Chapter Eleven: Shine

Morning. Sweet, blessed morning. He had actually slept true sleep that night.... It was a miracle. Though the previous conflicts with Ran and Schuldich still haunted his mind, Schatten pushed them aside, sacrificing them to the day. It was Sunday, and in the afternoon they would likely be busy- it seemed that the 'fangirls', as Yukito called them, liked best to come to the shop on Sundays and see them, as it was their one truly free day before the school week began again. It would be busy, indeed... and it would seem even more so due to the fact that Danny would not be there. The bible-thumper always insisted on taking Sundays off in order to 'get closer to god', and the rest of Weiss never insisted on him staying. Religious conflict was, usually, avoided at all costs....
As the day dragged on, they were eventually swarmed by customers of the fangirl kind. 'Customers' meaning, of course, young girls who came into the Maneki-Neko and pretended to be buying flowers, while they were in actuality gawking at the members of Weiss. It would be rather funny, if it weren't the fact that it was utterly annoying.
Schatten sighed inwardly as he was smothered by one particularly irritating fangirl and what seemed like a thousand of her friends, who were questioning him about a pot of tigerlillies. Though his mental shields were up- it was crucial, at times like this- the thoughts still filtered into his mind. Mental sighs and swoons and murmurs of "Oh, gods, he's so hot" pounded in his brain, and as he clenched his teeth in frustration he told himself that he would -have- to take some painkillers later. But now... now was not the time.
"I'm sorry, miss, what was that you were saying?" he said softly as he flashed a smile, attempting to charm the girl who was tugging at your sleeve. "I didn't quite catch that...." Fangirls or not, they were still 'customers'... No matter if they were giving him a complete and utter headache, he had to 'assist' them.
It must been then that Julian noticed the pained look on his face, because he cleared his throat and announced in his most authorative and businesslike tone, "Hey! Buy something, or get out! And I mean NOW!"
For a moment, everyone froze.... Then, grumbling, the fangirls filtered out of the shop, disappointed looks on their young faces. Eventually, the small place was completely empty save for three exhausted, annoyed, headachy Weiss members.
"Damn, I hate Sundays," Schatten grumbled as he leaned against the counter, closing his eyes and reaching up to massage his temples. "Why oh -why- does Danny -insist- on skipping out on us these days? It doesn't make -sense-...."
"You're whining," Julian murmured dryly, taking a glance about the shop. It seemed so empty now that he had chased the children out.... "And, you know exactly why he takes the days off. When he gets home tonight, -don't- go chasing him down and bothering him about it; I don't want you two getting into a fight. Again. You know he always kicks your ass, so there really isn't much point." When Schatten opened his mouth to protest, Julian shot him a glare. "No, don't even say it. You know I'm right. You should know -better- than to get into a fistfight with him...."
"Yes," Yukito added, winking at Schatten with an enormous grin on his face. "It isn't very smart to get into scraps with people who can't feel pain.
The telepath groaned, shaking his head. "Yeah, yeah, I know- you don't have to rub it in. Gods, you-" He was interrupted then by the sound of the bell on the door of the Maneki-Neko jingling as someone stepped into the shop. It looked as if, perhaps.... This day wasn't over quite yet.