Between Heaven and Earth   von NanaSaintClair
                              ([Kaoru x Die] AU)
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                            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.

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