Flowers for the Wicked
Written by: David Tai and RinoaDestiny
Idea by: David Tai
Mother's Day was right around the corner and this year, Kyo wanted to try something different. Not for his mother, no – Shizuka Kusanagi always received a thoughtful gift – but for someone else. He grinned behind his helmet, enjoying the mischievous idea taking residence in his mind. His mother's gift – a tea kettle with distinctive and rustic charm – was in its box, secured to the back of his bike. What he was looking for now was…ah, there it was.
Parking his motorcycle into the designated area for bikes outside the store, Kyo hit the kickstand, removed his helmet, and dangled it from one of the handlebars. He entered the flower shop, nodded at the clerk's standard greeting and began to look around. As pretty as the Japanese lilies were – his mother's favorite – or as colorful as the peonies were in their bountiful array, they weren't the ones he wanted. He was looking for something more...dark. Not exactly attractive.
"Can I help you?"
A young woman approached him, smiling. Black hair, dark eyes, and a heart-shaped face. The lightest bit of make-up. Small and slim, dressed in the shop's uniform with her name tag pinned on the front. Yoko.
He smiled back. "Do you have black roses?"
"Black roses?" Yoko blinked, surprise apparent in her changing expression. "We do, but if you want other recommendations –"
"Just black roses," he said, amused. "I'll take a bouquet of them."
The woman bowed, expression now curious and moved away. Kyo watched her head towards the back and then refocused on the other flowers. Red roses. Ha! He smirked. If his old man was smart, his mother would have those two mornings from now. While red roses were nice, they wouldn't suit his purpose at all. Not for this special recipient.
His smirk grew wider. Oh, how surprised she'll be!
Yoko returned with the bouquet, which was wrapped in clear cellophane and decorated with a ribbon a shade lighter and redder than the black roses. Handed it to him along with a price sticker and smiled. "Will that be everything, Kusanagi-san?"
He grinned. Sometimes, it was nice being acknowledged.
"I'll take some Japanese lilies as well."
"They're beautiful, aren't they?"
"Very." He shifted the special bouquet to the crook of his other arm. "Those are for my mother."
"Ah, I see." Curiosity got the best of the clerk despite her efforts to maintain professional courtesy. "And those?"
"For someone very special."
Yagami was out of the apartment, caught up in a whirlwind tour in Kansai, which left Vice and Mature alone in the small dwelling. Perfectly fine by them, Vice thought. When Yagami was away, they could play. His books bored her. If they were graphic novels and comic books – American, preferably – then they'd be worth reading. Instead, all she found was dry dusty histories and classics in Japanese along with a handful of novels. It was amusing, really, if it wasn't all so…dull.
"Ehhh, Mature," she said, drawing the stunning blonde's attention. The other woman turned away from the window, plastic blinds clattering with one flick of her fingers. "I'm bored. Let's do something."
"Kill something, you mean?" A devilish gleam in the other's eye. "Yagami doesn't want us causing trouble."
"We do it all the same."
"Of course." Mature crossed the room, languid and seductive. "Turns you on, doesn't it?"
Vice purred in the back of her throat. "Now that you mention it…"
A sudden knock on the door. Who the fuck was that, disturbing them?
Striding towards it like a prowling predator, Vice ripped the chain aside, wrenched the doorknob, and yanked the door open. The person standing across from her was…
She narrowed her eyes.
Was this a joke?
"What do you want, Kusanagi?" Vice asked, eyeing Kyo Kusanagi with suspicion as he approached a step forward, hands behind his back.
"Happy Mother's Day, mom." Kyo grinned, whipping out a bouquet of...
"What the fuck…why the fuck am I getting black roses?"
"Oh, I figured I'd commemorate Mother's Day with someone who could've been my mom," Kyo commented, wagging his eyebrows as he practically shoved the bouquet into Vice's reluctant hands.
"…What the fuck are you talking about?" Vice's eye twitched, her hands curling into claws after letting the bouquet fall to the ground.
"Oh? I thought you were trying to get Dad to propose to you, what with everything…"
Vice snarled, as she had sudden flashbacks to the time she spent trying to brainwash Saisyu Kusanagi. She had to practically seduce him into it, in order for him to fight against the others in King of Fighters. But she had no intentions of…
…Wait. Kyo was trolling her.
"…Fuck off, brat," she said, grinding her heels into the bouquet and walking off.
All she could hear was Kyo's laughter coming from behind her.
Even Mature hid a suppressed smirk, one elegant hand covering her mouth.
"Don't say anything," she said, a clear warning in her pissed-off tone.
Saisyu Kusanagi. That fucking brat of his.
Mom. As if.
She really could have all their balls for that. Goddamn pricks.
Comments: So last year in 2019 around Mother's Day in Discord, David Tai and I began discussing about the Sacred Treasures Team and Mother's Day. While Iori's fic (Missing Mother) was written and posted first last year, David Tai wrote the section from "What do you want, Kusanagi?" to All she could hear was Kyo's laughter coming from behind her. With his full permission, I fleshed it out a bit more in terms of characters and setting, so this is a joint writing.