tampered | Log: Complete

Omi was about to wake up to a very weird morning. He felt something poking at his arm, plus his nose picked up the faint scent of.. fish? Royal blue eyes opening, he spotted something black and white looking down on—no wait, it had a beak as well? It only took a few seconds for his vision to clear up, and thus, he was shown what was on him. A penguin; a curious one, at that. Immediately, he jerked away from the desk he had settled his head on and leaned all the way back against the chair. What was a penguin doing in here!?

Thoroughly confused, he was about to reach out and grab the waddling bird when he heard the door click open. Who could that be...? Rising up to a stand, he moved away from his computer desk and walked towards the direction of the door. To his surprise, there was Aya right there, who didn't look like he could stand on his own any longer. Concerned and alarmed, Omi quickly made his way towards Aya's side and held the older one in such a way that he could support him up.

"Aya-kun? Are you—are you alright?" Well, he could already tell that he wasn't, but his brain couldn't really come up with any other intelligent thing to say.

"No," Aya said simply, letting the door shut behind him. He allowed himself to be supported a little by the smaller assassin, and made to sit down in the apartment. "I've ignored injuries I received on the outside." He lowered himself down on the sofa in the living room, finally allowing himself relax - the first time since he'd arrived, he'd been on edge. But now with Omi and Ken about, he could take a break ... for a moment.

Opening his eyes, Aya was about to inquire where Ken was, but his vision caught something else. "Omi ... there is a penguin in here."

A frown made its appearance on Omi's face as soon as Aya replied to him. Sure, this was something he could expect from the older assassin, but he still couldn't help but worry. Walking out in the snowstorm probably made things worse, too. Anyway, as soon as Aya was settled down on the sofa, Omi was about to head to where the first aid kit was kept when the older commented about the penguin. He almost forgot about the little guy.

Allowing a sheepish grin to replace the frown on his lips, Omi put a hand at the back of his head and even laughed a little. "I know. It gave me the weirdest wake-up call I've ever received. But I need to go grab the first aid kit. Wait a sec~" was all the youth said, before heading to retrieve it. It didn't take him too long, and soon enough, he was right back at Aya's side. "So uhm, where are you injured, Aya-kun..?"

Aya didn't reply for a moment when Omi returned. The penguin had waddled closer, and now stood at the edge of the room ... staring at Aya. He slowly turned his head back at Omi. "Ah.. bullet got my hip, and there's a knife wound..." he gestured to his abdomen. He'd been worried when he first received it, but soon learned that he had been obnoxiously lucky, and the blade had missed his organs. But he was still wrapped up in the impenetrable force that was his working uniform, and he began to unbuckle and remove the leather gloves, and eventually his jacket.

Omi blinked repeatedly and turned his attention towards the penguin; somehow, having it around made the atmosphere of the room a bit brighter. Shaking his head, he focused back on Aya and couldn't help but pout a little. "Aya-kun, next time.. don't look for us when you're injured. We'll just find you." Yeah, he knew that Aya could take care of himself, but what else did you expect the youth to say? Anyway, as Aya started to remove his clothings, Omi got up again and excused himself as he went and grabbed a basin and a wash cloth; two things he should've grabbed in the first place.

The only reason he could come up with for forgetting about them in the first place would be the fact that his body was stil influenced slightly by sleep. But moving on, he filled the basin with lukewarm water and put the cloth in it, before heading back to the living room. He settled the basin down on the coffee table and faced Aya again. "...uhm, I'm gonna start removing the bandages now, Aya-kun." Just a warning, really, since walking through a snowstorm probably made the blood be all sticky, and well, unwrapping them would be a pain. Omi was, of course, trying his best to go slowly.

Aya did not trust the penguin. It may be cute and fluffy and whatever else, but it was a product of this city. It was waddling closer and slower, and Aya narrowed his eyes at it. Finally it stopped just near him, peering up with black little eyes. Without warning, Aya snatched it up, and began inspecting it roughly for recording devices, ignoring the indignant squawking. Satisfied that it had not been sent to spy on them, he put it back down before Omi returned.

"Hn." Aya allowed Omi to remove his bandages, which were stuck to his skin from some minor blood seepage. It was uncomfortable, but the small pricks and pulls of pain here and there did not bother him. He knew that where the bullet had grazed his hip would be more awkward to deal with, as his pants would have to be removed.

And the bandages were off. Omi folded them up into a neat pile and placed them on the floor for now; he would put them away later. He reached for the cloth soaked in the water and squeezed out the excess liquid before starting to clean up the excess blood from Aya's wound. As soon as that was done, he opened the first aid kit up and pulled out antiseptic, gauze, and some cottonballs. He dabbed a few drops of antiseptic on one cottonball and started to apply it on the wound. Once that was finished, the bandages were next go around Aya's abdomen.

"There," Omi released a little sigh, and looked up at Aya with a really sheepish look. "So uhm, about that bullet.." This seriously just made him feel awkward.

Aya was calm during the treatment - he was all right at patching himself up, but it was always better to have someone do this sort of thing for you. He shifted a bit, testing the wrapping, and was satisfied.

"Ahh..." Omi's nervousness amused Aya, just a little bit. He bent down to remove his boots. Once they were off and set aside, he stood, and removed the remainder of his clothes. He was a very reserved person, true, but he had nothing to be ashamed off as far as his body went - and having an open wound treated wasn't sexual or embarrassing, as far as he was concerned.

The scrape from the bullet looked raw and angry underneath the half-assed tape-up job Aya had done, and he sat back down at an angle where Omi could see his wound but wasn't getting a face full of anything else (he didn't want the kid to have a heart attack).

Oh, sure, this certainly made things a lot more awkward, but Omi wasn't the type to faint or anything like that. All he could offer as a reaction would be a small, timid smile, but that was about it. If this happened at any other day, Omi would have been fine, but considering what happened between Ken and himself a few weeks ago; well, let's just say the boy was still on edge because of it. When Aya revealed the wound, Omi just focused on doing what he did with the earlier wound: remove the bandages, clean the blood up, apply antiseptic, and wrap it up with gauze.

"All done," was what Omi said first as he finished with the gauze, smiling at the satisfying job he did. "Is there anything else you need, Aya-kun? Water, food-- I can cook something up for you..?" While he was talking, he was gathering up the stuff he brought out and was getting them ready to be stored back in, but he wasn't going to do that until the older replied.

Aya inspected his new bandaging, and nodded. He stood and began pulling on his underwear and pants, and then carefully put his shirt back on. It was cold, so he slid his socks on, but he left his boots, gloves, and jacket where they were. It was all too much to be going around in.

"Food," he said. "I haven't eaten." He didn't say in how long, but in truth, he hadn't eaten since before he'd come to the city - his customary light meal before a mission. "Ken isn't here?"

Omi just flashed a smile and nodded, "Sure. I'll be right back with food, then." This was where the youth got up to a stand with the stuff in his hands; he would have headed out of the living room, but the inquiry about Ken's whereabouts stopped him. "... I'm not really sure. I woke up, and he wasn't around.. He'll hopefully be back soon." There was something that was a little off with Omi's smile, but he didn't stand around long enough to let that be noticed. Truth be told, he was really worried about Ken; these past few days just raised Omi's alert level by a lot. He could tell Aya about that, but now wasn't the time. It could wait.

As he headed for the kitchen, the penguin followed after him as well, waddling its way over to where he is. It appeared to have one thing in mind; it was hungry too. The penguin even took the liberty of reminding Omi that: by poking his leg with its beak repeatedly. Omi blinked; it looked like they were going to have sushi today.

He didn't take a long time making the sushi, but he did have to stop every now and then in order to give the penguin some of the fish it wanted. Of course, sake wasn't the only type he was making though. He had maguro and ebi too, although he really wasn't quite sure what type Aya would've liked. Oh well, he would just have to hope for the best, right? Omi placed all six sushi, two of each type, on a plate, and he grabbed a pair of chopsticks as well. With that, he came back into the living room and handed the food over to Aya with a big smile. "Hope sushi's alright~"

"Hn."

Aya gave a short nod in reply. He'd taken a few moments to do some breathing exercises while Omi was out - just sitting quietly and relaxing his muscles and his mind. He didn't really want to know what the other assassins opinions would be if they ever found out he practiced yoga, of all things, so he didn't begin any of those forms outright - he would later. It would be good for his abused body. It also gave him some time to think about his teammates.

Something was up. Oh yes, it was. Omi was acting off - and something like that was easily explainable with their circumstance, but his reaction to bringing up Ken was abnormal and vaguely troubling. It hinted at some sort of tension between the two younger assassins, and tension within the ranks was never good. Aya had been there - he and Omi had been there. Tension... well, perhaps that was an understatement. But it wouldn't do to have them quarreling here. In Aya's mind, the blame defaulted to Ken. He'd been growing sketchier lately, and reading that he'd lost his bugnuks made him question Ken's current lucidity.

But it could very well be Omi, as well. Omi handled stress well, to a point - but when he broke, he broke spectacularly. He thought it was vaguely odd that Omi would let Ken go about as his pleased in this place and not know his movements, especially considering they were sharing a living space. Aya would have to make sure they stepped up their performance. There would be no using this place as some sort of vacation while he was around.

At the sight of the offered food, Aya's stomach growled. He made a face at it, almost embarrassed. "Thanks, Omi." He had no idea how the younger man managed to whip up things like that so quickly. It must be some weird homemaker gene that Aya simply lacked. The best he could do was toast, and maybe a fried egg if he was especially lucky. He took the plate with a small nod, and began to eat. He forced himself not to stuff himself too quickly, or else he knew he'd be sick.

"What's going on with you and Ken?"

The smile was kept in its place. "No problem, Aya-kun," he said, before taking a seat down beside the older man, leaning back against the softness of the couch. Guh, he was tired; it probably didn't help that he pulled an all-nighter last night and fell asleep with his head on the desk. At least it was a fruitful night; he was able to find out a lot of the stuff that he didn't know about earlier on. But he really, really needed a good night's rest later.

This thought was soon pushed to the back of his mind when Aya asked him the question he had been trying to avoid. It wasn't like he didn't want to talk about it; it was more like he didn't want to talk about it at the moment, especially when he didn't get the chance to organize his thoughts and all that. But the question had been asked; there was no point to avoid it. All he could do was just answer it as best as he could. He was silent for a few seconds, since he was picking out what to say; there was no way he was going to tell Aya about that incident with a tipsy Ken. That would make the situation awkward again.

So here it was; he would just say what else bothered him. "Ken's been acting weird lately," there, that was a good start, let's keep going, "I think he's getting restless. Being stuck here for so long with nothing to do, with no missions to complete-- I think he misses all of that, Aya-kun." Yeah, yeah, keep going. "... And after he disappeared for a few nights, to kill stuff, I guess, he even suggested to set up an organization like Kritiker here." And now there was a rueful smile on his face, "I guess you could say I'm kind of freaked out a little, you know?" Actually, he didn't really know, but he just ran out of things to say.

Aya listened to Omi, only slightly distracted for a moment by how amazing and delicious the sushi was - though he suspected anything would taste so heavenly, as hungry as he was. It made sense, for Ken to be so on edge. Of all of them, he had the most force behind his reasons to work for Kritiker - he had a goal, a never-ending mission. With Aya-chan safe and leading a normal life, Asuka's fate brought to light, and Omi's past ... well, the rest of them had something resembling closer, even if their own personal hells would never truly end. Aya-chan would always dominate Aya's life - but he was not thinking about her for a reason. He wasn't ready yet to grasp the concept of being trapped away from her in another universe.

"You don't sound sure," Aya pointed out, and picked up another piece of sushi with his chopsticks.

How could he be? Ever since he ended up here, again, he wasn't really sure about a lot of things lately. Maybe you could say the city was finally getting to him; all the ups, and downs, and turnarounds-- he didn't really know how he dealt with all of that for so long without cracking. Perhaps it was just because he turned a blind eye to a lot of the things that went by, pretending they didn't happen unless someone brought it up. Yeah, maybe that was why he didn't sound sure. Or maybe, it was because he just didn't know what he really felt about this. Freaked out, disturbed, scared? Which was it?

"I don't know, Aya-kun," he released a sigh, "I just don't know."

Aya gave Omi a long, searching look. There was something else, something Omi wasn't telling him. It was obvious. The boy had enough sense to leave Ken be if he was having trouble coping with the situation.

"Hn."

More silence. It occurred to Aya that he hadn't seen the penguin for several minutes, but there were more important things at hand.

"Ken has always been a very intense man," Aya said. "But this is obvious enough... It's been directed at you." Not a question.

Omi allowed himself to wear another smile, "There was no point trying to hide it, huh?" And after that, the youth just closed his eyes and let his lips stretch into a thin line. "Did anyone tell you about curse days?" Here it goes. "There was one day where.. I don't know, people started acting weird, like.. they were acting on just their basic urges or something?" When Omi opened his eyes, he just kept their focus locked at the ceiling, refusing to look anywhere else.

And he just murmured, "I think he wanted to kill me."

[ooc; ::flail:: Sorry for lateness! I wanted to join in, though, so... ;o; ]

After nearly four hours of scouring the city for any sign of his weapon, Ken returned to building four. The size of the City continued to baffle him; no matter which way he turned, every nook, every street and block - each one seemed to go on and on. There were simply no signs of it ending; no walls, no nothing.

Ken left shortly after he lost sight of his bugnuks. Honestly; why would someone bother to steal them? Or rather, how? They were always within reach. After the four hours, however, he figured it was best that he return to the apartment. It was difficult enough to warm up the engine of his bike, and maneuvering it was a completely different story; combined with the plentiful areas of black ice and the normal flow of the citizens, weaving between penguins didn't make driving a very pleasurable experience. Ken was awfully tempted to treat the birds like the walking-soccer balls they were!

Finally securing his bike as best he could, Ken made his way up to the floor he and Omi lived on. A boiling cup of cocoa or tea sounded extremely pleasing right about now. Especially after the incident where he shattered the microwave door, Ken was grateful that he decided to buy a separate pair of gloves. But even so, his fingers were probably turning blue by now.

"Oi, Omi, do we have any c-" Stopping mid-sentence, Ken practically fell backwards over his own two feet, upon entering the room. He looked to the left; okay, there was Omi. ...and Aya, eating ...something. That was normal enough; Ken knew Aya was bound to find them and come by, anyways. He then looked to the right, and immediately pointed to the penguin. " ...........What the hell is that thing doing in here?" Ken wanted to kick it again.

He paused, then, and gave a small wave. "Oh. Hey, Aya." Something felt off about the room.

Aya looked at Ken. He looked at the penguin.

"Omi has adopted him," he said flatly.

Ken's timing was positively ludicrous. Of course, right after Omi made that revelation, the assassin in question would waltz right in the damn door. Aya could tell this was going to be tense if he didn't diffuse it - but Ken would believe easily enough that Aya was just being his warm, companionable self and making Omi feel delightfully at ease.

"Hey, Ken," he mimicked, sounding bored. "We have been discussing our situation."

Maybe good ol' time was playing a game with him right now; what else could explain Ken's brilliant timing? Luckily though, it didn't seem like Ken heard what he just said, so maybe he was safe for now. Omi really, really, didn't want any tension and drama to pop up at the moment. And he was amazed at how good Aya was at with leading things to a more relaxed path. All Omi had to do was follow his lead. "Adopt-- no, I didn't! I woke up, and it was just there!" He was, hopefully, doing a good job.

"But hey-- what were you going to ask, Ken?" Both his eyes blinked, feigning curiousity while beating away the nervousness. It seemed that he was doing just fine, because he really didn't feel all that worried. Really.

Discussing the situation? Hmm. That was a topic that could go on and on, in Ken's opinion. "Heh. I'll just give 'im one of my soccer balls. Less maintenance that way." Ken smirked and flashed a grin towards Omi.

For the time being, he'd ignore the tension that lingered within the room, thick & uncomfortable as usual. Regardless, he eyed both of his teammates for a long moment; Ken'd known Aya and Omi for a decent length of time by now, and though he - more often than not - really wasn't able to read Aya, Omi wasn't always difficult. He was pretty much Ken's best friend. "..."

Shoving the awkward feelings, Ken replied, "Oh; I was just wondering if we have any coffe or something. Or cocoa. ...or anything that'll remotely warm me up at all?" Ken's teeth practically chattered as he spoke; before Omi could even reply, he dashed into their shared room to grab a sweatshirt, and the blanket from his bed.

Aya watched Ken skitter across. He gave Omi a gave him a nod of understanding. It'll be all right, he seemed to say, but didn't utter a word.

Omi blinked once and tilted his head to the right, thinking for a second if they had anything warm to drink. "I think we've got hot choco--" He got cut off when Ken ran into their bedroom, assuming he probably went ahead to grab warmer clothes to wear. The boy barely caught Aya's nod, but he did see it nonetheless, and all he could offer as a reply was a small smile. Words, however, still came out of his mouth. "Do you want some hot chocolate too, Aya-kun?" He was already up, ready to head for the kitchen once more to prepare the said drinks.

Ken lingered in the bedroom for several moments. Were Omi and Aya hiding something...? It just feels funny... Ken was aware of the fact that he'd been on edge; of course it was only normal that Omi be worried, though, so...

"Aaah.. Just forget it, Hidaka," Ken muttered to himself.

Ken returned with towel-ruffled hair, a different sweatshirt, and wrapped up in a thick blanket; he made his way to sit on the couch, a few seats away from Aya.

"Hot chocolate would be really, really good. Thanks, Omi."

Aya nodded at Omi. "Sure."

He stayed on the sofa for a bit, pulling on his knee high leather boots and tucking his pants into them. It was starting to get rather chilly. He stood and shrugged on his jacket, but left it unbuckled for now.

"Any luck with your bugnuks?" Aya inquired when Ken sat down. The penguin had waddled over and was staring at him again. He frowned, and set his plate on the floor, which only had a few bits of rice stuck to it. Inexplicably, the penguin moved to sit on top of it, and continued to stare. Disturbed, Aya crossed one leg over the other to move further away from it, and forced himself to look back at Ken.

Now was the first time Omi was really amused-- how could he not be? The penguin and Aya totally made the room seem a lot less foreboding and troublesome; seriously, the bird must be infatuated with the redhead or something like that. Wearing a grin, all he said was, "Sure, I'll be right back," and he went inside the kitchen. He was quite thankful for this too, because preparing hot chocolate would give him the time to really calm himself down.

It wasn't like he was about to lose the mask he had temporarily put up, but he knew that if he didn't get a few seconds to himself, he would probably break it sooner or later. So as he waited for the water to boil, he just released a sigh and listened. If Ken and Aya talked about anything, he would, most likely, be able to hear it from where he was.

The penguin shifted its beady eyes to Ken next, and Ken, for the moment, ignored Aya's question; then he glared. A staring contest with the soccer-ball-with-legs & wings. The penguin stepped off of the plate and waddled in a circle around it, before hopping around at Ken's feet, flapping its stubby wings.

"..........." Ken glanced to Aya, as if to say Why is it suddenly after me!? Returning his gaze to the bird, Ken adjusted the black & white blanket around his body; at least he was slowly warming up. "...Arrg, what do you want!?" He finally exclaimed and leaned in close, as if he could intimidate the penguin.

It promptly gave Ken's nose the equivalent of an eskimo kiss. "................" Ken the peered to the color of his blanket; he noticed the dark color of his sweatshirt, as well. "What the shit."

Okay, so, the penguin probably though Ken was a very...distant relative. Or whatever. Grumbling, he turned back to Aya. "No. And they've been gone for a while now. I didn't see any sign of them at all. But like you and Omi said, I think several people have had their weapons stolen."

Aya watched the penguin have a little private duel with Ken, and began coughing violently. It lasted for some time, and had finally settled down by the time Ken continued.

"Ah. Cold out. Mm."

He cleared his throat, and adjusted his jacket around him - the 'coughing' fit had rubbed his stomach wound in an unfortunate way.

"All the more reason to be more dilligent."

Omi emerged from the kitchen a few minutes later with two mugs of hot chocolate, handing one over to Aya while the other went to Ken. He tilted its head when he saw the penguin, because it now seemed to be using its beak to 'poke' Ken's cheek in a repeated manner. "...?" He didn't ask it out loud, but his face basically said it all; what the heck?

Amused once again, Omi left again to pick up his own mug, gently blowing over the liquid's surface to help it cool down a little before taking a few sips. He took his spot beside Aya once again, and continued to drink; he really didn't have anything to add into the conversation. Other than one thing. "Oh. Ken, you're bugnuks will be returned shortly, I think. Turns out someone was just playing with them." Well, he had to do something else in the kitchen while he waited for the water to heat up.

Ken eyed Aya curiously, almost frowning. "...Aya, what exactly happened before you found yourself in the City?"

Omi's comment caught Ken's attention, and his expression brightened. "Well...good. But, ok, not good! Do we know who did all the stealing?" He took the cocoa gratefully, nodding a thanks to Omi.

Aya only barely suppressed rolling his eyes at Ken's energic response to the theft. This place, these 'curses' ... it was no excuse. They must be getting soft.

"I was on a mission," he said flatly, and sipped his drink.

To answer Ken's question, Omi shook his head slowly. "No, I don't have a clue. I can try and see if I can find out who did it, though." Of course, offering to do this meant another sleepless night, but heck, he might as well get used to it now. Simply because it looked like he was going to have to spend a lot more nights this way.

But he noticed something was missing. "Oh. The penguin vanished?"

"Well no shit, sherlock," Ken rolled his eyes and simply shook his head. Jeeze... Did Aya seriously take him for that much of an idiot!?

Ken sighed and took a long sip from his drink, waiting the moment out until he spoke again to allow the cocoa to warm his throat. "Huh... No need to really press on it, I guess, since we're getting them back..." Ken frowned a little.

And damn. He never did get to kick the bird.

Aya did not comment on the vanished penguin. All the better. Unless the recording devices were inside it ... but it was too late now.

He sipped his cocoa, and thought. Omi had no reason to press him about his actions before coming here - even if he didn't get the gritty details, tending to his wounds made it rather clear what he'd been up to. Aya figured Omi was just not thinking about the issue that if Aya'd gotten out in such a state, that Youji probably hadn't gotten away with much less. He was vaguely concerned about the older assassin - of the lot of them, he felt closest to Youji, though he'd never admit it... He wondered what Ken though of Aya's behavior, here. Aya had always acted as he did, though he'd mellowed out some since Aya-chan's recovery. Aya-chan... who he wouldn't think about for now. Youji had to have made it out. He will look after her.

Aya was as he always was, but Ken... normally, Ken put up with Aya with a bit of a sense of humor. Something had put him on edge. Aya continued to sip quietly, lost in thought.

It just occured to him right now, really. If all three of them were here now, Youji was back at their world by himself. And since even Aya got injured-- he didn't even want to think about it that way. Youji would've gotten out of wherever he was just fine, and he would be alright. He just needed to think that way; that's right. His mind, however, didn't dwell on this for too long, because Ken's attitude finally came into focus. The boy couldn't help but frown; it wasn't the first time he'd seen Ken like this, but the fact that he acted this way around Aya bothered him a little. He really must be getting restless.

Sipping the remaining contents of his hot beverage, he felt himself get a little woozy; ah, the exhaustion was catching up to him. The hot chocolate probably made him sleepier, and he wasn't about to put up a fight. "If you say so, Ken. Anyway.." The boy just barely managed to stop himself from yawning. "... I think I'll be going back to sleep. Just uhm, put the dishes on the sink. I'll take care of them later," he smiled, before finally excusing himself as he headed for the kitchen, dropping off his mug at the sink. Soon as that was done, it was off to dreamland for this little guy.

[ooc; Last post from me. |D]

Log: Complete

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