chapter 5
"I wish I had a job like that…sit around and pick flowers all day…" The man's voice faded as he walked out the door with his wife, holding a mixed bouquet of carnations under his arm. Sora Takenouchi was used to their ignorant remarks though. While most of her mother's customers toiled in hot, cramped offices day after day under buzzing fluorescent lights, crunching numbers and glazing their eyes at bright computer screens, they had a cool and comfortable shop where they spent their days working with living things.
Of course they're going to be jealous, she thought, closing the cash register. I just wish more people understood the complexities of flower arranging. Even her friends sometimes made simplistic assumptions about her job, and she always made sure to correct them. She would tell them that anyone could pick out flowers and bundle them together into a bouquet, but it required a special touch to turn a seemingly random sample or pettaled plants into a work of art. This required years of training and an understanding of the true meaning and significance of each individual flower, and as much of an understanding of botany as design. Arranging them into a balanced composition pleasing to the eye from all angles was a skill that took years of study.
Sora had watched her mother create such masterpieces for years, and although she knew that still had much to learn, she understood the ins and outs of the flower shop well enough to run it quite competently-competently enough that her mother would trust her with the business for the next three days while she was out of town at the annual Kobe flower convention. Luckily, it was not expected to be a very busy week and most of the advance orders had already been completed. Sora had only a few tedious tasks left to perform in the hour before closing.
She shivered as she stepped into the large refrigerated storeroom that kept their inventory fresh. She selected a white rose and removed it from the vase it was soaking in, carefully so not to touch any of its thorns. She gently laid it on a towel and carried it out, a wisp of cold steam slipping out of the door as it closed behind her. She quickly placed it in a larger glass vase filled with many other flowers and searched the front counter for her knife. There was one, and only one that she used for the delicate task of cutting the stems. If done incorrectly, the lifespan of the flower would be drastically shortened. No one knows how much work goes into these, she thought, not proudly, but factually. If customers wanted pre-packaged flower bouquets or cheap prices, they can go to Yoko's. If they want something with a personal touch, they'll come here.
She searched the counter for it, a small knife with a rubber handle
and a dangerously sharp blade. It had to be sharp or else the stems
could crack in the process of cutting them. Eventually she found
it amidst a mess of unsorted paperwork that had piled up since her mother
left the night before. She held the flower in the vase, grabbed the
knife and held it at a 45-degree angle underwater. It wasn't a very
difficult procedure, but it required concentration. She was about
to cut the stem when she heard a loud bang and the chimes signaling that
a new customer had entered the store.
"Hi Sora!" Iori ecstatically greeted her. It was an entrance
more suited for a robber than a small boy.
"Iori!" His unexpected appearance temporarily shifted Sora's
attention from her task at hand, and exactly .487 seconds later, the knife
finished cutting through the rose's stem and entered into her left index
finger. "Oh sh_t!" she screamed.
"Sora?" Iori asked, quite confused. He had probably never
been greeted like that before. Once he saw the glass vase turn a
bright red color though, he knew what had happened. "Oh no!
Here, let me help…"
"No, it's ok." Sora stubbornly replied as she dropped the knife
inside the vase and pulled her hand out. She squeezed her finger
hard to keep the bleeding under control. Thank God there aren't
any customers now, she thought. She ran to the bathroom and turned
on the warm water. "Quick, get me the first aid kit."
"Where is it?" He had not ever been in the shop before, let alone
behind the counter. At that moment Hikari came in behind him, not
knowing what to make of the confusion.
"It's in the cabinet!" Sora screamed through gritted teeth.
She looked over her shoulder to see him looking in the wrong place.
That baka! "No, the other ones, over there!" Iori turned
around and knocked over a vase, which shattered to the floor.
"Iori!" Sora screamed. By this time the blood was running
down her arm. He stooped down and set himself to picking up the flowers
and glass fragments scattered on the floor. Hikari went to the proper
set of doors, opened them and brought a small box over to Sora, who was
still clutching her finger like it would fall off if she let go.
She did let go though, and tore into the box ripping out gauze and bactine.
Hikari ran to the phone and called the only person she knew that could
help.
It had been a tense fifteen minutes since she picked up the phone and called Jyou Kido, but he had arrived as quickly as he could. Now Sora's finger was wrapped in gauze. Hikari held the excess bandage tight, and Jyou carefully cut it from the roll. He examined his work, holding her hand for a few seconds longer than was probably necessary. Before letting himself get carried away he let go of her hand and stuffed his supplies back in his bag, the same one that he had carried with him in the Digital World three years prior. It's not in the same shape that it was back then, Sora thought, but she was thankful that he still had it.
"That's the best I can do for now. It should stop the bleeding."
"Thanks Jyou. If my mom knew that I cut myself on the first day she let me run the shop alone she'd probably kill me." Sora replied. If I don't accidentally kill myself first, she thought.
"Sorry I caused such a mess. It was an accident you know."
Iori said bluntly.
"It's not your fault, don't worry about it Iori." Sora cheerfully
said. Why did Hikari have to bring that little brat over here?
she thought. There was just something about him. The boy had
the creepiest detached gaze and the ugliest plastered haircut she had ever
seen. Sora never really liked it when he tagged along, and she had
the feeling that Hikari didn't enjoy his company either, even if they did
have to work together.
"So are you going to reopen?" Hikari asked. They had locked the
doors and put up the closed sign since her accident, letting no one in
except Jyou.
"No, it's passed closing time anyway. Unless you need some flowers,"
she said almost sarcastically. The shop was only open mornings on
Saturdays.
"Well…can I get some?" She asked Sora.
"For what?" she asked, somewhat surprised.
"Ohmygosh, I never told you? Wallace is coming today!"
Hikari said quite ecstatically. "We're picking him up at the airport
tonight!"
"Oh, that's great! I just can't wait to meet him!" Sora was shocked when she first heard that there was a Digidestined living in America, and even more surprised when she found out that he was moving to Odabia. That's just the weirdest coincidence! She sometimes wondered if it was more than just a coincidence. I can't believe it; they'll actually be together! She knew about their relationship, which didn't exist in the traditional sense of the word. That was to say that they never officially declared their mutual feelings to their families or friends, but everyone knew regardless of their attempts to conceal it. At least now they can move forward with their relationship. Sora realized that she was daydreaming (which she chalked up to the minor loss of blood she had just endured) and that Hikari was staring at her, and she quickly regained her composure.
"I know, I know…I've got the perfect flowers for him." Sora walked across the room and took some Primrose off the shelf. "These flowers represent young love."
"Sora, he's American, not to mention that he's A GUY!" Jyou said sarcastically. "I don't think it matters to him what kind of flowers he gets."
"Jyou, it matters!" Sora shot back at him. Doesn't he have any respect for the art of flower arranging? "Besides, he's probably going to be nervous and tired after the flight. We'll want to give him a great welcome! Oh, I know! Let's go look at some Zinnias. A mixed bouquet will tell him that you've been thinking about him and you've missed him very much."
"Oh, that's perfect! I know he'll just love it!" Hikari squealed, perhaps a little too enthusiastically.
"You sound like you've really missed him. Anything you want to tell us?" Jyou asked teasingly.
"Oh, um…" Hikari stuttered. "Not really. You'd be excited to see him if you had ever met him. Trust me, you'll think he's the coolest!"
"Just because he's American doesn't mean I'm going to be impressed." Jyou said in a skeptical tone.
"Don't be like that Jyou! C'mon Sora, show me those flowers."
"Whoa, hold on Sora," Jyou interjected. "You really should go to the hospital and see a doctor. Just because you're not bleeding doesn't mean that your finger is fine. You should get stitches, not to mention that there could be muscle or nerve damage. You really should go and get it checked out now before…"
"Okay Jyou, I'll go as soon as I'm done helping Hikari. This will only take five minutes." She led Hikari to the storeroom to select the perfect flower for Wallace.
"Alright, but as soon as you're done I'm taking you to the emergency room!"
Jyou's never been so insistent before. He's probably just taken too many first aid courses, Sora thought. However, she believed that he probably knew what he was talking about and that he simply had her best interests at heart. The somewhat nerdy hypochondriac that she knew from the digital world had changed considerably over the years. The irrational paranoia and constant nervousness that once characterized him were gone. Obviously he didn't look the same either. He had let his hair grow out, and he actually looked quite handsome now. Handsome? Do I really think so? She had noticed how he was holding her hand, how gentle he was in tending her wound…his skin was so soft…what am I thinking? She shook that thought and searched for the flowers.
"What are you looking for?" Iori asked. He had followed
them to the back of the store and into the storeroom. Not wanting
to wait all by himself, Jyou was lingering behind the counter.
"A very special flower that will tell Wallace how Hikari feels about
him." Sora stated. "They symbolize remembrance and lasting affection.
That is what you want to say, right Hikari?"
She didn't answer. She just stared at the flowers and let out a sigh, visible in the cold air to anyone who hadn't heard it.
Ah, young love, Sora thought. It's why I love this job.
...end of chapter 5
