A/N: Gomenasai! I know I said there'll be more action in Chapter 3... but it's just so long until the action part so I have to leave it for Chapter 4. Even so, do not despair because this chapter revolves silghtly deeper into the emotions of the characters:
You'll see a slight trace of Ran being over protective of his sister, Aya trying to gain a little independence and so on...
Hope you'll enjoy!
Chapter 3: Feelings, and a Stranger
Ran tiptoed to see his sister over the crowd in the flower shop. It was always reassuring to see her again because then, he knew if she was safe. Without warning, something flew in the direction of his head. Plonk! It was a plastic spade. He looked in the direction the spade had come from. It was Ken.
"Oy! Watch what you are doing!" he yelled.
"Nani?" Ran focused on his task at hand. He had unknowingly handed the customer 2000 yen extra and was just about to give her another 1000. He quickly took back the money and handed her the right amount of change much to her disappointment.
"Yohji I think you should..." Ken looked around. "Yoh...Yohji?" He caught a glimpse of Yohji in the midst of the crowd. He had left to escort poor Aya to somewhere less pushy.
"Sumimasen (excuse me), make way please," said Yohji.
The crowd of girls parted for him as he walked. Things like "Yohji! When are you going to date me?" could be heard coming from the crowd. They had now stopped shoving and pushing each other.
Yohji tossed his hair and walked confidently through the crowd to Aya.
(Aya grimaced)" (Ken had an expression of disbelief)"
"Aya daijoubu?" (Aya, are you alright?)
"Hai, Yohji-sama!"
"Eh! Stop calling me Yohji-sama! You make me sound so old!"
Aya giggled. "Hai Yohji-kun!"
"That's better. But just Yohji will do." He made a flamboyant, elaborate bow. "Milady, your brother awaits you to get inside."
Aya laughed.
There was an intake of breath from the crowd. Ran was glad Yohji had gone to escort her. He was giving the wrong change again but it didn't matter. The girl who was buying flowers was one of Yohji's admirers. Besides, Aya was more important. On the other hand, Ken was watching and rolling his eyes. How typical of Yohji to make a scene.
Yohji took her hand, quickly steered her inside as the crowd broke into chatter again. "Oh yeah, wasn't Omi supposed to bring you back?"
"Yes but he got into trouble in school because the teacher did not believe the report was written by him. He told me to wait for him a little longer but I sort of persuaded him to let me walk back myself."
"Eh... your brother won't be happy if he hears this..."
"Don't tell him ok? Say that Omi brought me here and went off again."
Yohji and Ken exchanged glances.
"Yea might as well," said Ken. Then in an undertone, so that only Yohji could hear, he added "You know his temper, especially when it comes to anything regarding Aya… " He suddenly remembered something and turned back to Aya. "How long did he say the teacher going to detain him?"
"I don't think it will be that soon. Omi sounded quite frustrated and said something about Mr Takada wanting to retest his understanding on some physics principles he had written about."
"Ok. Aya, I think you should go help Ay...Ran at the counter before we start losing money."
"Hai!" she said and immediately went to see her brother.
Ken frowned.
"What is it?" asked Yohji.
"Delivery. Omi was supposed to do it."
"When?"
Ken checked his watch. "Around twenty minutes from now."
"Ok. I'll help you load the van."
"The arrangements are already outside, the ones in the second row."
The duo made their way through the crowd that was slowly thinning.
"Is it far?" asked Yohji carrying the heavy arrangement into the van.
"Not quite. It's at the Convention Hall" replied Ken carrying another bouquet.
"Oh! The place where they are meeting with the Australians to..." Yohji trailed off at Ken's look of remorse and silence.
Ken took the nearest two flower arrangements and deposited it in the van.
"Eh, I thought you said the second row?" Yohji sighed. "Ken, the girl's gone. She hasn't even contacted you after she left for Australia. It's time to put it down. It means that both of you were not meant to be... "
Ken took no notice. The second row of flower arrangements was already in the van but he continued loading extra arrangements from the first row.
"Just like Asuka and I..."
Ken stopped loading and looked at Yohji. There was no more pain in his eyes as he had before. He had put Asuka aside.
Yohji patted his shoulder. "Now that we are no longer killing, I think... We should all have a chance at love. You'll find the girl that is meant for you; you'll find her if she doesn't find you first. Maybe you won't know if she's the one. But once you do, you won't know what hit you..."
"That sentimental Yohji" Ken muttered as he carried the flower arrangements and a big bouquet of flowers in a backpack. He was walking up the long and steep flight of steps to the Convention Hall. "All that rubbish with the she might find you first…We should all have a chance at love… What if Eliz gives a mission for us to kill again? How could I possibly put the one I love in danger?" He trudged up of the stairs frustrated and hot headed. "Hah! The way he says it is as if he thinks the love of my life will fall from the sky!"
Suddenly, WHAM! Something falling from above made impact with his body and he toppled backwards. Ken's reflexes immediately kicked in. In normal circumstances, he would have rolled to his side as soon as possible before he hit the ground. However, whatever hit him was restricting him from doing so. Thankfully, the puffy flowers in his backpack saved him from a potential spinal injury as it hit the ground at the bottom of the steps.
The flower arrangements flew up and fell. Ken was flat on the ground and breathing hard but he knew what had fallen on him. Her hair was soft on his cheek and he could smell the mild fragrance of it. Flowers rained before them as she moved her hand from his chest to the floor and relieved him of her weight. Ken found himself blushing. He sat up, drew up his legs, and leaned back on his hands.
The first thing he saw was her concerned, wide emerald eyes. She looked around sixteen. He couldn't say she was beautiful, but… somehow he couldn't help staring. Maybe it was her eyes, or the way her long dark hair fell over her shoulders…
At last, he finally found his voice. "Er... daijoubu?" It broke the ice.
Petals were still drifting down from the air.
She threw her arms around him and hugged him.
"?" "!" Ken's cheeks turned redder. There was a small audience around them now watching the romantic scene and it definitely did not help with his nerves.
"You are alive! Yokatta!" she said happily, still hugging onto him.
"Er..." His hands were still on the floor. He was unsure of where he should place them. He wanted the crowd to stop staring at them.
"I would have died or become crippled if you hadn't broken my fall" she said seriously as she drew away from him.
"Next time, try to careful" said Ken smiling. He handed to her a semi-squashed daisy.
"No, I wasn't clumsy. I was pushed... EH! GOMENASAI! (SORRY!) I ruined all your pretty flowers!" She took the daisy and tried to straighten the petals. "How much are those? I guess I'll have to pay them..." She started to dig in her bag for her wallet.
Ken, not missing anything important, interrupted her. "Wait, pushed? What do you mean by pushed?" He looked around. This was definitely no place to talk. "Attempted murder?"
Her face became white as she looked around frantically. "Er, pushed? Who said anything about being pushed? Sorry about the flowers but maybe I've got to go..." She got up and walked away.
She was walking in the wrong direction. The van was parked on the other side. Ken got up, grabbed her hand and walked in the direction of his van with her tagging behind.
"What are you doing! Please let go of my hand or else I'll shou..."
Ken turned around to face her. "Iie! (No!) This is serious! You should go to the police ..."
"And tell them WHAT? A seventeen year old, whose mother is in an asylum, thinks that someone is going to murder her?" she retorted angrily.
Ken's expression softened. "Ok, how about let's talk this out at the flower shop. As payment for the flowers you wrecked, come with me to the flower shop. Is that ok with you?"
She thought for a while. "Ok"
"But for now, stay in the van and lock the doors after I unload the back-up flower arrangements. The person who tried to kill you is unlikely to strike again. buteven so,you should remain cautious."
"Hai." There was a slight pause before she asked,"You have back-up flower arrangements?"
"Yea thanks to Yohji's big mouth..." he muttered. Ken drew up her hand that he had grabbed earlier and placed the keys to the van in her palm.
"You trust a stranger with your car keys?"
"You trust a stranger to leave together with him in his van?"
No answer.
"Then the trust is mutual" replied Ken grinning. "By the way, I don't know your name yet," he said just as he was about to turn and leave.
"Kumiko, Michiyo Kumiko."
"Ken, Hidaka Ken."
A/N: And that's it! Again people, reviews? I have this fear that people won't understand whatI write becausewhen I write the story, I have the images played in my head...oh yar and partly also because my dad tried to read my story but has no clue what's going on -sweat drops-
The new characters I've introduced are:
Eliz: New person in charge of Weiss. (I've mentioned this person in chapter 1) Persia is no more.
Mr Takada: A teacher in Omi's school. A not too pleasantone...
Kumiko Michiyo: I hope you will grow to like her. For now, all the infomation I will provide is, she's 17, somewhat pretty, and will be sticking around forquite sometime. There will be more girls getting involved soon. (Yohji will be very happy...)
Thanks for reading. -n.n-
