Wow, I never meant for it to go this long without a post. I was actually starting to write again until my A drive at work decided to break. I didn't have it for a couple of weeks and when I finally got a new one work got so crazy I barely had time to breathe between calls let alone type a single word. There was a lot of other things that happened too like costuming and stuff. And I've been meaning to update for the past three weeks now but just never got around to it. So here I am now.
I apologize for the wait. And hopefully it won't be this bad again. A good butt kicking does help sometimes, ne? Anyway, I don't have the mental capacity right now for individual responses because my brain's fried already from the United Way campaign at work and it doesn't even start until Friday! Instead, I'll just have to thank you all at one time. :D
You guys totally rock! – Silverwingedangle, Moon without a Sun, Bengali, Heather R, Kiori133, quietladybirman, Spawn of Hell, Muchacha, bffimagine, Evelyn, Angelina, Murasaki-yanagi, and Gillian Sillis (x2)! If it weren't for you guys spurring me on, I would never keep going! Thanks again for being so awesome! Hopefully next chap I'll be able to respond better.
Well, I don't want to keep you guys waiting any more. Read on, enjoy and drop a review too! Arigato!
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Ken lasted all of an hour after Ran left before getting completely and utterly bored. The day did not hold the terrors for him the night had and he didn't once worry about being alone. He did manage to rummage through a number of boxes to find the rest of his clothes. Yanking out a T-shirt and loose fitting jeans, he decided he had enough of unpacking. Not that he really did much anyway, but he was used to living out of a suitcase at times and didn't worry about it.
He was never much of a TV watcher – except when a game was on - and since he didn't find his game systems (he assumed Kase kept those too) he decided to head down to the Koneko. He walked out into the inner hallway as a means of exploring his new surroundings. On the opposite wall, he noticed a door that must have led to his guardian's apartment. Unwittingly, he smiled at knowing that the man was so close. Slowly, he made his way down the narrow hall toward a staircase at the end.
By the time he reached the bottom he was feeling a bit winded but he didn't feel as exhausted as when he went up. He took it as a good sign. Currently he stood in a wide room that had a large TV and sofa, the living room and a much larger kitchen on the opposite side. Curious, he walked over to the kitchen and began opening cupboards and looking around. He wasn't trying to be nosy, just merely acclimating himself to his new surroundings. It was something he always did whenever he traveled. He was about to walk out when he spotted a little basket of fruit tucked away at the back of the counter.
Smiling, he grabbed an apple and headed for a door he hoped would take him into the little shop. Fortunately for him, he guessed right. It led him to a little hallway and another door. And when he opened the next door he was assaulted with the heavy fragrance of flowers. For a moment he paused just to breathe in the heady scent. It had been so long since his senses had smelt something so sweet so he just basked in the moment. He didn't even realize he had closed his eyes until he heard a cheerful voice address him, "Oi, Ken-kun, why didn't you tell me you were coming down so I could have helped you."
"Demo, Omittchi, I wanted to do it by myself."
"Alright, but just tell Aya-kun that I helped or else he'll have both our heads." It was no secret the red-head's obvious concern and it soon became a point the other's often remarked on when not in his presence. They both chuckled. "You came down at a good time. The morning rush is over and all I have to do now is fill orders and then deliver them before the afternoon rush starts."
"Can I help with anything? I'm kinda bored."
"Well, I don't want to push you. And I'm not really sure what you can do. But I'm sure we can think of something." Omi thought for a moment then an idea hit, "How good is your handwriting?"
"Decent, I guess. Why?"
"Well, it's still probably better than mine. Do you think you can write up the cards for me? I usually have to do them twice before I'm willing to put them on the arrangements." The younger of the pair gave a sheepish smile. He loved computers and it was only better for him that he did. He could type up a ten page paper in about five minutes if necessary, nice, clean and easy to read. A blessing his computer was because anything he did by hand was sloppy and for the most part largely illegible. However, a computer typed card – while cheap and easy to do – lost it's personally touch. And that was why they still hand wrote the cards. However neither Momoe's or Omi's handwriting was very good, they did their best to make do. Now Omi saw a chance to make Ken feel useful AND the arrangements a tad bit nicer.
Ken smiled back at the youth and shrugged, "I'll do my best."
Omi handed Ken a stack of order requests and guided him over to a small worktable near the back of the shop. "Here, this is what they would like the cards to say." He walked over to a workstation behind the register and grabbed two small stacks of items and a pen. "Fill out the card and then put the person's name and address on the envelope. I know this is menial but are you ok with this?"
"Sure. I just want to feel like I'm helping out."
"Don't worry about it, Ken-kun. It's ok. Soon you'll be up and about and doing all sorts of things to help out. Just give it a little more time, ne?" They smiled at each other; Omi's an encouraging gesture while Ken's done in gratitude. Ken glanced down at the Order form and grimaced, "God Omi, now I know why you asked. I just hope I don't screw up re-writing this stuff." It was a friendly jab and the small blonde just laughed it off. Quickly they went about their tasks, the two continued to chat about all sorts of things for most of the morning.
Omi would explain a lot of what he was doing to Ken. After Ken had finished writing out a couple of the cards, Omi took the orders and began filling them. Depending on the situation, Omi would gather certain items, all the while giving reasons why he took a vase over a basket or made a bouquet instead. He also would offer meanings behind the flowers he chose. Ken tried to absorb it all but after a while it all became a jumbled mess. Still he tried to retain it to sort out later.
Hours went by and Omi ordered lunch to be delivered. Ken felt bad that Omi was paying for both their meals but when he went to make a comment on it, the smaller blonde cut him off, "I think I can afford lunch, besides it can easily be written off as a business expense." They laughed and ate without any more being said.
But when they finished, Omi started picking up the garbage to be thrown and Ken noticed the receipt caught up in the mess. Frowning, he said, "Don't you think you ought to save that if you are going to write it off?" His tone completely serious.
Omi glanced over at the brunette confused. "Huh?"
"The receipt," Ken pointed to the slip amongst the empty containers.
Blushing, Omi grinned brightly, "Oh yeah. I almost forgot. Heh." He had mostly said it as a joke but apparently Ken had taken it literally.
"I can put it with your invoices if you want." He offered while standing up to retrieve the paper.
"Sure, you can put it on the desk in the office back there." The younger boy went back to cleaning and bobbed his head in the direction of another door behind the counter.
"OK." Ken happy to be helping walked over and entered the cramped little room. Glancing around he noticed that it was a little disorganized but didn't put too much thought behind it, considering he had seen similar situations plenty of times. He noticed an open journal on the desk and a number of other receipts and invoices scattered on top. Shrugging, he placed the latest addition on top then stopped. Staring in shock, he reached down and picked up the book. Quickly, he leafed through a number of pages in disbelief.
"Ken-kun?" Breaking from his momentary stupor, he looked pointedly at the other boy. "Is something wrong?" Omi asked confused by the other's obvious shock.
"Omi! These books haven't been updated in over a month!"
"Oh, sorry," the smaller boy's hand automatically reaching up to scratch the back of his head, "guess I've been kinda busy lately. I'll get around to them soon - I hope."
"You can't just let these sit. Why hasn't your accountant been helping you?"
An embarrassed blush coloured Omi's cheeks. "I, uh, I don't have an accountant."
"What! Don't tell me you've been doing these by yourself?" Omi nodded. "And taking care of the shop?" Another bob. "Are you still in school too?" Another hesitant yes. "Omi, how can one kid possibly take on so much responsibility? You can't do all this alone." Making a hasty decision, Ken squared his shoulders and stated, "So I'm going to help you."
"Nani?" It was Omi's turn to be shocked. He wasn't exactly sure what Ken was getting at but he knew the brunette was serious about whatever he was offering.
"I'll help you get these books back in order."
"Really? Do you think you can?"
"Sure, this is a pretty small business. This should be cake."
"How can you be so certain?"
It was Ken's turn to blush and something passed briefly behind his sea-kissed eyes that Omi couldn't name. "Yeah, well, I used to help at my dad's work in the accounting department. I needed an intern job and they needed help. I worked there for almost a year before I got out."
Omi wasn't sure why but the way Ken said that he 'got out' left him wondering. There was a deeper connotation to the words but he felt now was not the time to ask. A new grin forming, Omi realized that if this was something Ken could use to keep his mind off of his current predicament somewhat then why not let him get the business back in order. "Well, if you think you can do it, go ahead. I know I won't have time to play around with it."
"Great, now is everything in here that I need? Bank statements, invoices, supply forms, receipts?" He started looking around and heading towards the filing cabinets behind.
"They should be. Everything related to the shop should be somewhere in this room." Ken paused a moment and glanced over his shoulder at Omi. He wasn't sure why that statement bothered him so much but it left him wondering why something other than the shop might be in here or vise versa. Perhaps he's talking about the apartments above and superintendent matters. Yeah, that's it. Shrugging it off, he resumed his rummaging through the files.
Omi helped point out things to him. Where certain items were located and such before asking, "Do you think you'll be ok here for a while? I've got to make those deliveries still and I don't want to leave you alone if you need me."
"I'll be fine. Besides, Momoe's out there right?" She had come in about an hour ago and their meeting was brief, but already he felt comfortable around her. He didn't think he would have a problem going to her if he needed to.
Omi noted with some satisfaction that Ken was already absorbed in his new task. Accepting the observation, he said, "Alright, I'll see you when I get back Ken-kun."
"Bai, Omiitchi." Ken waved absently behind him while sifting through some papers. The younger boy left to run his errands leaving a determined brunette behind.
- v – v -
"Hello?"
Barely glancing up long enough to make eye contact, the brunette smiled. "You're home early." His gaze quickly fell back to the mass of papers sprawled out all around him.
Frowning, the redhead moved some papers aside and sat on the couch just behind the goalie. "Early? I've been gone most of the day. I'm late."
"Really?" Ken answered as if on automatic.
"Yeah, I stayed longer than I thought with Aya-chan. What is all that you're looking at?" Finally voicing his curiosity, Ran picked up a random paper and frowned at all the numbers.
"Oh this?" Ken tore his eyes away and looked up at his scarlet-haired companion, "I'm trying to redo all the expense reports for the Koneko. It's been quite a chore, but I've almost got it all worked out."
"Oh, so this is what Omi meant." Ran said more to himself than for his companion.
"Huh?"
"I called earlier to see how you were doing after practice. When you didn't answer I called Omi. He said you were holed up in the office helping with the shop's books. I didn't realize he meant you were re-working them all."
Shrugging dismissively, the young man said, "It couldn't be helped. They were such a mess I had to start from scratch."
"Scratch? How far back did you have to go?"
"Only a couple of years. That's as far back as when the store opened."
A couple of year's worth of numbers? Just thinking about it sent his mind spinning. He may have been the son of two prominent bankers but that didn't mean he was a math wiz. In fact, he hated it. He much preferred the written word over the monotony of numbers. Lines of figures and formulas held no meaning for him, but a single word could touch the soul. Glancing at the mass of papers scattered around him, he wondered aloud, "And where are you now?"
Ken scanned a couple of papers as reassurance before answering. "About two months ago."
"And you did all that in one afternoon?" Ran asked incredulously.
Blushing, Ken nodded. "Like I told Omi, it's not that big of a business. When I helped my dad's work, it was much more complex. The construction company, service, land and real estate departments, accounts receivable, equipment rentals, permits and government issues. And that was just in Japan. I won't even go into all the international stuff. This was easy." He shrugged again as if this should have been obvious.
Ran leaned back and ran a hand through crimson bangs. "I just had no idea you could do all this stuff."
"There's a lot I never mentioned in my interviews, if that's what you're talking about. They don't really care if you're smart as long as you can play well." He offered somberly.
"Well, I would have been interested." Ken smiled and his cheeks flushed. From Ran's position, he couldn't see how his comment affected the younger man. Instead, he decided to change the subject considering he wasn't sure how to take the remark himself. "Are you hungry?"
The flush immediately vanished at his wince and the subsequent smack to the head. "I completely forgot! I can't believe I did that!"
"It's ok. I wasn't really expecting you to cook."
"Even still I said that I would and then I got all caught up in the numbers. I can try to whip something up real fast if you want." Ken started to get up but a gentle hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"Don't worry about it. I'll make dinner, just try and finish up what you can before it's done, so we can clean all this up. I don't want to crush anything while I'm sleeping."
For a moment, Ken sat shocked. At the mention of Ran's sleeping arrangements, he realized he had gone the entire day without having a panic attack. Yet now that he remembered, the thought of being alone at night still terrified him. And here Ran was already suggesting that he would be staying again tonight. The small relieved smirk that started to form grew quickly into an ear to ear grin. "Don't worry, I'll have it all cleaned up before bed."
"Good." Ran nodded then headed off to the kitchenette. Both set about their tasks for a while until Ken finished off the day he was working on and began collecting the pages around him. After he gathered up the mass of papers and set them into piles for him to easily pick up where he left off, he decided to help Ran get the table set for dinner. Lilac eyes glanced up at his entrance and a brief upturn of the lips flashed for an instant. "Finished?"
"For the moment." Ken grabbed some plates and headed for the table. His thoughts began to wander now that he wasn't staring at a ledger and working the problems. As he went over the flow of funds he noticed a couple of items that made him uneasy. He had seen entries like these before and he didn't like seeing them now any more than he had before. In fact, after working for the company these anomalies downright made him nauseous. He hadn't even realized he'd zoned out completely until a deep voice broke him out of it.
"You look as if you're unhappy about something. What's wrong?"
"It's nothing." Ken tried to laugh it off but the redhead wasn't buying it. As a matter of fact, the older man seemed to see right through him. A slight frown and the crossing of arms over a firm chest was enough to quiet his soft chuckles. Sighing, he admitted, "Alright, so there's one thing that's been bothering me. In the Koneko's books, I mean."
"What's that?" Ran listened as he went back to cooking, satisfied that he was getting his companion to open up.
"Well, from everything I've been able to find, the funds in which to start the shop are still a mystery to me. And there have been a number of anonymous deposits made periodically to keep the shop going. But I have no records of loans or gifts or anything. I don't know where that money's coming from and I don't like it."
"Maybe it's coming from a personal account or something?"
"It's a possibility but I don't know." Sighing heavily, Ken plunked down in his seat. "I've seen things like that before and it always leads to no good."
Ran regarded the younger man briefly wondering what that comment was supposed to mean exactly. And when he noted the stern frown on the brunette's smooth features it made him all the more curious. "Why do you say that?"
Ken's head shot up and he looked as if he were a deer caught in headlights. He clearly had not meant to make that last comment out loud and was surprised to find that he had. "No reason, really. Just a thought." He said too quickly.
Picking up Ken's plate to fill it, Ran suggested, "Look if it's bothering you that much, why don't you just ask Omi about it tomorrow? I'm sure there's a logical explanation for it." He placed the full plate in front of the thoughtful brunette and took his own.
"Yeah."
Changing the subject, Ran announced, "You've had a rather busy day today. More than I would have liked you to have, anyway. And you have therapy tomorrow. After dinner you should probably call it a night." Seating himself opposite Ken, he started eating.
"Geeze mom, you haven't even been back long before you start harping on me." Ken smirked up at the redhead, tone dripping with playful sarcasm. He was actually thankful for the change.
"Well, someone's got to look out for your wellbeing. I obviously can't leave it up to you."
"Yeah, sure, whatever. I'll let you win this once, but only because I am rather tired." And he was. As an afterthought he added, "Guess I've gotten used to those mid-morning and afternoon naps. Skipping those and all that concentration on numbers has kinda tuckered me out." But he refused to be bested even if it was the truth. Taking on his cheerful, playful tone again, he shook a finger at the man. "You hear? Don't expect this to happen often if at all from here on out."
Ran conceded easily considered he had gotten his way. "If that's all I can get, than I'll be happy with that." A playful smirk lighted pale features. Reaching out a hand, he gently pinched a tanned cheek. "That's my good boy. Now if you eat everything on that plate, you can have dessert before bed."
Rolling his eyes and groaning, he answered, "Thanks, mom!" And they laughed at the comfortable moment between them.
w – k – w – k – w – k
Well, I hope it wasn't too bad, especially after that wait. I hope you liked seeing how their relationships are growing. And sorry to all those Yoji fans out there. I know he's not getting as much screen time as the others right now but I'm hoping as the plot progresses we'll see a lot more of him.
Yoji: Of course you don't have to wait if you want to see a lot more of me. I can show you right now.
s-k: Dang it Yoji! Get some clothes on! My husband's right behind me. I don't think he would appreciate the show.
Yoji: Why don't you ask him? –waggles eyebrows- Hmmmm. –s-k glares viciously at blonde- I was just kidding!
Ken: You should know better than that, Yotan. I think she's warned you at least 3-10 times already about stuff like that.
s-k: That's right! . –huff-
Yoji: Don't tell me Kenken that you aren't enjoying the show at least?
. –Ran glares daggers at blonde-
Ken: I don't think I should answer that. –blushes furiously-
. –violet eyes bare down on brunette-
Yoji: Fine. If you aren't mature enough to say you like what you see, then I'll go find someone who is. –turns and leaves muttering- Now where did chibi run off to?
Ran: He says we're not mature? I beg to differ.
s-k: Let it go, Ran. He's already gone. Well, now that that's all over… As I was saying, once the plot further develops we should hopefully be seeing a lot more of all the boys and even a few others. Of course I'm not sure how happy you'll all be about it. –quickly runs off to hide-
Ken: Um, on behalf of shiki-kun please review. I know that we would really appreciate it too. Right, Ran?
Ran: Aa.
Ken: Thanks for the help. –sigh- So anyway, thanks for sticking with us and all your patience! And please, please, please review! Ja ne, minna! . –waves cheerfully- . :D