Title: Appreciating Things of Beauty [Chapter Twelve
Author:
Endless-Kaoru
Pairing:
None yet.
Rating:
Overall: PG-13. This Chapter: PG-13-ish

Warnings: a little kissing is all, and an excessively amused Takenaga. Slight sexual innuendo.
Disclaimer:
I don't own Wallflower characters. None. Not even a single one.
Summary:
Yuki and Aya are sent off on their date, and Aya adds her own twist to it.

A/N: Err, yeah, sorry about the mix-up. I'm not exactly sure what happened -- if I uploaded the wrong file or what -- but it's fixed now. Thanks goes to Ugly.Beautiful for pointing that out to me... because I certainly wouldn't have caught it. swetadrops

Chapter Twelve: A 'Not-Actually-a-Date' Date

"Here, try this one on." Noi handed over a new dress, and Aya sighed, stripping off the slim dress she already wore and draping it across the bed.

Taking the new outfit, she inspected it, her face coloring, "Oh, great. I get to go a not-actually-a-date date with Yuki while wearing no bra. Am I trying to seduce him?"

Noi laughed, "Come on, it's not that bad. Try it on!"

The auburn-haired girl sighed and flipped her bra over her head and carelessly onto the floor before sliding into the lavender cocktail dress and white gossamer jacket. Flicking her hair out of the back, she peered in the mirror.

"Again, am I trying to seduce him? Look! It doesn't even reach my knees!" she tugged down the bottom of the dress, then self-consciously tried to cover her cleavage.

"You look really pretty, though, Aya-chan!" Noi cried in delight, taking her 'doll's' hair in hand and whipping it up into a high ponytail, then pausing. Touching a scar that marred the surface of Aya's back, Noi gathered the hair over the other girl's shoulder, "Oh, what's this? Is it from…"

"It is." Aya nodded tersely.

"…Then we'll leave your hair down. Let me put some concealer on it, first." She pulled out a small bottle and started to unscrew the lid.

"Hey, hey, hold on a second! I'm allergic to that stuff!"

"You are…?" Noi frowned, replacing the lid, "Oh, all right. Are you allergic to lipstick?"

"…I don't think so…" the other girl sighed faintly, turning back to the mirror, "Why does it matter if I look good, if it's not a real date, anyway?"

"But isn't it fun to dress up once in awhile?" Noi asked, smoothing down the other's waist-length hair.

"Honestly? This is the first time I've worn a dress since I was five and Mom made me be the flower girl at my aunt's wedding."

"Really?"

There was knock at the door, and Takenaga came in, "Are you ready, Aya? You're ride is here."

Aya sighed, "Don't ask me."

"You're just nervous! You look great!" Noi praised, giggling, "Right, Takenaga-kun?"

"Right." He agreed, chuckling as he shooed her from the room, "Go on, Yuki's waiting to take your -- haha-- first time."

"Takenaga-kun, that's horrible!" Noi looked shocked.

"It's just a joke." He chuckled as they followed Aya downstairs.

She stalled at the bottom of the stairs, then made to go back up, "Screw this, I ain't going!"

"Yes you are, come on! You can't back out now!" Takenaga blocked her path.

"But this… I'm not going out in public like this! I'll… I'll get hit on or something!" she protested, desperate.

"Is getting hit on so bad? You get it all the time at school. Come on, Yuki-kun will be there." Noi attempted.

"Aya?" Yuki wandered into the room, and the girl bolted to hide behind Takenaga. Yuki tilted his head in confusion.

"Come on, Aya-chan, it won't kill you." Noi patiently led the red-faced girl out, trying not to laugh as she clutched the front of the jacket closed as if it did any good, "Yuki-kun doesn't bite, I'm sure of it."

"…How come all you own is short little dresses? I'm not going anywhere like this. It's embarrassing."

Noi just giggled, "You look really good in it, though. Go on, ask Yuki-kun. I bet he agrees, too."

Yuki approached, laughing a bit, "She's right, you know. Come on, let's go." He smiled at her.

She looked away sharply, "…whatever."

Yuki laughed almost helplessly and led her to the front door.

Noi giggled once they'd left, "I think she really does like him. It's kind of cute."

Takenaga laughed through his nose, "She doesn't get it, either, it seems. You should have seen her yesterday."

"Hey, wait! What was that 'first time' thing about?! You guys aren't planning to do anything weird to her, are you?!" Noi suddenly cried.

The boy just laughed, "No, that was her phrasing." He tried – and failed – to mimic her pout and cried in a girlish voice, "I'm a dating virgin and you're gonna force Yuki-kun to take my first time?"

Noi cracked up.

Ranmaru came in, looking weirded out, "Takenaga… that's creepy. Don't do that."

The dark-haired boy straightened, chuckling softly.

"Where did Ranmaru mail us off to first?" Aya asked softly in an attempt to distract herself. He'd hired a car for them, and she assumed that the driver knew where to go.

Yuki shrugged, "I don't know. He wouldn't tell me."

"Really? How rude…" she sighed, hesitated, then spoke up again, "What's… What's the point of this?"

"You forgot?"

"No, I mean… how is this supposed to make me more lady-like?"

"Oh." Yuki looked thoughtful, "Ranmaru is always saying a girl needs to be appreciated to… 'shine.' I guess it makes sense."

"How so?" She forgot her discomfort in favor of discovering Morii's motives.

"Well, if everyone just ignores you and doesn't care, you'd probably be upset, right? You're doing everything you can to get their attention, and you're not being yourself. And a person looks their best when they're being themselves."

"Yeah, I can see that." She nodded in understanding. "Like Noi-chan. Everyone likes her, and she's really pretty. Is she dating Takenaga?"

"They're not dating… But they might as well be." Yuki grinned, "But Takenaga is really shy."

"Oh, cool!" Aya leaned over him to look at the car beside them when they stopped for traffic, "Look at that! A Lamborghini Diablo! You don't see a lot of those around here; it must be a collector's!"

Yuki looked at the car, a sharp red sports car, "You… know a lot about cars?"

"Of course! Grandpa was a car collector." She grinned excitedly at him, "That there… that's a '91 Diablo VT. It has a top speed of 205 MPH and has a V12 engine. 'Course, a car like that is generally useless outside of being flashy, but it's still cool."

The car they were in pulled over, and the driver reached back and handed them a business card, "Here's your stop. Call me when you're done."

"Thank you." Yuki replied, taking the card and getting out. He held the door open as Aya got out behind him.

The two stopped and stood on the sidewalk, staring at the building they'd been dropped off at, 'Flowers on the Wall.'

"Well… it looks popular, at any rate." She commented.

"I've heard of it. They have all kinds of entertainment on different days. Karaoke, Live bands, DJs…"

She unconsciously shifted closer to him, "…So… it'll be crowded?"

He glanced at her, "I dunno, maybe. Let's go inside."

Inside, they were placed at a small table an offered menus. They ordered, and sat back to look around while they waited. On the other side of the partition by their booth, teens were dancing, and against the wall on a stage a DJ was taking requests.

"Hey, Aya?" Yuki spoke up, watching the dance floor, "Wanna dance?"

"…OK. Sure." She looked to him, "Now?"

"Yeah. They're just starting a new song." He stood and offered his hand to her. Laughing a bit, she took it and allowed him to help her up.

The new song was slow, and Yuki mimicked the pair beside them, holding Aya about the waist. She watched him glance at the other pair and giggled.

"You don't know any slow dances? That's a shame." She teased, and took the lead, murmuring the steps into his ear. He picked it up quickly, and by the time their food arrived, they looked like any other young couple.

Shortly after they'd finished their meals, the waiter informed them that their bill was already covered, and they loitered, finishing their drinks.

Aya glanced up from her malt, "Where do you think we'll be shipped off to next?"

"I dunno. I'd say a movie, but you said there weren't any you wanted to see." He pulled out the business card, "Should we call the driver?"

"In here? You wouldn't be able to hear a thing. Let's go outside. We can go for a walk or something until he gets here." She downed the last of her shake, "Ready?"

One movie (Ranmaru had located a theater playing some sort of horror-fest and gotten them into a movie called 'Tokyo Psycho.' Yuki had sworn revenge on Ranmaru, and Aya swore to worship him for finding the movie.), a shopping mall, and an ice cream shop later, the pair was again in the car, heading home this time.

Aya peered upward through the sunroof, then leaned forward to talk to the driver quietly. The driver nodded and changed course.

"Where are we going? It's late, Aya." Yuki looked tired, and she smiled patiently.

"It's a secret." She responded coyly, "You'll like it, though."

"…It had better not be another horror movie…" he moaned. The driver chuckled, and tried to cover it with a cough.

"It's not, it's not." She giggled, "Though that one was pretty fun."

"I'm going to have nightmares for weeks…" he whimpered, traumatized.

Aya drew up close, lifting his chin with two fingers and purring, "Would you like for me to hold you, then, to fend off those nightmares?"

He turned red and jerked back, "You! Stop changing personalities!"

"Is this the place?" the driver pulled up a driveway, glancing back in askance.

"Yes, that's it. Thank you!" Aya jumped out almost before the car had stopped, then leaned down to talk to the driver, "You can go home or whatever, now. I have something else in mind for our return trip." She bowed, "Thank you for your services."

He bowed his head in return and drove away.

Yuki watched the car drive away, then glanced about, "It's just an empty field… where are we?"

She grinned and motioned for him to follow, "My grandpa used to own this, but he sold it to a family friend. I played out here as a little girl."

He looked around again, "…Played what?"

"Have you no imagination?! There are all sorts of things to do out here! I could play with the dogs, or we could play hide-and-seek… One winter, my grandpa and I made my entire family out of snowmen!" she spread her arms and spun, laughing, "We rode horses out here, too! And Ryou and I made a secret base that lasted an entire year! And we'd climb that tree over there and imagined that we could see the entire world!"

Yuki smiled, "It sounds like you had a lot of fun."

She nodded, calming down. Quietly, she approached the tree that she had climbed as a child and felt the bark. A grin touched her lips, and she suddenly kicked off her shoes and draped the jacket over a low branch.

"What are you doing? You'll ruin Noi-chan's dress." He warned.

"I'll be careful." She responded, scrambling up the side of the tree and disappearing within the leaves. He heard her rustle about, and a victorious 'Aha!'

"What is it?" he walked around the base, but could only catch a glimpse of her straddling a thick limb.

"Our writings. They're still here." She sounded nostalgic.

He continued to stare upwards, and finally curiosity got the better of him, "Hey, I'm coming up."

He clambered up the tree, much slower than she had, until he found her. Standing on a lower branch, he peered at the crude carvings in the branch she sat on. He could only make out a few, but what he could make out included things like 'Ryou ♥'s Nagisa-chan' (followed by an illegible scribble that seemed to be a denial), a badly drawn squirrel, and a cryptic message saying 'Where sun meets earth.'

"What's up with this?" he asked, pointing out the message.

She laughed, "We used to play this game called hints. One person hid something, and made hints that would lead to other hints. The final hint would lead to the prize." She thought a moment, tracing the message, "This one means stable 2, on the partition between stalls 6 and 7. We had a horse name 'Ohisama' (Sun) in stall 6, and another named 'Chi' (earth) in stall 7."

"Oh, I get it! That's really neat!" he scanned the branch again, "What's this?" he touched what seemed to be some sort of map, but the landmarks were odd things like animals and odd shapes.

"It's our map. We mapped out the entire field and the areas that were surrounding it at the time. Squirrels are major trees, like this one, horses are stables, dogs are dog kennels, squares are animal pens…" she had apparently finished looking over the carvings, Come up here, on this branch." She pulled herself onto the next branch up, and Yuki moved to where she'd been sitting. Aya snapped off a branch of leaves before reaching down and turning his head, "There, look at that. Isn't it great?"

He looked out over the field, and off in the distance, he could make out water – the ocean? – and mountains, "Wooow!" he cried excitedly, "You really can see everything from here!"

She grinned down at him, "It's even better from the top, but I'm not convinced that you can get down from where you are."

The blonde looked down, only now realizing how high up he was. Unconsciously, he clung closer to the trunk.

Aya giggled and nimbly dropped down beside him, making the limb bounce. She stood on it, holding another limb above her head, "Just follow me." Without waiting for a response, she slid down to another branch, bounced on it a bit to test it, then made room for him between her and the trunk, "Come on, I'll help you."

He nodded numbly and carefully lowered himself to the branch she was on. He had to stretch some, and she caught him roughly when he nearly slipped off.

"Ow…" he rubbed the back of his head where it had hit the trunk, and when he noticed her leaning against his chest with an arm around his waist gripping his back pocket and another extended past his head to hold on, his face colored.

Her face was a few inches from his, and she laughed a bit, breath fanning over his mouth, "That was close. I shouldn't have let you come up here, I guess." She backed off a bit, leading his hand to a place to hold onto and checking to be sure he wouldn't fall before she moved down another branch, "You okay? This one is easier, but it won't hold both of us."

He nodded, and she moved to the next branch. Cautious, Yuki followed her the rest of the way down. Once, she mis-stepped and cracked off a limb. Yuki had panicked and started to reach for her, only to watch her catch herself. She'd paused to inspect the limbs below her before picking another route as if it hadn't fazed her.

When they finally reached the base of the tree, the sun had gone down and the only light left came from the moon. Yuki flopped in the grass, swearing that he would never leave the ground again.

Aya had only giggled and pulled him to his feet again, "Come on, come on! Just a little further! Hurry, or it'll be too late!"

"Too late…? Where are we going…?" He asked, getting up. It was kind of hard to see, and he could hear animals somewhere out there, but Aya just grabbed his hand and led him away from the tree until they reached a rock outcropping. Aya scrambled to the top of it – maybe a foot off the group – and called for him to follow. On top, the rock was flat and at a slight tilt. The stone was still sun-warmed, and Aya invited him to lay down on it with her.

Curious, he did so, and after awhile of staring at the sky, Aya excitedly pointed out a shooting star, then another, and another.

"There's so many…" he murmured in awe. It almost looked like a fireworks display.

"It's a meteor shower." She explained, "Isn't it pretty?" She quieted, and Yuki glanced over at her. She stared fixedly at the sky, looking thoughtful.

"The last time I saw one… I was a little kid." Yuki confessed, "My dad took me on the roof of our house and pointed it out. I don't think I've actually watched one since then."

"I watch every meteor shower I can from here." She replied, then added, "…I haven't watched one with someone else since when Ryou and I came out here. You're… the first person I've brought out here since then.

Yuki propped himself up on his elbow, looking down at her, confused, "Why me?"

"I… don't know. It was a spur of the moment thing." She frowned, then changed the subject. "When I was a little kid, grandpa told Ryou and me that when a person dies, they become a star, way up in the sky. That way, they can keep watch over all of their loved ones." She pointed at a star, "I believe that one is Ryou. Because it's kinda small, but really bright. And on his right is grandma. The two of them were really close. When I die, I'm going to be with them, and Ryou and I are going to be really close again, and we'll watch everyone down here, and joke that it's much better to be high up in the sky with all our friends than it ever was down here on earth, where everyone is sad, and lonely, and hurt."

He sighed faintly, turning to look where she pointed, "…I like how your grandfather thought."

She nodded and lowered her arm, continuing to stare at the stars. Yuki watched her, entranced by the soft look on her face, highlighted with dim moonlight.

Before he completely registered his movements, he'd leaned in and placed a small kiss to her lips.

"Wha… Yuki…?" she blushed, touching her lips and turning to stare at him uncertainly.

His cheeks turned a bit pink, but he didn't move from where he was leaning over her, "I… uh… I'm sorry."

Her soft amber eyes studied him, and she hesitantly pushed herself up until she touched her lips against his, and held herself there a few seconds. Yuki jumped a bit, startled, before cautiously returning the chaste kiss. She sighed and closed her eyes, tilting her head and opening her mouth a little. He reciprocated, shyly slipping his tongue against her lower lip.

Her cell phone rang loudly, some kind of popular j-pop song breaking the silence. The two jerked apart, red-faced and stuttering.

"I... uh…" she tried, licking her lips, "I, uh… had better get that…"

"Yeah…"

They just stared at each other, until the ring tone began again and she yanked it from her pocket, "Hello?"

Yuki turned to stare at the sky, lost in thought.

"Yeah, um… I think that Toshihiko keeps spare bandaging in his office… No, I was already awake… Yeah, I saw the showers. Did you?... That's good. Take care, Takashi-kun." She hung up the phone, peering at the clock.

"What time is it?"

"Midnight. I'll call for a ride home." She dialed a number, and Yuki listened as she gave directions. When she hung up again, the two got down from the rock and walked back across the field, surrounded by a tense silence.

There was a car waiting for them, and Aya slid into the back seat with a thanks to the driver. Yuki slid in behind her.