Day Care Mission

by Myka

chapter 10 "Farewell"

A/N: I want to thank all who reviewed this fic over its run or recently ^-^ It was great fun to write.

Thanks to naaha again for betaing ^-^

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Yohji had quite an interesting conversation with Omi when he got back to the Koneko after his visit with Schuldig. At first the teenager denied everything, but Yohji just kept insisting until Omi blurted it all out. Yohji thought it was all very amusing, especially since Omi appeared to be blushing most of the time.

Omi swore that he was just relieving some stress since Nagi was the only person around his age that understood what his life was really like. He also said that they had just exchanged a few e-mails. Yohji smiled the entire time and promised he wouldn't say anything.

A week passed.

Yohji had nothing to do. He found his shifts at the shop boring. He couldn't visit Schuldig since it would just make things worse. He missed the daycare, he hated to admit it, but he missed it a lot. One afternoon Aya told him he could leave early. After thinking about it, Yohji finally decided to go back and say his proper farewells.

The walk to the Day Care felt incredibly short. He passed through the door and instantly spotted Minako seated at the front desk going over some papers. She stood when she saw him and smiled warmly. She apologized again for hurting Schuldig; she realized now that she should have just told them what had happened to her son instead of acting so rashly. Yohji reassured her that it hadn't been her fault, and that Schuldig held nothing against her.

"Are you sure?" Minako asked, with a bit of fear in her voice.

"I'm sure." Yohji smiled. "How's your son doing?"

"He's much better now. He doesn't remember what happened. I'm very grateful for that."

"That's good to hear," Yohji said. "I wanted to say goodbye to the kids, if that's all right. I don't want it to look like I disappeared on them."

"They would love that!" Minako beamed. "They've been asking about you two. Schuldig is still in the hospital, isn't he?"

"Yes. He's supposed to be released soon, but I don't know when."

"Someone told me you used to be on opposite sides."

"Used to be?"

"You aren't now, are you, after all that…" Minako hushed when she saw the gloomy look on Yohji's face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so nosy. You can go see the kids now."

Yohji forced a smile on his lips. "Thank you." Then he walked into the main room. All the kids were sitting in a group as the two girls who had replaced him and Schuldig were reading them a story.

Kyra was the first to spot him coming in and yelled happily, making everyone else notice. "Yohji Niisan!"

Yohji reached to pick up the girl as she came running towards him, an honest smile on his face. All the kids crowded around him.

"Are you coming back?"

"Can we play tea party again?"

"Where's Schu Niisan?"

Yohji couldn't help but laugh softly as he tried to answer every question. The new girls decided to leave him alone for a bit; they understood that he was there to say goodbye and thought it was best.

Yohji started to try to explain in simple terms why he had to go, but it was easier said than done.

"Are you still friends with Schu Niisan?" Andrea asked.

Yohji shook his head slightly. "No, we…" Yohji felt a hand on top of his head and closed his mouth as he glanced to his right.

"We what?" Schuldig interrupted, giving Yohji a grin.

Yohji smiled instantly.

"Schu Niisan!" Kyra yelled, still in Yohji's arms.

"So are you?" Andrea asked again.

"Of course we are." Schuldig responded her, finally slipping his hand off of Yohji's head.

The two assassins spent a good half-hour with the children, talking with them and cheering them up. But eventually it was time for them to leave. Kyra and Andrea had tears in their eyes as Schuldig had his last tongue-battle with Ryon. Yohji tried hard not to laugh, but failed miserably and Schuldig just kept yelling at him to shut up. Yohji thought it was a very pleasant farewell.

As they left the Day Care together, Minako apologized again and again. Schuldig just kept rolling his eyes and trying to leave. Once outside, Yohji finally noticed how nice the day was, so very unlike that last rainy day.

"I swear, I'm going to hit that woman if she apologizes again," Schuldig muttered.

Yohji just laughed. "Let it go, Schuldig, I think she knows she won't see us again. Maybe she wants to make sure you won't go after her. She knows you're an assassin after all."

"Yeah, yeah," Schuldig mumbled.

They walked alongside each other for a while, throwing random comments at each other. But nothing about their teams or their missions. Eventually they reached a fork in the road. The Koneko was to the right; Schuldig's place was to the left.

"I guess this is it then?" Schuldig voiced after a moment of silence.

Yohji nodded slowly. "Guess so…" He shifted his body slightly and looked at Schuldig. If he was going to say something, this was it. He swallowed once. "I'll miss you."

Schuldig blinked and lowered his gaze, taking a deep breath. He raised his eyes once more. "I will too."

Yohji forced a smile onto his face "Bye." He waved and started heading towards the Koneko.

"Hey! Yohji." Schuldig suddenly yelled, running towards the blond and snatching a corner of his shirt. He couldn't let it end like that.

Yohji froze in mid-step, then turned around, letting his eyes settle on Schuldig's. "What?"

Schuldig displayed something between a grin and a smirk on his face. "I have something to tell you."

Yohji blinked. "What is it?" he asked again, leaning a bit towards the redhead.

Schuldig still bid him to get nearer. "Closer, I can't say it out loud."

Yohji's eyes widened a bit, the curiosity consuming him. What did Schuldig need to tell him that was so surreptitious that it needed to be whispered? No one seemed to be paying attention to them. Certainly nothing about their teams, they had been avoiding the subject purposely. What could it possibly be?

Absolutely nothing.

Schuldig snatched the neck of Yohji's shirt with a single hand and pulled him in. Their lips met for a single breath. Then the kiss was broken just as suddenly as it had started.

Yohji stared wide-eyed as Schuldig released his shirt. At the same time, the redhead raised his eyebrows tentatively. Yohji traced his own lips with two of his fingers, an automatic reaction. He opened his mouth to speak, but Schuldig pressed a single digit against his lips, successfully hushing him. 

"See you around, Yotan."

Yohji blinked, then smiled. "See you around, Schu."

~xxx~

A/N: On its first brainstorming this story had originally 4 chapters; it ended in ten O.o I want to thank everyone for their support on this fic and for your comments and suggestions. They mean the world to me. Ja ne ^-^