sure. Slowly the smile on his
face appeared back and once he sat in the backseat of the car, he contently
sighed and faced Kaoru. “Thank you, Kao. Again, I mean.”

The other man looked at Die, before he cast his gaze away to stare outside the
window. This time he didn’t answer after receiving the redhead’s gratitude.
This once he would just accept it.





-End of chapter four-



                            Kapitel 5: Chapter Five
                            -----------------------


 Thank you for reading & commenting!!! *huggies* 



Their ride inside the car had been in silence as Kaoru simply stared out of the
window. He couldn’t deny that he liked the fact that people were thinking now
he and Die had something going on. Everybody had tried to gain the redhead’s
attention but in the end it had been Kaoru who officially had scored. And
somehow Die was plainly his, counting out any sexual activities, when even those
Kaoru could have if only he wanted. So yes, technically he owned the red-haired
man everyone seemed to be eager to socialize with. 

Digging out his cell phone Kaoru had written a short message to Toshiya about
that he and Die had left. He hadn’t told him the reason though, too lazy to
explain the matter. Once they had finally arrived back at home, Kaoru slid off
his jacket and shoes, before he silently made his way into the kitchen. The
taller man almost mirrored all the actions, got rid off his shoes and jacket,
but decided to sprawl out in one corner of the big sofa. His hand mechanically
reached out to take a hold of the remote and he switched on the TV. He wasn’t
tired yet and if there hadn’t been so unutterably many people who had made him
dizzy, he would’ve surely stayed for longer.

Flashing a bright smile, Die was happily surprised when the smaller man joined
him on the sofa and handed him one bottle of beer. He held a second one for
himself and lifted it with a small chuckle. “Thought we could as well drink
another beer here, in peace.” He winked a little and gave a tiny smirk, before
he raised the bottle and took a rather big sip. Kaoru didn’t mind spending a
bit more time with his crazy guest, wasn’t that tired either, and just because
he was in a rather good mood today, he simply desired the Die's company. It was
a strange feel though. Usually he either desired the company of a male only to
jump one another, or simply to hang out with Toshi. Yet Die wasn’t that bad if
one looked closer and Kaoru would still prefer an insane guy near him than an
annoying one. “You haven’t drunk much yet, have you?”

”No,” Die replied merrily and lifted the bottle as well, doing it like Kaoru
had done and drinking a fair amount before he removed the bottle from his lips
and happily sighed. “There was only Toshiya who’d bought me another drink.
Refused all the other offers.” He smiled and started to discover the buttons
of the remote, happily surprised when he had found out how to zap through the
many different channels. He had been honest, but only because Toshiya had
advised him not to accept all the offers. Otherwise he would’ve been tried
everything. But loyal to his core he had done as the tall black-haired man had
wished. 

Pleased Kaoru leant his head back against the backrest and closed his eyes for a
moment. Only when some kind of familiar, yet very disturbing noises reached his
ears, he opened one eye in suspicion. That Die had found the late night porn
wasn’t that surprising, but that Kaoru was now forced to listen to a woman’s
wails of pleasure wasn’t something exactly enjoyable for a gay man. He opened
both his eyes and checked for Die’s reaction. The question whether he was
attracted to the one or the other gender was still unanswered and in his case
it’d even be believable if Kaoru found out that Die didn’t react to any
gender at all. But still the lawyer would love to know, if he was honest and
that’s why he observed the redhead closely and in silence.

At the other end of the sofa Die observed something completely different but
just as closely. He had never really watched how humans did that. When he had
been an angel, he had seen them kissing and basically knew what they had to do
in order to reproduce. Tilting his head, he still wondered why the humankind was
showing something like this on their TV program. It didn’t look that healthy
to him, especially since that European-looking guy had an equipment that was
undeniably huge. Die’s gaze dropped down to his pants and his brows furrowed,
thoughtfully contemplating why he didn’t have a penis of that size. But then
he didn’t care that much, raised his eyes and kept watching the couple on the
screen. 

It was hard for Kaoru not to allow his jaw to drop at the utter sight of his
red-haired companion who was looking completely silly sitting there and
measuring himself. It was just too obvious that he was doing exactly that and if
Kaoru weren’t just so simply baffled about the whole fact, he would’ve
laughed as hard as never before in his entire life. It was just too amusing!
When Die was looking down at himself, the other man wondered though, if possibly
it had been because it had stirred something in his pants. Which meant that
obviously the red-haired guy was reacting to the straight style porn. How
disappointing and yet something that should not matter to Kaoru.

But Die was far from being aroused. Instead he had grown more or less shocked
with each minute passing. “Kao? Why is that, that the woman screams so loud?
Is she in pain?” He cast his eyes sideway, an inquiring gaze addressed at the
other man.

Biting the insides of his cheeks, Kaoru tried hard not to laugh at this, but had
enough self-control not to do so. He took a deep breath and shook his head.
“Well, no.” Was that enough of an answer? He had never been in the situation
to enlighten someone about the bees and the birds. Did Die really know nothing
about sex at all? Could that truly be? So far Kaoru had to admit that it was
possible from what he had come to know about him. “She isn’t. Not really. I
mean, well, yes. There might also be a little bit of pain but mostly she’s
screaming because she’s in pleasure.” For the first time his own speech was
confusing him. “Don’t you know anything about sex?”

Slowly Die shook his head. “Why would I? I just rhetorically know some things
but not why that woman moans that loudly. To me she seems to be in pain. Why
would anyone scream in pleasure?”

Hastily Kaoru ran a hand through his hair and took another sip from his beer,
before he felt ready to reply. “Because if you like something, you contently
sigh for example. And if you like something really much, the pleasure can be
that huge, that it makes you scream. Like screaming in joy. You’ve heard that
before, right?” Inwardly he was praying that Die at least understood THAT. In
a way Kaoru felt like being in a bad movie, having to explain such matters to a
grown-up guy. But then it was still amusing him that Die knew little to nothing
about sex and its bliss. 

Turning his gaze back on the screen, the redhead watched in silence for some
time, re-thinking in his mind what Kaoru had told him. It was logical. But Die
had never even screamed in joy, let alone in pleasure. Many things made him
smile in joy and that he knew pretty well. He was easily happy about things,
joyful when it came to events and simply someone who was driven by what he felt.
So what would happen if he felt something like this? Something that made one
scream out their pleasure. He cast a short glance at Kaoru sitting next to him
with an unreadable expression. “Have you ever screamed in pleasure? I mean,
really loud. Like she does.”

The question made Kaoru chuckle. Sure, he always screamed like a fucking virgin,
he sarcastically thought and smirked. He didn’t need long to come up with a
fitting answer on that issue. “No, but I made some guys scream like that.”

“Really?” Die’s eyes widened at the mere fact that Kaoru was capable of
such thing. Impressed, he stared back at the TV screen, watching how the couple
was just changing into another position, before he turned his gaze back to his
host. “And how do guys do that? They don’t have the same anatomy, that I
know for certain.”

He should’ve guessed that the question would come and that’s why Kaoru
simply scratched the back of his head lazily and pondered for a moment, giving
the impression not to be fazed at all. Not that he were. It was easier for him
to explain such matters in a casual way than to describe what straight couples
did. “Not much different, I suppose. Guys do have holes too, right? Plus a
dick to fill it,” he grinned a tiny, but arrogant smirk. “There are some
things you have to take care of, but when you do them right, it’s better than
anything else.”

That didn’t sound too bad, Die thought and it made him even more curious about
how it would really feel like. Staring at nothing in particular, he zoned out
for a few moment, only checking his options. He did have what was needed. He was
a fully functioning human male and so was Kaoru. And the latter knew a lot about
things like that, Die assumed. “I’d like to know what it feels like.” The
redhead cast his eyes to look straight at his friend. “Can we do that?”

“No!” Now this was probably the first thing in a very long time that made
Kaoru nearly blush as he could feel that it evoked a weird but warm feeling to
spread inside of him. Maybe it was just because of Die’s bluntness since
usually Kaoru was the one who bluntly stated what his intentions were if
necessary. But by the look of this stupid man in front of him, not even Kaoru
could come up with a smarter answer than his shot out No. When Die tilted his
head inquiringly, the other man knew the question before there was time to voice
it out. “Just because I say so.” 

Not a clever reply at all but Kaoru couldn’t help it. Yes, he would love to
fuck a virgin like Die. No, he didn’t want the Die that sat next to him with
those huge eyes staring back at him. That Die was for other uses. Besides, even
that naive bastard deserved some truth and honesty once in a while. Just that he
didn’t get that way of thinking at all. He sighed and dragged his eyes away
from the lawyer. Rejected, Die couldn’t help but feel a little bit
disappointed, and that his friend didn’t want to have sex with him made him
also a tiny bit sad, but Die wouldn’t be Die if he lost hope. Another idea
popped up in his head. “Then I’m gonna ask Toshiya. Do you think he would
like to?”

Eyes wide, Kaoru nearly choked. Of all things he hadn’t expected that. Even
although he should have, seeing how Die was obviously thinking about certain
matters. And hell yes, Toshiya would love to. Only that Toshiya wasn’t allowed
to. Not when he asked Kaoru. Would he? When things came to the worst, Die asking
to fuck him to be precise, then Toshiya wouldn’t think twice, would he? This
was crazy. If Die truly just walked up to the other man with that request,
everything would be fucked up in a matter of mere seconds. “Die, no.” Kaoru
shook his head. He needed to make his point clear, but possibly leave out some
true details. “You can’t just ask random men to fuck you. Not even Toshiya.
This isn’t something one just asks for. It’s... more complicated.”

“Why?” First Kaoru rejected him and then he wasn’t allowed to at least ASK
Toshiya. Why wasn’t he allowed to enjoy some pleasure too? Die didn’t get
that at all and he was on the verge of crying, really. A pout formed on his lips
as he stared at the other man with huge puppy-dog eyes.

Oh great. The situation got worse with every minute passing. Now Die was waiting
for an explanation and Kaoru just wanted to escape as his heart went out to the
tall, redheaded dimwit who needed some protection of himself. Sighing, he tried
to form accurate sentences while his index finger subconsciously started to rub
the bridge of his nose. “Because you never had sex before and having sex for
the first time is something special, or at least it should be. That’s why you
shouldn’t just ask whoever passes you by.” Kaoru was pleased with his start.
It wasn’t much different from forming a final speech after a trial. “You
need to wait for the right... person. Someone you fall in love with.”

Inwardly the lawyer cringed at the cheesiness of what he had said. It was true
but he had never lived according to that, not in the last ten years or so. With
a small nod of his head, Die wearily smiled. If that was the rule, he would do
as Kaoru had explained to him. But there was just one more problem. “How do I
know when I’ve fallen in love?”

Eyelids were innocently batting up and down while Kaoru closed his for a moment
and pondered what he had done to deserve this. It wasn’t that much of a
problem really but it was actually cute, too cute to stand. Deep down in Kaoru,
his conscience made him pity the man opposite him. “Well,” he decided that
it was worth a try to explain. “It’s when you look at someone and you’ll
become all tingly. Or when you talk to them and suddenly you blush. It’s as if
there were butterflies in your stomach and just thinking of that person makes
you smile and be happy.” He was almost amazed that he could still remember all
these things and when he looked at Die, whose smile grew wider and eyes took on
a dreamy expression, Kaoru knew that he had found the right words. “You’ll
just know when you’ve fallen for someone, trust me.”

“Okay,” Die instantly agreed and sighed, looking forward to falling in love
one day and hoping that he would. Only when his gaze shifted back on the TV
screen, his mind drifted to another issue that he knew about but had never
experienced. “What about kissing? Do I have to wait until I’ve fallen in
love as well before I can try?”

“Oh my god.” In a deadpan voice the words just slipped from Kaoru’s lips.
“Don’t tell me you haven’t kissed before either.” What was wrong with
that guy? So he thought he had been an angel and obviously he was still a virgin
but that he had never kissed before, Kaoru just couldn’t believe. Die was
lying, wasn’t he? All the crap he told Kaoru were just lies. Or then, he was
just the biggest loser or had really been something inhuman before. With
unhidden doubts he stared at Die who was looking just as clueless as ever.
“You’ve kissed before. Right?”

Vehemently the other man shook his head and assured: “No, I have not. I
wouldn’t ask if I had,” he said with a small shrug of his shoulders before
he went on with enthusiasm as his typical curiosity took over. “What’s it
like? Does it feel good? Do only lovers kiss?”

Intently but in silence Kaoru watched the redhead for some seconds, not
responding with anything at all. So Die hadn’t kissed anyone ever before. That
was either the truth or he truly believed it. There was just one thing the tough
lawyer didn’t like and it was when somebody tried to fool him. So either it
was out of utter generosity or to find any kind of hint in Die’s skills, it
didn’t matter to Kaoru when he had made his decision. “I can’t explain
that to you.” Or was it his own curiosity? “But I can show you if you
want.”

“Really?” Not just Die’s eyes but also his smile grew wider. The offer
simply made him happy. That was at least something he was allowed to try out and
just thinking of it made him all excited. He had tried to make people kiss each
other when he had been sent by Cupid and had always wondered what humans liked
about it. After all in Heaven angels never kissed each other on their mouths.
“That would be awesome.”

“Okay, then shut up.” That Die always grinned like a moron, didn’t make
the moment any bit more exciting for Kaoru, but he couldn’t deny that he was
amused. This was just for fun after all. He wasn’t seriously trying to gain
anything out of their kiss. It was more like a lesson he would teach the other
man. “Come a little closer and keep quiet.”

Die did as he was told, leant closer to the other man and patiently waited for
Kaoru to do something. A little clueless about whether he was supposed to purse
his lips or close his eyes, the general nervousness inside of him grew but he
tried to remain silent. Kaoru shifted closer as well and locked his gaze with
Die’s, as he brought his face near, one hand touching the other man’s jaw.
There was no turning back now and seeing how unfazed Die appeared, Kaoru wanted
to leave him like he usually left his lovers – in awe. He closed the last gap
between them and cast his lips across Die’s, softly tugging at the bottom lip,
nipping it delicately. 

It evoked a tingling sensation within the former angel, it tickled a little and
made him open his lips on their own accord. At the touch of Kaoru’s tongue
running across his lips, another new but exciting sensation ran through Die’s
veins, his every pore, his whole being, and made his fingers feel like
trembling. But that was just the start because suddenly this wasn’t even
important anymore, the feel of the very same tongue inside his mouth
overpowering everything else. Like his mind had gone blank, shut off from the
intense experience, so fell his eyelids shut as he poked out his tongue to meet
Kaoru’s. That indeed felt good. Weird but good. 

Gathering all of his possible skills in kissing and summing up even all the
gentleness he probably possessed, Kaoru gave this kiss his best shot. Oh damn
yes, he wanted to leave Die breathless, wanted this inexperienced jackanapes go
through the sensation of the best kiss he would ever get, before Kaoru finally
pulled away with a little, a satisfied smirk lingering upon his lips. Hardly
apart, he opened his eyes and observed the flushed face in front of him, the
still opened, lush lips, wet and slightly swollen. That was it. That should show
the red-haired guy what it COULD feel like when kissing.

A small sound of disappointment left Die’s mouth. He hadn’t expected it to
end so soon, wasn’t ready to stop kissing. This had been too good to stop now!
He was just about to figure out how to respond properly when Kaoru had pulled
away. No, Die was not finished yet. Without thinking, he leant close again, not
even opening his eyes, driven by the want to feel these lips once again. And
luckily Kaoru wasn’t prepared for his move at all. Frozen, he took some time
until he actually realized that the glimpse of experience he had offered Die had
left him in want for more. But that he shouldn’t have. 

Kaoru pulled away and put his hand on Die’s shoulder, pushing him off and
patting it at the same time. “Like kissing, hm?”

His head bopped up and down with eagerness. “A lot,” he merely breathed out,
his voice sounding odd in his ears, a little raw and unusually low. “Can’t
you show me more?”

“No, I can’t. I won’t.” Kaoru shook his head and turned away to reach
for his beer, taking a few hasty gulps. He sure wasn’t as cool as he appeared,
Die’s taste having taken its toll on him as well. How could one person just
taste this sweet? With lips so soft and a touch that gentle. There wasn’t even
any need for Die to respond in a skilled way since his utter feel was making
Kaoru tingly and hot. But that he wouldn’t show the redhead. “That’s
enough for a first try.”

“Was I good?” He couldn’t help asking, too curious about whether Kaoru had
enjoyed it as well, maybe even as much as Die had done.

“Not bad,” Kaoru replied and cleared his throat in order to keep the tone of
his voice casual. “You’ll get better when you actually kiss someone who
loves you.” He was being this direct on purpose with a sudden urge to destroy
Die’s perfect mood and to reduce his naturally given kissing abilities. What
was it about him anyway? Everybody wanted his attention, he was always nice and
even a good kisser although he had never done that before. “I just gave you a
sample.”

“I understand.” Slowly Die nodded and smiled, even if he had hoped for a
better rating. “But you were really good anyway. It was weird but good. More
than good. I think I need to fall in love quickly and try to kiss some more. And
then I gotta have sex,” he beamed with a smile so bright that it could’ve
lit the whole town.

Closing his eyes for a moment, Kaoru just took a deep breath. No, he wouldn’t
reply to this now. He should just accept the compliment and let Die do as he
wished. He was insane! That was it. Once Kaoru had reminded himself of that
fact, he opened his eyes and faced his guest, forcing a small smile. “I’ll
call it a night now. If you want, you can still watch some TV. I don’t mind if
you do that quietly,” he said and tried hard not to picture Die watching some
more porn. Watching those movies had often resulted in Kaoru doing some things
when he was still an inexperienced guy like the redhead was. And imagining Die
to rub one out on his sofa was really not a good thought to go to bed with.
“See you in the morning then. No need to get up early.”

“Alright,” the other man smiled and wished his friend a good night’s
sleep. Only when Kaoru had disappeared upstairs in his bedroom, Die sighed and
lifted his index finger to touch his lips. It had been little to nothing, just
two person’s lips meeting, and then caressing each other’s tongues, but it
had evoked so many different sensations inside of him, that it almost felt
unreal now. Kaoru’s taste and the touch of his lips was somehow still
lingering on Die’s, even when he touched his mouth with his fingertips. And
this had only been Kaoru! Who Die liked but obviously wasn’t in love with
according to what he had told him. Because then he would feel it. How this 'it'
felt, was another question but Die supposed he would acknowledge 'it' as soon as
it appeared. At least he hoped so.

In no condition to focus on any kind of television, he switched it off and got
up, slowly walking into his room before he lied down on his bed. Fixing his eyes
on the ceiling his mind marveled about the nice new experience he had made until
finally, late at night, he fell asleep. But once the sun shone brightly in his
face the next day, he instantly remembered his last thoughts and smiled. Without
a clue what time it was, he dragged his bones out of his warm bed and stretched
his still sleepy body. He felt odd after he had stupidly slept without to
undress and, wondering if his friend was already up, he decided to get a shower
this morning. He had liked that after all and somehow his human flesh desired
some water. 

Lazily he walked outside and checked in the living room if there was any sign of
Kaoru but since he didn’t spot the other man, he just headed for the bathroom.
A grin appeared on his face as soon as he stepped inside. There was Kaoru.
“Good morning!”

“Morning,” the other man sneered as he sat in the bathtub, trying to relax
his body in the hot water. “It’s way after morning but anyway. You’ve
slept well I suppose.”

“Yeah, I did,” Die responded and headed for the toilet first. After that he
turned back to look at his host, curiously observing Kaoru taking a bath. Of
course Die knew about bathing but he had never touched the foam-like substance
covering the water. His natural drive to get to know more about it kicked in and
he headed straightforward, kneeling down in front of the bathtub.

One of Kaoru’s eyebrows skeptically rose when Die poked his index finger into
the foam. But he decided to occupy the other man otherwise, since the lawyer had
just been thinking about something totally different again. “Now that you’re
finally up, do me a favor and bring me a document, will you? It’s on my desk
and I haven’t read it yet. It’s from Hiroshi Nagatomi.”

Nodding firmly twice, Die got on his feet and quickly scampered out of the
bathroom to fetch the mail. His eyes scanned the desk and once he had found the
one big envelope addressed to Kaoru and sent by Hiroshi Nagatomi, he snatched it
with both his hands and made his way back to the lawyer. 

“Open it,” Kaoru ordered and lit himself a cigarette, leaning back and just
enjoying his bath. He had reminded himself that he hosted Die for a reason and
why would Kaoru do all the work himself then? That he was bathing all the while
didn’t matter either. There was no abashment between them; shouldn’t be
anyway after he had found the redhead stark naked on a street. “But be
careful. This is important.”

Carefully Die opened the brown envelope and pulled the document out, on top of
it a letter directed to Mr. Niikura. “Shall I read this to you?” The
question was answered with a nod and Die went on. “Thank you very much for
your support and your willingness to sacrifice time and effort,” the letter
began and kept on making clear that this Nagatomi guy had really appreciated
Kaoru’s help. In the end it went on with a statement, that Nagatomi had
attached another check for quite a huge amount of money, just to express his
thankfulness. “Yours sincerely, Hiroshi Nagatomi.”

“Damn,” Kaoru muttered and took a last drag from his cigarette before he
handed the remains of it to Die who obediently disposed it in the ashtray on the
sink. Kaoru sat up slightly in the bathtub and rubbed both his flat palm across
his face. 

“What’s wrong?” The redhead didn’t understand what was wrong about
someone giving even more money to the lawyer. He had deserved it after all.
Kneeling down again, Die curiously stared at Kaoru while he once again was
poking his finger in the foam.

“Nagatomi isn’t a guy one would like to mess around with. It’s certainly
not a client I chose but can’t deny an offer from either,” the other man
tried to explain. “This money he gives to me makes sure I keep quiet and will
be there for him the next time. And sure as hell there will be a next time.”

“Is he that bad? I mean, do many people sue him? Not a lucky guy then,” Die
stated almost absentmindedly. He did want to know about Kaoru’s cases but the
foam inside that bathtub distracted him. Maybe he should forget about a shower
and instead have a bath himself.

“Yeah, many people do,” Kaoru just said and spared himself the rest, that
Nagatomi usually deserved to get sued, punished as well, but since he had
gathered the best lawyer around never made it into jail. “Let’s just hope
he’ll take his time until the next time.” He forced a little smile and
turned to look at Die, only then realizing that he was toying with the foam. 

Die smiled back and nodded. “Can I take a bath too?”

“You can scrub my back, that’s what you can do,” he replied with a small,
amused smirk but nodded nonetheless. “But you can take a bath as well.”

“I can manage both!” Die beamed and started to get rid of his clothes. 

Now THAT hadn’t been the basic idea and Kaoru tried hard not to stare with
eyes huge as plates. A naked Die didn’t impress him, not even if he jumped
into the same bathtub with him, but that he acted this blunt and totally
oblivious to WHAT he actually did, left the other man speechless. In record time
Die was naked and ready to get into the bathtub with Kaoru, who simply shook his
head, chuckled lowly and handed a sponge to Die. “Fine, then sit down
carefully. I don’t want my bathroom flooded, thanks.”

Taking the offered item, Die waited for Kaoru to make a little room before he
stepped inside, foot after foot. That indeed felt even better than showering.
The water was hot and somehow… soft. As if there was something else than water
in the tub. Slowly he crouched down and stretched his legs out at each side of
Kaoru, so the smaller man literally sat in his lap. The skin did feel nice
against his as well, Die had to admit. Then he simply started with his task,
placing the sponge on Kaoru’s back, and conscientiously rubbed the pale skin.
“That ok?”

“Perfect.” Kaoru couldn’t help his statement, pleasantly surprised about
how well Die did his 'job'. It was nice for a change to have someone attending
to this part of his body, even if it wasn’t the first time he shared the
bathtub with another male. But back then there wasn’t much cleaning involved
though. 

Die began with the upper back, moved down to the lower part and didn’t miss
the middle, washing along the curves of the spine. Then he moved on to Kaoru’s
shoulders, upper arms and even the neck. Being Kaoru’s employee really was a
good job, easy and pleasant as well. And also Kaoru enjoyed it, that wasn’t to
deny, and he slowly leant back against the well-shaped frame of the redhead once
the same was busy with his neck. Kaoru rested his head on Die’s shoulder and
he closed his eyes for a few seconds, the caresses holding almost an affective
touch as his heart began to pound a little louder under the cleansing of his
chest. 

“There too?” Just to be sure Die asked, when he paid his attention to the
front. He didn’t mind, not at all, but he didn’t want to make any mistakes
either.

Kaoru simply gave a short nod. It was almost like another challenge between
them. How far would Die go? How far would Kaoru let him go? Was Die really that
oblivious to what he did? To what they did. Any normal person would consider
that as sexual, probably foreplay even. That to Die it all was nothing but a
job, the smaller man somehow couldn’t believe at all. But he should be proved
wrong as the man behind him started to wash his belly, even when his hand had to
slip underneath the water in order to. It was getting far more interesting once
he reached the lower stomach and hips. But Kaoru tried to act cool. This was
just Die, the stupid bummer he had found on the road in nothing but his skin.
Nevertheless same one didn’t even stop at Kaoru’s lower regions and just
washed as assiduously as ever his crotch.

Shutting his eyes tightly, Kaoru tried to remain unaffected but he miserably
failed. Blood shot in his loins as Die unaware provoked a stirring between
Kaoru’s legs. No good. Not good at all. Defeated, almost in panic, he suddenly
raised his body and sat upright, taking some deep and long breaths. “That’s
enough.”

“Really? I can do your legs as well if you want,” Die offered with a smile,
not minding to wash the whole Kaoru and not just the upper parts. Besides, it
had been nicely warm lying together with the other man inside the small bathtub
with all the water surrounding them. 

“No,” he replied almost harshly and got up. “Clean yourself.” He stepped
out of the tub and grabbed a towel that he quickly fastened around his hips,
before he made his way out, leaving Die alone in the bathroom. What was he doing
for God’s sake? Why had he let Die take a bath together with him? Wash him
even! And why in seven hells did he respond to the touch? He was such a cool and
unimpressed guy in most situations, even in bed if he really wanted to, but Die
was just strolling in his life and messing everything up!

Carelessly Kaoru marched through the house until he had reached his bedroom,
getting dressed in a hurry. But Die wouldn’t win, Kaoru vowed to himself. He
damn was a pretty cool guy, much cooler than the other, no, any other, much more
desired by everybody else and he would not let himself grow weak for such a
dimwit as Die! He rubbed the cotton of the towel across his messy head and
sloppily discarded the wet clothe on the floor. Next he stopped in the kitchen
where he quickly brewed himself a mug of coffee, the caffeine always
appreciated. It was hard with Die, nobody would believe him. His intentions were
to make the guy work and not to bed him. In a way honest if one asked Kaoru. And
he really tried not to do anything with Die, not to touch him or to seduce him.
But how would you react when a gorgeous thing like Die told you he had never
kissed anybody before? What would you do if he just slipped into the same
bathtub as you? How would you help him if he had locked himself up in a toilet
cubicle? Yes, any sane gay would’ve screwed him long ago. But that was out of
question for Kaoru. 

He smoked another cigarette and drank his coffee, all the while pondering about
what to do. He needed to clear his mind! That was what he should do. With a
small nod he marched back inside the bathroom, grabbed the hairdryer and started
to style his hair. Once done, he faced Die who was busy toying with the foam.
“You know, the water gets cold. You better not catch a cold. Just fill some
more hot water in and sit until you’re wizened. I’m gonna go out. Don’t
wait for me.”

Kaoru didn’t wait for any response when he turned on his heal and made his way
out. He grabbed his jacket, cigarettes and phone and fetched the keys before he
slipped in his shoes and finally left. He didn’t even take the car. A walk
would do just fine. Fresh air was perfect to free his mind from Die. Maybe he
would find a solution that was acceptable for him. 

Inside the bathtub Die just scratched his neck and shrugged his shoulders. Kaoru
had been right. The water was getting cold and he turned on the faucet in order
to fill it with hot water again. But why would he sit until he was wizened?
Taking a look at his fingers his eyes grew wide. He really turned wizened. Was
that normal? If only Kaoru would be still here. Then he could ask him. But he
had said that Die shouldn’t wait for him, so he just prayed that his skin
wouldn’t look like this for the rest of his human life.

How much time had passed Kaoru didn’t know as he kept on walking and staring
down at his own feet. It was cold outside, a little chilly even, but he didn’t
mind. The air cooled him down, calmed him and enabled him to think properly. He
lit another cigarette and pondered. He had simply made mistakes. He shouldn’t
have offered to kiss Die. If that kiss hadn’t happened in the first place,
then Kaoru would’ve been cool enough not to react on Die’s touch. That was
it and it was alone Kaoru’s fault. In order to keep the whole thing to a
business relationship, he just needed to define some borders more precisely. No
kissing, no touching, no bathing together, not even going out would be allowed.
Eating together was the maximum of extent in which their connection should
revolve. And Kaoru should be perfectly fine with that. There were other guys who
were and would be happy to please the wealthy lawyer and once he was finished
with Die on the business level, then Kaoru could still have him if he really
wanted. Given that he would be still interested. Kaoru that was. 

The ringing of his cell phone nearly startled him and he was hoping that it
wasn’t Die who had figured out how to make a call. Reading the name on the
screen Kaoru sighed, partly in relief that indeed there was no Die calling him
but Toshiya, which resulted in the sigh being partially in annoyance. What could
it be that HE wanted to talk about with his best buddy? Probably about something
with a name that included only three letters. “Oh well,” Kaoru muttered
under his breath and pressed the phone to his ear. “What is it?”

“Am I disturbing you?” The other man’s voice was unusually small and
almost whiney. He hadn’t done anything wrong, had he? Lately Kaoru was really
in a weird mood, he thought and just tried to be patient with him, as patient as
he always was, maybe a little bit more. “Just wanted to ask if you’d like to
go out?”

“If I want to go out or if you’re gonna see Die again?” The bitter words
passed his lips before he had even thought about them. But it didn’t matter.
That Toshiya wanted to enjoy Die’s company was okay, but it still made Kaoru
feel betrayed. 

“Both?” Carefully Toshi answered, guessing that Kaoru was pissed that he
asked for the redhead as well. “I want you to come along, not Die. But I
would’ve still asked IF he comes along. He is your 'whatever he is to you' and
so the question logically crosses my mind.” True, Toshiya liked Die but in the
end Kaoru was his friend and he didn’t complain about him having a 'slave
trophy' living in his house either. The whole shit about doing a favor for a
stupid judge was hardly believable, even if Kaoru did a lot of things to gain
success. But keeping a guest and hosting him like this was very unlike the
lawyer. 

Taking a deep breath, Kaoru let his friend’s words run through his mind before
he finally replied, coming to see that there was no harm meant in Toshiya’s
question. “No, I don’t wanna go out,” he explained while another thought
crossed his mind. “But I wouldn’t exactly mind if you and Die go out.”
Some time alone would certainly be good for him, he concluded. “That is
you’d like to?”

“That a trick question?” The other man couldn’t help but ask. His friend
hadn’t sounded as if he would be pleased if he asked for Die’s presence. 

“No, it isn’t.” Kaoru tried to keep his annoyance low. “I’m just not
in the mood to go out. But Die might be and you are anyway, right?”

“Yup, but just to make this clear: I didn’t ask for Die in the first
place.” Toshiya was still a little suspicious. 

“I know that. Just make sure not to get into trouble.” He didn’t want to
use a phrase like 'take care of Die'. Not now when he was still pissed off.
Nonetheless he knew about Toshiya’s carelessness and Die’s naïve and stupid
nature. “And pick him up at my place. I’m not at home right now.”

“Okay, no problem.” He didn’t asked where his friend was since Kaoru
usually was everywhere and nowhere at the same time, always busy either
privately or in business. “Say, I’m just asking out of curiosity but why did
you leave all of a sudden last night?”

“Die wasn’t feeling well,” he just stated, not even lying. “But he’s
fine now. When you pick him up, take the spare key and keep it, will you? Even
after you’ve brought him home again. Alright?” Kaoru still didn’t trust
Die to 100 percent and Toshiya had been his friend for long enough not to mess
up with any of the lawyer’s belongings.

“Aye Sir.” Toshiya even nodded, although Kaoru couldn’t see him. “I’ll
just pick him up then and take care. See you another time then.”

“Sure.” With that Kaoru hung up. A small sigh escaped his lips. There was
relief in him. Yes, he needed some space from the redhead, needed it to come to
terms with his thoughts. Tomorrow he’d go back to work, appreciated routine,
and he would include Die as best as he could. Until then he didn’t want to be
faced with him or what kind of things he stirred in Kaoru. It was for the best.
Stuffing away his cell phone, he took one last drag from his cigarette before he
threw the remains aside and continued his walk.




-End of chapter five-



                            Kapitel 6: Chapter Five
                            -----------------------


 Hellishly quick this time, eh? Get a cookie now? Anyway, this chapter is only a
little shorter but I had to cut it here, or else the plot would be messed up.
You’ll see now that this is heading in all kinds of wrong directions but I
promise to make it up in the next chapter! Aaand... Don't. Ask. About. Ruki! ^_^
*blames it on * 



Several thoughts ran through Die’s head as he sat next to Toshiya in a bar
they had chosen. He had been surprised to find the dark-haired male on the
doorstep after Die had finished taking his bath. He was happy even and had
instantly asked the other man if his wizened skin was normal. To his relief
Toshi confirmed that it would gain its old smooth self in mere minutes but broke
out into hysterical laughter nonetheless. After they had drunk some coffee, made
by Toshiya while Die was watching closely, both of them left. Die didn’t mind
going out, even although he would’ve liked Kaoru to join them. But he had said
that there was no need to wait for him and so, what else could the former angel
do but coming along with the other man?

Die was wondering though. Since last night his point of view had somehow
changed. He had asked Kaoru about sex and had even gathered his very first kiss.
But Cupid wouldn’t have been proud, oh no, because Die had simply cared about
nothing but himself. Even if Kaoru was a busy man, it appeared that there was no
partner in his life, no person he loved, no man who loved him in return. When
did Kaoru have sex? When did he kiss? These questions occupied Die and his
conscience took its toll on him as he nearly zoned out while the other man was
clearly talking to him.

“Toshiya, can I ask you something?” Not on purpose Die meant to be rude,
cutting in whatever Toshiya had been babbling about. Only when his lips stopped
moving and he paid his attention to the redhead, same one went on. “You are
Kaoru’s best friend, aren’t you?”

Not able to suppress a small chuckle, Toshiya shrugged. “Yeah, I’m probably
the only one he has.”

That statement left Die a little perplexed. “But he’s popular amongst other
people, isn’t he? He knows many guys and I’ve seen him chat with some.”

“But they’re not his friends,” he scoffed and took a sip from his drink.
“Not even one of them.”

“Why do they do this then? They seem to like him,” Die countered. If they
wanted to gain the lawyer’s interest, why wouldn’t they want to be his
friend?

Sighing quietly, Toshiya shook his head. “But they don’t wanna be true
friends. They wanna be part of his popularity. I mean, Kaoru is successful,
wealthy and he’s got the looks. But honestly, he’s not even a nice
person.” He just spoke the truth. If there was anyone who liked him the way he
actually was, then it was Toshiya. But hell, even he couldn’t love him in that
special way. “Tell me, Die. Do you like Kaoru and for what?”

That was a little too much information for Die at once and he needed some time
to think about what he got told. That this world, humankind and Earth weren’t
just lovely and nice, he had come to know already but he was still shocked to
hear that people only socialized out of materialistic motives. But at least
Kaoru had one real friend, Toshiya, or now two, including Die. Why Toshi had
said that Kaoru wasn’t nice, the former angel didn’t understand though. But
he would answer his question honestly. “I do like Kaoru for he is nice to
me.”

Raising his brows the other man tilted his head and sent a doubtful glance at
Die. “Is he nice to you? Or are you just grateful 'cause he helps you? You can
be honest, Die. I won’t tell him.”

Furrowing his eyebrows the redhead vehemently shook his head. Why was this
stupid world so skeptic about everything? “Of course I am grateful but I do
like him as well. He’s shown a lot of things to me and I’ve learned from him
just as many things.” To emphasize his words he nodded this time but,
comparing Kaoru to other guys, he still had to admit that Toshiya had a point
too. “Maybe he’s not as friendly as others but that doesn’t mean I don’t
like him. And you also like him, right?”

“Yes,” the black-haired man gave in and sighed. “And I didn’t mean any
offence. It’s just a fact that most of the time Kaoru’s an arrogant,
insensitive, sometimes gruff, sneaky, very selfish and conceited guy, who
doesn’t give a shit about most people. So naturally I’m wondering why you
like him.”

“Why do you like him?” The question popped into Die’s head all of a
sudden. If Toshiya was right and Kaoru inhabited all of those attributes, then
why was Toshi his friend at all? He didn’t even talk about him in kind words
and there was a small part of the former guardian angel that wanted to defend
the lawyer.

“That’s something else,” he replied and reached out for his cigarettes,
before he put one between his lips and lit it, inhaling the smoke deeply. “I
know him for so long. There is indeed a good guy inside of him but he just
hardly lets him out.”

“But why? Why is Kaoru like that?” It still didn’t make sense to Die.

Taking a deep breath, Toshiya smiled a little and shrugged. “I dunno exactly.
In a way he’s always been like that, just not that much. His father died
early. He had been a lawyer. That’s probably why Kaoru wanted to be one. I got
to know him during college when we were forced to share a room with each other,
even though we didn’t take the same courses. But they probably thought that it
was a good idea since we had attended the same highschool. The thing was just
that during that time we had never talked to each other. Kaoru had been a
distant guy even back then.”

Intently Die listened to every small word of Toshiya’s story as he continued.
“We weren’t friends but suddenly room mates. That’s why I tried to talk to
him, so that we wouldn’t just live in the same room but exchange a few words
as well. It was awkward to live with a silent guy like Kaoru whose nose was
always stuck in books. I often asked him if he wanted to come along whenever I
knew there was a party going on but he always shook his head and refused my
offers. At one point I had already lost hope and was about to give up
when...”

Toshiya paused to sip from his drink, his throat becoming dry since he was
talking that much. Die on the other hand couldn’t wait for the other man to go
on. It was exciting to hear all the things that happened before he had learned
to know his host. “What then? What happened?”

“When I suddenly noticed a change,” Toshiya chuckled and grinned a little.
“He was going out all of a sudden and he often talked on the phone to someone
else. But I already knew by hearsay that he wasn’t exactly interested in
girls. So once he was in a rather good mood, I just asked him if he had a
boyfriend. Gods, just the memory!” He shook his head, laughing lowly.
“Kaoru, the very same, could not even hide his grin.”

“What did it mean? Did he have a boyfriend?” Die didn’t quite get if that
was what Kaoru had been talking about concerning being in love. He had said that
one just had to think of that person they were in love with, so that it would
make them smile and be happy.

“Yes,” the other man grinned crookedly. “That had been the first time we
really talked to each other. I told him that I was also into guys and he told me
about his boyfriend. Ruki was his name. A beautiful guy if you ask me. I only
met him once but he was just stunning,” Toshiya dreamily explained. “I think
he was Kaoru’s first and probably the only one he ever loved.”

“What happened to Ruki?” Obviously he wasn’t together with Kaoru anymore
and Die wondered what could’ve happened that had destroyed their love.

“The thing that always leads to broken hearts.” The dark-haired man sadly
smiled.

“Did he die?” The redhead couldn’t help his gasp and stared with wide eyes
at Toshiya, who luckily shook his head. A sigh of relief escaped Die before he
just needed to ask: “What kind of thing then?”

“Another man happened.” Seeing Die’s naïve way of thinking Toshiya just
had to smile. It was cute that he was expecting something that tragic. Of course
back then Kaoru hadn’t been happy but it was so long ago that actually he
should be over it. “The bastard had found a replacement for Kao and that of
course broke his heart. That’s when he changed again.”

“How?” Die’s heart went out to the man he had grown to like so much. It
just wasn’t fair. If only an angel had been there to guide them.

“He just took the news and mourned in his very own way, studied even harder,
took more courses but also accompanied me to all kinds of parties and clubs. He
was trying to distract himself from thinking of Ruki and crying over him,
that’s for sure. Occupational therapy,” Toshi chuckled again and cast a
glance at Die who was looking as if he was about to cry. Huge orbs stared at him
in question, so Toshiya continued with his story. “I tried to talk to Kaoru,
but he always said that even if he appreciates my offer he’d be fine and there
was nothing to talk about. But he turned grumpy and selfish.”

Die dropped his gaze and his shoulders visibly sank. If that was the reason for
Kaoru not to be nice anymore, then it was in a way Die’s fault. Where had he
been when Ruki and Kaoru had needed some guidance? Why hadn’t there been an
angel helping them? If now Kaoru would live unhappily for the rest of his life,
then it was because nobody had send them some help from Heaven. That wasn’t
fair, really not. But maybe...

A thought crossed his mind. Maybe he could just help Kaoru to fall in love again
and finally find his perfect match. “He doesn’t have a boyfriend now, does
he?”

“Kao? Nope, he never has.” A dark eyebrow rose in curiosity what could
possibly be on Die’s mind. He wasn’t interested in Kaoru, was he? “He
hardly even meets a guy more than once.”

Even if it was meant to make Die see that Kaoru just dropped any guy after
sharing the bed with him, it simply made the redhead sad. Sad for the other man.
Wasn’t it sad that he never fell in love again, never felt that special
feeling anymore, the one he had told Die about. And the former angel was sure
that his friend longed to fall in love again. Humans were supposed to, he had
learned. He just needed to find him a match.

When his gaze met the dark-haired male next to him, his eyes lit up. “Do you
have a boyfriend, Toshi?”

“Not at the moment.” The other man smiled, the suspicion about the
possibility of Die having an interest in Kaoru forgotten the moment he had
directed the question at Toshiya. “There are so many gorgeous guys but many
jerks as well.”

“Kaoru is gorgeous.” It was a statement in order to check Toshiya’s
reaction.

A chuckle that was, even a little bitter. “He sure is. As well as a jerk.”

“But you are his friend.” Die was testing further.

“And you are heading somewhere I suppose?” He knew that Die usually didn’t
beat about the bush. So Toshiya leant forward and fastened his eyes on his
companion, waiting for him to ask straight away what was bugging his pretty
head.

“Have you never fallen for him?” As serious as Die hardly was, he just
stared back at Toshiya. “You know him best. You appreciate him the way he is
and obviously you see the good guy inside of him that he hardly shows, referring
to what you’ve said earlier. Also you said he’s got the looks. Has there
never been anything between you two?” It was a perfect argumentation and Die
felt a little like Kaoru after he had delivered a pleading at a trial.

And indeed Toshiya almost felt like an accused being faced with such an inquiry.
His brows shot up and he took a moment, before he was ready to reply.
“You’re not completely wrong, I admit, but I can honestly say that I’ve
never fallen for him. He just isn’t the right one for me, believe me. Truth be
told, we had this one incident during our college days but we had been awfully
drunk and I hardly even remember what it felt like.”

“Who knows? Maybe you would’ve fallen for him if you were able to
remember.” Die tried again, giving up not an option right now.

“Maybe. But I don’t think so. Just trust me. Kaoru and I would end up in a
mess.” With that he dismissed the thought and tried to change the subject. He
was getting tired of talking about Kaoru. Nonetheless he would love to know more
about the red-haired guy his was accompanied by. “What about you, Die? Are you
into guys or do you prefer the ladies?”

But Die wasn’t dismissing anything so far. He mentally saved all the
information he had gathered this evening and once the time would be right, it
would be his turn to ask Kaoru about some things. Until then he would try to
answer Toshiya’s questions. “I don’t know. I haven’t fallen for anybody
so far.”

“Not at all? Like, never?” Toshiya just couldn’t believe this.

“Nope, never. But I intend to.” A certain nod accompanied his statement and
made Toshiya laugh. Die was really a funny guy and he couldn’t take him
serious. The way he said things just had to be meant as jokes.

Shaking his head Toshiya just smiled, softly chuckling, as he lifted his glass
and flashed the cutest smile he could provide as well as a wink. “Good luck
then!”

A huge smile broke out in Die’s face. To have friends was a cool thing!
Nevertheless he couldn’t get rid of the thought what would happen if he
succeeded in making Kaoru and Toshiya fall in love. It would gain him access
back to Heaven according to God. That was fore sure. And although he liked the
life as a human so far, it was also hard, much harder than being an angel. Being
human was fun but being an angel was just being without any worries. Plus it
would have the effect that God would be impressed, that was if Die succeeded. So
basically he would chose going back to Heaven. But then he would certainly miss
Kaoru and Toshiya.

Tricky, tricky.

***

Back at home there was a strange feeling that overcame Kaoru, when he entered
the house. He had never realized how empty his home could appear. He had almost
expected Die to sit on the sofa while he was watching another stupid game show
or whatever was on, flashing a bright grin at Kaoru, once he stepped across the
threshold. But there was nobody, the house was dark and the only sound was the
low buzzing of the refrigerator. Yet, Die had been the first thing that had
popped up in Kaoru’s head and he wished he would stop thinking of the silly
nutcase for once.

But luckily some problems solved themselves. Whenever Kaoru needed some
distraction, there were two options: work or sex. And sometimes he could even
have both. He hadn’t even shrugged off his jacket when his cell phone was
already ringing, the name on the display promising a lot of distraction. Yuki
Kobayashi was in trouble again. Nothing unusual but important nevertheless.
Kaoru got into his car and fetched the slightly younger man from a police
station in Shibuya, before they both headed for the lawyer’s office in order
to discuss how the problem could be handled.

Yuki had gained himself a drink-driving charge and first thing he had done was
an attempt to bribe the police officer. After gathering all the necessary
details and information, Kaoru decided to plead in mitigation, making up a story
behind the fact that Yuki had been drunk when he was driving a car. Fortunately
nothing serious had happened anyway. It would at least lead to mitigation of
punishment, even if Kobayashi would be forced to do some community work.

Yuki hadn’t even expected anything else from his lawyer and grateful that he
was as good as saved from some time in jail, he went to gather some food that
both of them ate after work. But as soon as the most important thing was done,
Kaoru couldn’t help but wonder if Die would be alright. One could never know.
He could be drunk as well; could be tempted to drive a car – God forbid! –
or worse: seduced, raped, and beaten up. Sure, that wasn’t likely to happen.
There was still Toshiya around who would keep an eye on the redhead but
everything was possible in this world. Not even Kaoru could tell for a 100
percent that nothing like that would happen.

“Kaoru?” Kobayashi tried hard to gain the other man’s attention, gazing
intently in his eyes. He had been staring out of the window for at least the
last ten minutes and Yuki didn’t like being ignored at all. “You don’t
listen to a single word I say, do you? I just hope it’s something important
that keeps your mind busy, or else I’d be hurt.”

The lawyer turned to look at his client, a small frown appeared on his features.
He didn’t even have an excuse for his absent mind since that hardly ever
happened to him. Kaoru tiredly blinked with his eyelids, hoping to give the
impression that he was plainly overworked. Luckily it seemed to help.

“You work hard,” Yuki said and got up from his chair, slowly making his way
around the table to where Kaoru was sitting. “You ought to have some
treatment.” He only stopped when he was standing right behind the other man,
before he leant downward and laid his palms on his shoulders, bowing his head
down until his lips were close to Kaoru’s ear. “I surely could help you
relax.” Yuki just twisted his head enough for his lips to place them right on
the spot underneath the other man’s ear, close to his jaw.

Usually it elicited a small grin along with Kaoru tilting his head, but this
time it plainly felt uncomfortable. He couldn’t tell why but he pulled away,
straightening in his chair. “Don’t.”

“Don’t?” Kobayashi was baffled. Not that he wasn’t used to rejection but
he never liked it, especially not from someone like Kaoru, who never complained
about Yuki’s way of relaxing him. “There has to be a good reason for you
reacting that way. Or else you wouldn’t dare pushing me away.”

It was the way how Yuki put things that made Kaoru even a little angry. Sure,
that one client had some priorities others hadn’t, but only because they had a
deal and both of them would never claim the other to be theirs. Didn’t it
include that the lawyer could say No whenever he wanted to? He didn’t turn
around when he apologized more or less monotonously. “I just don’t feel
well. That’s all.”

Straightening his back Kobayashi closed the buttons of his white jacket and
turned to look out of the window. He was sure that Kaoru wouldn’t dare to lie
and risk to lose him as a well-paying client. Of course he could refuse an offer
but it was still unlike him. Yet, if Kaoru didn’t like to have some fun, then
someone else did for sure. Somebody, somewhere. “Okay, then I better get
going.” Facing Kaoru, he put on a smile and went to gather his belongings.
“Call me as soon as you know the amount I’ll have to pay for my freedom.”

Kaoru silently nodded and Yuki Kobayashi turned on his heels, leaving with his
head high. He was just too full of himself sometimes, Kaoru thought and took a
deep breath. He couldn’t quite grasp why he had refused the offered sex.
Hadn’t he longed for that? It would’ve been a promise not only about
distraction but about fantastic sexual intercourse as well. That wasn’t to
deny. The only reason Kaoru could come up with, was that he was simply annoyed
by Yuki’s general behavior all of a sudden. The way he spoke irritated Kaoru.
All of his antics appeared false and mood-killing for any kind of sexual
desire.

Wiping his palm across his face, Kaoru mentally shrugged and shook his head. He
didn’t care much anyway, packed his papers and left shortly after. For the
time he took until he was back at home, at least his mind had stilled. He
didn’t think of anything at all, just concentrating on the road ahead. But
once he entered his empty house again, the same thoughts as earlier invaded his
mind. Obviously Die still wasn’t back at home. Kaoru had even checked the
guestroom and as there was not a sign of the redhead, he simply went up the
stairs and locked himself in his bedroom. Sleep sounded tempting.

It wasn’t even past midnight when Die and Toshiya arrived back at the Niikura
residence. As promised to Kaoru, Toshiya kept the key but unlocked the door for
Die to get inside. The question if they should drink a cup of coffee together
was politely declined from the former angel. He knew some rules already, also
that he would’ve to get up early the next morning and the few beers he had
had, made him feel tired enough to hit the sheets instantly. He wished his
friend a good night and was rewarded with a peck on his cheek.

“Sleep tight,” Toshiya winked at him and made his way out. “Sweet dreams,
Die.”

He smiled at the other man as same one closed the door, before Die cast a glance
up the stairs. He didn’t know whether Kaoru was already back or not, hadn’t
seen him at all after their bath together, and he would’ve liked to just go up
the stairs and check on him. But as long as he wasn’t allowed to go in there,
he could only stare at the door from where he stood. There was nothing but
silence and Die just hoped that his friend was already fast asleep. Shrugging,
he slowly made him way to get some sleep too.

Little did Die know that Kaoru was still awake, staring at the ceiling in the
darkness of his room. He hadn’t made it to fall asleep at all. The silence had
been deafening around him. Then he had heard Toshiya’s car in the driveway,
the front-door being opened and also the voices of both men. The sound of
Die’s likeable voice was kind, even if Kaoru didn’t understand what he was
actually saying. And the voice of Toshiya... let’s not even go there.
Sometimes it varied on a scale between high and cheerful as well as calm and
monotone within one sentence thrice. But soon enough the whole house was quiet
again and Kaoru simply assumed that Toshiya had left and Die was in his bed. As
long as Toshiya wasn’t in the same bed, everything was fine. It took Kaoru
some more minutes to finally rest his mind, convinced that there was nobody but
Die, soundly asleep.

When the alarm clock was ringing the next morning, the lawyer got up quickly as
usual. Routine made it easier to forget happenings and distract a person from
certain things, and so he simply made his way downstairs, switched on the coffee
machine, went into the bathroom and finally, after a refreshing morning shower,
into Die’s bedroom, ready to wake the sleepyhead. But Kaoru stopped for a
moment and just watched the scene in front of his eyes. Nope, there wasn’t
another man, which was a relief, really. There was only Die, entangled in the
sheets, lying there in a mess of body and cotton. The odd thing was just that
his head was underneath the covers and his cute but pale behind sticking out on
the side.

Kaoru drew up an eyebrow and mentally sighed. People truly had not a clue how
much strength of a gay man it afforded not to touch that cute dimwit. Forcing
his eyes off the red-haired man, he opened the small closet and pulled out some
of Die’s clothes, before he threw them on the bed. “Die. Get up. There’s
work ahead.”

His voice had been loud enough to make Die stir and pull his butt underneath the
covers and into the warmth it provided, before he poked out his head and
sleepily blinked with his eyelids. Only then Kaoru nodded and turned. He could
already smell the coffee, which was the first of the daily things he needed.
After a quick visit inside of his bedroom, just to get dressed in a proper
fashion, suit and tie, he made his way back into the kitchen, sat down with a
cup of steaming black coffee and lit a cigarette.

Rubbing one eye with the knuckle of his hand, Die entered the kitchen as well
and after gathering himself something to eat and coffee, he shoved his butt on a
chair. They only exchanged their good morning greetings, Kaoru’s monotonous
one and Die’s cheery one, before they sat in silence. Minutes later the lawyer
already got up and fetched his briefcase with all the necessary papers, before
he signaled Die to leave. The reason why the redhead was silent was simple as he
already pondered how to approach Kaoru and ask him about his best friend and
their relation. But all too soon they arrived the building with the lawyer’s
office, went through the daily greeting ritual and finally passed by the
secretary’s desk.

Yet, something was missing. Or rather someone. The secretary. It didn’t even
take the time for Kaoru to tilt his head and question why her place was empty,
before one of the other employees arrived and bowed. “Good morning, Mr.
Niikura. Mr. Andou,” he didn’t miss to bow at Die as well, even if he
couldn’t tell what kind of work he did for his boss. “I’m afraid Ms.
Suzuki called in sick.”

A small sound of annoyance slipped from Kaoru’s lips, annoyed since it
wasn’t the first time the woman had been sick this year. It often happened,
too often maybe. But when his eyes shifted to look at Die, he instantly had an
idea. “You do her job.”

“I?” The other man pointed his index finger at himself while a smile was
rising on his lips. He had no clue what kind of work he would’ve do to, not
precisely anyway, but he was open for anything.

“Yes, you.” Kaoru nodded curtly and went in front of Mai’s desk, gesturing
with his hand for Die to take her place. “There’s no big deal in doing her
job. Just answer the calls.”

“Calls? Alright,” Die repeated and sat down on the chair, inspecting the
phone.

“Whenever the thing rings, lift the ear piece and reply with: ‘This is Kaoru
Niikura’s law office, how can I help you?’. The person on the other end will
tell you their name and concern and you’ll simply take this,” Kaoru grasped
the register with all the addresses of his clients and skimmed through some
pages, “and look if their name’s already in here. If not, put them through
to any of the other guys.” He pointed with his finger to the other people who
were obviously working in the other rooms. “Take whatever line is free. Just
push one of the buttons on the phone here,” he explained further. “If their
name’s in the register, write down their name and phone number, then tell them
I’ll call them back. Got that?”

“Yeah.” Die nodded several times, sure that he could do that. He liked
talking. This shouldn’t be a problem at all.

“Great. I’ll be just inside my office and work through some important files.
Make sure not to disturb me,” he told the redhead and snatched the organizer
with all his important appointments from Suzuki’s desk as well as the unopened
mail. With that he left Die on his own.

In the beginning it was hard for Die. He made several mistakes, missed to ask
how he could help them, missed to get their names, failed to put them through
and hung up on people by accident. But soon he managed better, kindly asking for
their names and concern, putting them through to the other lawyers working here
and noting their requests for Kaoru to call them back. He even changed his
routine entry sentence a little and put in the phrase ‘Die speaking’ since
it sounded more considerate in his opinion.

The coffee automat had been a temporary problem as well since Die didn’t even
know that he needed to put in some money before anything came out. But luckily a
nice young lady crossed his path and noticed his helpless stare. With an amused
smile, she had assumed that he had forgotten his money, before she simply had
been nice enough to pay for the round of coffee. That he simply headed away with
a smile and a statement of gratitude, she hadn’t expected.

The day passed by quickly and Die was amazed that Mai seemed to have so much to
do with just taking all the calls that came in during a day. But once in a while
he had some free minutes and snagged another of the books from the shelf,
reading in it. Late, when all the other employees had already gone, Kaoru came
out of his office, his jacket casually put across his arm. He rewarded Die with
a respectful nod since he had indeed managed to keep the lawyer undisturbed.
Only when he was faced with the long list of names and concerns from his
clients, he sighed and told Die that next time, he can come and bring him the
list from time to time.

They didn’t do much after work, mostly just fetching some food before they
ate, while sometimes Kaoru would just tell Die about the cases he was working
on. Die intently listened, asking his typical questions once in a while, but
Kaoru tried to answer them at least. He couldn’t deny that he liked someone
who was interested in what he did. It was one of the things he remembered from
his childhood. That his father had come home and told his family about what he
had done. And they would simply listen, just ask a question every now and then,
while his father would go on with his stories.

Now here Kaoru was with Die. But Die wasn’t his family and still the closest
to a family Kaoru would ever have as weird as it sounded. It was a strange
feeling but not too unpleasant at all. And so their days kept on passing by
since Mai apparently would be sick for some more days and Die simply did the job
better and better in time. Obviously the clients liked his friendly manner, the
kind way he was talking to them and even his funny side, whenever he didn’t
get some things in the first place. Kaoru had silently observed the whole
matter, keeping an invisible eye on the redhead so to speak. But since people
had even told him that they liked the ‘new guy’, he didn’t mind leaving
Die in this position, at least until Suzuki would be back.

After some time he even trusted Die to open and sort the mail for him, to look
through different files and folders in order to find needed legitimate fundament
and even to make some of his appointments. Sometimes he dared to leave him alone
whenever Kaoru had to go to the court, and on other days he preferred Die to
come along. It depended on the cases and his clients. When Shinji Sakamoto had
invited them for dinner in order to prepare the first trial about the matter
concerning his son, Die had pleasantly joined in since the old man had
particularly asked for his presence.

Toshiya had been asking for Die as well. The three of them had had lunch once
during the week but they had never gone out in the evenings. Too spent from work
Die had preferred to sleep early but he was looking forward to go out and meet
Kaoru’s best friend on the next weekend. He was hoping for a chance to get
them involved into something when the three of them would be on the move in this
city.

His hopes should become shattered though when finally on Friday evening Kaoru
simply spilled some news to Die while they were in the car on their way back
home. “I’d like you not to go out tonight. Our flight’s set early in the
morning.”

“Flight?” Wide-eyed Die gaped at Kaoru who was trying to hide his small
grin. The former angel hadn’t been flying since back then when he was in
Heaven and owned wings himself but he knew that humans flew in machines called
planes. “We’ll fly somewhere?”

“Yes, we’re gonna fly to Okinawa tomorrow morning,” Kaoru informed and
cast a short glance at his companion who was still looking at him in surprise.
“We’re going to meet Reiji Sakamoto’s lawyer and his wife. That dinner
will have a high importance in this case, believe me. And I need you to come
along.” He had purposefully added that he was in need of Die’s help. Maybe
Kaoru wasn’t exactly in need but at least he wanted to make good use of his
beautiful assistant.

“Wow, really? That’s cool!” He couldn’t hide his excitement, even if it
meant that his plans for the weekend were cancelled, or rather in need to get
postponed. A trip together with his friend sounded much too tempting than to
mourn anyway and the importance of their business trip was adding extra
anticipation. Besides, he really liked the old Sakamoto guy and if he could help
him against his son, then Die would do almost anything. “Why are we going to
meet his lawyer and not him personally?”

“Because this isn’t really a business dinner,” Kaoru tried to explain the
unusual act between the two lawyers. “I know him. He called me when he got to
know that I would defend Jinji. That’s when I offered the dinner.”

“Nice,” Die remarked with a smile.

“Indeed. This will be all nice on the outside but I’m sure he’ll try
everything to get me intimidated.” Kaoru took a deep breath. He couldn’t
really explain this to Die. He wouldn’t understand it anyway. “However, you
better pack some things when we’re back at home. We won’t be back before
Sunday evening.”

A huge smile spread on Die’s lips at the thought of Kaoru and him making a
little journey. It just sounded too exciting! He had never been to Okinawa, not
even as an angel. And the whole weekend was certainly a longer time than Kaoru
and he would take to go out for one dinner with that other lawyer and his wife.
Even cooler, Die thought, looking forward to the whole thing!



-End of chapter six-



                           Kapitel 7: Chapter Seven
                           ------------------------


There was a stupid smile plastered across Die’s face as he sat in the plane
and looked out of the window, once again able to admire the clouds from above.
Their plane had taken off half an hour ago and from the moment on Die had taken
his place down in the seat, he had been watching the heaven. It was weird though
because in human form, he couldn’t see any of the other angels.

Last night Kaoru had shown Die how to use the washing machine and the dryer, so
he could pack all the few clothes he owned. Once his suitcase was filled and Die
was pleased, he had gone to bed in order to sleep early, so that the next
morning would come soon. Too excited looking forward to the trip, of course he
couldn’t sleep at all, read some more pages in his latest book and tried to
imagine what kind of place Okinawa would be. Late at night, he had no clue when,
Die finally fell asleep dreaming of him and Kaoru having a wonderful holiday.

And now his dream seemed to come true. Next to him was Kaoru who tried to work
through some papers he had brought along and right here in this seat the former
angel sat and couldn’t stop smiling. Once they had safely landed back on the
ground, Die wasn’t just excited anymore, but really bouncy. He couldn’t help
it. He felt like he had the energy of a dozen men in this one human body he
owned. Rewarded with a huge smile from his companion, the smaller man pretty
much looked like the complete opposite, right now shading his eyes with his
sunglasses. But Die just merrily hopped along wherever his friend was going.

After a short ride in a taxi, they arrived their hotel. Again Die was plainly
and completely impressed. Mouth agape, he stared at everything and nearly
everyone as well, like when a group of men, all clad in black suits and their
cell phones attached to their ears, passed him by, or when an old lady with her
poodle crossed his path. Of course Kaoru had noticed that Die was openly staring
at people but for all he cared, as long as he wasn’t being stared at, he
didn’t pity them for his companion’s rudeness.

It took Kaoru merely his credit card and a signature to check in before they
were led into one of the rooms on the top floor. And while Kaoru made sure to
close the door after the footboy, Die just stood in the middle of the room and
stared at the double bed. As far as he could tell, there was no spare room for
him and obviously he would sleep right next to Kaoru. The thought instantly made
his lips curl into a smile.

“Great, now you’re grinning at a bed,” Kaoru remarked with slight sarcasm
as he squeezed himself past Die and claimed the side of the bed that was closer
to the bathroom. If he didn’t know his naïve companion, he’d dare to say
that he had kinky thoughts, seeing that grin. But chances were non-existent in
that meaning. It was nothing but another silly smile.

Shrugging, Die marched over to his side of the bed and dropped his bag next to
it, before he sat down on it, laid down, and then got back on his feet. “I
never slept next to you before,” he explained as if it was the most natural
thing to say. “This is kinda... exciting.”

“You have no clue,” the other man muttered under his breath and unpacked a
few of his clothes in order to get changed for the occasion. There were people,
and that Kaoru knew for sure, who would be more than just excited, prospectively
spending the night with him, but Die was more like a kid who was about to
experience his first slumber party.

The taller man walked over to the huge window and the view simply took his
breath away. Not only did he see almost the whole city but also the ocean.
“Wow... Kao, look at this. I can see the ocean from here.”

Looking at Die, or rather his back, a few moments passed by before Kaoru got up
and slowly walked next to the redhead. There wasn’t anything he would’ve to
say. He didn’t even need to look at the ocean but he was in awe about how
amazed one person could get about small things like this. Like a young boy
desiring a toy, Die kept on gazing at the horizon, the ocean obviously taking
his breath away. Kaoru mildly shook his head and turned to take a look inside
the bag Die had brought. He better looked stunning tonight!

“Don’t you have a vest or anything like that?” He could find tee shirts,
jeans, underwear but only one jacket and it was just not enough for the
occasion. “I can’t believe Toshiya failed to buy a plain black suit jacket
and vest.”

“Well, he did buy a black jacket, but I left it at home.” Forcing his eyes
finally off the ocean, Die tilted his head and looked at his friend.

An inquiring gaze tried to pierce his. “And... why?”

“Because,” Die drawled and made his way to where Kaoru was hovering above
his things, “it’s black. I thought that I’m more the type for wearing
bright clothes.”

“You thought? You’re not made to think, Die.” Shaking his head the smaller
man sighed a little before he found something that was more likely the style he
wanted his assistant to dress in. “At least you’ve brought a plain black
shirt.”

“I did,” Die confirmed with a small nod and crouched down. “It was Toshiya
who said I should wear bright clothes.”

“But you don’t have to do everything the way he wants you to,” Kaoru
countered, sounding less snappish than he had before. His eyes mustered the
red-haired man from his head to his toes. “I guess we need to fix that
problem. And it appears that we need to do something about your hair as
well.”

“What’s wrong with my hair?” It was a fact that Die liked it the way it
was, brightly red and not too long. He had even styled it with some wax and
spray, quite an effort that should be rewarded instead of insulted.

“It’s messy.” A little smile ghosted across Kaoru’s lips. He did like
Die’s hair, even the color, but within his business he couldn’t allow him to
walk around like a punk. Not when he should give the proper image of a gentleman
of some account. “Won’t hurt to give it a proper cut.”

“If you say so.” The redhead shrugged as his fingers mechanically reached
out to tug at a few strands of his hair. He was wondering though what Kaoru had
in mind.

“Here.” The other man handed him the black shirt and stood up. “Get ready.
We’re going to get you another jacket and a hairdo.”

It elicited another smile. Of course it did. The thought of shopping with Kaoru
made Die curious and without to think about it much, he quickly got ready,
before the two of them left the hotel together. At first Kaoru made sure to find
a hairdresser who would turn the tall, red-haired man into a guy one could
actually take seriously. Silent and only a tiny bit scared Die didn’t even
move his pinky while a woman with sharp features and lips as thin as a sheet cut
his hair. He only watched Kaoru from the corner of his eyes as he was giving
instructions of how he wanted the redhead to look. A pleased nod of approval was
his only reaction once she swirled the chair with Die around and presented him
to the smaller man.

“Perfect,” he said and paid the amount of money the haircut was worth.

In his chair Die took some moments before he got used to his new hairstyle while
he was still watching his reflection in the mirror. Truth be told he didn’t
like it much. It was too smooth, kind of flattened, but if it served its
purpose, then he would live with it.

After that Kaoru had randomly entered different shops, one after another, until
he finally seemed to be pleased with one in particular. Before Die had even the
time to realize that he was supposed to get changed into the fine thread, Kaoru
pushed him in the direction of a cubicle. The salesman was already giving them
weird glances but the former angel didn’t notice anyway, just turned to face
his friend with raised brows. “Will you wait here?”

“No, I’ll run off to Mexico.” Kaoru rolled his eyes at him and closed the
curtain, leaving Die to himself within the cubicle. “Get changed now.”

“You won’t really run off, will you?” He didn’t know for sure but at
least he was guessing that this was supposed to be a joke. Even if it was
anything but funny. Yet, Die quickly got changed and pulled the curtain aside as
soon as he was ready. “Kao?”

“I’m here,” he replied and cast his eyes off the coat he had been taking a
look at in the meantime. His eyebrows rose in admiration, he couldn’t help it
– he was a genius in deciding what to make guys wear. Die was absolutely
gorgeous. A satisfied smile built upon Kaoru’s lips and he nodded at the other
man.

“Looks good?” In search for a body-sized mirror Die shifted his gaze from
left to right, before he finally spotted one and went to take a look at himself.
Apart from the fact the was clad in nothing but black, he liked the way he was
looking. It was a bit dark but somehow fine, as if he were a man as wealthy as
Kaoru.

The lawyer sent a curt nod to the salesman who had been patiently waiting. Kaoru
was absolutely pleased with his choices today and therefore he also bought the
coat for Die to wear. He needed more than a plain jacket in case the weather
would get worse, plus that nights were chilly already. And from the outside it
was as if another man entered the hotel as soon as they were back. In a way Die
didn’t look the same anymore but once he was staring at people again, one
instantly recognized the redhead.

“About this dinner...” Buttoning his sleeves Kaoru intently looked at the
man who silently stood in front of the window and was once again staring out to
see the ocean. Slowly Die turned to face his friend, who was busy checking his
outfit in the mirror. “I’m gonna introduce you as my assistant and we
won’t mention that you’re living in my house. What exactly you’re doing
won’t matter. Just try to show some manners. I know you can do that.” He
suddenly caught Die’s gaze in the mirror and smiled. “Just be your charming
self.”

In return Die smiled back brightly. Compliments he liked. Why Kaoru was advising
him to conceal some things, he didn’t understand though. But it didn’t
matter. He trusted the lawyer and he would surely have his reasons. “I won’t
disappoint you, Kao.”

He was about to turn and wriggle into his jacket when the way Die had addressed
him made Kaoru stop all movement. “One more thing, Die,” He had stopped to
mind it long time ago but this evening it wouldn’t be alright. “Don’t call
me Kao tonight.”

The smile temporarily vanished from the redhead’s lips. He had grown a liking
to addressing the lawyer with his pet name but he even understood that in order
to show their business relation, he had to stop saying it, at least until the
dinner was over. “Alright, Kaoru.”

“Good boy,” the smaller man smiled. He could deny it for as long as he
wanted, but honestly speaking he liked to spend time with his new
‘assistant’. He was easy to handle and plainly honest, instead of being
cynical or false in his friendliness. So be it as it may, even if his brain was
damaged since he thought he had been an angel, he was still a likeable company.

When Kaoru and Die entered the restaurant, they were instantly guided to a table
with two other persons already waiting, a man and a woman, and Die could
literally feel the tension between Kaoru and the other lawyer, even if they
exchanged polite gestures like shaking hands. “Long time no see, Ken. Let me
introduce my assistant to you. This is Die.” He motioned with his hand to the
redhead before he turned to actually face him. “Die, this is Ken, an old
friend of mine, and the beautiful woman here is his wife, Sumi.”

“Good evening.” Asked to show his good manners, Die bowed to each of them,
before he sat down next to Kaoru, who was already about to order them something
to drink.

“Assistant, Kaoru? You don’t need support for a dinner, do you?” The man
chuckled and cast a short glance at his wife who was looking rather bored. “I
would’ve thought you’d bring a date and not your assistant.”

“I didn’t mention anything about what he’s assisting me with,” Kaoru
shot back with a smile. “But I wouldn’t want to lie to you. He’s not my
date. I’m afraid I have to disappoint you there.” And with that statement he
had successfully avoided a silly argument about whether he needed support or
not. “Die’s familiar with Reiji’s claim. Therefore I thought he might want
to get to know you.”

“I see.” Ken noticeably observed the red-haired man for a moment as if he
tried to find more information in his appearance. It was unlike Kaoru Niikura to
bring someone else, so the other lawyer of course reasoned that Die must be
someone important. Important to Jinji Sakamoto most likely. “Well Die, isn’t
it a pleasure to work with Kaoru? I once did as well before he decided to work
against me instead of with me.”

“I’m sorry for that,” he replied with a small smile, not sure what to
answer. “I like working with him very much.”

Luckily Ken didn’t press on any further but instead focused on talking to
Kaoru. It appeared that he had been right about Ken’s tries to intimidate the
other man. But they were in vain, Kaoru obviously too smart with all his
replies. The only one who slowly grew uneasy was Die but because of completely
different reasons. Also, Ken seemed to become grumpy little by little. Once they
had finished eating, his wife excused herself and went to the ladies room,
before her husband followed shortly after. It was the perfect occasion for Die
to talk to Kaoru in private.

“Can you swap places with me?” The redhead cocked his head to one side and
gazed at his friend in hope.

“No,” Kaoru replied curtly since he could give a good guess why Die was
asking. “You’re sitting perfectly fine there opposite Sumi.”

“But she’s doing things!” Although he was only whispering, his voice still
sounded a little high-pitched. “Like with her feet on my legs and that’s
really anything but comfortable. Can I at least ask her to stop that?”

“No.” This time the other man turned to face Die. “Just try to survive
it.”

Pouting, Die leant back and crossed his arms. It was the first time he was maybe
a little mad at Kaoru for making him doing this. He didn’t like the woman’s
feet on him at all. And whenever her husband was deeply absorbed into
conversations with Kaoru, she was also staring at him as if she wanted to eat
him. That was unpleasant as well. She could smile, then he’d return the smile.
Or she could talk to him, then he’d chat with her. But that stare drove Die up
the walls!

For some moments Kaoru watched Die sulking in his chair. It was weird, the
feeling that Kaoru had. Normally he would grow annoyed at this disobedient
behavior but there he was, just a little proud that the red-haired man was so
utterly immune to her attempts of seduction. And it was damn cute, too. With a
sigh, Kaoru put his hand on the other man’s thigh. “Listen, Die. This is
important. Just try to play along, ok?”

“But it’s not fair.” He whined and cast a glance at the lawyer, still
sulking. Yet, the affectionate touch made him a little weak. “What’s it good
for anyway?”

“Life just is not fair,” Kaoru tried to make his point clear. He reassured
himself with a glimpse to the restrooms that neither Ken or Sumi weren’t on
their way back yet, before he went on. “Ken isn’t playing fair and nor am I.
He wanted this dinner for one reason: to make me back off before the trial’s
even started. That’s why I just want you to sit here and do what you can do
best. Just look gorgeous, Die. Can you do that for me?”

Under the intent stare of Kaoru’s dark eyes Die couldn’t help but to give
in. Besides, the compliment hadn’t passed him by unaffected either. He had
never heard Kaoru say something like this before, that Die was gorgeous. He
liked that. “Fine, but I still don’t get it. What’s it good for that
she’s groping my legs with her feet?”

“It’s pissing Ken off. That’s why.” Drawing back his hand from Die’s
thigh, Kaoru just shrugged. “I knew Sumi wouldn’t be able to resist and
Ken’s becoming nervous and doesn’t concentrate on what he’s saying. So in
the end I gain more info about Reiji than I was supposed to know.”

“I see.” A small sigh escaped Die. “You’re quite calculating, you
know?”

That the redhead just said it as a matter of fact, Kaoru didn’t expect but it
also impressed him. With a chuckle he admitted: “I know. Maybe life taught me
to.”

There was a short silence before Die spoke up again. “You’re using me.”

But all it did was to make Kaoru show a small grin. “Want me to make it up to
you?”

The other man returned to smile. “Would you? How?”

Lowly the lawyer laughed. “I’ll think of something, ok?”

Nodding Die agreed and grinned, looking forward to whatever Kaoru was up to. He
didn’t know why but he liked the way he made him feel, as if he’d do
something especially for him. As if he cared. But if Kaoru truly cared, he
didn’t know himself. Since he had made the offer, it appeared that he cared
but when had he started to? Hell, he even flirted with Die in some sort of way
and it only occurred to him now. Even worse was that he didn’t mind at all. He
liked it and not because he had any plain motive, desiring a shag for the night.
No, because he simply enjoyed to exchange nicely ambiguous phrases with Die.

Soon enough Ken and Sumi came back and settled down again. All the time their
dinner went on, Die bravely put up with the woman’s frank measures to gain his
attention. Yet, he was feeling even a little bit more anxious since he could
feel her husband’s death glare. Luckily Ken was fed up quickly and ended the
evening with another polite excuse, before he grabbed Sumi’s hand and pulled
her away with him. Sighing, Die made a mental note not to spend another dinner
with the two of them, even if Kaoru would bribe him.

Back in their hotel room Die sat down on his bed and tried to figure out how to
make the TV work. It was different from Kaoru’s and therefore he had some mild
problems with the remote. On the other side of the bed Kaoru got rid of his
jacket and loosened his tie, before he simply pulled it above his head and threw
it aside. He stretched his neck and stifled a yawn, when there was suddenly a
defeated groan coming from his redheaded room mate, who had cast the remote
aside and gave up with the damned thing. They looked at each other for a moment,
neither men saying a word, before Die shrugged and grinned.

“You could give me a back massage, if you’re bored.” Kaoru hadn’t really
meant it seriously, although he could certainly need a massage. A job where one
had to sit bent above books and papers was worse than to be a professional
athlete.

“Do you think I can do that? I mean, I don’t really know how.” Curiously
Die tilted his head, inspecting the other man’s frame. Then he took a look at
his hands, wriggling his fingers a little. “Guess I can’t really break
anything though.”

“You’d really do anything I ask you to, hm?” Inwardly Kaoru laughed,
simply amused, light-hearted even. There seemed to be nothing that would make
Die back off, that was apart from leg-groping women.

A little perplexed Die gazed back at the other man. Was it that much surprising
that he would give it a try? He didn’t think so, not at all. “It’s no big
deal,” he shrugged, “is it?”

“No,” Kaoru smiled, “it isn’t.” It was the most honest smile he had
given in a long time. He always teased, being quite frank and cocky even, but
the redhead’s pristine way of thinking made even a rude request sound
harmless. And it really wouldn’t be a big deal at all. Not if Kaoru considered
Die a friend. He hesitated for another moment, just trying to find anything in
the other man’s appearance that spoke against this one step closer to
friendship. But there was simply nothing.

“Well?” Die’s eyebrows rose while he was slipping out of his jacket and
opening the two top buttons of his shirt, since it was pretty much strangling
him. “What do you want me to do?” He crawled closer to the other man and sat
back on his heels. “Shall I just put my hands here?” Cautiously Die’s
palms touched Kaoru’s shoulders. “Or then, you better remove your shirt
first. Right?” He wasn’t completely sure but from what Die had watched in
the time he had been an angel, humans gave massages to one another on their
naked skin. Maybe there were different techniques though but from the feel of
his fingers on his friend’s back, it was really weird to touch him through the
fabric of his shirt.

Taking a glimpse back across his left shoulder, Kaoru simply didn’t move at
all. It was crazy, all the different situations he got himself into with Die,
and it still was nothing but nice. But it made things difficult. Hard not to
just turn and kiss that red-haired guy senseless. Yet, Kaoru knew what he wanted
and it was not to screw Die. Nonetheless he could maybe start to take him as a
friend. “Right,” he lowly said and forced his gaze off the other man, before
he opened the shirt button by button until he could slide it off completely.
“I’ll lie down and you just do as you think. I’m gonna tell you when
something’s not okay.”

It was the best solution from Kaoru’s point of view. Because he for sure
wasn’t a masseur either and couldn’t properly explain what Die had to do.
Either he’d do it well or they would just stop. Once Kaoru had lied down on
his belly, Die knelt above him and placed his fingers on each side of his
shoulders. “Ok then, I’m gonna start now.” He just hoped he wouldn’t
cause any harm, even if it was very unlikely to happen. He had washed this back
before, now he could just gently knead it. And that’s what he tried, pressing
down his fingertips with light pressure, digging his thumps into the flesh and
running his palms across the warm and smooth skin. It really didn’t feel too
bad. “Just tell me when I hurt you or something...”

As if. There was only this one thought left in Kaoru’s mind once Die had
started to work his magic fingers. As if. It was truly not easy to keep shut up,
not to sigh in contentment or to just utter stupid things like ‘oh yes’ or
‘so good’. He even bit his bottom lip in order to suppress any sort of
evidence about the given pleasure. Only when he trusted his voice, he told Die
to go on. After that there was a comfortable silence between them before the
redhead’s thoughts drifted back to the dinner they had had with Ken and his
wife.

“Kao?” When something nagged his mind, he just needed to voice it out.
“Ken said something about you formerly working with him and that you decided
to work against him instead. How did he mean that? Is it true?” Die really
could not imagine why Kaoru would suddenly just decide to work against someone.
The vision was scary. Today Die was working for and with Kaoru. And tomorrow?
Would that just change?

It took some time and effort for Kaoru to make his mind work right now. He had
almost drifted off, at least close to not thinking for once in his life, when
Die had uttered his questions. “Well yes, sort of. At first we ran the law
office together, as partners. But we didn’t get along too well. Ken wasn’t
pleased with my choice of clients.” The memory was blurred in his mind but
when he recalled it, Kaoru remembered his partner’s complaints. “I started
as a nobody whereas Ken had already had some pretty good connections. But he
kept on complaining until one day he threatened me that if I wouldn’t do as he
wished, he’d make sure to kick me out. It was an empty threat, really, but
back then I was majorly pissed, and behind Ken’s back I started to snatch away
all of his precious, rich clients.”

It had been an act on blind rage, vengeance of some sort, but at that time Ken
had hurt Kaoru’s pride and that had been nothing he could accept. To Die it
sounded a little confusing, yet unmistakably like an argument that could’ve
been solved differently. “And you couldn’t settle your disputes
otherwise?” He lowly asked, not sure if it had been right what Kaoru had done.
But at the same time he thought that Ken had been unfair too, threatening his
partner to kick him out. “It sounds pretty bad to me.”

“It was,” Kaoru simply admitted. “But you see, Die, I have done my job
well. Just that I never made the money Ken made and he thought that he could
boss me around, because his clients paid more than mine. Still, I won more
trials and I wanted to prove that I was the better lawyer. But once I had
started to steal away his clients, there was no way back, settling disputes.
When he found out, he threw a fit. But I had won. Ken quit.” Thinking back now
it had probably been the start of Kaoru’s true career. Sure it had taken
sacrifices. “On the other hand we would’ve split up our partnership anyway
sooner or later. We just didn’t get along.”

“I see,” Die tried to understand, but as so often he came to realize that
human relations and actions were hard for him to grasp. “I guess that’s what
humans mean when they talk about learning something the hard way.”

“Guess so,” the other man cheerlessly chuckled, simply because Die had
spoken of humans as if he were none of them. “But this business is hard. Hard
and time-consuming. Nothing is for free.”

Those callous words caused the redhead almost to flinch and he stopped to move
his fingers for a moment, before he mentally cleared his mind and went on with
the massage. “Well, as long as you like what you’re doing.”

“I do,” Kaoru replied without to think twice. “I really do. I just don’t
like most of the clients.”

“And why is that? Can’t you chose them?” Again it wasn’t easy to
understand for Die. Why would Kaoru want to help anybody he didn’t even like?

“I can and I cannot,” he said within a small sigh. “There are just some
people you can’t say No to and most of the clients I got from Ken were pretty
important people. One thing led to another and I got quite popular amongst their
kind. And now they step into my office and demand that I help them. Besides,
they pay a pretty penny. Why would I decline?”

“I don’t know. Maybe because you don’t like them? You said so yourself.”
Naturally Die couldn’t think of anything else. “Wouldn’t you be able to
survive if you only defended those you like? Those who aren’t that important
and rich.”

“Die, I’d be able to survive on the money I have on my bank account right
now.” It was a fact and not even meant to sound arrogant. “I’m just into
deep. There are some clients I just don’t wanna piss off. And as long as I can
cope...” He didn’t finish the sentence, didn’t feel the need to. It was as
simple as that to him.

“Have you become a lawyer because of your dad?” It was another sudden
thought that popped up in Die’s mind and he remembered the conversation he’d
had with Toshiya. “Toshi told me something like that.”

At first Kaoru didn’t say anything at all. He had never expected Die to know
any about this but Kaoru should’ve guessed that his best buddy wouldn’t be
able to keep his babblings short. The mentioning of his father brought memories
he usually didn’t share with anybody else. “Yeah,” he said in an
emotionless voice, trying to appear casual about it. “Basically he was the
driving force.”

“Was he good?” Curiosity got the better of Die and he would just love to
know more about the role-model of his role-model. “Better than you?”

“The best,” Kaoru simply replied and even smiled a little at the thought of
how much he had admired his father when Kaoru had been still a little boy. “It
was fascinating to watch him work or when he told us about some cases. One of
his first clients was actually Jinji Sakamoto with some copyright problem,
nothing serious though.”

“Really?” Just the idea of Sakamoto in connection with Kaoru’s dad made
the other man smile. He could bet that he would’ve liked his friend’s dad a
hell lot too, just like Sakamoto. “How did he die?”

“Car accident,” the lawyer gave away, a little more at ease while he was
talking with Die about that matter. “It wasn’t his fault. The driver of the
car that hit his fell asleep. Happens every day,” he tried to play it down but
it still hurt. Kaoru had always missed his dad and sometimes he just hoped that
angels indeed existed, so his father would be able to see what his son had
become.

“I’m sorry for that. I bet he would be really proud of you now.” As if Die
could read the other man’s mind, he spoke his thoughts. “But you’ve still
got your mom to be proud of you, haven’t you?”

“We lost touch,” Kaoru spoke his mind before he had even thought about it.
“She married again but the guy she chose simply didn’t like me. And when he
found out that I was not even straight, he made me leave. Which I didn’t mind
that much since I knew what I wanted to do with my life.”

“Oh my...” A long sigh escaped from between Die’s lips. Were there any
intact human families left these days? What was the problem in Kaoru being gay
that this man had made such a fuzz? God for sure didn’t forbid homosexuality.
It was love and love went before anything else. About Kaoru’s mother the
red-haired ex-angel couldn’t judge, not so far. “I wonder what my parents
were like and if they’re still alive. If they liked each other. Or me. And if
I had siblings...”

“You don’t know?” There was a doubtful snort coming from the man
underneath, before he just couldn’t help but turn and look at Die smartly. But
once he saw those innocent eyes staring down at him, he had a pretty good guess.
“Oh right, you don’t remember your past life. Not even your family?”

Die just shook his head and shrugged. “It’s strange ‘cause I don’t even
know how old I am and for how long I’ve been an angel. Maybe just for two
years and then my parents would probably be still alive and possibly even around
me, but I don’t recognize them. Or then, I might’ve been an angel for a
hundred years already and my parents are surely dead by now. I just don’t
know. It’s weird.”

“Weird indeed.” Not just that but also crazy. But still the thought was
scary when a person just didn’t know their own people. But then Kaoru simply
couldn’t believe it. If he did, he’d be just as nuts as Die. Taking a deep
breath, he propped himself up on his elbows and just looked at the redheaded guy
above him. “I suggest we get some sleep now. Your massage did wonders and if
you hadn’t bugged me with your questions, I would’ve fallen asleep.”

He didn’t mean it as a bad thing, really not, but Die wasn’t sure. “So...
it was good? And sorry, I mean for bugging you.”

“It’s okay.” He meant it. Kaoru had spoken about things that were long
overdue to be talked about with someone and in a way he felt even a little
better now. Smiling, he poked Die’s leg. “And yes, you were good. Now get
off me before I make you.”

Usually that phrase ended in another man trying to provoke Kaoru, just to make
him prove his point, but Die simply obeyed and crawled off the smaller man. With
ease the lawyer slid off the bed and went into the bathroom but when he saw his
reflection in the mirror, he couldn’t help but wonder if he still were the
same guy like so many years before. He sure wasn’t the little boy anymore that
watched his dad in awe and beyond doubt he wasn’t even that fierce and
stubborn, but silent teenager he had been during college. He was not nearly the
idealist he had been when he first started to run the law office together with
Ken. So naturally he wondered. Who had he become? Would his father truly be
proud? The longer Kaoru looked at himself, the more he found that he didn’t
even know the guy who was looking back at him. Tearing his gaze off the mirror,
he bent down and splashed some water into his face. Now wasn’t the time to
think about these things, he concluded and turned to make his way to the other
man.

Die had already sneaked under the covers and was patiently waiting for Kaoru to
come back and join him. He was a little bit nervous though, since he had never
shared the bedroom with another person before. But at the same time it was sort
of pleasant and less lonely. Once Kaoru had removed his pants, he slid under the
covers as well and just took a last glance at Die who responded with a bright
smile. “Good night, Die,” he more or less mumbled and switched off the light
of his bedside table. “Turn off your light.”

“Good night, Kao,” the other man replied and did as he was told, only to
keep his grin in place in the darkness of the room. He stifled a small yawn and
blinked with his eyelids, before he turned on his side and tried to watch his
friend in the dark. He could only make out his outlines but it didn’t matter.
Maybe in his human form Die could watch out for someone, doing that better than
in the time he had been an angel. “Sleep tight.”

“Mmh.” Feeling Die’s eyes on him, Kaoru turned his back to him and closed
his eyes. “Sleep now.” It had surely been a decade since he had last shared
the bed with someone he didn’t screw as well, so what else would they do other
than to sleep? At least Kaoru desperately wanted to, maybe just to rest his mind
or maybe just to forget the touch of those lively fingers on his back. He
didn’t know. But he did know that he really liked to fall asleep now. Luckily
he did after what seemed like an eternity.

At the other side of the bed Die easily fell asleep, having Kaoru beside him. It
was oddly calming.

When Kaoru woke up the next morning, his mind swam with pictures of a weird
dream he had had. He couldn’t remember much about it, just some distorted
images of him and Die and then there was his father talking to an angel, sending
him out to watch after his son. It had been a vision Kaoru didn’t want to give
too much thought about and therefore he tried to make his still sleepy brains
work and heavy eyes to focus on reality. But the faster his mind grasp the now
and here, the more he became confused by the warm body that was obviously
pressed against his back and the weight of a heavy limb around his waist. Die.
No doubt about it. But when and how and why? One thing Kaoru was sure about: he
hadn’t done anything even close to have sex with the other guy and that’s
why he could only come up with one reason behind Die’s behavior. He was
plainly clingy.

Kaoru's first thought was to get away from Die but that was easier said than
done since he was practically glued to him and his embrace wasn’t weightless
either. Besides, Kaoru’s bones still felt a little too heavy and it was kind
of cozy, he had to admit that. And if he were really honest to himself, then he
felt strangely safe. Die indeed owned a strong frame for someone with such a
lean body. All in all it was rather pleasant to lie within his arms if there
weren’t his hot breath that tickled Kaoru’s skin and caused the tiny hair on
his back to stand. He could already feel goose bumps build on his flesh, leaving
only two options. He either snuggled backwards against Die right into the
welcoming warmth or he escaped the redhead.

The wiser decision got the better of Kaoru and he carefully freed himself from
the arm that was sprawled almost possessively across him. He wriggled away from
the other man and quickly got up, a hardly audible sigh escaping him. As he
glanced back at the sleeping figure, a small smile ghosted across his lips
because Die did look like an angel, peacefully taking his breaths with his lips
slightly opened. His dark eyelashes stood out against the pale skin of his face
while bangs of his bright red hair were messily surrounding it. But Kaoru forced
his eyes off Die and walked over to the window, lighting a cigarette.

Could he of all people really fall for such a plain and naïve guy like Die? One
who was also kind of nuts. Yet, it wasn’t anything that mattered. If Kaoru
really fell for the guy, he wouldn’t care about something as trivial as his
sanity. The only thing that was truly important was nothing else but the other
man’s feelings and whether Die liked him more than anyone else, Kaoru
couldn’t tell. How should he when the redhead did everything basically out of
utter friendship because he didn’t even know how it would feel to fall for
someone. Would he even make a difference in genders?

There were ways to find out though. But how to romance Die, or anyone in
general? Usually Kaoru was the one who just had to answer to men’s advances.
He never tried to make them fall for him, never wanted them to anyway. However,
all he could try, was to be nice for a change. At least nicer than he usually
was. A tiny smirk adorned his features as Die suddenly stirred and looked at
Kaoru out of sleepy eyes. “Prepared for me to make up for your efforts last
night?”

“Huh?” The redhead wasn’t even properly awake yet, let alone prepared for
anything. Slowly his mind recalled yesterday’s events and Kaoru’s promise to
make it up to him. “What have you planned?”, he asked with a raspy voice and
lifted his head off the pillow.

“We go to the beach,” Kaoru announced with a triumphant grin.



                           Kapitel 8: Chapter Eight
                           ------------------------


 You like so far? 



Chapter Eight




“We go to the beach,” Kaoru announced with a triumphant grin.

“Really?” Within the split of a second Die was sitting in bed with eyes wide
as plates and never been any more awake then now.

“Don’t you want to?” The other man teased.

“I do, I do.” Quickly he crawled out of the bed and nodded all along several
times, before he literally stumbled forward and flung his arms around the
smaller man’s slim shoulders. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” He hugged
him tightly, a merry grin almost breaking his face as he beamed in joy.
“You’re awesome, Kao!”

Hardly any breath inside of him left, Kaoru just nodded and sighed. “I know.
But Die,” he said and gently pushed the redhead off him, sending a rather
disturbed glance at his naked frame. “Go and get dressed, will you?”

“Uuh, sure.” It was impossible to wipe off that silly grin but Die did as he
was told and quickly snatched some of his clothes, before he vanished inside the
bathroom. He didn’t take long though, making room for his friend who also
liked to get a quick shower before he would prepare himself for a day out with
Die. Mentally he was anything but certain if his decision was even close to wise
but at least physically he got dressed in his usual neat style. Other than Die
who had chosen his simple jeans and a plain white tee shirt before he made sure
that his hair looked as ‘messy’ as he liked it to be.

Once they had eaten breakfast down in the hotel’s restaurant, Kaoru had called
a taxi for both of them to take them down to the beach. In awe Die was staring
at the ocean right in front of his eyes, how the waves were crashing gently
against the shore and the sun left a shiny glimmer on the water’s surface. It
was breath-taking.

“You like it?” Kaoru quirked an eyebrow at the mesmerized guy next to him.
He had expected Die to like it but that he was gaping at the ocean with an open
mouth was kind of silly, but still adorable.

The question made Die snap out of his temporary daze and he slowly nodded.
“It’s beautiful,” he breathed before his hyper nature overtook him and he
got rid of his shoes, sticking his toes into the warm sand underneath him. It
tickled, was a little weird but he loved the feeling. Alive. He was alive. Maybe
he would reconsider his choice of trying to make Kaoru and Toshiya fall for each
other in order to gain back his access to Heaven. With his eyes closed and a
huge smile upon his lips he stuck his nose up in the wind and enjoyed the warmth
of the sun against his skin, before his eyelids fluttered open again and he
turned to face Kaoru. “No, I was wrong. It’s fucking fantastic!”

A small snort emitted from the lawyer as he chuckled and shook his head. But he
was completely unprepared for Die’s next move as the guy suddenly started to
run right through the sand, stumbling here and there, but always managing to
keep going, until he finally approached the water. He hesitated a little, slowly
stepping into the cool wetness, his skin so totally unused to the new sensation.
It felt natural though and Die loved it. Merrily he took some more steps into
the open sea until he was standing knee-high in the water.

“Die, don’t go out too far,” Kaoru advised and watched the red-haired man
attentively. There was so much euphoria in Die that the other man was afraid
he’d jump right into the ocean and never come back.

“Why?” He called back and took a short glimpse backwards before he walked
even deeper into the water and splashed some of it around with his hands, all
along laughing in joy.

“Because,” Kaoru sighed and reminded himself to shout, so Die would actually
hear him. “Because I for sure can’t help you if you drown.”

“What?” For a moment he stopped all movement and shot an inquiring gaze at
Kaoru. Would he really not even try to save him? Because Die certainly would the
other way around. “Why wouldn’t you help me?”

“I said that I couldn’t, not that I wouldn’t.” Although he tried to
speak loud enough for Die to hear him, Kaoru’s words were nearly drowned out
by the sound of the waves.

“Why can’t you?” In Die’s eyes everybody could if only they only wanted
to.

Rolling his eyes upwards, Kaoru sat down in the sand and leant back, his weight
supported by his hands. “Because I can’t swim. That’s why I can’t help
you.”

“But I can’t swim either!” The redhead called out back and shrugged.
“I’d still go and try to save you. If I’d manage is another story
though.” He laughed and took some more steps into the open sea. He had been
dead once and if he died again, then it should at least be for someone who was
worth it. The fact alone made him brave but with his next step, he suddenly lost
balance and fell backwards into the sea, until even his head was almost under
water.

“Fuck!” Kaoru jumped when Die suddenly disappeared, his heart almost
stopping to beat. Luckily the redhead quickly got back on his feet and even if
he was dripping wet, he laughed. The other man just rolled his eyes, sat down
again and tried not to look at Die. What he didn’t see, couldn’t make him
worry. But it was hard to ignore someone as cheery as his red-haired companion
and at last when he heard another fit of joyful laughter, Kaoru looked back up
and was surprised to find Die only a few meters away, getting slowly closer.
“Done bathing? It’s much too cold and you’ll probably get sick.”

But Die just happily giggled and marched closer still, until he dropped down
next to Kaoru. “Then you gotta make me well again.” The taller man
couldn’t really be serious, thought of it as unlikely to happen that he’d
become sick from a little bit of water, when the sun was shining so much that he
could already feel how his skin was drying. With his grin still in place, he
laid down in the sand, pillowing his head on Kaoru’s lap. “You really made
my day, Kao. It’s amazing here.”

There wasn’t much that he could possibly reply, when his mind had run blank
anyway because of Die’s clingy move, so Kaoru just chuckled a little and took
in some of his surroundings. If he hadn’t been to a beach before, he would
probably think the same but then again, Kaoru wasn’t the type who went along
beaches and admired the sea. Yet, he had to admit that it was a beautiful view.
“Well, I’m glad.” A thought crossed his mind, meant to tease. “When
you’ve been angel, have you really never been to a beach? If I were an angel,
I’d surely fly everywhere. Or didn’t you have wings?”

“Oh, I did.” Enthusiastically Die nodded but then grew a little sad,
remembering that he was only supposed to use them for his missions. “I’ve
flown back and forth between Heaven and Earth, passed by beaches as well, but I
wasn’t supposed to spend any time there, unless my target happened to be
there. But as an angel I felt differently than as a human. If I had gone into
the water, I wouldn’t have become wet. I couldn’t feel the sand underneath
my feet or that the sun was actually warm against my skin. That kinda
sucked.”

“I see,” Kaoru chuckled due to the obvious craziness Die’s word held. But
then it made sense, considering angels would truly exist. “But at least you
could fly.”

“True.” Die smiled. “And if I had my wings still, I’d take you with me
and fly around with you a bit.”

The words made Kaoru smile in return. It would’ve surely been interesting to
fly on the redhead’s back. Crazy but interesting.

“You know, it’s not true what Toshi’s said.” Die couldn’t help it but
right now he would love to hug Kaoru to death. “You really are nice.”

His gaze darkened a little when he shifted his look at the redhead and thought
about his supposedly innocent remark. “Did he say that? That I’m not
nice.”

“Well, yes. He said many things, also that he likes you, which reminds
me...” The other man babbled and didn’t even realize that Kaoru had grown a
tiny bit annoyed. “You sometimes are not nice like when you talk to Ken but
then you are nice to me and that’s what counts, right?”

“I guess,” Kaoru responded a bit grumpily since his friend had played him
down. But in a way he just knew that it was the truth and the fact that at least
Die didn’t think he wasn’t nice, helped a lot to brighten his mood. “So
you were talking to Toshiya about me? You could’ve asked me yourself if you
wanted to know something.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t.” Die fastened his gaze upon Kaoru’s dark eyes
that looked down on him. “I just happened to think about you when I was out
with Toshi. So I asked.”

“I can imagine.” It was true. What Kaoru had learnt about the red-haired man
spoke for itself since he always spoke his mind as it appeared. In a casual way
the lawyer ran his fingers through Die’s red hair, just to wipe away some of
the bangs that fell into his face. “What else did he tell you?”

“How you’ve learnt to know each other and that you and he slept together
once,” he easily explained without to bat an eyelash. In contrast one of
Kaoru’s eyebrows rose while the other man went on. “Didn’t you say that
two people should only have sex together if they’ve fallen in love with each
other?”

“What I said is that when you have sex with someone else for the first time,
you should love the person. There’s a difference, you see.” Somehow Kaoru
had the feeling that he wouldn’t like where this conversation was heading to.
Why would Toshiya tell Die an old and forgotten story like this was beyond his
imagination.

“Ah, so you weren’t in love with Toshi then?” It would’ve made things
easier for Die if at least one of them had already some feelings for the other.

“No, and I will never be. He’s a friend, Die. What are your questions
about?” If the redhead wanted to make sure that Kaoru had no feelings for
Toshiya besides friendship, then it would be a good sign. Then Die checked him
out. But if not...

“I was just thinking that maybe you and Toshi,” Die said but paused, just to
raise his head a little and have a better look at Kaoru. “I was thinking
you’d be a good match.”

“What?” This was anything but good. Was Die trying to play match-maker? It
angered the smaller man because obviously the redhead wouldn’t even care if
Toshiya and Kaoru were a couple. Therefore he did not have any tiny bit of a
sexual interest in the lawyer. “Can’t you for once forget your silly
angel-shit? You’re a human, Die. You’re not supposed to make matches
anymore! Stop that.”

“I... I’m sorry.” He really hadn’t meant any offence. “I just...”

“You just what? Go around and ask my friend about me? And now you’re playing
the match-maker? I do not need anybody’s help to get me a guy. Especially not
Toshiya! If I had wanted him to be my boyfriend, I would already have him.
That’s a fact. So you better stop this bullshit.” That he was pissed off was
clear but part of him was just angry at himself for liking Die. He had saved
that dimwit from his toilet-hideout, had given him a home, food and work, had
kissed him, bathed with him and even considered himself to fall for him, but
what did Die do? He suggested to get Toshiya for Kaoru’s boyfriend. Die really
must’ve come from another planet, or else he would’ve realized that this was
absolutely ridiculous. At least his behavior didn’t mean that Die held any
interest in Toshiya either.

“Okay, I’m sorry. Really sorry. I didn’t mean to make you mad. I won’t
mention anything like that again and I won’t ask Toshi about you anymore.”
Inwardly Die shrank as he sat up and hugged his knees to his chest. He had truly
meant no harm but it seemed as if he was just as worthless when it came to help
people to fall in love as back in the time he had worked for Cupid. Besides, it
felt damn crappy when Kaoru was angry with him. It hurt.

“You better not,” Kaoru said and sighed. The guy next to him was so utterly
naïve that he could strangle him for being just too lovely to be mad at.
“C’mon, let’s walk around a bit. Maybe we’ll find some place to grab
lunch.”

With an uncertain smile Die nodded and got back on his feet. Maybe this idea
about Kaoru and Toshi had really been a little too drastic. They knew each other
for so long and if they hadn’t fallen in love yet, then they were probably not
meant for each other. But Die would keep his eyes open for somebody who could
love his friend. And he would try not to make Kaoru mad at him again because it
was a crappy feeling that he didn’t like at all.

The time passed by faster than expected and after they had indeed gathered some
sandwiches from a small fast food bistro, they headed back to the hotel to get
their things, before the taxi would bring them back to the airport. Kaoru’s
thoughts had never stopped to run around in his mind. It was still probably the
best if he never laid eyes on Die. Yet, he had become something close to a
friend for him and the idea was disturbing because if this went on between them,
Die’s oblivious actions and Kaoru’s suppressed want, then something had to
be done about it. But so far there was still a chance for everything to happen.

Back at home Kaoru was faced with piles of work and he didn’t waste too much
time before he started to read and work through his papers. In the meantime Die
read a few pages of another book, tried to cook some dinner for both of them and
watched TV after he had brought Kaoru the meal. Gratefully, the lawyer had
accepted it and was surprised that it was even edible. Not too late he went to
bed though but found it strangely empty. It always was of course but tonight it
somehow didn’t feel right. It made him realize that he maybe really and for
sure had a tad bit of a crush on Die, something he had never felt in the last
ten years or so.

The redhead had gone to bed as well, looking forward to work again. His new job
he liked a lot and he got surprised the next day when Kaoru announced that Mai
would work somewhere else in the future, still in the office but for another
person. Die had felt a little guilty, as if he had purposefully snatched away
her working place, but Mai didn’t seem to bother much. Obviously she hadn’t
liked Kaoru that much either but this time Die was left without a clue of why
this was the case.

In the evenings Die sometimes went out with Toshiya because Kaoru often refused
and excused himself for he had still work that couldn’t wait to be done.
Sometimes he came along though but he realized quickly that his best friend’s
witty mind had become suspicious, so he preferred not to join them too often.
Besides, Toshiya and Die didn’t go out every night and therefore, Kaoru could
live with it quite well. One day Die had been unusually quiet though. He had
been out with Toshi the evening before and ever since he seemed to ponder. But
Kaoru was oblivious, had too much to do to really notice, more because Die was
still his cheery self whenever he did speak.

At home Die suddenly couldn’t take it any longer. He got up from his place on
the couch and walked over to where Kaoru was working on his desk. “Kao? Can I
ask you a favor?”

The lawyer looked up from his work, about to go on with it though. Nonetheless
the question had made him curios. Die had never really ASKED for a favor before.
“A favor? What kind of favor?”

“Would you kiss me again?” The former angel dropped the bomb with a pleading
look.

At first it elicited a small smile on Kaoru’s lips because he had been hoping
for an interest coming from Die. But then he became suspicious though since the
request came so out of the blue. True, Die didn’t waste any thoughts on the
right occasion, but then his mind was always questioning and Kaoru would bet his
job that there was something behind this demand. He just hoped that it was what
he wished for. “Why do you want me to?”

“Because,” Die hesitated for a moment and leant against the desk, sighing
thoughtfully. “I just wanna know again how it feels to kiss you ‘cause you
see, last night Toshiya kissed me and it did feel good as well but not like
yours. It was so completely different and now I’d like you to kiss me again,
so I can figure it out, you know?”

There hadn’t even been the need to explain all that to Kaoru. His mind had
already gone blank at the thought of his best friend kissing Die. Hadn’t Kaoru
asked Toshiya not to try anything? And Die was simply so natural about it, like
he was judging about what kind of meal tasted better. It hurt Kaoru, even if
he’d do anything but to admit it. “No,” he replied monotonously with his
voice cold, trying to ignore the clenching inside of his chest. “No, I won’t
kiss you again.”

“Hm, thought so.” His shoulders visibly sank as Die bowed his head down and
nodded mildly. “Sorry for bothering you, Kao.” He slowly pushed himself off
the desk and walked back to sit on the sofa. He had taken the chance and asked
Kaoru but he wasn’t mad at him for denying him the favor. He just didn’t
know how else to figure out the odd feelings inside of him. Last night, when
Toshiya had just kissed him so unexpectedly, it had been gentle and nice but it
hadn’t effected the redhead even half as much as when Kaoru had kissed him.
Maybe it was just because this had been his first kiss or maybe it meant
something totally different. How was Die supposed to know when all he did know
about feelings with worth nothing in the end? All the things Cupid had told him
didn’t matter since he had never felt them himself. It was frustrating.

Staring at the redhead’s retreating figure, Kaoru’s lips turned into a thin
line. How could Die kiss another man and then he twisted the whole situation so
that Kaoru was feeling bad for turning him down in the end? Also, the red-haired
man was just too casual about it. Was he trying to make a fool out of Kaoru?
Making him kiss Die and then after all he’d decide that Toshiya was better?
The more the lawyer thought about it, the more he became angry. Angry at Die for
knowing nothing, angry at Toshiya for acting without permission, but most of all
angry at himself for falling for a stupid red-headed moron.

For the rest of the evening Kaoru’s attempts to work were in vain. He shut his
laptop after some time, closed all his files and books and got dressed for
another walk. It didn’t help though, just that his mind seemed to fill with
the want to simply burst! It was Toshiya’s fault. Why couldn’t he listen?
Why wouldn’t he just do as Kaoru said? Die did so and if Kaoru wanted, he’d
just need to tell him to get undressed and ready for a fuck. Then he could
happily screw his brains out. But then he’d meet with Toshiya and do the same
for him. Because it was Die and he didn’t know any better. But Toshiya,
Kaoru’s supposed to be best buddy, should know better than this.

When the dark-haired male arrived back at home, he got a quick shower and went
straight to bed. Seeing the look in his guest’s eyes, the innocence and
submissiveness, caused Kaoru only to be confirmed in his way of thinking. But he
did not know any solution for his problem. He should probably just spend more
time with Die and keep him away from Toshiya, but how when Kaoru’s work
occupied him too much? He couldn’t even spend too many thoughts on such
matters. There were more important things in his life. With a sigh of defeat he
turned to lie on his belly and tried to suffocate himself by sticking his face
into the pillow. With no such luck whatsoever.

The next day he just more or less tried to ignore it and went on with the usual
task. Kaoru was very silent though and didn’t talk too much with Die, only
exchanging necessary words. The redhead couldn’t explain this silence to
himself but he figured that his friend might’ve problems that were none of his
business. At least after he had asked him if something was wrong and Kaoru
simply replied that everything was fine. Still, Die had a weird feeling in the
pit of his stomach.

Nearly in the afternoon, when Die was about to get his things sorted and ready
to remind Kaoru that he should take a break, Toshiya waltzed into the office and
greeted the redhead with a cheery smile. “Hey lovely, what’s up?”

“Up?” Die didn’t know how to reply. “Nothing really.”

“A pity,” the other man grinned, not as oblivious as Die to the doubled
meaning. He truly had grown a liking to the red-haired man but if it was more
than that, he couldn’t tell so far. Probably that had been why he had just
kissed Die, without to think about it much. He had been happily surprised when
Die had responded to his kiss but once they broke apart, there had been no sign
from him of wanting more. Therefore Toshiya couldn’t tell if they could ever
be more than friends. “Where’s the grumpy, sexy-assed lawyer?”

“You mean Kaoru?” Die’s eyes widened a little at the perfectly chosen
description of his boss. “He’s in his office but I was just about to tell
him to get a break. He’s in there for hours now. Said he doesn’t want to be
disturbed.”

“Oh well, I’ll do that for you,” Toshiya winked and marched off to have a
look at his best friend. The redhead simply shrugged and stayed where he was,
guessing that it was okay when Kaoru’s friend reminded him as well.

His door burst open right when Kaoru had almost forgotten about the whole
situation for once and as he looked up at the intruder, there was instantly
annoyance speaking from his eyes. The fact that it was Toshiya who had obviously
the guts to visit didn’t make things better and the lawyer just simply glared
at his friend with piercing eyes. “Heya Kao,” Toshiya said and plopped down
on a chair. “What’s the news?”

“You tell me some,” Kaoru slyly answered with a tad bit of bitterness to
spice his words.

“Uh, I was just coming to see if you and Die wanted to get some coffee with
me.” He scratched his neck and bent forward to take a closer look at his
friend. “You at least look like you could need one.”

“Thanks for the kindness.” He only showed a tiny but spiteful smirk.

Toshiya frowned. Usually he could handle the lawyer’s grumpiness but he rarely
became malicious, at least not when speaking to his friend. That’s when
Toshiya leant back and crossed his arms. “What’s crawled up your ass?”

Kaoru shot a disapproving look at the other man, before he cast his eyes off
him, annoyed. “Nothing,” he crankily replied, trying to appear calm and
reserved. “Had a nice evening last night?”

“Yes, why?” Although he could give a good guess where the question was
supposed to head to, Toshiya played innocent. If Kaoru had a problem, he better
said it directly. Besides, he couldn’t know for sure whether Die had told him
about the kiss or not.

“Then say, was it good to kiss Die?” Kaoru snapped, slowly but gradually
losing it. He had no nerves left to talk about the bush.

For a short moment the other man hesitated before he replied, seemingly calm:
“At least not bad. What’s the problem about it?”

Clenching his teeth, Kaoru had a hard time to grasp that obviously his friend
had lost his memory about the promise he had made. “Didn’t I ask you to
leave your fingers off him? There’s a reason for this one favor I asked of you
and I hardly ask you for something. Is it that hard to just do as I request this
once?”

Taking a deep breath, Toshiya pouted and crossed his arms as well. “Yes,
it’s that hard ‘cause I just don’t get why. What is your reason,
Kaoru?”

“I already told you.” There was no need to repeat it, the lawyer decided.

“You don’t even believe that bullshit yourself,” Toshiya countered and
leant forward again, inquiring his friend with his eyes. It was unlike Kaoru to
keep something that trivial from the other man, unless it was anything but
trivial and concerned the lawyer himself. “Now you tell me, Kao. Why are you
so eager to keep Die away from anybody else? Do you have any interest in
him?”

Kaoru didn’t answer.

Unlike him; it was plainly unlike him to keep silent. He either wanted to get
into a man’s pants or not. That was how Toshiya knew the other guy and
suddenly something dawned on him. “Are you in love with him? Have you fallen
for Die? Just say so and I’ll—”

He was cut off but his friend’s fierce response. “No! Ridiculous. I am not
in love with Die.” As if he was trying to convince himself, Kaoru spoke the
words clearly and definitively, narrowing his brows when he stared at Toshiya
with stubborn eyes. “This has nothing to do with me. It’s because of Die.
He’s just... Don’t you see it? He doesn’t really know anything and the
last thing he needs is someone who’s trying to romance him.”

A disbelieving snort emitted from the other male. “About Die, hm? Bullshit.
There would be nothing wrong if he’d find himself someone who truly cares
about him.”

“And you think you are that someone? C’mon, you don’t even know him.
Die’s not even sane. Did he ever tell you what he thinks he is?” Maybe it
was the wrong way to achieve his goal but Kaoru didn’t know any other way
right in the moment. He had already lost his cover and what he did was merely to
limit the damages.

“That he’s been an angel? Yes, Kaoru, he told me. And you know what? I
don’t care if he’s sane or not, or if his story is true or he’s just
joking. I like him the way he is now. Why can’t you grant your friends some
love?” Until now he had never really taken Die seriously, had thought that he
made jokes but still, even if he were crazy and completely out of his mind, Die
was a good guy with a heart of gold and that was more important than anything
else.

“I do grant you all the love in the world for God’s sake,” Kaoru voiced
out almost exaggeratedly. “But why him? There are so many guys you could
easily get; why Die? Maybe I just don’t want you to end up heart-broken.”

“Good because I won’t.” With a dreadful sigh Toshiya got up from the chair
and stuck his hands in his pockets. “I never said that I’ve fallen for him
but I might and if that happens, I don’t want this to come between us, Kaoru.
I just...” He ran a hand through his black hair and shrugged his shoulders
helplessly. “I don’t understand what would be so wrong about it.”

It was hopeless and Kaoru couldn’t come up with anything to say for once. He
was not able to explain what would be wrong about it, just that he had feelings
for Die that he didn’t want to admit yet. His only problem was that the
redhead had never gave any sign that he would like just one of them as much in
return. “What about Die? Has he mentioned anything that makes you think he
could love you back?”

Slowly Toshiya shook his head. “No, he hasn’t. We’re speculating here but
I want this settled between us before Die actually might confess anything, you
know? He’s allowed to decide about his life, Kaoru, and you should accept
that.”

For some time the lawyer just looked at his friend, the realization about the
truth in his words sinking only slowly into his brains. Die was a person,
whatever he claimed to be before, and as such he was to decide about his life.
Kaoru could make him work but he did not own him and that fact was hard to
accept indeed. “Fine.”

“Fine,” Toshiya repeated and took a deep breath. “I’ll go and get some
coffee alone then.” He wasn’t disappointed or mad at his friend but he
wanted him to think about it and therefore better left without any of them.
Silently he turned and walked out of the office. When he passed by Die, he just
told him that he needed to go again, wishing him a nice evening in the end.

Staring at his friend’s retreating form, Die wondered though what had happened
that had ripped the good mood off Toshi. After a few moments, the redhead
decided to go and check on Kaoru, since it had been his intention in his first
place before the other man appeared in the office. Cautiously he opened the door
and took a glimpse inside only to find his friend sitting in his chair with his
face hidden in his hands as he propped his arms on the desk. “Kao?”

The lawyer pulled away his hands and warily gazed back at the other guy. He did
want him to himself but he didn’t want to lose his best friend either. Thus
far he couldn’t even tell if Die wanted even either of them but the chance was
high that one of them got him laid nevertheless. Before that would happen, there
had to be something done and Kaoru needed to think of something. “Go home,
Die.”

“But—” He didn’t know what to say, just that he’d rather stay and help
the other man with whatever problem bugged his mind. The thing was just that he
had never admitted that he was bothered by something.

“No buts, Die.” The lawyer didn’t want any senseless discussion about
this. He wanted some time alone, some time to think. But he knew that his
‘angel’ cared too much to simply accept this request. “I’m fine.
There’s still something I must do here. Just go home, ok? I’ll be coming
later.”

With hesitation the taller man nodded, submissively giving in. Of course he
would do as Kaoru wished, even if he had a weird feeling about this. But he
trusted Kaoru and therefore just showed a small smile, thinking ahead that he
could prepare some meal at home for the two of them. “Okay, Kao. I’ll be
waiting at home then.”

Nodding Kaoru gave a tiny smile. “You know how to get there?”

“Sure, I’ll just call a taxi.” Briefly Die nodded and closed the door,
before he got ready to leave. To get himself a taxi was no problem at all. He
had learnt that from Kaoru as well as Toshiya in the last few weeks and sooner
than he would’ve expected he was back at home. He just hoped that he would
find some food that he could use to make a meal for his host and himself.

In the meantime Kaoru was pondering madly. To make sure that the friendship
between Toshiya and himself lasted, he couldn’t do many things concerning his
red-haired guest. There was only one option he could truly go for and it
wasn’t a pleasant one either. If he allowed his friends to do as they pleased,
then at least he didn’t want to be part of it. Die had an own life that he was
in charge of and realizing that, Kaoru knew what he had to do. If only he
hadn’t already developed these feelings for him, then it would be easier for
him beyond any doubt.

When he came home that evening, he was rewarded with a dinner Die had prepared.
Nothing posh but just as lovely and simple as the man who had made it. Kaoru
took a staggered breath when he sat down opposite Die, forcing a small but
honest smile despite how he truly felt right now, before he pulled an envelope
out of his pocket and handed it to the redhead. “Here. This is for you.”

“What’s this?” Die curiously asked and carefully opened the brown paper,
taking a glimpse inside. “Money?”

“It’s what you’ve earned in the last weeks,” the lawyer stated and leant
back. Considering the circumstances he really was not hungry but the effort Die
had put into preparing it made Kaoru feel even worse for his twisting and
refusing stomach.

“Wow.” Impressed the taller man skimmed through the many notes with his
thump, before he closed the envelope again and looked at his boss with a smile.
It really was an awful lot of money and Die for sure had never even had more
than three notes at the same time thus far. “And how much do I owe you for
your car? And the clothes and living here. And the food. Plus the drinks. And
everything else.” In his mind the list was endless but he only noticed it
now.

“Nothing,” Kaoru calmly replied and softly shook his head. “I already kept
the amount you owe me.” It was lie but it was necessary for the purpose it
served and he had no doubts about Die trusting him and his story.

“Really?” His eyes widened as well as his smile and Die couldn’t help but
to take another look inside the envelope with his money. “It is quite a lot.
And I did earn this all alone?” His question was answered with a nod.
“Amazing. Hey, I should’ve invited you out for dinner then. Now I’ve only
made this.” He cast a rather pitying glance at his poor rice balls, before he
had another idea and his eyes visibly lit up. “But I wanna invite you for a
drink! What do you say? Please Kao, let me buy you something in return!”

He’d love to but he couldn’t. “I don’t think it’s a good idea. I still
have something to work through until tomorrow,” he lied but showed a little
smile, really feeling like shit for once in his life, just because he couldn’t
tell the truth. Lying was his job, his life, and now? Die twisted everything
upside down. “But you can go out though and enjoy a drink or two since the
occasion basically demands it, no?”

“I guess,” he sighed out but reminded himself that he could invite Kaoru
another time. “I just wanna thank you somehow.”

“There’s no need, Die, really.” The gratefulness the redhead showed
wasn’t making it any easier for Kaoru when he tried to form his next
sentences, his original intention leading to somewhere completely different.
“Do you remember when you’ve crossed my path? It’s been weeks since then.
You’ve worked a lot and you’ve worked hard but because you were in debts.
That’s why I’ve brought you here and gave you a job, right? Well, now these
debts are not existent anymore and as a matter of fact... you’re free, Die.
There’s no need to do as I say anymore.”

“W...What do you mean?” He didn’t get it at first but slowly his brain
figured a vague guess.

Kaoru mustered up some more courage and calmly stated his next words, when in
truth he’d rather much tell Die that he wanted to own him completely. “You
should get an own apartment and get a real job, not serving me 24/7. You’re a
grown-up guy, despite what you’ve been before. It’s time for you to get a
life like other humans.”

“You mean... I can’t work for you any longer?” That he would get an own
place to live in wasn’t that much of a problem, even if he would miss living
with Kaoru, it still was somehow an exciting thought. But the fact that he would
work somewhere else, get another job, was more than disturbing. When would he
see Kao then? “I’m... fired?”

Nodding slowly, Kaoru took another deep breath. “That’s what I mean. We had
a temporary deal and I think you need to find another working place.” The
words made his voice nearly break but he said them as calm and clear as he was
able to, ignoring his want to make them unspoken.

“When?” His eyelids blinked up and down as Die hardly registered what the
other man told him.

“From now on,” Kaoru forced himself to say, hoping that he had made his
point clear. “Of course you don’t need to move out immediately. I’ll help
you find an apartment if you want me to. But you will no longer work for me.”

Not a single word left Die’s mouth as he gazed at his former boss and friend.
Only after a few moments he nodded and cast his eyes downwards to the set table.
Die knew that Kaoru spent most of his day at work and that it meant he
wouldn’t see him anymore during that time but at least he could stay for some
more time, that was until he had found another place to live in. His feelings
overwhelmed him. There was fear of the new situation but most of all he was
simply sad. But of course he would do as he was told. He just needed to get
around and used to the thought since he had completely forgotten about their
deal existing only for the time being. But he actually should’ve known it and
just couldn’t grasp why this made him feel so strangely abandoned.

Kaoru kept silent as well. There was nothing he could possibly add to make this
situation less hard. In order to keep his friendship with Toshiya and his life
as sorted as it had been before Die appeared in it, he would make this sacrifice
and tell Die to go. Knowing the cheerful red-haired guy, he would quickly find
new friends who would help him. It was the best for all of them. Of course Kaoru
could imagine that the other man felt sad and disappointed but then, he would
adjust to the new life he would soon lead. Die just liked everyone, hence was
concerned by far, yet would recover without troubles. Nonetheless it hurt Kaoru
as well and in an attempt to distract himself, he slowly got up, intending to
occupy himself with work. “I’ll be in my study.”

With a short sigh the redhead looked up again and swallowed hard since his
throat felt suddenly all too dry. “And the food?”

“I’m not really hungry, Die. But thanks.” Kaoru forced another wary smile
and turned to leave.

There he sat now, not knowing what to do with his life. No doubt he would miss
Kaoru but he couldn’t be mad at him. He had learnt so many things from the
other man and if he hadn’t helped Die, then he had surely died already.
Starved maybe or frozen to death. It was just so sudden that he had to leave now
that he liked this other human male so much. And there was still Toshiya. He
would miss him as well and he didn’t even know about the news so far. Die
needed to talk to him. The sooner the better. Leaving everything behind he got
up and called the other man, asking him to meet in a bar, before he told Kaoru
that he would go out. A tiny part within Die was hoping that the only other
friend he had knew a solution and could make things better.



                            Kapitel 9: Chapter Nine
                            -----------------------


Danke für euer Feedback!!! Gibt mir die tollste Motivation ever! ;D



Chapter Nine



Kaoru felt miserable. There was no other word to describe the way he was feeling
and there was no need in denying it. He had unmistakably fallen for the
redheaded guy who was thinking he had been an angel. Slowly those feelings had
crept up inside of Kaoru, so much that he truly cared for Die. He wasn’t a
mere crush or someone he fancied. Taking a deep but staggered breath, the lawyer
ran his fingers trough his hair before he propped his elbows on the desk in
front of him. His mind clearly told him that he had made the right decision,
wisely choosing to tell Die that he needed to leave. But why wouldn’t
Kaoru’s damn heart agree?

Truth be told, if he had been honest with Toshiya about what he felt for Die,
then his friend would’ve been okay with it. He granted him love and that was
for sure. But Kaoru was afraid, scared that if he really tried to lead the life
of a true lover, he would end up heart-broken again. The chance was high since
he couldn’t tell if Die was even interested in a life with him as a partner.
Besides, Kaoru had liked the life he had lead before the other man had tumbled
into it. But now that he should go, he would already leave a big black hole in
Kaoru. Why, he asked himself, was it so hard to just let go?

But he had no choice, unless Die confessed his love to him. If the redhead would
make a move into the right direction, Kaoru could forget about his insecurity
and just take what his heart longed for. Right now he couldn’t even say if Die
were tempted to kiss or do what-else with Toshiya. Kaoru wouldn’t be able to
bear the jealousy if he allowed the red-haired man to stay, unless Die was his
and his only. Not even now he was here to spend some last precious moments with
Kaoru. Instead Die had chosen to go out and probably meet with Toshiya. But even
if he wanted to, Kaoru couldn’t be mad, since it had been he who had suggested
it, after he had also declined to eat Die’s meal.

“Perfect,” Kaoru muttered under his breath, feeling like a complete loser.
Maybe he was just not made for love and to love, especially not someone who
claimed to come from Heaven. Instead he drowned in self-pity as he was obviously
supposed to do other things, work hard for success and enjoy his life
differently. If only he wouldn’t miss that redheaded geek already!

No more than two hours Die had been away, before he unexpectedly slipped back
inside the house and shrugged off his shoes. Surprised, Kaoru looked up from
where he was sitting, the same place as hours ago. When Die silently made his
way closer, the lawyer simply did the first thing that came into his mind and
pretended to be stuck neck-high in work. Of all things Die shouldn’t know that
he had been missing him badly, drowned in his worries and doubts.

“Hey,” Die lowly said as he crept closer and stopped mere meters away from
his host. “I just wanted to tell you that I’ve found a place to live in.”
He indeed had and to him it was the best solution in order not to lose Kaoru or
Toshiya completely.

For some seconds Kaoru didn’t know what to respond as his head snapped up and
he looked at the redhead, who had obviously been quicker than supposed to. Of
course Kaoru hadn’t seen it coming that Die would find something so fast, and
he wondered. “And... where?”

“Toshi’s place,” the other man admitted, not quite knowing if he should
smile. He wanted to since it’d be better than to live all alone and without
his friends’ company but he would still rather stay with Kaoru. “I hope
that’s okay. But Toshi said that he was looking for a roommate anyway.”

Having a hard time not to scoff, Kaoru stared at Die, before his expression
visibly changed into bitterness. Toshiya owned a huge apartment and he had
always lived alone there. That he was looking for a roommate was preposterous
and nothing but an excuse to try his luck on Die. But there was nothing Kaoru
could possibly reply. His plan hadn’t turned out the way it was supposed to
and if Die really wanted to live with the other dork, then fine. Nonetheless
Kaoru couldn’t even bring himself to say something like an okay.

“Well, I guess I’m gonna pack then.” Like grown one with the floor Die
didn’t move though. He had never kept his mouth shut when something was
bothering him but he had always tried to do as Kaoru said too. Now to do right
that felt wrong and he didn’t want to.

“Already?” Hoarsely Kaoru asked, his voice cracking a little. He hadn’t
expected Die to just get it on that soon. But apparently he couldn’t wait to
finally leave the other man. Averting his gaze, Kaoru nodded. “Well, okay. Go
ahead.”

Longingly Die bit his lower lip and pondered whether he should just say it or
leave it. Dropping his gaze he slowly turned to head into his room as he meekly
voiced out: “I’m gonna miss you.”

Not quite certain if he had heard right or just imagined to hear the things he
wanted to hear so badly, Kaoru sat there frozen. Subconsciously his right foot
was nervously teetering underneath the desk but he kept silent and decided to
ignore it. So what did it mean if Die would miss him? He would miss his friend,
Kaoru, the one who had never wanted to be his friend in the first place. That
did mean nothing. Nothing to grasp that turned hope into expectation. Reaching
for his cigarettes, Kaoru lit one and tried to remain calm all the while that
Die was busy inside of the guestroom.

There weren’t many things Die owned though and he was finished with packing
sooner than he had expected. He had only one bag that he carried inside the
living room and put it down on the floor almost loudly. He was supposed to call
Toshiya whenever he was in need to be picked up but at first he wanted to say
Goodbye to Kaoru. Casting his eyes to look at the lawyer, something stabbed
Die’s heart. He put his palm on his chest and looked down but there was
nothing visible to blame for the pain he felt. With an inaudible sigh he faced
Kaoru again and chewed on his lip as words failed to form in his head.

As the taller man stood there and said nothing, Kaoru got up from his chair, too
nervous to keep sitting. He didn’t get any closer though, just tried to show a
smile that just wouldn’t appear. But the silence was awkward and
uncomfortable. Imagines flooded his mind, memories of the days with Die on the
beach or in their hotel room, their visit at Sakamoto’s place or their bath.
But no words would cross Kaoru’s lips as he gazed back at Die, trying to
appear unfazed.

“Kao... I...” Die had to clear his throat in order to say something but in
the end his emotions overpowered him and he literally flung himself at Kaoru,
wrapping his arms tightly around the smaller man as he buried his face in the
crook of his shoulder. “I’m gonna miss you badly, Kao!”

Too stunned to move, Kaoru didn’t know what was happening as Die clung to him
as if his life depended on it. Flattering indeed, but what did it mean?
Half-heartedly he hugged him back but when Die’s grip tightened, he just
couldn’t take it anymore and pushed the other man off him. “Die, no. Stop
this.”

“But...” Two huge brown orbs stared at Kaoru as Die was on the verge to sob.
“It hurts.”

“What?” Confused, Kaoru shook his head, not grasping what exactly hurt Die.
Knowing him, it could be anything from his toe to his head.

“Here.” The redhead put his hand across his chest, helplessly gazing at the
other man.

In utter disbelief Kaoru stared at the tall redhead. Was it really what he was
hoping for? He took a deep breath and pondered for a minute before he was able
to form necessary questions. “Die... What do you feel? Why does it hurt?”

“I don’t know,” he replied with another helpless shrug of his shoulders.
“All I know is that it hurts when I think of leaving you. Or when you say that
you want me to go. Or when you’re mad at me. Then it hurts.” It was hard for
him to describe how Kaoru could make him feel.

“Your heart?” He only asked lowly, insecure of where this would leave him;
them.

Slowly Die nodded. “But it’s different when you’re around and make me
smile. Or when you smile. Then it’s loud and it beats fast. And then I wanna
smile and I’m... happy.”

Kaoru placed his hand across Die’s larger one, glancing up into is eyes.
“What if I do this? Any change?”

“Yeah,” the other man breathed his response and nodded with his head. “Now
it beats faster and louder. Doesn’t exactly hurt now. Only when I think of
leaving you.”

The smaller man couldn’t help his lips curling into a tiny smile, before he
closed the last gap between them and only stopped when he merely touched Die’s
lips with his. There was still a risk to take but Kaoru couldn’t hold back any
longer, not when the redhead more or less confessed that he was in love with
him, judging from what he had told him. “What if I do this?” He whispered
against these invitingly looking lips before he claimed them with his own in a
gentle kiss, this time not only showing his skills but his affection. Now he
wanted to leave Die with no doubts anymore. Kaoru was happily rewarded when the
other man replied to the kiss, eagerly but also tenderly, and only when they had
to part for breath, Kaoru pulled away. “What do you feel now?”

“Excited,” was the first thing that popped up in Die’s head. “And
nervous. It’s like my heart wants to dance now.”

“Did it feel the same when Toshiya kissed you?” Kaoru had to ask, even if
the question was unpleasant for him more than for anybody else. If Toshiya could
do the same things to Die’s heart, than he would try the impossible and take
his fingers immediately off the red-haired guy.

But Die luckily shook his head and kept his gaze locked with Kaoru’s. He
didn’t even realize that his mouth still hung open just a tiny bit. “It made
me nervous but not like you do.”

Finally a broad smile spread on Kaoru’s face and it felt like the weight of
the world was lifted off his shoulders. Relieved, he looked at his friend, his
beautiful angel. Whatever Die might think he was, it didn’t matter anymore.
Slowly Kaoru initiated another kiss, a little more desperate than the first one,
instantly deepening it when he felt Die wrap his arms around his waist. His
fingers entangled within the red hair, when Kaoru deliberately pushed Die
against the next wall, hungrily exploring his mouth with the intention to leave
him breathless.

There was just no holding back anymore since Kaoru felt that he had already
wasted too much time. All of his bottled up emotions wanted out and when it came
to love, then he was certainly no man of big words. He wanted to feel Die, taste
him, touch him, and give him what he hopefully desired as much as Kaoru did.
Sliding one of his hands down the taller man’s chest, while the other hand
massaged Die’s neck, Kaoru brushed his palm along the well-shaped confines and
only stopped crotch-high. He couldn’t wait for the reaction he longed for and
gently rubbed across the thick material of Die’s jeans, being rewarded when
there was a pleasant but low mewl coming from the redhead. Both men panted a
little when Kaoru pulled away slightly just to fasten his gaze on Die’s glossy
eyes. “And what do you feel now?”

He had to swallow since his throat suddenly felt all too dry to speak, before
the former angel’s voice rasped his reply. “I want more.”

Leaning closer to nibble his lips, Kaoru pushed his hand with a tad bit more
pressure against Die’s groin. “More of this?” He asked and ran the tip of
his tongue along soft lips, before he slipped it between them and teasingly
claimed Die’s mouth with his. Their kiss didn’t last long though, simply
because Kaoru couldn’t just settle but wanted to claim more parts of Die, his
skin and his whole body.

As the smaller man’s lips started to tease his neck with gentle bites, Die’s
hands suddenly fell loosely to his sides and he had to close his eyes for a
moment when another soft moan escaped from deep in his throat. He had never
known there was anything this good that was able to make a human wanting to just
melt down. He took a staggered breath and tried not to lose his mind when he
felt the other man’s tongue on his Adam’s apple. But instead Kaoru was
probably closer to losing his mind when he shuddered with lust just at the
thought of making Die his. He pulled away a little and caught the other man’s
gaze with his. “Come,” he lowly said and grasped one of Die’s bigger
hands. “Let’s go upstairs.”

Only when he felt Kaoru pulling on his hand, Die’s vision got a little clearer
and his feet decided to work again, just like his brain. Upstairs? He had
already followed some steps after the other man, when he realized what this
meant. “You mean in your bedroom?”

“Yes, that’s where we’re supposed to go.” Kaoru chuckled and smiled
mildly while he was slowly but determinedly walking up the stairs, pulling Die
along.

“But... didn’t you say I’m not allowed to go inside of there?” As much
as his mind was clouded from his latest experiences, Die could still remember
the orders given to him when he first arrived.

Kaoru turned around to face Die when they arrived the door that would lead into
the mentioned room. The smaller man tilted his head and purposefully licked his
lips. He could see that instantly Die’s eyes had fixed on his tongue and it
made Kaoru smile, before he pecked the redhead’s lips shortly. Of course he
wanted Die inside of this one room and nowhere else. Desperately. “I changed
my mind.”

There really wasn’t much else to do for Die than to nod as Kaoru opened the
door and led him inside. He didn’t really know what he had expected in there,
surely a bed and a closet, but the fact that he hadn’t been in there had also
made him come up with all kinds of ideas how this bedroom would look like. With
his eyes wide, Die took in his surroundings. The bed was not like his, far
bigger but it looked neat, just like the rest of the room. But there were still
some interesting things to see, things Die wouldn’t have guessed. In one of
corner of the room there was guitar standing, there were two old vinyl records
lying on the floor, a stuffed animal sitting in the chair beside the window,
some action figures on a shelf and on one of the walls there were some frames
with photos in them, which Die had to inspect closer.

Nervously Kaoru smiled. “Well, no dead bodies I’m afraid. Sorry.”

“Huh?” Die shortly turned with his brows raised, his forehead wrinkled. He
didn’t get why Kaoru would have dead bodies in here but he was surely glad
that this was not the case.

“Nothing,” Kaoru meekly laughed and waved his hand dismissively. He
should’ve known that Die would not enter this room with prejudices. It was the
only room in his house that he had kept private – always. Only Toshiya had
been in here once when Kaoru had just moved in after buying the house, but from
then on nobody had ever gained access to the place where the lawyer literally
hid his private passions. Sex could be performed elsewhere, not necessarily in a
bedroom, especially not his. But he would make an exception with Die, who was
obviously very interested in the photos on his wall. “These are from my family
and some of Toshiya or me when we were younger.”

Die’s lips curled into a smile as his eyes were fixed on one particular photo
with Kaoru sleeping, one that Toshiya had probably taken when they had still
been roommates. But the next photo was even more interesting. “Is that
you?”

Taking a step closer, Kaoru looked at the picture and nodded, not able to
suppress a small grin. “Yep, that’s me.”

“Wow.” The redhead’s smile even widened as he beamed at the other man but
shifted his gaze back at the photo. There Kaoru was still a young boy, probably
not even in school yet, but adorable to no end. “That’s cute.”

“I know.” He crept a little closer to Die, until he touched his back, and
wrapped his arms around Die’s waist from behind, resting his chin on his broad
shoulder. Grinning, he turned his head to just drop a small kiss on Die’s neck
before he purred with a pout: “I’m still hellishly cute, no?”

“Hehe.” Not able to hide his giggle, when Kaoru shoved his palms under the
fabric of Die’s tee shirt, he squirmed a little but nodded. “Yes, yes you
are.” With a broad smile he turned though, rather facing the other guy, so he
could drop a chaste kiss upon his lips. “And much more.”

“Like?” Kaoru teased and caught Die’s lips once again with his, playfully
kissing him while there was still a little smirk stuck to his face.

“Gorgeous and smart,” he tried to answer but his reply was drowned out by
the kiss. There were many other things his mind would come up with, if only his
brains worked properly. But right now those kisses were pleasantly numbing his
mind and waking his body. Only when his ankles hit the bed behind him, Die
realized that he had been shoved backwards while kissing. How Kaoru had been
able to move him without him noticing it, was beyond any imagination to Die, but
he didn’t care anyway. The smaller man was right now tugging at the
redhead’s tee shirt, pulling it over his head only shortly later with no great
effort since Die obediently lifted his arms without being asked for. He felt
hot, his skin about to sweat and he liked the effect it had when Kaoru touched
him, when his comparably rough fingertips brushed along the smooth surface of
Die’s skin, or when Kaoru’s warmth seemed to invade Die’s body right from
his palm into his chest or any other part of his body.

With a small but gentle push Kaoru’s lips detached from Die’s, but it was
enough to make him sit down on the mattress and look up at the other man from
out of expecting eyes. Not hesitating for the split of a second Kaoru got rid of
his shirt and carelessly discarded it on the floor before he crawled upon
Die’s lap, pushing him on his back in the process. Hungrily he kissed the
other man’s lips as both their hot skin met, sending the tiniest bolts of
electricity through their veins. But as much as Kaoru loved to play with this
lively tongue, he was hungry for more and started to forthwith explore the
sensible neck, which resulted in small sighs escaping from between Die’s
lips.

Stretching his neck, he subconsciously wanted to give more access as there were
small, content sighs spilling from his mouth almost every other second. He
couldn’t help but love what Kaoru did to him. It was more than just new, it
was fascinating, incredible and amazing. Die’s hands ran down the smaller
man’s back and upward again before they settled on his shoulders as Kaoru
temporarily looked up from his task and into Die’s eyes. He was looking nearly
as amazed like back then when he had marveled at the ocean and it made Kaoru
smile. Die reached out his hand, gently brushed away some dark hair that fell
into Kaoru’s face and stroked his thump across enticingly shaped cheek bones.
Astonished, he looked up at the other man, before he pulled him down for another
kiss.

It hadn’t passed Kaoru by unnoticed but the way Die had looked at him
triggered even more affection inside of him. He wanted the other man so badly,
but not just to screw him, own him or take care of him. He wanted to please him
and him only as if the rest of the male population suddenly didn’t even exist
anymore. With skilled fingers he reached down to unbuckle Die’s belt, before
Kaoru opened the buttons of his jeans one by one, taking it as slow as he was
able to. But his patience ran low, the urge to feel whatever hid underneath that
cotton too huge to ignore. Of course Kaoru knew what kind of equipment Die was
hiding there but he had never touched it before, let alone when he was excited.
But once his fingers had found a way inside of these pants, only the thin cotton
of his boxers blocking him from touching the naked arousal, Kaoru was sure that
he left his marks on Die.

A small groan emitted from the redhead when he felt Kaoru’s palm pressing
against his crotch, his fingers dug into Kaoru’s back and he pulled him even
closer, bucking his hips upward against the pressure. Whatever it was that Kaoru
did to him, he just hoped that his reaction was normal, but he guessed that it
could be true what Kaoru had once told him about making guys scream. Sweet gasps
spilled from Die’s lips when the other man pulled away and began to trail
small kisses down Die’s chest, teasing one of his nipples with the tip of his
tongue. Squirming slightly, Die took a staggered breath and instinctively
grabbed a handful of Kaoru’s dark hair.

Kaoru looked up and smiled before he shifted further down the bed and hooked his
fingers in the waistband of Die’s jeans. Without being asked for the
red-haired man lifted his hips in order to help Kaoru pulling down the pants.
Finally rid of them, he made sure to get rid of the own as well, quickly
throwing them aside before his eyes fixed on the man that was lying on his bed.
He was truly beautiful and surely Kaoru could marvel at this man the whole
night, if only there weren’t something, hidden well inside these boxers, that
distracted him from all esthetic thinking. Almost carefully he slipped his
fingers beneath the waistband of Die’s shorts, before he slowly pulled them
down and revealed what Kaoru hadn’t seen like this before.

Lacing his fingers around Die’s erection, the smaller man laid down again and
showered Die’s face in kisses, all the while starting to gently stroke him.
Little shudders of lust ran through his body as Die restlessly bucked up his
hips to meet the touch. He couldn’t tell what exactly made him react like this
but the building tension inside of his body was exciting and he couldn’t get
enough. Lifting his head, Kaoru watched the man underneath him, how his lustrous
lips were opened and in need for breath, Die’s eyelids halfway closed as his
chest slightly heaved. The picture was even better than Kaoru could’ve ever
imagined.

He slid a little further down until he was close enough to ran the tip of his
tongue along Die’s length. His reward was a small outcry of pleasure, enough
drive for Kaoru to do the same thing again, catching a glimpse of Die’s face
while doing so. He could see how his chest rose and fell as more little sounds
escaped from his mouth, already whimpering at the simple touch of Kaoru’s hand
on his arousal. Of course Kaoru knew that this was not just the first time for
Die with another guy but also his first time in general from what he had told
him, whether Kaoru now finally believed or not, it didn’t matter. Die’s
reactions spoke for themselves. Slowly the other man worked his tongue around
the head, before he let the whole length slide inside his mouth and could
literally feel it twitching.

Calloused breaths and small gasps left Die as he was slowly losing control over
his body, not quite knowing if this was normal, but then he didn’t care
either. What Kaoru did to him felt amazing and there was nothing but the need
for more inside of Die. Fingers dug into the blanket as his body became restless
while Kaoru continued with his task. He was well aware that Die would probably
not last very long, considering that he had never got a blow-job before. The
moans steadily grew louder as much as he tried to keep his composure. Just when
Kaoru sped up his ministrations, using his hand and mouth at the same time,
Die’s whole body suddenly tensed, the muscles of his stomach clenched and he
enjoyed blissful release. He shuddered at the impact of this new sensation,
pressed his head back into the pillows and emitted a final groan.

Pleased, Kaoru swallowed everything that Die had to give until the last drop,
almost forgotten how it was to taste another man since he had hardly done that
for someone within the last years. Looking up at Die and seeing him lying there
all breathless and with his eyes closed, a smile spread on Kaoru’s lips and he
slowly crawled upwards until he was face to face with the other guy. He dropped
a tender kiss on his lips and waited for him to look back at him before he
spoke. “Now, how do you feel?”

Licking his dry lips, Die tried to think of something to reply but there was
nothing that would describe the way the was feeling right now. So he just pulled
Kaoru down and leisurely kissed him, trying to sum up his emotions within this
action. When they parted, the smaller man had to smile again and he brushed away
some of Die’s red hair that clung to his forehead. He did want to finally be
inside of the other man but he didn’t want to rush anything either, cautious
about Die’s virginity in that department. He pecked his lips and cheek several
times before he looked up again. “Are you ready for more?”

Not even really thinking about it, Die’s answer was a slow but determined nod.
He could imagine from what Kaoru had told him about sex and from what he had
seen on television that now that they were naked and kissing, the main part was
still about to come. The part that included fucking. Nervously Die bit his lower
lip though as Kaoru slowly detached from him to reach inside the bedside drawer,
not even sure if he had still the necessary items here where he never brought
any guys. But he was lucky and found an almost unused bottle of lube as well as
some rubbers, not that he would need all of them. One would do. Lazily Die
watched the other man putting these things on the bed before Kaoru snuggled
close to Die again and grinned, dropping a chaste kiss on his lips.

“You liked what I did so far, didn’t you?” He settled for a slow
approach.

“Yes, very much,” Die replied with a bright smile and wrapped one of his
arms around Kaoru’s waist.

“You’re gonna like what I’m planning to still do with you as well, I
promise,” he said and gently trailed the tips of his fingers across Die’s
chest. “But it’s gonna hurt in the beginning.”

There was no reply from the redhead when he just looked at Kaoru questioningly.

“You still up for it?” Raising his brows, he just waited for a confirmation
that he was allowed to go on but of course he received another nod from Die, who
was most of all clueless about what was expecting him. But he didn’t mind and
trusted Kaoru that whatever it was would be bearable and later on enjoyable.

With a smile the smaller man leant close again and caught Die’s lips with his,
kissing him with no haste but only passion. His fingers began to tease the other
man’s nipple, circling it lazily, before they caressed their way down his
chest and along slender thighs, then between. Kaoru didn’t miss to pay
attention to the temporarily limp part of Die’s body, but just teasing him
with tender but playful strokes and touches, before he trailed down lower to the
crack of his butt cheeks. The tip of one of his digits easily found the puckered
area that he purposefully wanted to stimulate with his touch, rubbing across
gently. On instinct Die lifted one of his legs and allowed better access,
because so far he did nothing but enjoy the unfamiliar contact.

Pulling away, Kaoru decided that it would be better now than later to add the
lube since, despite the fact that he hardly would use it already, it would be
more comfortable for Die. Kaoru only spread a small amount on his fingers before
he brought them back to where they were supposed to enter, at first just
touching the entrance without any pressure. The moment he actually pushed one of
them inside, his mouth claimed Die’s nipple almost possessively, sucking the
sensitive bud in order to distract Die from the unpleasant invasion. Kaoru could
hardly remember how his own first time had felt but he knew a lot about
distraction and the gasp spilling from Die’s lips didn’t sound too scared
either. So Kaoru kept on moving his digit further into the other body, all the
while using his talented mouth to pay attention to Die’s nipple.

Not able to tell what he truly felt like, Die just hastily sucked in a huge
breath. It was certainly an odd feeling to have Kaoru’s finger down inside
there but it wasn’t unpleasant either, although he couldn’t quite
concentrate since his body demanded him to squirm from Kaoru doing that to his
chest. Clearly Die could feel his blood boil up inside of his body as if there
was slowly a fire burning that wanted to grow wider. When Kaoru inserted another
finger into him, the taller man’s fingers entangled within dark strands of
hair, grasping it lightly. He gasped at the invasion and threw his head back,
taking a sharp impact of air. Now this he could clearly feel and even though it
didn’t exactly hurt, it was still very strange and not too comfortable.

“Try to relax,” Kaoru lowly whispered into his ear and gave him a reassuring
smile before he slowly kissed his way down to Die’s belly, settling between
his legs. He needed more room to prepare Die. “Spread your legs a little wider
for me, ok?”

Without to ask anything the other man did as he was told, taking a staggered
breath. He wasn’t afraid or even scared, but he was hellishly nervous all of a
sudden. His heart beat loud against his chest and his whole body felt somehow
tingly and restless. But he wanted Kaoru to go on, trusting him whatever he did.
The fingers moved inside of him, running in and out, and slowly Die indeed
started to relax, latest when Kaoru began to drop small kisses on his belly and
then laced the fingers of the other hand around his growing erection. That this
part of him could grow like this was another thing that Die couldn’t quite
grasp but he knew that whenever it did, it sent pleasing shudders down his
spine.

When Kaoru was sure that Die was ready, he pulled his fingers out of him and
placed a last loving kiss on one of his thighs. Smiling at Die, whose expression
was something between inquiring and zoned out, Kaoru took a deep breath and
finally got rid of his boxers. God knew why he hadn’t done that before but he
felt much better once they were gone. He noticed when Die’s dreamily glossy
eyes fastened on the part of him that would hopefully soon be inside of him and
giving them both the time of their lives. Apparently, as the redhead’s mind
finally somehow managed to register, it was utterly normal to grow, judging by
what he saw.

Kaoru couldn’t help it, smiled a little and shook his head slightly, when
there was clearly coming a relieved sigh from Die. What it meant, the smaller
man couldn’t tell but one could never exactly judge about the other man’s
weird reactions. One thing Kaoru knew for sure though and that he could see. Die
was aroused and that was all the other man needed to know when he reached for
the condom and carefully unwrapped it. Watching closely, the redhead’s eyes
followed the finger’s every movements, curious about it as well.

“What’s that?” He huskily asked with a voice that sounded somehow odd in
his ears.

Taking a breath, Kaoru held it for a moment as words didn’t form that easily,
before he pushed it out again. “A condom. It saves us both from possibly
becoming sick.” He looked into Die’s still questioning eyes once he was done
with the rubber. Anticipation made him very impatient but outwardly he appeared
calm, although his breathes came just as shallow and he needed to wet his dry
lips. “We’ll talk about this later, okay?”

“Yes, okay.” Nodding a few times, Die smiled and kept his brows raised. He
still didn’t know what he expected but he was sure that it included Kaoru’s
grown erection inside of him. So much Die could easily guess and he just kept
his legs spread and waited.

Leaning above the taller man, Kaoru bent down to kiss Die before he pulled away
again only mere millimeters and lovingly stroked his thump across the other
man’s cheek. “Just tell me if you can’t bear it, alright?”

“Alright,” Die merely whispered. The question itself scared him a little
because so far he hadn’t even thought of it as possibly unbearable. But he
just pulled the smaller guy down for another kiss and instantly relaxed without
fail just from this simple action. His palms caressed across Kaoru’s back and
there was this unknown need, a drive that made him want the other man inside of
his body. Odd but unbelievingly intensive.

Detaching his lips from Die’s, Kaoru added some more lube before he slowly
entered him with care, at first just the tip but then he inched deeper inside
the body that engulfed him so tightly with sweet pressure. There was an almost
startled yelp that emitted from the other man and he shut his eyes tightly at
the sudden pain that seemed to almost tear him apart. Several gasps followed
with one rather unpleasant sounding groan but Die tried to bear it, although his
fingers firmly clutched Kaoru’s arms. This was surely not a welcome feeling
but so far his friend hadn’t lied and Die simply tried to remind himself of
the fact that it would only hurt in the beginning.

Torn between the want to just go on and the shock when Kaoru was looking into
his lover’s pained face, he didn’t move at all, just leant close and
patiently waited for his body to adjust. Gently he placed his hand on Die’s
cheek and made him look at Kaoru, who whispered small consoling words, before he
brushed his lips against Die’s and tenderly kissed him. Almost instantly he
felt better, hearing the voice of his friend, but the kiss did the trick in the
end, although Die clung to it as if it were the only way to keep alive. Only
then the pain slowly subsided and left him with nothing but this weird feeling
from being filled so intensely.

When Kaoru realized that the other man was slowly relaxing, he started to move
with the tiniest of thrusts he was able to do, slowly and without any haste,
even though it was pretty hard to manage. Of course he wanted to go quicker and
harder, aiming for more intensity, but he wanted Die to enjoy it as much as he
did and if possible even more. This was the man Kaoru had finally fallen for
after all this long time and God forbade him to do anything that could scare him
away again, now that they had finally found each other. Nuzzling the skin of
Die’s neck, Kaoru only quickened his pace when there were small sighs of
contentment coming from the other man, along with some low mewls.

In order to give Die what Kaoru intended do, he needed to move harder and a
little differently though. That’s why he decided to give it a try and lifted
his body just so much that he could support his weight on his palms, in the
process sliding deeper into Die, who emitted a loud groan that sounded anything
but unpleasant. Bright light had suddenly clouded his mind and even if he
couldn’t even point out what the smaller man had done to him, Die wanted more.
This had been different, good actually – no, amazing even. The moment his
friend did it again and thrust into him even harder than before, the redhead
couldn’t help but moan in pleasure. His eyes opened and gazed back at the
other one with want written in them.

With no way to mistake this reaction and the look within these dark eyes, Kaoru
began to sped up his thrusts but tried to keep them steady and deep. And with
every time he pumped into Die, the sounds that spilled from his lips, drove
Kaoru nearly insane. He had thought that the sex he had had within the last
years had been good but compared to sleeping with Die, it all faded that laid
within the past. And still Kaoru could never get enough and wanted to hear more
of those sweet sounds, attaching his hand to the other man’s arousal and
massaging him in a slow rhythm. For Die it was just too much, all these new
sensations done to his body, within his body, just everywhere. Nonetheless,
there was still this strong need inside of him, that craved for even more.

Acting just on instinct, the smaller man leant closer again and caught Die’s
lips with his, before he kissed him deeply. But both their shallow breathing
pulled them apart too soon, only able to chastely drop some more kisses. When
Kaoru suddenly felt Die wrap his legs around him, taking him even deeper, he
couldn’t hold back any longer, groaned loudly and thrust as hard as he was
able to into the other man, who just dug his fingers into his back and moaned
out Kaoru’s name. Both were panting by now but the drive to go on and the
intensity made him relentlessly move until even Die did anything to just meet
every thrust.

When Kaoru felt himself coming closer to the edge, he shifted a little, so he
could wrap his hand around Die’s erection and stroke him in time with his
thrusts. Arching his back, the former angel had the feeling that he was on the
verge of losing his mind. His body wanted to burst with pleasure. In between
moans his mouth hoarsely voiced out Kaoru’s name again and again but Die
didn’t even realize it, pushing his head back into the pillows. Without a clue
how to move now, he squirmed a little, the sensations too much now that the
other man was slowly bringing him back to where he had been before. But he still
clung to him, happily dependent.

Sooner than he had expected, Kaoru was teetering on the verge of release and
sped up his ministrations, not able to stop any movement anyway. He could
literally feel the taller man twitching in his hand before Die was suddenly
tensing and reached his climax almost violently. He shuddered at the impact,
gripping shoulders tightly within his hands as he nearly cried out. The feral
spasms of Die's inner muscles together with seeing him spilling his seed across
his belly send Kaoru over the edge. His fingers tightly grasped the sheets
besides his lover’s head when he found beautiful release as he rode on their
both last slow waves of pleasure. Only after some time he stilled completely and
collapsed on the man underneath him, both heavily panting.

With closed eyes they just remained there and tried to catch their breath, not
moving a toe. Die only wrapped his arms tightly around Kaoru and buried his nose
in the crook of his neck. Nobody had ever made him feel like this, not since he
was back on Earth. Somehow it was confusing. Technically he didn’t have a new
body but even if there was a chance that he had had sex in his former life, then
in this new one he couldn’t remember and was a virgin. Until now of course.
Now he was Kaoru’s and he didn’t want to be anyone else’s. With him he
felt right. Thank God who had sent him down. If not, Die would’ve never met
the person he always wanted to hug like this for the rest of his life. Even now
that his body was exhausted and drained, it was existential to simply keep Kaoru
within this embrace.

The smaller guy could’ve surely fallen asleep right there and then with
Die’s arms. And that was the most amazing thing about it. That he felt like he
belonged there. There was no urge inside of him that made him want to detach
from the other man. He just wanted to stay there and never move again. But in
order to keep Die from unpleasant effects, he afforded enough strength to pull
out of him and lay down beside him, instantly wrapping his arms around the tall,
red-haired guy. Kaoru didn’t want to miss the warmth and safety of his
proximity. He shifted close enough to kiss him, lazily invading his mouth with
his tongue.

When they broke apart, Die moronically smiled, his heart dancing happily. The
pain was gone. He didn’t even care for the mess he had left on his belly, but
only realized it as he accidentally touched it. Kaoru had to grin at the
expression on Die’s face as he stared with widened eyes at his fingers, then
at his belly. Using the occasion, he raised his body and finally got rid of the
used rubber, before he reached out for a cloth to wipe the other man clean. Then
he grinned and got into his former position.

“That’s normal, right?” Die cast a quick glance at Kaoru, trying not to
appear too clueless.

“Totally,” Kaoru replied with his grin still in place, even if he couldn’t
suppress a tiny snort.

“I knew that.” The redhead grinned as well and cuddled closer to the other
man, dropping another kiss on his lips, before he yawned.

“Tired?” At least Kaoru was hoping so since he was completely spent and just
wanted to fall asleep with Die beside him. He was sure that it was long past
midnight. It had been amazing and the best sex in his entire life thus far, but
it had also been exhausting and he felt drained. Usually he wouldn’t want to
stay close to someone else, preferring to sleep alone, but now all he wanted was
to cuddle with Die into sleep.

“Exhausted,” Die said and lazily smiled. “But also tired.”

“Then sleep.” He would’ve long fallen asleep if he were able to wipe off
the stupid grin that was stuck to his face. Another odd thing that hadn’t
happened in a long time.

“May I? I mean, here?” Not quite sure Die just wanted to ask, although Kaoru
would’ve to carry him if he wanted him to leave.

“Of course, you ridiculously adorable thickhead.” With a last kiss Kaoru
sealed his words and tightened his embrace before he closed his eyes and fell
asleep almost instantly.

Die just snuggled up close and wrapped his arms around Kaoru as well. He felt
dead tired and he was really unreasonably happy that he could fall asleep like
this. Not a thought was wasted on the suitcase that was still set in the living
room. Forgotten for now.



-End of chapter nine-



                            Kapitel 10: Chapter Ten
                            -----------------------


 DRAMA! I’m so not comfortable writing something like this. -.- Tell me your
opinion plz. I hope you’ll still enjoy. 



Awake for some time already, Die had been looking at Kaoru, who was still fast
asleep, cuddled up close and keeping one of his arms protectively wrapped around
Die’s waist. Same one couldn’t help but smile all the time, a soft smile,
tiny and dreamy. Was it really possible to admire and adore one guy so much that
it felt like your heart wanted to burst? Die didn’t quite know about other
humans but he was sure that in his case it was about to happen. He could just
keep staring at Kaoru forever as it appeared and somehow the redhead just
couldn’t get enough of his fragrance, which seemed so natural thanks to where
they were. Everything here smelled so Kao.

Blinking with his eyelids, Kaoru didn’t need too long to adjust his eyes to
the brightness of daylight. He was used to waking up in less time. But when he
saw Die’s dreamy gaze, he couldn’t help but smile lazily. Words seemed too
hard to form still and so he just tightened his embrace and looked into the
brown eyes of his lover.

“You look very beautiful when you sleep,” Die just voiced out what he had
been thinking, honest to the core. Being asleep Kaoru had looked peaceful and
relaxed without the tiniest of a frown on his face.

“Thank you.” Kaoru smiled, just happy for once in his life, finally. Like in
reflex he cast a quick glance at the clock beside the bed and realized that it
was way after the usual time when he would get up before he went to work. But
today it didn’t matter. Why was it his the company when he couldn’t decide
that he was as well allowed to spend some more time in bed with his lover?
That’s why Kaoru simply closed his eyes again, safe and comfortable within
Dies proximity, and most of all content with the latest happenings.

Some minutes of complete silence passed between them before it was Die who
silently spoke up again. “Kao?”

“Mh?” Opening one eye, Kaoru glanced back at him.

“Do you remember what you’ve told me about falling in love? That I’ll
realize it when it happens,” Die more or less drawled and didn’t even wait
for a possible response, almost too deep in his thoughts. “That I’d become
tingly when I look at the person I fell for and that I might suddenly blush when
I talk to them. Or the butterflies in my stomach and that just thinking of that
person would make me smile and be happy.” He could remember each of Kaoru’s
words as if he had just told him mere seconds ago. “You know, I think that
it’s already happened and you are this one person.” A bright smile crept
upon his features in the end but not because of his words but because he just
felt the way he had described when he was looking at Kaoru.

It had been what Kaoru had wanted to hear, a confession of love, and it made him
more than just happy but he couldn’t, even if he wanted to, utter that he felt
the same way. There he was, this tough guy who didn’t bat an eyelash whatever
he said, but in a situation like this he was insecure. Although he was certain
about his feelings for Die, he wasn’t ready to tell the other man that he
loved him. He could think them and his heart told him that he didn’t lie, but
voicing them out would make him feel vulnerable in some sort of way. But then he
also felt bad for not responding with the words he was supposed to say. So
instead of words he cast a smile at the other man, inched closer and kissed him
in the most loving way he had ever kissed somebody else. Slowly exploring
Die’s mouth with his tongue, Kaoru put his hand gently on his cheek and tilted
his head, so he could deepen it. But there was no haste in it, not the tiniest
urge, just plain tenderness. He did feel like Die. Kaoru’s heart beat hard and
fast against his chest, he felt tingly from all the butterflies in his stomach
and he was so ridiculously happy, that instantly a smile spread on his lips as
he pulled away and gazed into the other man’s chocolate-colored eyes. When
Kaoru looked into those eyes, he saw affection in them and he just hoped that
Die could see the same within Kaoru’s.

A soft sigh escaped the redhead’s mouth. Was it possible that a human being
could become addicted to another one’s kisses or that someone in general? The
question senselessly plagued his mind as he was completely filled with the wish
for another kiss. Wrapping his arms around the smaller man, he pulled him close
and joined their lips again, moving his gently against Kaoru’s. Everything
about this man seemed addictive and in this very moment Die couldn’t even tell
if a place like Heaven existed, the remembrance erased by Kaoru’s presence.

When they broke apart, Kaoru nuzzled his nose against Die’s neck, so content
with the other guy that he was actually frightened. How could he ever even try
to make the red-haired man go? Not for anything in the world he wanted Die to
leave and that was what he needed to tell him, desperately even. “Stay,” he
said with his voice hardly above a whisper. “Stay with me. I mean here in my
home.”

So far Die hadn’t even dared to waste a thought about it, a little bit afraid
that he would still have to move out and away from Kaoru. After all he didn’t
know that the lawyer’s reasons had been an excuse. Therefore the redhead still
believed that he was in need to manage his life on his own. But he happily
accepted his lover’s request and nodded with a moronic smile on his lips.
“I’d love to!”

Looking up, there was also a smile on Kaoru’s lips and he pecked the other
man’s lips, not able to kiss properly when he couldn’t stop smiling like an
idiot. “Oh, and if you’re still interested in a job, I know someone who’s
in need of a paralegal, that could do occasional secretary work as well.”

Raising his brows, Die’s forehead slightly wrinkled as he pondered about whom
the other man was talking about. Die hadn’t thought about his occupational
future either but he knew that he needed a job in order to earn money. So quite
any offer was fine with him, although it came in handy that he had experience in
working as a paralegal. “And who’s that?”

Cocking his head to the side, Kaoru wondered for a moment if Die really didn’t
get it or if he was just trying to kid him. But knowing the redhead, he indeed
had no clue. “Well, I do need someone since I’ve been idiot enough to fire
my assistant.”

“You?” For a moment Die’s eyes widened as the whole situation appeared to
him like one big but lucky coincident. But then he became slowly suspicious
until finally the penny dropped. “You want me back? I’m not fired then?”

“Yes, I mean, that is you still want the job?” He had no doubt about the
other man wanting the job but it amused him to tease and ask Die again, who was
looking just too cute when he appeared clueless and dumb. Only that Kaoru knew
now that the guy he had fallen for wasn’t stupid at all.

“Yeah, of course I want it. I love the job.” Enthusiastically he nodded his
head and smiled, tightening the arms that held the smaller man until suddenly a
thought crossed Die’s mind. “Then, don’t we have to work already?”

“Are you in a hurry to leave my bed?” Kaoru countered in mocked hurt but
Die’s eyes grew wide and he vehemently shook his head. That alone made Kaoru
almost burst with small chuckles. “You are really one of a kind.” With
having said that, he leant down and captured Die’s lips in a slow kiss, which
steadily deepened the longer it took. The hands that run up and down his back
sent pleasant and warm shivers along his skin and once he pressed his groin
against Die’s, Kaoru was almost certain that he wouldn’t stop by in his
office before midday. Some things had to be taken care of beforehand.

He had just moved his lips from Die’s mouth along his jaw to his neck, teasing
the sensitive skin there with his lips and teeth, when the doorbell that was
suddenly ringing interrupted him. His first instinct was to ignore it but when
the bell was rung a second time, Kaoru looked up and sighed. “I’ll just go
and take a look who’s disturbing breakfast, okay? Just don’t run away. I’m
not finished with you.”

If the smirk on Kaoru’s features hadn’t been that gorgeous, Die would’ve
probably been worried. He didn’t get the thing about breakfast and he sure as
hell would never run away, there was no doubt about it. But he perfectly obeyed
and smiled with a short nod. Quickly the smaller man pulled some underwear out
of his closet as well as a robe in which he slid, before he tightened its belt
around his waist and walked down the stairs to see who was looking for him.
Taking a glimpse through the spy-hole, he wasn’t exactly thrilled about the
fact that it was Toshiya who stood in front of the door but Kaoru couldn’t
pretend not to be here anyway. So he just ran his hand through his hair and
opened the door no more than a few inches. “Hey,” he greeted him with a
motion of his head and tried to be casual. “What’s up?”

“Hey,” Toshiya answered quite calmly, not being his usual hyper self. “I
just wanted to check how you’re doing since... you know.” He didn’t say
that he meant the thing about Die moving out and being fired because he supposed
that Kaoru knew pretty well what he was referring to. At the same time Toshiya
mustered his friend including his attire in curiosity. It was unlike the lawyer
to sleep in long or skip work on a usual day in the middle of the week, unless
there was another guy involved but even that was hardly believable because
nobody had ever been more important than Kaoru’s work.

“Fine,” Kaoru replied rather curtly because he was almost sure that Toshiya
wanted to check on Die, not Kaoru. He could also add one and one and it was more
likely that his friend worried about the redhead than him, since he wouldn’t
even be at home under normal circumstances.

“Great, umm... Where’s Die? I need to ask him something.” There was this
unpleasant awkwardness between the two of them and Toshiya couldn’t help but
still be a little pissed. When he had heard that Kaoru had basically thrown Die
out as well as fired him, Toshiya couldn’t understand it. They had had this
talk the afternoon before and it had actually appeared as if Kaoru would
honestly care for the red-haired guy. But obviously that had been a lie.
Helplessly Die had explained his situation to Toshiya who couldn’t help but
offer his apartment, partly because he still had a soft spot for Die. And truth
be told he hadn’t expected Kaoru to be at home at all at this time of the day,
only Die, obviously, since he had no working place to go to. Now for the first
time in many years Toshiya didn’t know what to say to his best friend, just
tried to take a glimpse inside the house because he wasn’t even invited in.

Upstairs the redhead had heard Toshiya’s voice and although Kaoru had told him
to wait, he got up and peered around the doorframe. To Die it seemed a good
moment to tell Toshiya that he won’t move out of here and in with him. So he
marched out with a smile and waved his hand once his eyes met Toshiya’s.

For a moment the tall dark-haired man froze when he saw Die coming out of
Kaoru’s bedroom. He didn’t even need to think about it. The whole scene was
enough to make him realize what had happened. With spiteful eyes he looked at
his supposed to be best friend. “I see,” he merely hissed. “You needed to
get him out of your life before you could screw him.”

It would’ve been a matter of fact if things hadn’t changed but now that
Kaoru could admit it to himself, he easily grew annoyed by his friend’s wrong
assumptions that were also confusing on top of it. “Nothing you see,” he
answered resolutely, but much too calmly for the temper of his friend, who would
like to punch him already for only just his cool exterior. “I just—”

“You just what, Kaoru?” Toshiya cut him off, shaking his head. “Lead him
on? Who gave me the long speech about Die needing anything but this? Or is it
only when I would’ve hit on him? Kaoru can do whatever he wants, right? You
just do whatever you feel like.” Slowly Toshiya was starting to rage, at first
only inwardly but the more he spoke his mind, the more aggravated he became.

From the moment the smaller man had been cut off he was already pissed and
whatever his assumed to be friend said made it worse. Crossing his arms, Kaoru
just gazed back at Toshiya with a cold stare and waited for him to end his
speech. He couldn’t stand people who threw a fit about something when they
didn’t even know the whole circumstances. “Shut up and calm down,” he
firmly voiced out. “Then I might explain it to you.”

“Might?” The way the other man spoke to him angered Toshiya even more but it
also hurt. “Who do you think you are? But guess what, I don’t want an
explanation. Not from you. Everything you say are just lies anyway and I...”
Because there was no response from Kaoru, neither defense or some yelling,
Toshiya grew more and more just frustrated and most of all disappointed. “I
don’t know you anymore and I don’t think I want a friend like you.”

If there was anybody who knew about how much of a fucked up man Kaoru was, then
it was indeed Kaoru himself. He knew of his lies, his mistakes and that he was
probably incapable of doing those things right that included friends and people
he liked. But he wanted to and if Toshiya had lost his trust in Kaoru, then he
couldn’t blame him. Yet it hurt when Toshiya said that he could as well do
without him, not in need of their friendship. Because he of all people should
know what kind of a complicated person his friend was. Toshiya just couldn’t
read him anymore and it wasn’t Kaoru’s fault, but alone Toshiya’s who had
lost track of their friendship when he had first laid his eyes on Die. Hadn’t
it been Kaoru who had tried to get rid of the redhead for the sake of his
friendship with the other man? And in right this moment Kaoru couldn’t care
less about explaining anything to his ‘former’ friend, since he had done
that for way too long already as it seemed.

“If you say so,” he merely muttered under his breath and clenched one of his
fists, when speaking such words hurt Kaoru as well. He would like to shout at
Toshiya that he had fallen in love with Die but Kaoru couldn’t, too proud to
justify himself and moreover simply not able to say something like this. He
hadn’t even made it to tell Die and although he would certainly admit it to
Toshiya under different circumstances, right now Kaoru couldn’t.

From upstairs the former angel watched with worried eyes. What was going on
between his two friends, he didn’t really grasp. Toshi was pissed at Kao. But
why? What had Kaoru done wrong? He had made Die happy but obviously that
hadn’t been the right thing to make Toshiya happy as well. Hence most of all
Die felt guilty and he wanted to apologize to his friends, both if necessary.
Yet whenever he opened his mouth to speak, another one already did.

Fixing his eyes on Die, Toshiya wanted to tell him that Kaoru would just drop
him now that he had had his fun with him, but Toshiya couldn’t. He wasn’t
able to say that because as much as he was pissed at his friend, he hadn’t the
guts to make Die sad right now. Apart from that the tall black-haired guy
couldn’t help but be a little disappointed at Die though. Why did he have to
be so dumb and let himself be fooled? So Toshi tore his eyes off the redhead and
focused them on Kaoru again. “You better not treat him like the rest of the
world,” he firmly stated. “Or else—”

“Or else? What?” Scoffing, Kaoru was on the verge to lose his patience. He
could take a lot of things but not Toshiya threaten him as if he were his
mother. “Wrap it up and mind your own business.”

“Fine, I will!” The other man yelled and turned on his heals. “Have a nice
life, asshole.” Marching off he didn’t even look back but climbed in his car
and sped off. What did he do so wrong that Kaoru led him on? It’s not like
Toshiya would really mind if he wanted to get into the redhead’s pants.
That’s what he had assumed in the first place after all but it had been Kaoru
who had denied it, obviously lying. The problem was just that Toshiya had said
many things in his fit of rage but had not addressed the essential facts, that
he felt betrayed and treat like a piece of scum.

Running a hand through his hair, Kaoru had shut the door and headed back
upstairs where Die was still standing like frozen to the spot. Unhappily he
watched the smaller man pass him by, who looked just as unhappy as Toshiya was
probably feeling too. Sighing, Die raised his shoulders and dropped them again
in a defeated gesture. “Maybe I should talk to Toshi. I could apologize.”

Slowly Kaoru shook his head and sat down on the bed. “No, there’s no need
for you to apologize. You’ve done nothing wrong.”

“But it feels like it.” Dropping his gaze, Die inched closer and sat down
next to the other guy. “I don’t understand it. You don’t want me outta
your life, do you? And Toshi... Maybe he just doesn’t know that I’m in love
with you. If I explained that to him—”

“No, Die. That’s not the point,” Kaoru cut him off with a calm but sincere
voice as he shook his head once again. “He knows it and it’s not your fault
that he’s mad. I’m the one to blame because I haven’t made up my mind fast
enough. Don’t worry,” he said and looked into the redhead’s eyes, patting
his knee with his hand. “Once Toshiya has calmed down, I will talk to him. He
won’t be mad forever.”

As much as he wanted to stop worrying, Die couldn’t in the instant. “But he
said he didn’t want you to be his friend anymore and I really don’t
want—“

“Humans say many things they don’t mean, Die.” Once again Kaoru spoke
before the other man had finished his sentence. “He was just angry and so was
I. Just give him a little time.” Truth be told, Kaoru was quite sure that
Toshiya could hardly handle the fact that Die had chosen to spent the night with
Kaoru instead of the other man. It was unlikely that he was just pissed at
Kaoru’s general behavior. So once Toshi had come to terms with Die being in
love with Kaoru, then the lawyer would apologize for lying and explain the
matter of why he hadn’t made up his mind earlier. Toshiya just wasn’t a
person who won’t forgive.

Sighing again hardly audibly, Die gave in. He couldn’t do anything else anyway
and he trusted Kaoru since he knew Toshiya for way longer. “I like him. He’s
a friend. But he’s your friend too, has been for years and I’d rather stay
away than bring trouble into your friendship. Even though I’m in love with
you; or just because of it.”

“I know,” the other man lowly said with a weak smile and reached out his
hand to pull Die into a hug. The whole situation was one big mess now. If only
Kaoru had given Die a chance in the first place, back then when he had met him,
instead of denying the own feelings. Now Kaoru just hoped that Toshiya really
hadn’t fallen in love with Die as well and would soon just realize that his
friend had no intention of dropping the red-haired man. After all he was the
only guy Kaoru had ever met who was honest to the core, indeed rather staying
away than to hurt anyone’s feelings. “Just don’t worry. Everything will be
alright in time and there’s no way I’m gonna let you go again.” He gently
put his hand on Die’s cheek and smiled a little bit more encouragingly at him.
“Now, are you ready for another working day?”

Nodding, Die smiled as well. He would believe in anything the other man said and
since he seemed very certain about his best friend being alright again, Die felt
a lot better.

“Seriously,” Kaoru added and couldn’t suppress a lop-sided smirk. As much
as he cared for Die but there was something he had missed to ask so far and he
surely would’ve already complained if he were Die. “Not aching anywhere?”

“Aching?” Scratching his neck Die blushed a little, not even really knowing
why, but his mind filled with memories when he thought of the only ache he did
feel, even if it was nothing major. “Uh, not seriously. I mean... well, it
doesn’t hurt or so.” There was an unknown heat rising up to his cheeks and
he cast his eyes off Kaoru’s inquiring gaze for a moment, not able to hold it.
It was weird because it made him happy that Kaoru cared but then Die also got a
little embarrassed, just because he couldn’t think of anything else but what
had happened last night – and where, body-wise.

“I see,“ Kaoru grinned and dropped a kiss on Die’s lips. “Naturally
there’s some soreness but it’ll pass. Until then I don’t want you to
suffer.” With having said that he patted Die’s knee again and got up,
pulling Die along. His plans included a hot shower for the two of them and after
that Kaoru would tend to his lover’s cute butt with some salve, before
they’d head to work. His employees would probably already think that their
boss had died since Kaoru never failed to come to the office in time.

That day Kaoru greeted each of the people back who provided him with their
‘good morning’- formalities. A tiny smirk accompanied him all day long and
it was obvious that he was in good spirits, even although he worried a little
about Toshiya. His thoughts often drifted back to his friend but Kaoru was sure
that this problem could be solved as well. As if nothing had ever happened Die
attended to his former position while the lawyer was quickly busied and
surrounded with work. Only after midday Die dared to sneak a peek into his
lover’s office again. Instantly Kaoru smiled when there was a red-haired guy
poking his head inside the room. “Come in,” he motioned and ignored his
remaining work. “I’m not really in the mood to work today but I guess it has
to be done.”

“What’re you working on?” With a bright smile and a curious expression Die
finally entered and made his way over to the other man and around the desk, only
to sit on it.

That the redhead was indeed interested in the lawyer’s work, had always made
Kaoru proud and somewhat happy but right now he would prefer not to talk about
work much. He put a hand on one of Die’s thighs and slightly grinned up to
him. “Just some minor problem. But there’s still some case ahead,” he said
with a small frown that he quickly forced off again. “We should go out for
dinner tonight.”

“That’d be great. I can still invite you since you didn’t want me to
yesterday.” Die shifted his butt on the desk, so he sat directly in front of
Kaoru, who instantly ran both his palms up slender thighs.

“Sounds like an offer I can’t possibly refuse.” Smiling mischievously
Kaoru got up and wrapped his arms around the other man’s waist, bringing them
closer until they could feel each other’s breaths on their skin. “So we’re
going to have a date then?”

“Yes,” Die replied with another broad smile and slid his hands up to
Kaoru’s shoulders before he was rewarded with a gentle kiss, although Kaoru
kept it teasingly short, making Die grumble lowly in disappointment. In the
process it only made the smaller man chuckle since his lover pretty much looked
like a puppy that begged for some stroking. He was just about to lean forward
and capture Die’s lips once more when the sound of someone entering disturbed
Kaoru and he raised his head to glare at the intruder.

“Don’t let yourself be interrupted by me, Mr. Niikura,” a middle-aged, not
too slim man spoke up and gracefully helped himself to grab a seat in front of
the desk. Two other men accompanied him, both dressed in black and wearing
sunglasses.

But Kaoru recognized this man within a second and quickly detached from the
redhead, pulling him rather harshly off the desk as well. “Mr. Nagatomi,” he
addressed the man and bowed in fake respect. “I’m sorry for my lack of
manners.”

Lowly Nagatomi chuckled and obviously roamed his gaze across Die. “Don’t
be,” he waved Kaoru’s apology off and faced him again. “I didn’t see
your secretary but couldn’t wait either. You know my patience and there’s
something I need your abilities for.”

Nagatomi never needed any help, always needed the abilities of a lawyer and it
never meant any good. Facing the redhead, Kaoru clearly stated his order.
“Die, get out.”

A first the red-haired man was a little shocked at the tone of his lover’s
voice, his eyebrows curiously rose and he was about to ask why, but then he knew
that Kaoru always had his reasons for doing something. That’s why Die didn’t
complain but just nodded.

“He can stay. I don’t mind,” Nagatomi said and his thin lips curled into a
small smile. Hardly there were people who Die really couldn’t stand but this
Nagatomi guy had something that wasn’t only unpleasant but dangerous as well,
even if he wanted to appear friendly.

“But I mind.” Looking straight at the redhead, Kaoru didn’t even bat an
eyelash when he ordered his assistant to leave. But he wanted to keep Die out of
danger and therefore any knowledge he missed, made his life a tad bit safer.
“Get out.”

Nodding curtly Die complied and left, shutting the door after him. He couldn’t
help the bad feeling he had. There had been moments when Kaoru had been serious,
when he had even hurt Die, when he had been sarcastic and mean in the beginning,
but there had always been a soul behind those deep mocha eyes. Now Kaoru had
just appeared as if the other guy had robbed him off any emotion. Any emotion
but the slight fear that Die wasn’t completely sure he had really sensed. To
him Kaoru had been fearless thus far and he could hardly imagine that something
intimidated him – or someone for that matter. But this Nagatomi guy was
another kind.

Sighing deeply, Die sat down and patiently waited. From outside there seemed to
be nothing suspicious enough for him to worry about. After only a short amount
of time the door opened again and Kaoru guided Nagatomi out, with the other two
guys following them. The expression on their faces was unreadable but Die could
tell that the lawyer didn’t feel too comfortable around these men, even if he
appeared calm and settled. Nagatomi on the other hand was quite the same as
before, friendly on the outside but he always seemed to be somewhat false, at
least if someone asked the former angel about his opinion.

“Niikura,” Nagatomi addressed Kaoru who looked back at him with an
unfaltering gaze. “I’m very sorry for bothering you. Best wishes for the
future and,” he cast a look at Die, “have a nice evening.” With that he
just turned and walked out of the office.

Like in trance Kaoru didn’t even dare to blink with an eye. He would sigh in
relief if only he could be sure that the business relationship between Nagatomi
and him would really be settled from now on.

“Kao?” The redhead inched closer and put a hand on his friend’s shoulder.
“Are you alright? What did he want?”

“He wanted me to defend him,” Kaoru replied almost absent-mindedly. “But I
refused.”

“Oh.” On one hand Die was glad since this would mean that this unpleasant
Nagatomi person wouldn’t show up again any time soon, but on the other hand he
didn’t get why Kaoru had turned someone down who had been his client for long.
The redhead could remember that the lawyer had once admitted that he didn’t
like him much and one better not messed around with him, which worried Die the
most. “Why does he want your defense? What’s the trouble?”

“He killed someone,” Kaoru answered in a monotonous voice and finally tilted
his head to face Die, who couldn’t hide his small gasp. “It’s not the
first time I guess but it’s the first time he openly admitted it to me and
still wanted me to defend him.” He bowed his head and wiped his palm across
his forehead, where a thin layer of cold sweat had built. “The worst thing is
that I’ve always known, even back then when he didn’t admit it.” At that
time Kaoru had been too afraid to back out of the deal, although he had already
an idea that all his defense was for something that was one huge lie. But ever
since his conversation with Die about why Kaoru had wanted to become a lawyer in
the first place, he wanted to make it better, make it right and be a person he
could actually be proud to be. “I don’t want to defend him again.”

Acting on instinct Die wrapped his arms around the other man and pulled him
close into an embrace. He couldn’t judge about Kaoru’s motives when formerly
he had defended Nagatomi, but Die knew that the lawyer had made the right
decision this time and he was filled with an unknown pride for him. Only for a
few seconds Kaoru rested within the taller man’s arms until he pulled away and
forced a small smile on his lips. “Hey, I need some fresh air and a smoke.
Outside. Would you wait for me here? I’ll get us some coffee from the shop
across the street, ok?”

At first Die wanted to protest, would rather like to accompany his friend, but
he respected any of Kaoru’s wishes and simply nodded. If Kaoru wanted him to
wait here, Die would certainly do so.

With a grateful smile Kaoru turned before he headed straight outside. He needed
to come to terms with his decision, sure that it had been the right one, but
afraid that it would change his whole life, most of all his career. If Nagatomi
didn’t take it as lightly as he had done, he’d make sure that the lawyer
would lose some of his clients. But Kaoru would be able to cope. He would have
to. Lighting a cigarette outside of the building, he deeply inhaled the smoke
before he blew it out again. Whatever happened from now on, he would handle the
situation. He owed it to his father, to himself and even to Die.

Once the redhead had watched the lawyer walk off, he sighed and headed inside
Kaoru's office. Nothing had changed here and somehow he felt like a weight had
been lifted off his shoulders. It certainly wasn’t a bad thing that Kaoru had
got rid of that Nagatomi guy, right? From the huge windows on the wall behind
Kaoru’s desk, he could see his lover crossing the street. Obviously everything
was okay. Until suddenly a black car with shaded windows stopped right next to
the man down there.

When the black limousine halted right next to Kaoru, he knew that it meant
trouble and it made his guts twist a little. The passenger’s door quickly
opened and one of Nagatomi’s men got out of the car and opened the backdoor.
“Get inside, Niikura.” He instantly recognized the voice and although he
hesitated for a second, Kaoru knew better and did as he was told. Once inside
the car he found himself seated right opposite Nagatomi, while another of his
men was sitting next to Kaoru. “Let me give you a ride.”

Inwardly Kaoru froze when the car took off.

Frowning Die watched his friend climb inside the car that pulled back on the
road and drove off. With no clue about who had more or less snatched the lawyer
off the street, Die simply stared after the car. He couldn’t tell why Kaoru
had climbed inside the car, had no idea who it was inside the black limousine,
but one thing Die knew. That it left him worried to no end.

There was silence inside the car for some minutes. Nagatomi drank from a glass
which was filled with some brownish liquid as his eyes roamed across the lawyer
who kept silent for his own good. Only after a while Nagatomi chuckled a little
and spoke up. “You really have some guts, Niikura. Turning me down like
this.”

Keeping quiet Kaoru just looked at the other man, not knowing what to say. He
had told his reasons already and now he could only wait until Nagatomi would get
to the point, even if it was surely an unpleasant one.

“I’ve always kinda liked you, even if you are just a filthy faggot. But the
amount of money I paid to you has probably made your head a little too big,
don’t you agree, Kaoru?” He stretched the name purposefully, demonstrating
that he was far more superior to such a spoiled lawyer.

“There are even better lawyers around than me,” Kaoru lowly spoke up, trying
it with another approach than back there in his office. “You could hire anyone
you want and they’ll surely do their job well in defending you.”

Chuckling lowly, Nagatomi took another sip from his drink before he went on.
“I know that, Niikura. But the thing is,” he drawled for a moment and
pierced Kaoru with his cold, dark eyes from out of his chubby face, “that
I’ve trusted you with my problems and maybe this sounds corny but...” He
took a deep breath and pushed it out through his teeth. “You know too
much.”

Mechanically Kaoru shook his head. “I’ve kept my mouth shut before. Why
would I change that?”

“Because you seem to change your mind a lot lately.” Deadly serious Nagatomi
put his glass down and glared at the lawyer. “Besides I don’t like any
risks. So it’s your choice in the end. Defend me or leave it.”

Bowing his head Kaoru stared at his hands in his lap. They were sweaty and cold.
He knew what Nagatomi was trying to tell him and he should have guessed it. With
a bitter chuckle he looked up again and took a staggered breath, fearing the
answer to the question he was about to ask. “Leave it and get killed as
well?”

There was nothing but a motion of Nagatomi’s expression that told Kaoru more
than words could have done. With no other choice but to give in, Kaoru slowly
nodded. “Fine, I’ll do the job.”

“I knew you’re a smart boy, Kaoru. Your father would’ve been proud of
you,” Nagatomi dryly laughed and purposefully pushed the other man’s
buttons. He knew all about Kaoru Niikura, even the content of his dreams and
only that way a man like Nagatomi could be sure that he wasn’t led into a
trap. Suddenly the car stopped and the man next to Kaoru climbed outside,
leaving the door open. They were anywhere but not near his office. “Make sure
that he’ll stay true to his words,” Nagatomi said to his fellow and faced
the lawyer with a stern expression. “Get out.”

-

Meanwhile Die couldn’t take it any longer. Even if only minutes must have
passed with Kaoru being away, Die was sure that something bad must have
happened. Inside of him there were all these feelings he couldn’t cope with,
most of all worry. Usually he always trusted the other man, knew whatever he did
was fine and would be alright, but right now Die knew nothing anymore. Something
told him that his friend needed his help. But alone Die could hardly do
anything. He panicked.

Suddenly he had an idea and with trembling fingers he reached for Kaoru’s cell
phone, calling the only person he knew could help. “Toshiya? It’s me, Die. I
need your help,” he urgently babbled once the other man had answered the
phone.

“Die? What—” It took Toshiya a moment before he actually grasped who was
calling him. He couldn’t help it though that Die’s urgent request and the
tone of his voice made his friend think of all kinds of things that might’ve
happened to him. “What happened? Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m okay. It’s about Kaoru.” Nervously the redhead fingered a
button on his shirt while he was speaking. He heard the annoyed sigh from the
other man once Die had mentioned the name of his friend but he ignored it.
Although Die cared, there were other things occupying his mind right now.
“He’s gone. He said he only wanted to have a smoke and get us coffee from
across the street but then there was this car that stopped and took Kao away. I
don’t know but I’ve a really bad feeling now, Toshi. As if something bad has
happened and I don’t know who else to call.”

Listening to all the excited mess of words that spilled from out of Die, Toshiya
frowned. Of course the other man could always call him and ask for help but
still Die’s whole explanation was a tad bit too confusing. Somehow Toshiya
would expect Kaoru to do something like this and make Die worry his head off but
even for Die there was a little too much fear quivering in his voice as he
spoke. “Who took Kaoru away and when?”

“Half an hour ago? I’m not sure,” Die quickly answered and once again
watched the streets down below for any sign of the lawyer. “This guy with the
name Nagatomi had been here and Kaoru had told him that he wouldn’t defend
him. He seemed pretty worried to me and then he just wanted to go outside but
now someone took him with them. I don’t know who but I would just feel better
if we could look for Kao maybe. Can we?” Die hesitated for a second, somehow
knowing that he asked a lot from the other man. “Could you drive me please?
I’m scared that something’s happened to him and...” His voice drifted off
into a whisper when there was no reply from Toshiya. “Toshi?”

Heaving one huge sigh, the other man took a deep breath and cursed himself for
not being able to decline the redhead’s request. There was something in his
voice that spoke of so much affection towards Kaoru that Toshiya felt utterly
sad and he mentally just begged his long-term friend not to fuck it up this
time. Besides that when Die had mentioned the name Nagatomi, it sent also cold
shivers down Toshiya’s spine. Everybody had heard stories about that guy and
only Kaoru himself knew why he had defended the bastard before. “Okay, I’ll
be there in five minutes. Wait outside the building.”

“Thanks.” Die sighed in relief and ended the call. Although he had not a
single evidence for Kaoru being in trouble and Die’s assumptions were nothing
but vague, he trusted his feelings and he was unspeakably grateful for Toshi’s
help. Quickly he grabbed his jacket and scampered out of the building, passing
by other employees but not really seeing them. If only Die would now be able to
fly, then he could easily find his lover and friend.

-

Once Kaoru had climbed out of the car, Nagatomi slowly followed, not wanting to
miss the show. The lawyer had a good guess what was waiting for him now and
instead of hoping that it wouldn’t happen at all, he just prayed for it to be
over soon. He kept his gaze fixed on the ground, missing the small nod and the
smirk that Nagatomi sent out to his man. Only when Kaoru felt the hard fist
landing in his stomach, he knew that their show had begun. “Look Kaoru, this
is for your own good,” Nagatomi mused. “Take it as a reminder to keep your
word.”

Pain seeped through his body as Kaoru held his arms across his stomach, coughing
from the impact with that the guy had hit him. There was no time to recover
though when Kaoru was much too easily grabbed by his collar, so that
Nagatomi’s bully could place another blow square across Kaoru’s jaw.
Groaning out in pain he fell backwards against the car and slid down. When he
touched his aching face with his fingers, he could feel blood leaking from his
nose. He felt dizzy but he managed to focus his eyes on Nagatomi who was smiling
and took a long drag from a cigarette. “You can’t take much, Niikura. I’m
disappointed.”

Dragging his bones slowly back up, Kaoru just raised his chin and waited for the
next hit he would certainly receive. In all the years he had taken much more
than just a few beats of fists and he would survive this, no matter what kind of
insults Nagatomi threw at him. Kaoru was just relieved that this hadn’t
happened when Die had been still around.

-

They had already driven around for what seemed like forever, although it
could’ve taken them only minutes. But the many streets they had driven along
made time appear longer. Yet Kaoru was nowhere to be seen and it was obvious in
Die’s expression that he was frustrated and despaired. “It’s pretty much
senseless,” Toshiya sighed, his heart going out to Die, but he still knew that
their chances to find Kaoru were little to non-existing. “This city is too
huge.”

Taking a staggered breath Die faced his friend, not knowing what to say. Even
with wings it would’ve been hard to spot Kaoru but the redhead still didn’t
want to give up. “I know,” he said, his voice so small that he sounded like
a young boy. “Let’s just drive around some more. Please.”

Nodding Toshiya agreed, not able to turn the other man down. Seeing the look in
Die’s eyes literally broke his heart. “Do you really think Kaoru’s worth
it?” he lowly questioned since he hadn’t forgotten about the fight in the
morning. “I’ve told you about him, not because I don’t like him but
because I like you as well, Die. Do you honestly think that he loves you?”

Nearly offended Die’s gaze suddenly narrowed when he looked at Toshiya and
there was a small pout building on his lips when he was about to protest. Of
course Kaoru loved him back! There were no doubts within the red-haired man
because he could simply feel it. But as soon as he opened his mouth to explain
the matter to Toshiya, he suddenly spotted Kaoru. “Stop the car, Toshi!
There’s Kao! Hurry up! Stop the car!”

A little startled Toshiya quickly hit the brakes and pulled the car over to the
sideway but what he saw made him swallow hard. Acting on instinct Die opened the
car’s door and wanted to climb out when he saw his lover being beaten up. But
Toshiya held the redhead back. “No, Die. Don’t go there. Nagatomi won’t
hesitate to kill you if you interfere.”

“But—” Shaking his head he yanked his arm free and got out of the car. He
would rather risk his life than sit here and watch the man he had fallen for in
pain. In anger as well as sorrow he ran to Kaoru and pushed the man away who was
about to beat him again.

“Leave him alone!” Die yelled and blocked the bully’s way.

The man he had pushed looked pretty much pissed and about to bash the impudent
redhead but Nagatomi’s amused chuckle stopped him. “Oh look what we’ve got
here. Another queer.” The older man laughed and received a glare from Die.
“Trying to protect your lover-boy? That’s too sweet.”

“Die,” Kaoru rasped and fastened his blurred gaze on his red-haired friend.
“Get away.”

“Yeah Die,” Nagatomi repeated and stretched the name purposefully into a
sneer. “Run for your life before it’s too late.”

“I won’t run anywhere without him!” he shot back and ignored Kaoru’s
demand. Usually Die obeyed but this time he simply couldn’t stand back and do
as his friend said as long as he was in danger.

“Are you sure?” Nagatomi lowly asked and already reached his hand inside his
jacket.

“Leave him out of this,” Kaoru cut in and looked the old man straight in the
eye as he simply tried to remain standing on his two feet. “He doesn’t know
any better.”

“You shut up!” His voice raised slightly but firm, Nagatomi pulled a gun out
of his jacket and pointed it straight at Kaoru. “You’re a lucky bastard that
I still need you.” With that he unceremoniously directed the barrel at Die and
pulled the trigger. Two loud shots rung in the redhead’s ears but he didn’t
feel the pain when the bullets pierced his chest.

Eyes wide, Toshiya stared at the scene only meters away from the car he was
still sitting in. Like in trance he shook his head, tears brimming in his eyes.
His hand fumbled for the glove-box and pulled out a gun he had bought years ago
for own safety but never used before, since he had never felt the urge to and
had never needed it. But in this very moment he instinctively loaded it and
quickly left the car.

The second Kaoru’s eyes met Die’s the world had stopped, even if just for
the two of them. There was nothing but the redhead’s typical helpless
expression when he didn’t know what was happening, while his eyes slowly lost
their glimmer of curiousness and his legs gave way. That’s when Kaoru snapped.
Even as beaten up and injured he already was, he felt like having the strength
of a dozen men when he jumped at Nagatomi, reaching almost blindly for the gun
and trying to hit some blows on the old man. Too dazzled to react, Nagatomi
suddenly found himself back on the ground, receiving some hard blows into his
face. But he still managed to keep the gun thanks to his man suddenly grabbing
Kaoru and pulling him off his boss.

“Bastard,” Nagatomi mumbled and slowly heaved his old body up and on his
feet, pointing his gun at Kaoru. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

The sound of another two shots filled the air and Kaoru’s eyes widened when
not he felt any pain but saw Nagatomi slump down on the ground in a pool of own
blood. Shooting his gaze to where the bullets must've come from, he stared into
the horror-written face of Toshiya. The tall dark-haired man was breathing
heavily and held his gun with shaking hands. He hadn’t thought, only done.
Mindless.

With force Kaoru yanked his worn body out of the bully’s grip who stared at
the dead body of his boss in shock. Ignoring everything else around him, Kaoru
only tumbled forward and slid down on the ground where Die was lying and taking
shallow breathes, the pain now clearly overpowering. Only when he spotted Kaoru
bending down to him, the redhead smiled slightly as best as he managed and got
pulled into Kaoru’s arms.

Toshiya luckily didn’t miss Nagatomi’s man reaching for his gun but was
quicker. “I wouldn’t do this. Get inside the car and piss off,” he voiced
out almost choking but he didn’t care. “Move!” He yelled and the man
quickly did, realizing that there was nobody left risking his life for.

“Hey, I could save you.” Die whispered in a weak voice that cracked in
between words. At least in human form he had been able to protect someone,
although he knew deep within his mind that there had been less danger for his
friend than for Die. He tried to remain smiling but it was hard, tiny but
painful coughs breaking through his throat. He reached out his fingers with all
the strength his could afford and touched Kaoru’s cheek, needing to feel his
warm skin underneath the cold tips. “I’m cold... and scared.”

With a huge lump in his throat Kaoru swallowed hard and forced a crooked smile
on his features. “Yeah, you saved me,” he replied in a mere whisper and felt
hot tears leaving his eyes. There was Die's blood covering the surface
underneath them. Too much of it. But the redhead wasn't supposed to die. Not he
who had this heart of gold. If Kaoru could swap places with him, he would not
hesitate to do it. “You’re going to be alright, Die. Don’t worry.” The
words were in vain and even although Kaoru knew that, he wanted to believe them.
“Everything will be alright.”

Numbly Toshiya watched the two of them like frozen. It felt like surreal but
subconsciously he knew that this was horrible reality.

“It hurts,” Die said hardly audible, nearly just mouthing the words. He knew
he was dying. His eyelids felt too heavy, his body cold and numb, but his heart
still wanted to keep beating with all its might, only just to say his last
words. “Kao, I... I love you. Don’t forget me...”

“I won’t, Die. I won’t forget you,” Kaoru vowed in vain when he felt
Die’s body becoming heavier until it was limp and those beautiful
chocolate-colored eyes shut. In tears Kaoru pulled the lifeless body of his
lover even closer, hugged him tightly and prayed that this was just a nightmare
from which he would awake soon. “I love you, too. Don’t leave me, Die. I
need you. Please...”

But it was too late, even for this confession to be heard.



-End of chapter ten-



                          Kapitel 11: Chapter Eleven
                          --------------------------


 I'll make it short. Thanks for reading and commenting. This is the last
chapter. Enjoy. And you can always check out my fanfics at
http://sangha_ff.livejournal.com because there's way more to find than here on
Mexx. 


 Chapter Eleven 



Time seemed to have stopped as Toshiya helplessly watched Kaoru clutch the
lifeless body of their friend, holding him close and shedding tears for Die. Not
even Toshiya had ever seen his longest friend cry and it broke his heart once
more how bitterly and helplessly he cried as he pressed his face close to the
dead man. That their friend had really died Toshiya hadn’t completely
realized, or then he did but only subconsciously as he stared at the scene in
front of his eyes. The sound of metal hitting the ground didn’t reach his ears
when he dropped his gun. Nothing mattered. Nothing held any sense right now.
Nothing was what was left.

With his vision blurred by the own tears that filled his eyes, Toshiya saw Kaoru
lifting his head and looking back at him, eyes empty but with an unspoken plea
for help. There was just nothing Toshiya could do. Nobody could. Numbed Kaoru
shifted his gaze back to the man lying in his arms, his careless smile gone,
sparkling eyes shut and curiously babbling mouth silent. That it would be
forever Kaoru couldn’t grasp right now. There was this one and only human
being who he had indeed fallen for and he hadn’t been able to protect him from
people who Kaoru only had interacted with for wrong reasons. Of course he blamed
himself. Of all people in this world, why Die? Why did he have to die when he
actually deserved so much more from life?

Brushing away some red strands of hair that clung to Die’s face, Kaoru’s
fingertips traveled across the cold skin of the man he loved. “Wake up,” he
whispered hardly audible in a voice that cracked with broken words. But Die
wouldn’t wake up again and the realization instantly made Kaoru cry even
harder than before. Sobs were choked but tears fell down in rivers. He didn’t
care for anything in the world right now, didn’t bother that his best friend
had shot a man of high rank from the local mafia, and if people would see him
here like this didn’t matter either. His only wish was for Die to be alive
again, even if he wouldn’t love Kaoru.

His heart nearly stopped when suddenly Die’s cold body arched up, his back
bent in an awkward angle, beginning to writhe. Kaoru’s eyes widened and he
froze, not able to hold onto his loved one anymore, but not able to stagger away
either. A noise full of pain emitted from the redhead’s lips and his eyes
opened wide when his body shook violently. But only for a moment before his eyes
shut tightly again and he groaned out from the hurtful sensations his body went
through as there were wings slowly growing on his back. The bigger they grew,
the more space Die needed, instinctively rolling on his side, his back still
bent, muscles clenching and veins threatening to burst.

The pain made him dig his fingernails into his palm but he couldn’t feel it
and slowly his body accustomed to the being that he turned into. On his hands
and knees Die moaned and spread the wings on his back, stretching them to their
full size, before he pulled them close again and looked up. The last thing he
could remember was trying to protect Kaoru, the man he loved. Not even now that
had changed but it was only a matter of time until he would forget about him as
he had obviously turned back into an angel.

Wide-eyed Toshiya had watched Die’s transformation but it appeared surreal.
Sure, he had mentioned that he thought he had been an angel. But this was simply
crazy. The only thing that made it less insane was the fact that Kaoru looked at
the angel with just the same expression. That made them either both nuts or Die
had really turned into a being that neither of them had imagined could truly
exist. Still on his knees Kaoru stared at Die and most of all his large white
wings. He had been dead, hadn’t he? How could he just wake up like this and
grow wings? Blinking with his eyelids, Kaoru needed to know if he was dreaming
but apparently this was truly happening.

When Die was sure that he could feel all his limbs again, differently than
before of course but still feeling them like any other angel, he slowly turned
to face Kaoru. The red-haired angel certainly didn’t want to miss some last
glances before his memory would fade. Since his mind was still a little dizzy,
he didn’t even question why he was still on Earth. All that mattered was
seeing his friends. But the look in their eyes made him cock his head to the
side. Didn’t they stare at him? Shouldn’t he be invisible as an angel? Was
he imagining things?

Scratching his neck, a habit still from being a human, he drew up one of his
eyebrows and waved his hand in front of Kaoru’s face. “You can’t see me,
can you?”

Naturally Kaoru shouldn’t even be able to hear him but he did as much as he
saw the angel. He just couldn’t reply immediately, gaping some more seconds,
before he tried to form words. “Die?” The question wasn’t necessary. Who
else would the man be? But Kaoru still needed the confirmation. “Are you...
real?”

The angel drew back his hand and raised both of his brows now, a little confused
but still happy. A smile spread on his lips. “Kinda real.” He turned to face
Toshiya, not sure why his friend could see him but obviously also the other man
could and that was even more weird. But of course Die wasn’t exactly unpleased
about that fact. “And you see me too, Toshi?”

Two slow nods was everything Toshiya could manage right now as he still stared
with an open mouth at his friend. The wounds on Die’s chest had vanished, only
the red stains of human blood were still visible, although they slowly subsided
as well. Shifting his gaze back to Kaoru, Die watched him stretch out his hand
and poking his finger at the feathery wings. “Hm.” Impressed at the feel,
not really firm but not soft either, just angelic and indescribable, Kaoru got
back on his feet and looked at Die who had got up as well. “You are... an
angel.”

“Um... yeah.” Die couldn’t wipe off the smile as he shrugged. “I just...
I guess I died, huh?” He couldn’t tell, hardly remembered anything but pain
before he woke up as another being. Nonetheless the whole scene spoke for
itself. There was blood on the ground, a dead body and Kaoru was stained with
red. Besides that his usually so dark and enticing eyes looked puffy and
reddened as well.

A frown built on Kaoru’s features. He remembered. Die had died. But now he was
back, just as an angel. Did it really make any difference? What would happen
now? Would Die have to go back to Heaven, or what? Confusion overtook Kaoru’s
brains and he just looked at his redheaded friend. “I think you did and from
then on I have no clue. Were you... kinda... reborn?”

“Sort of.” Nodding Die took a step closer to Kaoru and carefully touched his
face with his fingers. He could feel him but it might be only his imagination
because usually angels didn’t really FEEL what they touched. “I’m just
amazed that you can see me. And hear me. I should be invisible to all humans.
That is,” he grinned, “weird. But it’s still cool if you ask me.”

“Cool?” Kaoru wasn’t quite sure if cool was the correct term for
describing it but it still brought a small smile on his lips. “Minutes ago I
thought I’d never see your silly smile again and now... here you are, so I
guess it’s cool, yeah.”

“I just...” Suddenly there was this helpless look again on Die’s face and
he cast a glance at Toshiya before he looked back at Kaoru. “I just don’t
know why I’m still here and for how long I’m allowed to stay and be seen by
you. And for how long I’ll be able to remember you.” Then he cast his eyes
downward and bowed his head. He didn’t even want to think about leaving or
losing his memory. He wanted to stay with Kaoru and Toshiya, his friends. Most
of all he wanted to be with Kaoru, spend more time with him, wake up in his arms
again, cuddle close, kiss him, have more amazing sex with him, learn other
things from him, share his meals with him, laugh with him and care for him.

The thought hurt Kaoru just as much but he forced it away with all might.
“Maybe you’re allowed to stay. I mean, who knows?”

“As an angel?” That would be unlikely to happen but the thought was a
pleasant one, making Die feel all warm inside. “I’d love that.” His smile
widened and he simply dismissed his worries for once. Heaven could wait. He
wasn’t back there yet and maybe it was for a reason. Reaching out his hand he
brushed his thump across Kaoru’s cheek-bone and traveled his fingertips
through dark bangs of hair. His lover looked like a mess but he was still the
most gorgeous being Die had ever met. Angel or not, Kaoru made Die’s heart
beat louder, his whole body tingly and he wanted to smile at everything and
everyone when the warm feeling ran through his every pore.

Witnessing their both smiles that spoke of utter affection Toshiya couldn’t
help the own smile. He would’ve never thought that Kaoru really loved Die,
just as much as he would’ve never thought angels truly existed. Still, Toshiya
could see it in the eyes of his best buddy when he truly loved someone and
apparently he did love the angel. Maybe everything would turn out well in the
end, although the situation was so surreal that it was most unlikely to happen.
Then again, one could expect anything right now.

Out of the blue a car turned around the corner, came closer and stopped right
next to the three men. All of them froze for a moment just because the white
limousine with the blackened windows seemed so determined on its way to them.
But only Die had a good guess of who would make such an entrance. One of the
doors opened soon and a rather small man in a white suit climbed out of it,
pulling his sunglasses off his nose and observing Die with a frustrated look in
his dark eyes. “You do mess everything up Daisuke, don’t you?”

Helplessly the angel sighed and shrugged. For once he really had no clue what he
had done wrong, not just pretending to be innocent. “I didn’t mean to if I
did, God.”

“God?!” The two humans gasped in unison and stared at the not too tall blond
man. Raising his eyebrow in suspicion Kaoru mustered the guy who pretty much
looked like anything but God. “You can’t be serious.”

“I didn’t talk to you, human!” God shot back at the lawyer and glared at
him, threatening him with just a glance of his eyes, before he cast his eyes
back at the angel. “Now back to you, Daisuke. I really don’t know what to do
with you anymore. You just mess everything up!” His voice turned up into an
almost high-pitched squeal before it calmed down sounding deep and serious.
“You can’t even die properly.”

“But—” Lifting his hands in a defeated but clueless manner, Die just
sighed. He didn’t understand. Sure, he would leave this place here in a mess
and he wouldn’t exactly leave Kaoru in happy spirits, but humans died every
day just like this. Why was it a problem with Die? He hadn’t meant to be shot
after all. “I did die. I’m dead. So where’s the problem?”

“Where’s the problem?” God blew a strand of blond hair out of his face and
put his hands on his hips. “You’re seriously asking? Look at the ground. Do
you see your human dead body anywhere?” With eyes huge as plates but
innocently blinking Die shook his head. “That’s only the start, Daisuke. Can
you explain to me why these humans are able to see you?” Again the angel shook
his head, thinking that if somebody should know, then it was God himself.
“See? Me neither. In case you’d die, you were supposed to die for good.”

“In case I die? So you already contemplated the matter and didn’t tell
me?” Die had tried so hard to just survive and gain back access to Heaven. Now
it suddenly turned out that he only would’ve needed to die in order to be put
out of misery forever.

“Sure!” A small but certain nod followed from the small guy in white. “But
I sent you down in an attempt to punish you, so I couldn’t just risk that
you’d jump off a bridge. Besides, now you died anyway. Just that you didn’t
leave your human body behind, I’m confronted with two humans that can see you
and above everything else I don’t even have a clue why. THIS I indeed call a
mess.” He stomped his foot on the ground and pierced everyone with an
intimidating look, so that not even Kaoru dared to say something.

“Well, how would I know?” Shoulders hung lowly, Die just gazed back at God
apologetically. “See, I just tried to survive and manage the life as a human.
I never meant to die, only tried to protect the one I love. What’s wrong with
that?” Usually he wouldn’t dare to argue with God but this time Die really
didn’t see why he should feel guilty, apart from the fact that he was sorry
for his friends. And in his mind it was in Gods hands if he turned back in an
angel or died for good.

“Apparently something must be wrong, or else we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
Taking a deep breath God tried to think hard for a moment before he dug out his
cell phone. “I’m gonna call Cupid. Maybe he has a clue why this has
happened.”

“With a cell phone?” Kaoru couldn’t help his snort.

“Yeah, so?” With narrowed eyes God looked at the human, annoyed at his silly
question. “Got a problem with that?”

“No, no problem at all.” Kaoru shook his head and suppressed a smirk. “I
just would’ve thought that God would maybe snap with his fingers in order to
call someone, instead of using a cell phone.”

“Well, maybe I just like the design of these small things. Nokia is a fine
brand by the way,” God uttered and shrugged, since the lawyer seemed to have a
point. In the meantime it had already rung twice at the other end of the line
and finally someone answered, instantly informing God that he was occupied. “I
don’t care if you’re busy. I’m more important. So would you mind getting
your butt over here?” He impatiently tapped his foot on the ground while
Kaoru, Toshiya and Die exchanged clueless glances. “I’ll give you five.”

All the while Toshiya had been silently watching, not even realizing that he was
staring at the small man who put away his phone once he had ended the call.
“What are you staring at?”

“Huh? Me? Nothing,” he shot back without thinking before nervousness made
him babble whatever came to his mind. “Okay, well, I couldn’t help but
notice that I just love your hairdo. It’s gorgeous.”

“Thank you,” God replied and cast a quick smile at the tall dark-haired
human and winked. “Yours is not bad either.”

With a silent groan Kaoru rolled his eyes. He could be wrong but was his best
friend just hitting on God? And did God just return the whole thing? The whole
scenario became even more surreal with every passing minute. Luckily they
didn’t have the time to compliment each other some more when suddenly a
motorbike turned around the corner and stopped right behind the white limousine.
The driver parked the machine, pulled his slender body off the bike and casually
opened the zip of his leather jacket, before he pulled the helmet off his head
and shook his shoulder-length hair.

“What’s the deal, Kyo?” He asked God when he stepped closer and observed
the four males waiting for his arrival.

“Would you stop calling me that in front of humans?” God growled and shot an
angry glance at Cupid. “I don’t call you Shinya either. Besides, where have
you been in that outfit? That’s gross, you know.”

“Thanks,” Cupid just smiled lop-sided and winked. “I’ve been on a
mission for love. Where else? Now will you tell me where the problem is?”

For the humans it was hard to grasp. Just everything was. Die was an angel.
There was God who looked like a mini version of Ricky Martin and then there was
Cupid who drove a motorbike and had probably waiting a dozen of girls for him
somewhere. But this was no issue for God as he began to explain the problem
about Daisuke. In the end Cupid just shrugged and replied: “To me it’s quite
clear.”

“It is?” God asked not really believing but his expression matched those of
the humans and the angel, who were just as surprised.

“Yup. Love goes above everything else. That’s something like rule number one
of our basic law,” he added the second sentence speaking only to Kaoru before
he faced God again. “Daisuke loves that guy here and the other way around.
That’s why he died, turned into an angel but at the same time couldn’t
vanish from Earth,” he explained as if it was the most logical thing ever.

“Um, sorry,” God interrupted. “But I don’t get it. Could you try to
enlighten me a little more detailed here?” He was a little annoyed that
obviously the whole thing seemed so simple in Cupid’s eyes but at the same
time it displayed within a mess if one asked God.

“The problem is the moment of that guy’s confession,” Cupid said and
motioned with his hand to Kaoru. “If Die would’ve died sooner, then for
good. His corpse could be buried as supposed to when humans die. But Kaoru said
that he loved him and that makes Daisuke’s mission of making two people fall
in love complete. It allows him to go back into Heaven. Yet,” Cupid explained
and at least tried to make God understand who was still looking quite confused.
“He died the exact moment of Kaoru’s confession. That quite messed up all
the according rules.”

“I see,” God said and scratched his cheek with his fingers. “But what am I
supposed to do now?” With a frustrated expression he stared at the apparently
all-knowing Cupid.

“If you ask me, then I’d say it’s a matter of discretion,” the other
heavenly creature replied and shrugged.

“Matter of discretion means what exactly? It’s at the discretion of who?”
Kaoru suddenly spoke up and looked to and fro between God and Cupid. He had
understood some of what the biker had told and that even people from Heaven
acted according to some rules. But these rules could be stretched as well and if
it was a matter of discretion now, then someone had to decide.

“It’s you who decides, right?” Toshiya looked at God, pretty sure that it
was he who was in charge of the whole matter when it came to using any
discretion.

It earned him a certain nod from Cupid. “Yeah, only the guy of highest rank
can decide now.”

But God stayed silent and pondered for a moment. He couldn’t just decide what
to do with his angel. He was transformed back and it was the easiest way just to
take Daisuke back with him up to Heaven. But something held him back.

“What are the options?” Die suddenly asked with a tiny voice. The only
option he really would like was if he could simply stay on Earth as a human but
he had the feeling that this was not even considered. Like automatically he
stepped closer to Kaoru and slipped his hand in his, squeezing it
subconsciously. In a gesture of support Kaoru squeezed Die’s hand as well,
although the general touch felt somewhat weird, as if he held something that was
neither firm nor soft.

“Well, I could let you die as a human for good but I’m not a killer. Human
society kills each other. That’s not even my responsibility against what
humans believe. I only decide who dies for good or will turn into an angel,”
he explained with a shrug of his shoulders. “Or then I could take you with me
back in Heaven, which would mean you’ll be faced with the duties of angels
again. Which means I’ll be faced with you fucking up again,” he said and let
out a sigh that he just wasn’t able to suppress. He had always liked the
angel, his heart had often went out to him but as much as God cared, Daisuke
just wasn’t doing an angel’s job well.

“Are these the only options?” Although Kaoru’s heart was racing and beat
loud against his chest when he heard God’s words, he gathered all his courage
and tried to keep his voice firmly, not giving away that he feared Die leaving
him. Of course knowing that he would be an angel in Heaven was still better than
to live with the fact that he was simply dead. But still Kaoru couldn’t help
his desperation, ready to beg God if necessary.

“Can’t you turn him back into a human and give him another chance?” Trying
his best puppy dog eyes, Toshiya looked at the small blonde and begged him with
his brown orbs. He had been suspicious about Kaoru’s motives but now that he
knew that his friends’ feelings for each other were mutual, he would give
anything for both of them.

“You’re asking way too much,” God said and skeptically eyed the tall
dark-haired man. “I can’t just turn him into a human, back in an angel, then
in a human again and so on. That wouldn’t be fair on other angels.”

“But you’ve done that before,” Kaoru added. “And he would’ve died if I
hadn’t taken care of him. You said that you didn’t want him to jump off a
bridge but then at the same time he would’ve died anyway, having nothing but
his skin, not even somewhat of an education or just a real name. You call that
fair?” With all courage he could muster up, he tried to find reasons in order
to make God change his mind. After all that was what Kaoru was supposed to be
able to do best.

“Punishment doesn’t have to be fair.” Crossing his arms God shrugged,
earning him a glare from Cupid, who rolled his eyes in annoyance at his boss’
stubborn behavior.

“But here on Earth is has to be at least proportionally fair.” There was no
way the lawyer would give up that easily, not when God didn’t even present any
good reasons but only stubbornness. He tightened the hold on Die’s hand and
narrowed his eyes. “Here on Earth Die managed considerably well and although
he might’ve failed with an angel’s duties, he’s handled any human’s
issue well. Perhaps you should consider a reward now after the punishment.”

The chance that God would approve of this request was tiny since chances were
bigger that God would grow even more annoyed from Kaoru’s impudent
suggestions. Die knew that but he still looked at God with huge eyes, begging
him silently, while he clutched the other man’s hand with his. Luckily Cupid
seemed to agree on certain matters with the lawyer. “I have to say that the
human has a point,” he said and tilted his head to look at God. “I mean, we
both know that Die hadn’t exactly been lucky with his first life. But this
time Daisuke’s managed well.”

With four pleading pairs of eyes on him, God finally gave in. “Fine, this one
last time I’ll make an exception,” he said in a serious tone and shifted his
gaze upon the angel. “Daisuke, I dare you. If you screw this up, then it’s
final. Got that?”

Wide-eyed Die stared at God, still not really realizing that he was indeed
allowed to stay with his friends on Earth in human form. Slowly he nodded
though, then pacing up and bobbing several times with his head. A wide and
bright smile grew on his lips while his eyes began to shine in happiness. But
God wasn’t quite finished and fastened his gaze on the lawyer. “And you
better be sure about this. There’s no way I’ll take him back.”

“No way I’d give him back,” Kaoru replied with a tiny smirk and turned his
head to face his lover. A sudden wave of warmth spread inside of him and he
couldn’t help but simply grow a huge smile as well. But before he was allowed
to wrap his arms around the other man, desperate to do so, Die was already
pulled away from him.

With his almighty powers God lifted Daisuke’s body in the air and snapped with
his fingers. In an instant beautifully shaped wings were gone and Die fell to
the ground, groaning as it hurt just like the last time he was dropped on Earth.
“Why do I always have fall on Earth?” He whined, still on all fours but he
slowly got up. “You could’ve turned me into a human without lifting me
up.”

“True,” the small blond man shrugged. “But it’s more fun this way.”

Die couldn’t even help but grin, chuckling a little. He was too happy to
complain now that he was indeed a human again. Only one thing mattered right
now, or one person for that matter: Kaoru. There he was, standing right in front
of him with a happy smile tugging on his lips. In fact Kaoru wasn’t quite sure
yet if he should already smile and let happiness take over since his brain
seemed too slow to get what had happened. Minutes ago his lover had actually
died, then been reborn as an angel and now he was back as human, alive and
kicking. Slowly Kaoru reached out his hand and gently put it on the redhead’s
cheek, feeling the familiar human skin underneath his touch.

“You’re back,” he whispered, hardly able to believe it, if there wasn’t
this wonderfully real and plain feel of Die in his hand. Traveling his hand
further down he laid his palm on the other man’s chest, at just the exact
place where the bullets had pierced his body. But there was no wound anymore but
only the feel of his heart, steadily beating inside of the man Kaoru loved.

“I’m back,” Die merrily smiled just because he couldn’t stop it, even if
he wanted to. Finally he was able to feel again, to feel Kaoru’s smooth skin
underneath his fingertips as he reached out his hand and almost carefully
touched him. He brushed away some dark strands of hair that clung to his face,
partly stained with dried blood. There was an ugly bruise on the side of his
beautifully shaped cheekbones and if Die only could, he would want to kiss them
away. “Can I kiss you?”

Surprised that Die even asked, Kaoru’s eyebrows rose and his forehead wrinkled
in doubt. “Of course you can. Please do!”

Not hesitating for the split of a second Die leant close and captured Kaoru’s
lips with his, gently moving against them and silently asking for entrance.
Although the small bruise on his bottom lip hurt when kissing, Kaoru couldn’t
care less. Die’s kiss was the best feeling ever, overpowering everything else,
and he kissed him back eagerly and deeply. He ran his fingers through the red
bangs of hair, grabbing a fistful just to feel that this was indeed real. Die
was real.

After some time Kaoru pulled away though, just enough to break their kiss and
hug the other man instead as closely as possible. Inhaling deeply, Die still
smelled simply angelic to Kaoru, like a newborn baby mixed with a more manly
fragrance. When the redhead hugged him back just as fiercely, Kaoru had to
suppress a groan since his body ached from the beating he had received earlier.
But it didn’t matter anymore, now that he had Die back. He loosened the
embrace around the taller man and kissed him once more. Only when they both
broke apart for breath, they smiled at each other before Die turned to face
Toshiya.

The redhead didn’t ask this time, too overjoyed in this moment, and almost
jumped the dark-haired guy, hugging him just as tightly as he had done with
Kaoru. But Die couldn’t help his emotions. He loved Toshiya. Obviously not in
the way he loved Kaoru but Toshiya was still dear to him, as a friend, maybe the
best he would ever find. Merrily Die smiled when he finally pulled away.
“Thank you, Toshi,” he said and kissed the other man’s cheek. “You’re
truly an awesome friend!”

Toshiya just smiled, a little bashfully though, as he winked. “I know.” He
shifted his gaze to the other one of his friends, Kaoru, who he had known for so
long. Despite the deputes they had had within the last days, Toshiya could now
understand him somewhat, knowing that he must’ve been simply overextended by
the whole situation. Still, Kaoru could’ve handled it differently and
should’ve been honest but that was something they could talk over later. Right
now everything Toshiya wanted was to hug his best buddy as well and that’s
what he did, pulling the smaller guy into a tight embrace. “Man, you scared
the shit outta me,” he whispered chuckling along. “I didn’t know you could
beat up someone.”

“Me neither,” Kaoru chuckled along and hugged the other man closely,
endlessly relieved that they were still friends. “And I’m sorry,” he added
lowly but loud enough for Toshiya to hear him. Kaoru didn’t say why though,
knowing that his friend knew what he was talking about. Their whole argument
from earlier seemed ridiculous after all that had happened afterwards. Here and
now, Kaoru could not even express how happy he was that he had a friend like
Toshiya. “Thank you for being there.”

“No problem, Kao,” Toshiya pulled away and quickly wiped across his eyes.
Really sentimental moods had been rare between them and so it was no surprise
that the taller man’s eyes easily filled with tears. “Now shut up before
I’ll cry again.”

Chuckling Kaoru let finally go of his friend and turned to smile at Die.

“Guess my job’s done here,” Cupid said and nodded to God, before he pulled
the helmet over his head and zipped up his leather jacket. “I’ll see you up
there, Kyo.” Using the name earned him another skeptic glare but Cupid
didn’t care, already on his way to his motorbike. He unceremoniously started
the engine and sped off with a small wave of his hand, watched by the remaining
four men.

“Kyo, huh?” Toshiya sweetly smiled at God as they turned back their
attention to each other. But the small blond man ignored the other one’s
attempt to tease him and shifted his gaze to the dead man lying on the ground.

“Shall I help you with him or will you be fine by yourselves?” The weird
thing was that God was suddenly in pretty good spirits himself, seeing all the
happiness around him. In the end he had to admit that it felt nice to help
people. It was usually what his angels did for the humans they protected or made
fall in love, but now that God experienced this for himself, he felt a lot
happier than usual.

“That’d be nice,” Kaoru replied after he had taken a look at the dead body
himself. Sure, he could defend Toshiya in case he were sued for homicide but
then the help of God would surely spare them some work and most of all nerves.
Especially for Toshiya it would be torture.

With a sly grin and a shrug of his shoulders, God snapped with his fingers and
the dead man was gone. “Like this.”

“Thank you,” Die stated with a grateful smile. “For everything. Even for
bringing me back down here in the first place. And thanks for helping us.”
There seemed to be not enough words to express his true gratefulness, so he just
closed the gap between himself and God and hugged him as well. It felt weird
though, as if he weren’t hugging a person but an unknown material he
couldn’t define.

“Don’t mention it,” God replied and shoved the human off himself, turning
to open the door of his limousine. “If you excuse me now. Take care of that
guy, will you!” He addressed Kaoru one last time and received a small nod,
before he shifted his gaze upon Toshiya. “I’ll see you around.”

“Me?” Toshiya gasped, blinking with his eyelids. The only thing he could
imagine why he would ever see God again would be if he died and turned into an
angel.

“Yes, you. I might come around for a cup of coffee,” God replied with a
small grin and a wink of his hand. Then he closed the door and the car slowly
made its way back on the road.

Eyes wide Toshiya stared after the disappearing car, before he turned to face
Die with a questioning glance. “Does he mean that?”

Die just shrugged. “Who knows. He might.”

“Well, it’s not that I would mind.” Toshiya shrugged as well and smiled
crookedly. “He’s unlike what I would’ve expected but still kind of
gorgeous. Is he into guys, Die?”

“Gods Toshiya!” Kaoru couldn’t help but interfere now. “You’re not
seriously considering dating God, do you?”

“Hey!” The other man just playfully pouted and crossed his arms. “You're
dating an angel. So anything can happen, huh?” A merry grin appeared on his
lips.

“Anything can happen,” Kaoru repeated with a side-glance to his lover,
indescribably happy that he was allowed to spend his time with Die from now on,
as well as proud to date his very own angel. “Let’s go home. What do you
say... Daisuke?” He purposefully used the name God had addressed Die with and
it earned him a broad smile from the red-haired man.

“Home sounds great.” Finally he had one.



-The end-




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