Alicia's Diary

This afternoon, Haru and Kyo just stopped in after school. They told me they were going out to the park and then left. Being left all alone in the house (Ha'ri was at work), I picked up my keys and black jacket and walked out the door.

For quite some time I aimlessly wandered the streets, since I had nowhere to go, no one to be with, and a ton of time on my hands. I was quite stunned when I looked up from kicking a can down the road and found that I had been subconsciously led to Ayame's shop. I debated it for a second before I made the decision to go in.

Opening the door caused the chime above to ring. Mine, sitting at a desk halfway across the room, called out without even lifting her nose out of her book, "Hello. Are you here for some supplies, to pick up a project, or do you have an appointment?"

"I don't have an appointment," I admitted as I walked over to her. "But I was hoping Ayame could make the time for me."

She looked up for a second to say, "I'm sorry ma'am. You'll have to schedule an appointment," and then returned to reading.

"A Sohma Shigure novel, eh?" I smirked as I recognized the cover. "You know, he can write a good romance, despite his pornographic sex scenes, but the man is just entirely intolerable to live with."

She looked at me again, "I'm sorry ma'am but if you're an ex-lover of Shigure's who got dumped with the explanation 'I'm gay and in love with Ayame' I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Oh dear Lord, no! I'm Alicia Maxwell," I introduced myself.

She dropped the book with wide eyes. "The Alicia Maxwell? My heavens, you're, like, a goddess or something! Seriously, Ayame-san worships you!"

Now it was my turn to give a bugged-out stare. "What?"

"Well certainly you didn't think I said bad things about you behind your back, did you, Alicia dear?" Ayame asked as he seemed to pop out of nowhere. I jumped at his sudden appearance.

"Ayame-san…"

"No need to be so formal with me, Alicia, love. Come, we can sit and chat in the back room. Mine, get some tea ready for our guest please," Ayame began walking toward the back room.

"Yes sir! Right away sir!" Mine jumped up and rushed off as I followed Ayame.

"Please, take a seat," Ayame waved a hand at the one sofa as we came into the back room. I sat down and he took a seat on the opposing sofa, letting his arms dangle forward over the back. "I'm surprised you've never met Mine before. How many times have you come to my shop anyway?"

"Two times, Ayame-san," I nodded. "Mine was out sick during my first visit and she was on vacation in New York during the second."

"Oh yes. The New York trip. Filthy place from how Mine described it. Have you ever been?"

"Yes. Three times actually. The first time was a terror but the other two were quite nice, though I must agree it is a disgusting place to be."

"Where did you come from again, Alicia dear?" Ayame asked. "Washington? Los Angeles? San Francisco?"

"Austin, Texas but that was so long ago I barely remember it. I was only a child when I moved here."

Mine entered with a tray containing three cups and a kettle. She set it down on the table and poured tea into the three cups. I took one and sipped it as Mine sat down in a chair to my right.

"So, what brings you here today?" Ayame queried after a momentary pause in conversation.

"I'm not sure. You see, I was all alone at home since Haru and Kyo went out to the park and Hatori was at work--."

"Oh poor dear Ha'ri… It's a terrible shame… what he's suffering through now… don't you agree?" Ayame sipped his tea.

"What he's suffering through? I knew something was off about him lately…" I murmured.

"Why, didn't you know? Kana came to his office about a week ago. She's pregnant."

"Oh dear God, Hatori must feel like hell."

"What's worse is she regained a tiny flash of memories… so Ha'ri had to do the unthinkable all over again," Ayame sighed.

"He had to wipe her memory clean again, didn't he?" I frowned.

"Indeed," Ayame gave a soft nod. "I suppose it's nothing to worry about. Hatori has an unbelievable way of dealing with this sort of thing."

Silence fell again.

"Mine," Ayame suddenly spoke up after about a minute. "I know you're dying to so why don't you cheer Alicia here up by dressing her up in one of our creations?"

Mine's smile gleamed. I must admit it terrified me at first. She grabbed my hand and pulled me into the dressing room as I slowly began to calm myself down.

Five minutes later, I found myself being paraded in front of Ayame in a black nurse's outfit with puffy white sleeves, a matching black hat, and white gloves that extended up three-fourths of the arm.

"Ah the Kisaragi look fits you so well," Ayame smiled.

I dropped the mock-mortification and grinned, "Good. Can I keep it?"

He stared in surprise. "You really want it? I thought you weren't the role playing sort…"

"It's just so cute though!" I giggled softly.

"Alright then. You can keep it. Now I have a very serious question to ask you, Alicia, my dear."

"What is it?" I asked, resuming my place at the sofa across from him.

"You're getting married sometime soon, is that correct?" Ayame asked me.

"How did you know?" I gaped.

"Let's just say a little ox and a little kitten told me," Ayame chuckled.

"Kyo came to see you of his own free will?" I inquired, each word dripping with an utterly unique sarcasm.

"Actually… no. He seemed to have been dragged in with Hatsuharu," Ayame responded.

"I assume the request of my confirmation of Haru's statement was not your 'serious question.' Am I correct?"

Ayame nodded solemnly. "This question is not it either but when are you to be married?"

"We're planning on June or July."

"To the point then," Ayame put down his teacup and looked at me with what could almost be classified as pleading eyes, though Ayame was far too dignified a man to plead. "Would you allow me to design your wedding dress?"

"That depends," I retorted, "on what you're planning. I'm not wearing your run-of-the-mill kinky outfit on my wedding day."

"Have a little faith in me, Alicia dear. I have a little more class than that," he argued.

"I was half-joking. But seriously, I do want to know what sort of thing you have in mind before I say yes."

"I was thinking something… traditional… but not white… and not typical wedding traditional… I'm thinking… Renaissance Europe daily life-style traditional but you can have the final say in the process."

"Sounds fine. All right then, you can design my dress. When do we start work and about how much will I owe you when it's finished?"

"We can start next week. Is Wednesday good for you? We'll design a sketch, pick fabrics, and take measurements then. And you can consider the dress a part of my wedding gift to you," Ayame insisted.

"Next Wednesday is perfect and thank you. I suppose I should get going about now. How much do I owe you for this dress?" I asked.

"Consider it a gift from a dear friend," Ayame waved a hand in dismissal. "Now go on. Get changed and go home to Ha'ri Kyo and Hatsuharu or whoever is home at the time."

"Thank you, Ayame-san. I'll be back soon. Goodbye then, Ayame-san. Goodbye, Mine," I stood up and walked into the dressing room.

"Oh, here, let me help you with that," Mine rushed into the room after me. As I was changing back into my black jeans and white tanktop, she struck up a conversation. "Ayame-san feels so very helpless in the current situation."

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking for help in the form of a tag to distinguish the front from the back of my tanktop.

"He wants to help Hatori-san feel better but he doesn't know how and he says Hatori-san only seems to be sinking deeper into his depression."

"Ayame doesn't need to worry. Though Hatori may be sinking, he'll eventually hit a spring and bounce back up to the surface," I pulled on my top and picked up my jeans.

Mine folded the nurse's outfit up for me and sighed. She looked up at me with a slight frown and creased eyebrows. If her neon pink fuku didn't make her look so perky, I would have expected her to cry. "For Ayame-san, won't you please promise you'll help Hatori-san find the spring?"

The metaphor was becoming tiresome now but I could think of no better way to respond so I nodded, "I'll help Hatori find the spring and bounce back to the surface, I promise. I'll see you next Wednesday, Mine-chan."

"See you then," she nodded, placing the dress, hat, and gloves in a bag. I took the bag from her, flashed her an assuring smile, and left.

I came home to find Haru and Kyo already there and Hatori still absent. Haru and Kyo were on the living room couch and appeared to be too engrossed in a make out session to hear me enter the house. I smiled and silently tip-toed up the stairs and into my room, opting not to ruin what I figured was both Kyo's and Haru's first try at second base by making my presence known. I fell asleep up there and woke up a little after seven.

"Oh no. I was supposed to have dinner on the table by now," I moaned. I got up and rushed down the stairs to find the strangest looking thing I had ever seen.

Kyo was working with some chicken in a skillet on the stove. Haru was close beside him, chopping up carrots, lettuce, and other assorted vegetables. Finally, I located Hatori in the corner. He appeared to be mixing up a sauce for the chicken Kyo was cooking.

"Glad to see I at least have somewhat-competent replacements for me in the kitchen when I fall asleep," I mumbled.

"Hello Alicia," Haru turned to me, dropping the knife down on the carrot he was currently chopping, cutting his index finger in the process.

"Not again, Haru," Kyo rolled his eyes and let go of the skillet handle, walking over to the corner cabinet to retrieve a box of band-aids. He took one out and bandaged up Haru's finger, upon which I noticed a similar bandage on the opposing index finger.

"Feel like taking back the 'somewhat-competent' remark now?" Haru asked, sweat dripping down his cheek. "I'm not qualified to do anything other than chop vegetables and even when all I'm doing is cutting, I still screw up."

"Here let me lend you a hand before you lose one," I teased playfully as I came over to help him with his work.

I must admit, the blood flavoring in the vegetable mix was barely tolerable, but that was the first enjoyable meal I've had in quite some time. Don't get me wrong - the food was quite terrible - but it was so much more enjoyable because I was so relaxed and I could sense the strength of the harmony between us all. It was just so peaceful.

Kyo and Haru went to the theater after dinner and that left me alone with Ha'ri. I told him I knew about what happened at his office. He automatically responded that his feelings for Kana were all in the past and he felt nothing for her now.

"That's a damn lie. I see the way it's cutting you up from the inside," I objected.

"You're entirely correct," Hatori sighed, leaning back in his chair. "However, you needn't worry. As you remember, I lived out this experience once before."

That put me somewhat at ease about Hatori's mental status. He was right. He had dealt with losing Kana before and he would certainly adjust to it again.

We watched television for a bit, played a game of chess, and then Haru and Kyo came home. It was already eleven so Haru stayed over again. He went straight up to bed but Kyo decided to join us on the couch.

Around midnight, Kyo and I both decided to turn in. I followed him up the stairs and paused outside his room to watch for just a minute. Kyo took off his pants (he always slept in his underwear and his t-shirt so get your minds out of the gutter) and paused to look down at Haru, who was sleeping soundly on the air mattress on the floor.

I caught a glimpse of a faint smile on Kyo's lips as they were illuminated by the moonlight. He sighed softly and made his unspoken decision.

He bent over and sat down on the air mattress. Careful not to wake Hatsuharu, he slid his right foot into bed and then the left. Finally, he laid himself down on his side facing Haru's back and tossed an arm over his shoulder.

I smiled and hurried off to bed.