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    Ran exited the restaurant a step ahead of his date, turning his head towards the sky to catch the first drops of the warm summer rain. Behind him, he heard the other man mutter something but he didn't turn around to face him. He wasn't sure about what to do now – one side of him was terrified with what would happen as they walked back home, the other wanted to drag this evening out forever.

    "One might think that I should have had a warning about the rain..." Stepping up beside him, Crawford muttered something else in English that Ran didn't understand before turning to his companion. The younger assassin just 'hned', but the American managed to catch the small smile as the redhead turned away, his face towards the street.

    "One might think so, yes." Amusement was clear in his voice as he turned to his former enemy, watching as the golden eyes widened at his statement. Neither of them would win any award for their sense of humor, but they understood each other quite well and during the short time they had spent together as something else than enemies they had come to pick up on all the nuances that made up the other – and to appreciate them. To Ran, Crawford conveyed a sense of safety that he first didn't know he had missed and to Crawford, the younger man somehow seemed delicate and lost – even if he knew that that wasn't the case. Nevertheless, they had been drawn to each other and since both Schuldig and Yohji had quite clearly shown where their preferences laid – in each other – they had seen nothing wrong in their friendship. A friendship that was now turning into something else... They had both felt it, the tension and the warmth that lurked underneath the surface of their conversation this night had been unlike anything they had experienced before and neither of them were really sure about how to proceed from here. For all his precognition, Crawford was given no clue what to say, or to do, and that had him slightly unnerved. He was so used to rely on his powers that this was threatening to throw him off the track – and the way Ran was acting did nothing to help. He could have sworn that the younger man took delight in teasing him with glimpses of pale skin all throughout dinner as he had reached for one dish or another and the older man had found himself reacting more than he had thought was possible. The result was that he was now both unnverved and aroused – not to mention confused as all hell. He had never reacted to someone like this before – not even during those years with Schuldig – but on the other hand, he had never been with someone like Ran before either...

    "Where do you want to go now?" They left the fancy restaurant behind as they began walking down the street, Crawford turning to him and asked a question he held no answer for.

    "I don't know. Kudoh and Schuldig are probably heading out somewhere, so..." He broke off that train of thought before he said something he would regret – he blamed it on the expensive wine the American had ordered and made sure he'd had his filled share of during dinner – and continued straight ahead. There was a park not far from here and it would probably be mostly empty at this hour as it was late and it was only the occassional worker on their way home around. To Ran, it was perfect – he hated crowds with a passion – and Crawford wasn't going to complain over the matter. The fewer people there were, the better. The redhead might be an assassin with hundreds of kills on his conscience, but he was still a shy young man out on his first real date – with another man.

    "Yes... They're probably going to do their best to bring down whatever club they're heading to tonight..." Amusement flashed in the redhead's eyes as he imagined their former teammates doing their best to cause havoc all over the place. It had turned out that the two of them had known each other for far longer than any of their teammates had suspected – but no one was going to hold that against them now, when they were all free to go where they pleased. As soon as Estet was gone, Schuldig had come around to pick Kudoh up. Who wasn't just the ladies man, as it had turned out. They had all got quite a shock over that, but once they had calmed down a bit they had adjusted fine to the situation. Not the mention finding the German at the table almost every morning either shoving his tongue down Yohji's throat or teasing the others had taken its time to get used to – Ran had had quite a few discussions with the former playboy on the matter before things had settled – but after the first month or so no one was complaining. And then, Crawford had begun coming around... Ran had been annoyed at first, but when he got the impression that the American was more than he had been led to believe, he had let down his guard enough to engage the other in one discussion or another. Neither of them ever mentioned politics though. Soon, they had become... friends... and spent more and more time together. Neither of them took the teasing from their former teammates well but they were used to it by now. Aya-chan had encouraged their friendship so far – saying that it was good for her brother to find someone with 'his feet on the ground'. At that point Ran had blushed as red as his hair since it had turned out that he had been quite the dreamer as a boy – and with a small light in her eyes that told them that she knew perfectly well what was going on. Needless to say, Ran had been more mortified than when any of the others had dropped their thinly veiled innuendos and had almost considered to stop seeing his friend for a while, but his sister was having none of it. She was going to make sure that her niisan was as happy as he could be, and if it was with some gaijin from as far away as the States, then it was how it was going to be.

    Crawford stopped, bringing Ran back from his short trip on Memory Lane as he turned to his younger companion. They were standing under a Sakura tree in full bloom, the pink petals drenched from the rain and falling to the ground around them. To Ran, this was suddenly more than he could handle – it was as if the atmosphere around them was whirling with emotions and the tension grew with every moment. Standing there, under the Sakura tree with the rain drizzling down so warm and full of life, it was the perfect setting for a first kiss and he blushed at the thought. Banning such ideas from his head he decided that it was the wine – nothing else – and turned his head upwards again, watching the falling petals.

    "It's beautiful, isn't it?" The American stepped up beside him, the proximity between them made Ran shudder as the warmth of the older man reached him. He didn't understand what someone as Crawford could see in someone as Ran himself but for once he wasn't going to complain. He wasn't sure he trusted the other just yet, but since it's been almost half a year since their last battle and there had been plenty of opportunity for Schwarz to turn on them, he guessed that they had earned a little of the respect and trust they got. He was the last one to cave in and let their former enemies close – but he also had the most to lose; Aya-chan for starters. But Crawford had been persistent and methodical as he pursued the younger man's friendship and trust.

    "Yes, it is..." Ran replied absently, suddenly fighting the blush that threatened to rise on his pale skin again as he stared down on the ground. He could feel the older man smile above him and for the first time that evening he wasn't 'Aya' anymore – the part of him that had been 'Ran' during his teens had awakened again and was demanding attention. He didn't know which one he was – both or none – but 'Ran', whom he had buried for so long, was slowly taking charge again. He could never be the shy, innocent boy again – the one that his sister still believed he was – but he could mend the rift between his personalities somewhat by allowing them both to step forward. All of this flittered through his head the time it took him to raise his head to meet the other's knowing gaze. The golden eyes held a glimmer of amusement again, as if he knew something Ran didn't – which probably was the occassion – and this time he couldn't stop the blush from spreading as the warmth surged inside him as he continued meeting the other's eyes and forcing himself not to fidget.

    "Aa..." The noncommital sound brought another blush and he silently cursed his fair complexion for giving everything away so easily. It did him no good to try and summon 'Aya' back either – that part of him seemed to have gone to sleep for the night and leaving the clumsy Ran in charge instead. Somehow, Crawford knew this as he took yet another step forward, raising his hand to cup the younger man's face. Ran inhaled sharply at the feel of the smooth and callused skin connecting with his but didn't move away. He wanted this, he knew he did, but he didn't want to be so damn skittish about it!

    Silence reigned under the tree as time seemed to slow down. He still felt the rain landing on him, plastering his hair to his skull with the large drops that would run down his neck and be soaked up by his coat and the slight wind that made the Sakura blossoms swirl around them. He wondered if Nagi was somewhere out there to cause this and blushed at the thought of their former teammates watching them. Still, the wind continued to move them around as time slowed down even more. Crawford's glasses were slipping down his nose again and the large drops fell on him as well. He ignored them for the time being, concentrating on his jumpy companion instead. Ran looked like he would flee any moment, and even if he now knew that wouldn't happen, he wanted to be reassured of the other's trust. His hand moved along the soft skin on its own, silently admiring the strong features as the younger man's eyes drifted shut and he leaned into the caress. No one had ever touched him like this, and even if he was terrified for the sensations it brought he didn't want it to end, ever.

    Words were unnecessary as the American stepped closer, in under the tree and tilted Ran's face upwards, something that caused him to open his eyes again. He was suddenly drunk on more than wine, his head spinning like mad as he looked into the other's eyes. Crawford's hair was plastered to his skull just like Ran's, and that made him seem a lot younger and somehow vulnerable. The redhead decided that he liked that expression as he tilted his head into the caress of the hand still on his cheek.

    Watching Ran blush like this was all the encouragement Crawford needed as he tilted his head to the side and dipped down slowly to catch the younger man's lips with his. A startled gasp was his reward – even if the redhead had spotted his intentions a mile away he was still caught very much off-guard. His hand moved of its own accord to slip out in the wet hair that now held the colour of dried blood to move the smaller man's head in a better position. A hand clutched the front of his suit in a desperate motion as Ran moved closer to him, allowing him better access to the mouth he had wanted to taste for a long time. The other hand was buried in his damp hair, the slender fingers entwining themselves with his black strands just like his own did and he followed the silent demand to lean down more. He still kept the kiss light, just lips brushing against each other, but as Ran gasped again he took the opportunity to delve his tongue into the cavern flavoured by the wine and the spices from their meal, tasting it all.

    As the first tentative brush of Crawford's tongue connected with his own, a jolt went straight through the redhead, his skin tingling wherever the older man touched him. He became aware of the taste of the other, so unlike his own and still very much the same. The part of him that wasn't drunk from the emotions and the wine supplied him with the knowledge that they'd had the same food and logically, he should taste the same, not to ment-. Here, he shut the analytical spin down, afraid that 'Aya' would rise again. He didn't want that one back right now – all he wanted to do was to taste, and feel, everything else could wait.