Will Matt live through Sora's wrath? Why the heck did I put Aidan in? Will
Aki say her first words of wisdom? Will Sora disembowel him with a cotton
slipper or hang, draw and quarter him with a bunch of flowers?
The answer?
………………NOT TELLIN'!!!!
See, if I did, you would probably stop reading and move on to a better story. *sniffs indignantly and turns away* Fine. *looks back*
PLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEE??????????????
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Aki glanced up from arranging a spray of lilies to watch a fuming Sora Takenouchi stomp into the shop and out the door into the backroom of Mrs. Takenouchi's store. She put down the spray and went to ask her friend what had happened.
Opening the door, she found the girl punching the wall with a delicate yet firm fist in a furious manner.
"Sora!" Aki called. "I'm sure that whatever happened to you, the wall had nothing to do with it! It was here all day! Honest!"
Sora turned from her pummeling and arched an eyebrow at Aki. Sheepishly, Aki shrugged. "Well, it was."
With a sigh, Sora collapsed into a chair and punched her fist. "I hate him," she declared. "I hate him."
Wincing, Aki sat on the chair next to hers. "Let me guess—"
"No need to guess." Sora scowled. "It was that stupid Ishida. Next time I see him, I'm gonna hurt him so bad that—"
"Hold it!" Aki interrupted. "Before you tell me your plans on what to do to my favorite rock star, tell me what did he do that was so bad that it caused you to get your tail in a knot? (A/N: DDDDAAAAAAVVVVIIIDDD & LLLEEEEEIIGHH!!!! THANK YOU!!! I HONOR THE GROUND THAT YOU WALK ON!!) Remember, that multitude of his worshippers are a lot more fanatical than those Beatles zealots, surprisingly."
"You'd know," Sora muttered. "You used to be one of them."
"'Used to be'?" Aki's face was aghast. "What are you talking about? I still am! But then, the urge to mob doesn't quite hit me as much as it did before."
Sora rolled her eyes and leaned back. "Well, basically, that jerk took off on my bike. He stole it!"
"I'm sure he had a good reason to do so," Aki announced. "Tell me what happened."
So Sora launched off into a detailed account of how Yamato Ishida had stolen her bike, starting from when Sora knocked in on the Takaishi apartment. Of course, it took longer than it usually would, since she often went off into fits of anger, endlessly cursing Yamato Ishida's name until Aki managed to calm her down.
Looking a little confused, Aki managed to piece the basic story together, excluding all the adjectives Sora used to replace Matt's name. Examining the facts, Aki came to a conclusion. "Sora, when he returns your bike, I think that you should forgive him."
Sora's reaction to that was ear-piercing. "WWWWHHHHAAAAAATTTTT?"
Aki hastily continued, "Listen, if you had a mob of fans running after you, wouldn't you do the anything to get away? I mean, Matt's fans are really serious. It's kinda scary. You'd do anything to get away from them."
Sora looked pensive. "Well…he didn't even ask for my permission."
"Ya think he had the time to? From what I hear, those groupies spend the other half of their time doing calisthenics or something in order to keep fit to run all across town after him."
"Where'd you hear that?" Sora's expression was amused.
"It doesn't matter," Aki waved that off irritably. "I did NOT do any of that. You could say that I was milder than they were. So will you forgive Matt or not?"
"Umm…no."
A large tic grew in Aki's pale forehead. "For crying out loud, Sora, forgive him and stop acting like some spoiled brat! It's not like you to hold a grudge. Just let it slide, I mean, it's just a bike."
After much persuasion in Aki's part, Sora still refused to budge. She was fully intent on carving out his liver with a blunt spoon. Eventually, Aki had to resort to bullying with blackmail. The threat of having her secrets announced on the PA system. Hatefully, Sora relented and stormily exited the back room to start arranging the flowers.
Aki grinned triumphantly and marched after her.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Tai arched his eyebrow at the supposedly cool rock star that at the moment was worrying about what a girl would do to him because he stole her bike. As the blonde star wheeled the bike down the sidewalk, Tai saw everything Matt didn't. The lovely sunshine, the bright green trees, the smiling people…well, except for that old bald guy. He looks kinda mad.
As they turned into the block where Sora's mother's shop could be found, Tai found his new friend's face to be blank.
"Are you all right, man?" Tai queried. "You look kinda like your face got sucked into the vacuum cleaner."
Matt broke out of his reverie and looked at Tai. "Excuse me, what were you saying?"
To which he replied, "Forget it. We're at the shop now."
He peered through the glass window and saw an explosion of color. The flowers were very bright. Glancing back at Matt, he smiled sympathetically. "This is it for you, man. I'm off now." He turned to leave.
Then a voice rang out. "You want us to close the shop for today? But it's only around four or so…" The voice, which came from inside the shop, sounded familiar to Tai and he looked back. There was a head of smooth- looking shiny black hair with a phone pressed to one ear. (A/N: Hehe. Haha. Hoho. Hihi. Huhu. Sorry.) Tai stared, walking a little slower. The girl in the window continued, "OK, Mrs. Takenouchi…Yeah, we can handle it…Don't worry about it…No the dahlias aren't dead yet—should they be? …Oh...OK, we'll take care of that. You can count on it…don't worry. Good-bye."
The girl holding the phone put the receiver down and looked right out the window at Tai. Her face showed her surprise. "Tai! What are you doing here?" she opened the door and beckoned to him.
Tai blinked. "Aki?"
Putting her hands to her hips and grinning, she replied, "No one but. Now answer me, what are doing in front of a flower shop?" She looked up at him. That's when she noticed Matt behind him with the bike. "Oh…hi Matt. Well…" she let out a short laugh. "Man, I definitely wouldn't want to be you right now."
"Me neither," Matt replied gloomily. "So she's here?"
Aki nodded.
Matt's face brightened. "Maybe if I just leave the bike here with you—"
"Oh no." Aki shook her head firmly. "What makes you think that she'll forget about this tomorrow? Don't worry TOO much, I managed to, ah, how do you say, browbeat it into her not to carve you open with a blunt spoon. She'll be even angrier if you confront her at school. Besides, I don't think that being beaten up by a girl in front of the whole school would polish your image any more."
Tai was amused. "Just for one bicycle…"
"It holds a lot of sentimental value for her."
"Ah."
Tai's eyes wandered to her hair. It looks lustrous today…Argh! Tai shook his head, trying to focus on the matter at hand. Aki arched her eyebrow at this odd-seeming behavior. "Right. Well, no use avoiding the inevitable. Come on in."
Matt sighed and ran a hand through his spiky golden hair. "Good-bye, world."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sora decided that she had cooled down by now and examined the events rationally. What Aki said actually made sense…for once. Pondering about what she would do if he stopped by today, her hands absently arrayed the lovely blossoms in the vases. She turned to another bouquet and picked it up. They were made up of lovely and imported hyacinth, phlox and Chinese delphinium flowers, some of Sora's many favorite kinds of flowers. She smiled dreamily as she inhaled them deeply.
Their sweet smells suddenly set her mind at ease and closing her eyes, she turned around and called to Aki, "Aki, I'm a feel more rational. I must have acted pretty childish, huh? I'm calmer now." She opened her eyes when she heard someone cough.
She saw Aki holding open the door for two people. Customers? They looked familiar…Sora squinted and saw that the first one was Tai and behind him…
Yamato Ishida.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A voice from deep within the shop called out, "Aki, I feel a lot calmer now. I must have acted pretty childish, huh? I'm a little more rational now."
Matt inwardly groaned. Well, Aki told you that she was here. He took a deep breath and followed Tai into the shop. As he entered the store, he saw her. She was wearing an apron similar to Aki's and the street clothes she had worn when she went to the Takaishi apartment. She also was holding a beautiful spray of colorful flowers to her face and her eyes were closed dreamily.
Like some sort of a faerie… Something in Matt's mind murmured. Blanching, Matt cleared his throat. Takenouchi? A faerie? Right.
The voice he knew as Sora Takenouchi's suddenly said something again, only this time, with a little more force.
"YOU! You stole my bike, Ishida!"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Not calm enough, it appears," Matt muttered under his breath and, clearing his throat, spoke aloud, "I'm, ah, here to return your bike."
"No, DUH." She stomped to him, putting the spray into a vacant vase at her side. "You have some explaining to do, Ishida!"
Aki cleared her throat loudly, her eyes shooting Sora a look that was probably supposed to mean something. Sora blanched and recalled that Aki had resorted to blackmail. Realizing that her social life was at stake, she took another deep breath and said through clenched teeth, "Please."
Matt looked a little irritated as he said, "You were there, Sora Takenouchi. I don't owe you any explanation."
Aki looked murderous. "Don't be rude, idiot," she muttered.
Unfortunately, Matt didn't hear this, so he continued, "I stole your bike and I've come here to give it back to you."
Through VERY clenched teeth, Sora growled, "WHY did you steal my bike?"
Matt suddenly went down on one knee and took her hand. With too much of an extra flair, he announced, "All right, Miss All-Powerful Takenouchi, I humbly beg your forgiveness for taking your two-wheeled transport without your royal acceptance."
Sora stared down at him and he stared back, trying to cause her to turn into a vegetable. Her reaction, however, was one he didn't expect.
She yanked her hand back, eyes dangerously slanted. "Jerk! Some apology you're giving, making fun of me." She whirled around on one foot and stormed away deeper into the shop, muttering things about lousy rock stars.
Tai and Aki gaped at Matt, who remained on his knee, eyebrows arched. Then he stood up, "OK, I expressed regret already, now can I go home?"
Aki shook out of her trance and glared at him. "Oh, no. You're going after her to apologize."
"WHAT?"
"Yes, you are," Aki answered firmly. "I know Sora's moods. If we leave her like this, she's likely to pulverize you the next time you say something to her."
"And we wouldn't want that, would we?" Tai grinned evilly.
"Now come on, guys!" Matt complained, rising to his feet. "I think that it's pretty clear that she won't accept any apologies from me. Nothing we can do now. Grudges are hard to erase."
"Nuh-uh." Aki shook her head. "Sora is one of the most forgiving people I know and this is the first time she's ever held a grudge for someone, other than those people who caused an oil spill in the ocean several years ago."
"Face the music, man," Tai said and pushed him in the direction Sora had angrily gone off to. "It's now or never. If what Aki's telling us is true, you'll be better off getting yelled at today than murdered on Thursday."
Sighing heavily, Matt groaned and relented. "All right. All right. I'm going. You two'd better be right about this."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
He found Sora in another section of the surprisingly large flower shop where there was a display of flowering shrubs; according to a large plaque, they were called Garden Perennials. He could identify some of the rare ones, such as the radiant Flame Azalea and the Big-Leaved Hydrangea. Other more common displays were of the Lilac flowers and the Hybrid Tea Rose. Other than that, Matt had no idea what else was in there.
She was angrily cramming a bright yellow flower into a terra cotta pot, muttering words Matt couldn't hear. She glanced up, saw him and glared, returning to the pot, dumping soil into it with an angry passion.
Matt made his way over and to her side. "Takenouchi."
She looked at him, eyes furrowed irritably and growled back, "What?"
"I'm sorry, all right? I don't know why you're acting like this. It's just a bike."
That comment caused Sora to slam the pot down, barely managing to break it. "Well, if it's just a bike, then why are you still here? After all," she continued, picking up the pot again. "It's just a bike," her words dripped with satire. "The bike that my father gave to me a week before he went on that cruise and disappeared at sea last year." Her scarlet eyes were cloudy and looking just a little wet.
Matt fidgeted a little. If she starts crying, I'm outta here…he never knew how to deal with crying girls.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, she didn't break down and start bawling, but instead, she rounded on him again. "So why are you still here?"
"Aki and Tai bulldozed me into it. So will you forgive me now? I have places to go. Can we make a truce for now so I can get going?" He held out his hand. She narrowed her eyes at him. He shrugged. "I mean, I'm not really sorry about your bike, but I'm sorry about your father, though."
She looked at him for a few seconds, eyes unreadable. All of a sudden, she took his hand.
Matt recoiled and dropped her hand. Her hand was coated with soil. "Man!"
Takenouchi arched her eyebrow, her eyes looking angry. "Ooh, little Rock Star is afraid of a little dirt? I'm sure that you wouldn't mind this then." She grabbed a pot full of soil and dumped it on his head.
"What did you do that for?" Matt yelled, trying brush the loam off. "So much for a truce."
"A truce," she informed him, "requires a hand shake, not a hand drop."
Matt rolled his eyes. "That's it, I'm outta here." Brushing the dirt out of his blonde quills, he gave her a dark look and turned away.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"No, wait." Her hand shot out and grabbed his shoulder. "I'm sorry about the soil. I act on impulse sometimes. It's one of my great failings." Her face held a look of disbelief. Why did she just say that? Apologize to him when it was he who was supposed to apologize? And why did she just tell him those things about her bike and her impulsiveness? She barely knew the guy. Shaking that aside, she continued, "I guess a truce would be nice. It would probably be tentative, but let's give it a shot."
Matt looked at her, eyes searching, sighed and said, "Fine. I'm sorry Sora, and let's try not to kill each other before the year is out."
Sora nodded and they shook hands. There was something in his eyes…a glint…his hands were tightening around a clod of soil…
Drat.
Yelping, she jumped backwards as he lunged at her with his fistful of soil. She ducked as he threw it at her head and blanched when his other hand dropped soil onto her hair. She stared at him murderously as he doubled over, laughing.
"You look so funny!" he cried. She just silently, ominously waited for him to quiet down. As soon as he did, Matt hurried to say something before she could pound him into a pancake. "I'm sorry, Takenouchi, but I just had to even the score."
Her eyebrows furrowed as she continued to glower at him. Then she burst out laughing. "You know that I'm going to have to get back at you for this."
Matt grinned back. "I expect you to." He was a little unnerved to see her laugh again. "And then I'll get back at you for that."
"Good."
****
It seems that our favorite couple has settled into a way of living…but will it last? Stay tuned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...Or not.
The answer?
………………NOT TELLIN'!!!!
See, if I did, you would probably stop reading and move on to a better story. *sniffs indignantly and turns away* Fine. *looks back*
PLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEE??????????????
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Aki glanced up from arranging a spray of lilies to watch a fuming Sora Takenouchi stomp into the shop and out the door into the backroom of Mrs. Takenouchi's store. She put down the spray and went to ask her friend what had happened.
Opening the door, she found the girl punching the wall with a delicate yet firm fist in a furious manner.
"Sora!" Aki called. "I'm sure that whatever happened to you, the wall had nothing to do with it! It was here all day! Honest!"
Sora turned from her pummeling and arched an eyebrow at Aki. Sheepishly, Aki shrugged. "Well, it was."
With a sigh, Sora collapsed into a chair and punched her fist. "I hate him," she declared. "I hate him."
Wincing, Aki sat on the chair next to hers. "Let me guess—"
"No need to guess." Sora scowled. "It was that stupid Ishida. Next time I see him, I'm gonna hurt him so bad that—"
"Hold it!" Aki interrupted. "Before you tell me your plans on what to do to my favorite rock star, tell me what did he do that was so bad that it caused you to get your tail in a knot? (A/N: DDDDAAAAAAVVVVIIIDDD & LLLEEEEEIIGHH!!!! THANK YOU!!! I HONOR THE GROUND THAT YOU WALK ON!!) Remember, that multitude of his worshippers are a lot more fanatical than those Beatles zealots, surprisingly."
"You'd know," Sora muttered. "You used to be one of them."
"'Used to be'?" Aki's face was aghast. "What are you talking about? I still am! But then, the urge to mob doesn't quite hit me as much as it did before."
Sora rolled her eyes and leaned back. "Well, basically, that jerk took off on my bike. He stole it!"
"I'm sure he had a good reason to do so," Aki announced. "Tell me what happened."
So Sora launched off into a detailed account of how Yamato Ishida had stolen her bike, starting from when Sora knocked in on the Takaishi apartment. Of course, it took longer than it usually would, since she often went off into fits of anger, endlessly cursing Yamato Ishida's name until Aki managed to calm her down.
Looking a little confused, Aki managed to piece the basic story together, excluding all the adjectives Sora used to replace Matt's name. Examining the facts, Aki came to a conclusion. "Sora, when he returns your bike, I think that you should forgive him."
Sora's reaction to that was ear-piercing. "WWWWHHHHAAAAAATTTTT?"
Aki hastily continued, "Listen, if you had a mob of fans running after you, wouldn't you do the anything to get away? I mean, Matt's fans are really serious. It's kinda scary. You'd do anything to get away from them."
Sora looked pensive. "Well…he didn't even ask for my permission."
"Ya think he had the time to? From what I hear, those groupies spend the other half of their time doing calisthenics or something in order to keep fit to run all across town after him."
"Where'd you hear that?" Sora's expression was amused.
"It doesn't matter," Aki waved that off irritably. "I did NOT do any of that. You could say that I was milder than they were. So will you forgive Matt or not?"
"Umm…no."
A large tic grew in Aki's pale forehead. "For crying out loud, Sora, forgive him and stop acting like some spoiled brat! It's not like you to hold a grudge. Just let it slide, I mean, it's just a bike."
After much persuasion in Aki's part, Sora still refused to budge. She was fully intent on carving out his liver with a blunt spoon. Eventually, Aki had to resort to bullying with blackmail. The threat of having her secrets announced on the PA system. Hatefully, Sora relented and stormily exited the back room to start arranging the flowers.
Aki grinned triumphantly and marched after her.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Tai arched his eyebrow at the supposedly cool rock star that at the moment was worrying about what a girl would do to him because he stole her bike. As the blonde star wheeled the bike down the sidewalk, Tai saw everything Matt didn't. The lovely sunshine, the bright green trees, the smiling people…well, except for that old bald guy. He looks kinda mad.
As they turned into the block where Sora's mother's shop could be found, Tai found his new friend's face to be blank.
"Are you all right, man?" Tai queried. "You look kinda like your face got sucked into the vacuum cleaner."
Matt broke out of his reverie and looked at Tai. "Excuse me, what were you saying?"
To which he replied, "Forget it. We're at the shop now."
He peered through the glass window and saw an explosion of color. The flowers were very bright. Glancing back at Matt, he smiled sympathetically. "This is it for you, man. I'm off now." He turned to leave.
Then a voice rang out. "You want us to close the shop for today? But it's only around four or so…" The voice, which came from inside the shop, sounded familiar to Tai and he looked back. There was a head of smooth- looking shiny black hair with a phone pressed to one ear. (A/N: Hehe. Haha. Hoho. Hihi. Huhu. Sorry.) Tai stared, walking a little slower. The girl in the window continued, "OK, Mrs. Takenouchi…Yeah, we can handle it…Don't worry about it…No the dahlias aren't dead yet—should they be? …Oh...OK, we'll take care of that. You can count on it…don't worry. Good-bye."
The girl holding the phone put the receiver down and looked right out the window at Tai. Her face showed her surprise. "Tai! What are you doing here?" she opened the door and beckoned to him.
Tai blinked. "Aki?"
Putting her hands to her hips and grinning, she replied, "No one but. Now answer me, what are doing in front of a flower shop?" She looked up at him. That's when she noticed Matt behind him with the bike. "Oh…hi Matt. Well…" she let out a short laugh. "Man, I definitely wouldn't want to be you right now."
"Me neither," Matt replied gloomily. "So she's here?"
Aki nodded.
Matt's face brightened. "Maybe if I just leave the bike here with you—"
"Oh no." Aki shook her head firmly. "What makes you think that she'll forget about this tomorrow? Don't worry TOO much, I managed to, ah, how do you say, browbeat it into her not to carve you open with a blunt spoon. She'll be even angrier if you confront her at school. Besides, I don't think that being beaten up by a girl in front of the whole school would polish your image any more."
Tai was amused. "Just for one bicycle…"
"It holds a lot of sentimental value for her."
"Ah."
Tai's eyes wandered to her hair. It looks lustrous today…Argh! Tai shook his head, trying to focus on the matter at hand. Aki arched her eyebrow at this odd-seeming behavior. "Right. Well, no use avoiding the inevitable. Come on in."
Matt sighed and ran a hand through his spiky golden hair. "Good-bye, world."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sora decided that she had cooled down by now and examined the events rationally. What Aki said actually made sense…for once. Pondering about what she would do if he stopped by today, her hands absently arrayed the lovely blossoms in the vases. She turned to another bouquet and picked it up. They were made up of lovely and imported hyacinth, phlox and Chinese delphinium flowers, some of Sora's many favorite kinds of flowers. She smiled dreamily as she inhaled them deeply.
Their sweet smells suddenly set her mind at ease and closing her eyes, she turned around and called to Aki, "Aki, I'm a feel more rational. I must have acted pretty childish, huh? I'm calmer now." She opened her eyes when she heard someone cough.
She saw Aki holding open the door for two people. Customers? They looked familiar…Sora squinted and saw that the first one was Tai and behind him…
Yamato Ishida.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A voice from deep within the shop called out, "Aki, I feel a lot calmer now. I must have acted pretty childish, huh? I'm a little more rational now."
Matt inwardly groaned. Well, Aki told you that she was here. He took a deep breath and followed Tai into the shop. As he entered the store, he saw her. She was wearing an apron similar to Aki's and the street clothes she had worn when she went to the Takaishi apartment. She also was holding a beautiful spray of colorful flowers to her face and her eyes were closed dreamily.
Like some sort of a faerie… Something in Matt's mind murmured. Blanching, Matt cleared his throat. Takenouchi? A faerie? Right.
The voice he knew as Sora Takenouchi's suddenly said something again, only this time, with a little more force.
"YOU! You stole my bike, Ishida!"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Not calm enough, it appears," Matt muttered under his breath and, clearing his throat, spoke aloud, "I'm, ah, here to return your bike."
"No, DUH." She stomped to him, putting the spray into a vacant vase at her side. "You have some explaining to do, Ishida!"
Aki cleared her throat loudly, her eyes shooting Sora a look that was probably supposed to mean something. Sora blanched and recalled that Aki had resorted to blackmail. Realizing that her social life was at stake, she took another deep breath and said through clenched teeth, "Please."
Matt looked a little irritated as he said, "You were there, Sora Takenouchi. I don't owe you any explanation."
Aki looked murderous. "Don't be rude, idiot," she muttered.
Unfortunately, Matt didn't hear this, so he continued, "I stole your bike and I've come here to give it back to you."
Through VERY clenched teeth, Sora growled, "WHY did you steal my bike?"
Matt suddenly went down on one knee and took her hand. With too much of an extra flair, he announced, "All right, Miss All-Powerful Takenouchi, I humbly beg your forgiveness for taking your two-wheeled transport without your royal acceptance."
Sora stared down at him and he stared back, trying to cause her to turn into a vegetable. Her reaction, however, was one he didn't expect.
She yanked her hand back, eyes dangerously slanted. "Jerk! Some apology you're giving, making fun of me." She whirled around on one foot and stormed away deeper into the shop, muttering things about lousy rock stars.
Tai and Aki gaped at Matt, who remained on his knee, eyebrows arched. Then he stood up, "OK, I expressed regret already, now can I go home?"
Aki shook out of her trance and glared at him. "Oh, no. You're going after her to apologize."
"WHAT?"
"Yes, you are," Aki answered firmly. "I know Sora's moods. If we leave her like this, she's likely to pulverize you the next time you say something to her."
"And we wouldn't want that, would we?" Tai grinned evilly.
"Now come on, guys!" Matt complained, rising to his feet. "I think that it's pretty clear that she won't accept any apologies from me. Nothing we can do now. Grudges are hard to erase."
"Nuh-uh." Aki shook her head. "Sora is one of the most forgiving people I know and this is the first time she's ever held a grudge for someone, other than those people who caused an oil spill in the ocean several years ago."
"Face the music, man," Tai said and pushed him in the direction Sora had angrily gone off to. "It's now or never. If what Aki's telling us is true, you'll be better off getting yelled at today than murdered on Thursday."
Sighing heavily, Matt groaned and relented. "All right. All right. I'm going. You two'd better be right about this."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
He found Sora in another section of the surprisingly large flower shop where there was a display of flowering shrubs; according to a large plaque, they were called Garden Perennials. He could identify some of the rare ones, such as the radiant Flame Azalea and the Big-Leaved Hydrangea. Other more common displays were of the Lilac flowers and the Hybrid Tea Rose. Other than that, Matt had no idea what else was in there.
She was angrily cramming a bright yellow flower into a terra cotta pot, muttering words Matt couldn't hear. She glanced up, saw him and glared, returning to the pot, dumping soil into it with an angry passion.
Matt made his way over and to her side. "Takenouchi."
She looked at him, eyes furrowed irritably and growled back, "What?"
"I'm sorry, all right? I don't know why you're acting like this. It's just a bike."
That comment caused Sora to slam the pot down, barely managing to break it. "Well, if it's just a bike, then why are you still here? After all," she continued, picking up the pot again. "It's just a bike," her words dripped with satire. "The bike that my father gave to me a week before he went on that cruise and disappeared at sea last year." Her scarlet eyes were cloudy and looking just a little wet.
Matt fidgeted a little. If she starts crying, I'm outta here…he never knew how to deal with crying girls.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, she didn't break down and start bawling, but instead, she rounded on him again. "So why are you still here?"
"Aki and Tai bulldozed me into it. So will you forgive me now? I have places to go. Can we make a truce for now so I can get going?" He held out his hand. She narrowed her eyes at him. He shrugged. "I mean, I'm not really sorry about your bike, but I'm sorry about your father, though."
She looked at him for a few seconds, eyes unreadable. All of a sudden, she took his hand.
Matt recoiled and dropped her hand. Her hand was coated with soil. "Man!"
Takenouchi arched her eyebrow, her eyes looking angry. "Ooh, little Rock Star is afraid of a little dirt? I'm sure that you wouldn't mind this then." She grabbed a pot full of soil and dumped it on his head.
"What did you do that for?" Matt yelled, trying brush the loam off. "So much for a truce."
"A truce," she informed him, "requires a hand shake, not a hand drop."
Matt rolled his eyes. "That's it, I'm outta here." Brushing the dirt out of his blonde quills, he gave her a dark look and turned away.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"No, wait." Her hand shot out and grabbed his shoulder. "I'm sorry about the soil. I act on impulse sometimes. It's one of my great failings." Her face held a look of disbelief. Why did she just say that? Apologize to him when it was he who was supposed to apologize? And why did she just tell him those things about her bike and her impulsiveness? She barely knew the guy. Shaking that aside, she continued, "I guess a truce would be nice. It would probably be tentative, but let's give it a shot."
Matt looked at her, eyes searching, sighed and said, "Fine. I'm sorry Sora, and let's try not to kill each other before the year is out."
Sora nodded and they shook hands. There was something in his eyes…a glint…his hands were tightening around a clod of soil…
Drat.
Yelping, she jumped backwards as he lunged at her with his fistful of soil. She ducked as he threw it at her head and blanched when his other hand dropped soil onto her hair. She stared at him murderously as he doubled over, laughing.
"You look so funny!" he cried. She just silently, ominously waited for him to quiet down. As soon as he did, Matt hurried to say something before she could pound him into a pancake. "I'm sorry, Takenouchi, but I just had to even the score."
Her eyebrows furrowed as she continued to glower at him. Then she burst out laughing. "You know that I'm going to have to get back at you for this."
Matt grinned back. "I expect you to." He was a little unnerved to see her laugh again. "And then I'll get back at you for that."
"Good."
****
It seems that our favorite couple has settled into a way of living…but will it last? Stay tuned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...Or not.